Background : The exile of the people of God was a result of the judgement of God on them. They have profaned the Name of God in the land that God has given them. But as a result of their exile, the nations surrounding them took it that their God was powerless to deliver them. That really made God fuming mad ! And God was about to act ! 36 : 16-19

Application : What are the things that we / our forefathers / our Church have committed that we are under the wrath of God as individuals and as a Church now ?

The Lord was going to act. He would not allow His Name to be profaned anymore. Not because of the goodness of the Israelites, but because His Name must be exalted among the nations. What can we learn from here about the way we should pray for our non-Christian friends / family or backslided Christian friends / family ?

But the Lord is also compassionate and merciful. He is not only concerned with His Name, He is also concerned with the well being of His children. He has designed a two steps procedure for restoring us to His Kingdom. What are they ?

What does that mean to us now ?

What are the results of God's restorations ?

Is there an area of my life that needs this restoration now ? Let's examine ourselves and get right with God and claim that "fruitfulness" into our lives.
 

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29th November 1998
"COMPASSION"
Canon  Jim D

Introduction:
Although compassion is an important word, its not a word
which we use very often.  Occasionally we may say that someone we know is a compassionate person but we don't say that about
everyone we know.  That's because not everyone is a compassionate person.  In fact, very few people are really compassionate.  Its very
important that we are.  So, if it is so important, what does the word compassion mean? The answer is found in God's Word, the Bible.

Exposition:
In the Old Testament God is shown to be compassionate.
Two excellent examples are:
1. The Exodus - when God promised Moses that He would deliver the Isrealites from slavery under the Egyptians and that He would bring them to the land He had promised Abraham. See Exodus 6:1-8.
2. God's promise to the Isrealites who, because of thier sins, were
living in exile away from thier homeland. see Isaiah 40: 1-2.

The word is used four times about God in Psalm 103 (verses, 3,8 and 13)

When we look at these and other passages in the Old Testament we see that our God is a 'compassionate' God.  Although He has pity on people who need His help and He acts to help them, He does not show compassion to everyone - see Exodus 33: 19.

In the New Testament our Lord Jesus Christ is shown to be
compassionate too.  Some examples are: Matthew 9: 36, 14: 14, 15: 32 and Mark 1: 41 and 8: 2

Because Christ shares God's nature, He too is compassionate.
Because the Father and the Son share the same nature they are teo of a kind.

Our compassionate God expects His people to be compassionate too
- Micah 6: 6-8; Ephesians 4: 32- 5:2; Colossians 3: 12 and James
1:22-27.

Our Gospel Reading shows us that at the Last Judgement, Jesus will not show compassion to everyone- see Matthew 25: 31-46.

Application.
We must beware.  Many people think that they are compassionate - but thier actions show that they are not.  Christ's teaching is clear.  No matter what they say, they do not share His nature and they will be separated from Him forever.

We should be encouraged.  By the help of the Holy Spirit we can share Christ's nature.  We can be compassionate. This means that when we act with compassion.  We are not just hearers of God's Woed, we obey it.
We can be sure that if we trust and follow Him, He will be with us all the time and we will be with Him forever.

 
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