OceanSide church of Christ
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Compassion
by:
Dalton Gilreath
I. Introduction
A. Compassion is defined as a feeling of deep sympathy for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied with a strong desire to alleviate the suffering
i. Compassion is seeing someone in need and feeling that desire to help them
ii. It is connected with love and kindness
B. Sometimes it is interesting to do a word study
i. Taking a word and reading each passage it is used in the Bible can be a great way to study
ii. Consider seven things we learn from a word study on compassion
II. It’s Commanded
A. Peter commands us to be compassionate towards our brethren
i. This is not a word to brush to the side
ii. We are commanded to practice compassion toward others
B. God is described as being full of compassion (Psa 86:15)
i. If we want to be like our Father we must be compassionate
ii. Continue to consider with me exactly what this means
III. It’s Comfortable
A. Compassion is not a characteristic we must struggle to practice
i. God placed compassion within each of us
ii. When we see our brother in need and we don’t desire to help it is because we turned off our compassion not because we didn’t flip the “on switch” (1 John 3:17)
B. Some things are not natural for a Christian
i. For example, Jesus told the apostles to forgive every time someone repented of sinning against them
ii. Their response was, “Lord, increase our faith” (Luke 17:5)
C. Unlike forgiveness, compassion is natural
i. Pharaoh’s daughter did not struggle to feel compassion for baby Moses (Ex 2:6)
ii. A mother does not struggle to find compassion for her newborn baby (Isa 49:15)
IV. It’s Constraining
A. Compassion causes us to resist the temptation to lash out in anger
i. God refused to unleash His wrath on Israel because of compassion (Psa 78:35-39)
ii. Notice the characteristic of God that constrained his anger
B. The king who was owed ten thousand talents loosed his servant of the debt (Matthew 18:22-35)
i. Compassion constrained him from anger when his servant could not pay
ii. However, the servant was not compassionate and threw his debtor in jail until he would pay
V. It’s Crucial
A. Jesus gives us a great example of the importance of compassion
i. When John the Baptizer died Jesus took some time to be alone (Matt 14:10-14)
ii. The multitude followed Him and asked Him for help
1. Jesus wanted time alone but He did not refuse them
2. Compassion led Him to help them despite His own pain
B. Christ gives us another great example as He leaves Jericho (Matt 20:30-34)
i. Two blind men are calling out to Him
ii. The crowd with Jesus hushed them but Jesus healed them anyway
VI. It’s Caring
A. We see the care of compassion in the parable of the good Samaritan
i. The priest and Levite passed by even though they saw this man in need (Luke 10:30-37)
ii. But the Samaritan stopped and aided him when he saw
1. What was the difference between these three men?
2. The Samaritan was the only one with compassion
B. Jesus shows the care of compassion as well (Luke 7:11-15)
i. A widow lost her only son and was weeping at his funeral
ii. Jesus saw her and touched the coffin raising him from the dead
1. Jesus cared so much for others who were in pain
2. Why? Because He is full of compassion
VII. It’s Condoning
A. Remember why the father forgave the prodigal son? (Luke 15:18-24)
i. He saw him coming home through the window and had compassion
ii. He met him halfway and forgave him of his transgression
B. Remember why the king forgave the servant the ten thousand debt? (Matt 18:27)
i. Compassion is needed in order to forgive others as we ought
ii. We must remember to forgive with compassion as God does us (Micah 7:19)
VIII. Is Soul Changing
A. Lastly, compassion converts souls to Christ (Jude 22-23)
i. Some are saved with fear but that is a last resort
ii. The path to salvation is compassion
B. If I want to bring souls to Christ I must let them know I care
i. We show them through kind words and actions
ii. We show them through compassion!