THAT SAVE THE GREAT COMPASSION | Matthew 9:35

SCRIPTURE:  Matthew 9:35 "Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd."

OBJECTIVES:

1. To have full enlightenment on the power of compassion that can move us into the frontline of the battle for souls.

INTRODUCTION:

➢    If you happen to go to a war-torn country like Syria, or let us not go very far, we have a place in the south, Marawi City.   Marawi had experienced a fierce battle in May 2017 when a group of ISISMaute inspired group seized the City which lasted for almost six months.  We have seen in the news the unimaginable devastation of infrastructures within that short time period.  Imagine the people who were killed and wounded, families displaced, businesses and livelihood destroyed leaving the people hungry and scattered.  What would happen if the people were not rescued and cared for?

➢    Spiritually, the enemy wreaks havoc among the people in Jesus' ministering days.  People are diseased, displaced, hungry, "weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd."   These are the consequences of the war that sin and its curses have brought mankind through the rebellion of Lucifer and Adam against God.  We see so many sufferings everywhere.  Many of us can relate to the difficulties of life even today even with the modernization and urbanization of our cities.

SUPERFICIAL, PHYSICAL SUFFERINGS.

➢    Whenever you witness sufferings resulting from hunger, poverty, disease, broken homes, relationship failures, homeless and devastations of calamities, we feel the pain.  How much more if we actually suffer and become part of the victims of these maladies?  It is very hard!  Even today, many among us are in these conditions.  Many are working very hard just to make ends meet each day.

➢    These sufferings and pains are just superficial, physical and artificial.  There are ways where we can resolve these temporal pains and difficulties.  We can go beyond these conditions and live a better life if we will study hard, work hard and sacrifice to give our families a better life, a better future.

➢    However, there is a suffering that is real and terrifying, and once a person gets there, no more remedies can be done to get him out of that place and condition.  It would last for eternity in darkness and flames.  This kind of suffering awaits every person who leaves this earthly life without experiencing the redeeming works of Jesus Christ.

➢    This  is the deepest and most cruel kind of suffering and pain that Jesus Christ feels even now. People die daily by the thousands without hearing about the redeeming works of Jesus Christ which could have prevented them from going to that place of eternal torment and pain.  Eternal lostness and separation from a loving God.  This kind of suffering and pain that the Lord wants you and me to feel for every person you meet in the streets every day.  For every neighbor, friends and loved ones living around you, within your reach.  Do you feel compassion for them?

HAVING THE COMPASSION OF JESUS CHRIST

➢    When we speak about compassion, we feel a sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.  But it should not end with just a sympathetic feeling, we should be constrained to do something to help them out of their sufferings and pain in any way we could.

➢    Compassion literally means “to suffer together.” Compassion involves allowing ourselves to be moved by suffering and experiencing the motivation to help alleviate and prevent it.

➢    Jesus Christ sees and feels beyond the physical sufferings of man, He sees and feels the ultimate spiritual, eternal condition of people who were unfortunate enough to miss out His redemption sacrifice which was finished a long time ago.  Because those people He entrusted to go and reach them out did less or nothing!  Jesus Christ feels the pain, do you?

DEVELOPING AND ACTING ON COMPASSION.

1.    DWELL DAILY IN THE COMPASSION OF THE LORD

➢    Matthew 9:36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd."

➢    Daily, practice the compassion of the Lord.  See beyond physical appearances of people around you, look at their spiritual condition.  You have been there before and you know what it meant to be lost and under the yoke of sin.  Look back from where you came from, darkness and condemnation.

➢    See every lost person as victims of that spiritual battle.  They need to be rescued from impending condemnation.  Remember, the Word of God is very clear, the whole world stands condemned already, but God sending His Son and through His atoning sacrifice, He provided the Way out.

➢    (John 3:17 “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.").  The world has been judged as condemned already, but Jesus Christ provided the Way out!

2.    FEEL THE ETERNAL PAIN AND SUFFERINGS.

➢    Matthew 9:36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd."

➢    Having compassion means "suffering together" with the victims. We can fully relate to the present condition of the people lost in sin because we have been there before Jesus Christ saved us. 

➢    I want you to think, what if Christ had not saved us?  What if we die without having the redemption of Jesus Christ? What would eternity be for you?  We are very thankful because Jesus found and saved us.  You would not have to suffer anymore the torture of eternal flame of the lake of fire.  But look around you and see where the people are headed to without the salvation of Jesus Christ.  Feel the pain and sufferings of eternal condemnation.  Feel what Jesus feels for every person made in His image and likeness.

3.    TAKE EVERY OPPORTUNITY FOR THE GOSPEL.

➢    People who are lost can still be found, but those condemned cannot be retrieved.  People who are still alive in their physical bodies and can make a decision have all the opportunity to get back to God and be saved, but dead people without experiencing the redeeming works of Jesus Christ are condemned for eternity.  A person who is dead in Christ but alive in the physical body can be saved, but a person who is bodily dead without Christ is condemned for eternity. 

➢    What do we do if the solution is within our reach?  As a matter of fact, that is the very reason we come to church Sunday after Sunday! Just watching people suffer is cruel and senseless. 

➢    What pains the Lord above everything else are people claiming to be Born-again, Spirit-filled, Kingdom Citizens and Heavenly bound, who can just stand and watch people going to hell without doing anything.  Why?  Because He has done every possible way to provide redemption for everyone, His blood is more than enough, He suffered to pay for every man's ill, and still, many are not benefiting.  Because of many of His own Chosen Generation, Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation and People of God are not participating enough in order that many would come to know His Plan for mankind.

CONCLUSION:

After hearing this message, I pray God would stir up compassion in our hearts.  I pray we would all feel what Jesus feels and see what Jesus sees for every person we meet every day.