Having Compassion For Souls

Having Compassion for Souls:

Study Text: Matthew 9: 35 - 38

Introduction:

- Our text describes the compassion of Jesus for lost souls.

- When Jesus saw the people, He did not look past them, ignore them, or turn away from them, but Jesus took notice of their condition.

- They were tired and lost in the world.

Jesus compared them to sheep without a shepherd. They go astray, get into trouble, and are destroyed by enemies.

- Jesus was moved with compassion for them. He understood them, He sympathized with them, and He loved them.

- Do you know His compassion in your life? Do you have compassion for those who are lost in sin?

- As Christian, we were once lost as they are today. It is our responsibility to show them that there is Someone who cares, the Saviour Jesus Christ, and can help them find their way.

- The heart of Christ, the greatest soul-winner ever, overflowed with compassion for the lost.

- Simply put, compassion moves us to passionate action. Genuine compassion will be tangibly expressed.

- A soul-winner with the heart of Christ will express compassion in two ways:

i. Compassion to Pray for Souls and Soul-winners:

- The one prayer request Jesus gave us is for more labourers for the harvest of souls. Matthew 9:37–38

- Has this prayer request made it to your prayer list? Are you asking the Lord to raise up soul-winners with a heart of compassion for the lost?

ii. Compassion to Plan to Preach to Souls:

- The compassion of the Lord moved Him to see the need and take the lead.

- Many times well-meaning Christians fail to be active soul-winners because they simply do not plan their time. Soul Winning is not an activity to fit in as it works or an opportunity to take advantage of if it happens across your path.

- It is a divine commission from Christ, and it is a priority to purposefully schedule into your regular routines.

- What a joy it will be to stand before Christ with the fruit of souls! It can only happen as we develop the compassion of Christ for souls.

- We shall be discussing the topic under three subheadings:

1. The Pictorial Explanation of Compassion.

2. The Perfect Example of Compassion.

3. The Purposeful Evaluation of Compassion.

1. The Pictorial Explanation of Compassion:

- The Book of Jonah gives us a pictorial understanding of what compassion is and what it is not.

- The unwillingness of Jonah to go to Nineveh at the first call, demonstrated a lack of compassion for souls.

- Even when he yielded, and eventually did the preaching, his unhappiness at the repentance and restoration of the people to God is a clear manifestation of lack of compassion.

- It is written in Jonah 3:1 "Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time". Praise the Lord that when we fail once, the Lord gives us a second chance. That is one of the great messages that comes to us from the book of Jonah.

- Have you failed the Lord? God is waiting to give you another chance. Have you failed Him a second time? He will give you a third chance. He is not only the God of the second chance, He is the God of another chance, no matter how many times you have failed.

- It took Jonah three days to walk through that huge city, proclaiming in every street that Nineveh would be overthrown in 40 days. Amazingly, the people of Nineveh repented immediately.

- This was the greatest and quickest revival that ever took place in the history of the world. One of the things that should encourage us here is that even when a wicked city like Nineveh repented, God was merciful.

- When God had mercy on Nineveh, one would have thought that Jonah would have been excited. But he wasn't.

- To teach Jonah a lesson, the Lord allowed a plant to grow up over his head. Jonah was very happy for the plant. But the next day because God made a worm to eat up the plant, and it withered up. Jonah was very angry again because the sun was beating down on him and he said, "It is better for me to die than live."

- Then God said to Jonah , "You had compassion on a plant which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?" Jonah 4:11

- In this verse Jonah 4:11, more than in any other verse in the Old Testament, we see God's tremendous compassion for lost souls. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that no one should perish. John 3:16