2nd Nov 1997 | For His Name's Sake - Bishop Yong PC |
29th Nov 1998 | Compassion - Canon Jim D. |
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.
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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