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Moved With Compassion | David Fisher

Last week we talked about the compassion of God. I think it’s so important. We’re going to follow up on that today about the compassion of Jesus, that Jesus was moved with compassion.

Why is that? We’re going to start in John 14, verse 7. Jesus is about to be crucified pretty soon, and He’s talking with His disciples. He’s speaking, and He says in verse 7, John 14, verse 7 says, If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. And from now on you know Him and have seen Him.

And Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it’s sufficient to us. And Jesus says, I’ve been with you all this time, and yet you haven’t known Me yet, Philip. He who has seen Me has seen the Father.

Now we want to know what God is, what God looks like, what God represents, what God’s character is. If we get lost in thinking about God and His, you know, so vast and so mighty and it’s so hard sometimes for us to put our minds, just wrap it around what God is like, just look at Jesus. He says, When you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father.

I’d like you all to turn to Matthew chapter 9, verse 10 through 13. See, Jesus came to save people like Cassie. See, Jesus came to save people like you, each and every one of you.

No matter where you are, no matter what you’ve done, Jesus came for you. And He wasn’t ashamed to go speak to people like you. He came up and was walking and He saw a man who was named Matthew.

He was a tax collector. If there was anybody who was despised more in Jewish society at that time, you wouldn’t find anybody higher on that list than a tax collector. He wasn’t a Gentile tax collector.

He was a Jewish tax collector. He would have been considered the highest traitor to His people. Traitor.

You know what Jesus did? Jesus walked up to him and says, Follow Me. Isn’t that amazing? He followed him. It said verse 10, chapter 9, verse 10, it says, Now it happened as Jesus sat at the table in the house.

He came over to Matthew’s house and he had all of his friends. And if you’re a tax collector, if you’re a traitor, you know what kind of friends you got? You got, no, you got lots of friends. They’re all tax collectors and sinners just like you.

Isn’t that true? Sinners hang out with sinners. Why is that? Birds of a feather flock together. You a sinner? A lot of sinners like enjoying being around sinners.

And one of the good things about being a sinner, hanging around with sinners is you don’t have anybody judging you. Saying, You a sorry, no good traitor. You a sorry, no good, whatever the name might be.

See, He stayed among His people. You know, we kind of see that same thing in our society now. We stay with our people.

We want to stay with our people. Those other people are traitors. Our people are good.

Jesus just pierced it. He said, I want you to follow me, and I’m coming to your house. It says, And it happened as Jesus sat at the table in the house.

Behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. Can you all see that picture? You got a bunch of rich tax collectors. People that Jesus, if He hadn’t been the Son of God, would have considered sinners.

But He saw them through the eyes of His Father, not through the eyes of a Pharisee. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? It’s a good question. Why are you spending your time, why are you wasting your time with them? Because we’re the folks you ought to be spending time with, Jesus.

Jesus heard that. Verse 12. When Jesus heard that, He said to them, Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick.

Go and learn what this means. I desire mercy. Some translations say compassion.

I desire mercy. I desire compassion and not sacrifice. I’m not interested in how much you’re going to give to me.

What I’m interested in is, Are you going to follow the Father who is a God of mercy and compassion? He says, For I didn’t call the righteous but sinners to repentance. I can’t think of a much more beautiful verse than that. Our God is a God of compassion.

And we become what we worship. And it is crucial for the church in this age, in this time, to restore the heart of compassion. Because it’s the heart of our Father.

And it was lived out as the heart of Jesus. Chapter 9, verse 36. Before we get there, Jesus, as soon as He’s given this teaching, He goes and restores a woman, His daughter, heals her.

There’s another woman who comes and touches Him, who gets healed. Two blind men are crying out for mercy, saying, Son of David, have mercy upon us. And you know what Jesus did? He had mercy on them.

He began to live and do the exact things He had just preached about. And He comes up to a man who was demon possessed and who could not speak, and He healed him. Verse 35, it says, Jesus went about all the cities and all the villages teaching in their synagogues, going to their houses of worship, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

Verse 36. But when He, when Jesus, when Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them. Because they were weary, they were harassed, they were scattered.

Like sheep that had no shepherd. What do we see? What do you see when you see them? You see them. There’s multitudes of them.

There really are, there are multitudes of them. And they’re different than you. They’re not sitting in a church pew.

They’re not coming to worship services. Because a lot of them wouldn’t feel welcome in a church. Because they’ve been beat on.

I’m going to tell you the truth, God knows, God knew then. These Pharisees were tough on those people. And they couldn’t see God because they could only see the representatives or those who claimed to be His representatives on earth.

And it completely veiled their eyes. And the devil uses that to blind people when we don’t represent who God really is. Our God’s a God of compassion.

Our Jesus is a Savior of great compassion. Let’s flip over to Matthew 14, 14. Several verses where it talks about Jesus being moved with compassion.

Verse 14 of chapter 14. Jesus had been teaching and He’s got almost 5,000 men who are now just following Him. This multitude of people who were not religious folks.

They followed Him all around. It says that when Jesus went out, He saw a great multitude. He saw them.

And He was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick. There have been times when I’ve been looking for God to do healings not because I was asking Him to show compassion but because we kind of thought that’s kind of what you get when you go to church. You get healings.

You get miracles. I’ll tell you, every miracle that Jesus did, every healing that He performed, every life that He touched, He did it out of the compassion of His Father because He did exactly what He saw His Father doing. And He only said the things that He heard His Father say.

Jesus was the living example of compassion and showing mercy to people who did not deserve it. And you know what they did? They glorified God for it. I believe we’re going to see more miracles when we come in asking God to show compassion.

Rather than just saying, God, we got somebody here. They need it. They deserve it.

God, she’s been a good woman. She needs a healing. And I believe in that.

I believe in praying for people and asking for healing. But I will tell you, Jesus used healing as His act of mercy and compassion that drew people to understand exactly who the Father was. Jesus didn’t have to do miracles to prove who He was.

He knew who He was. And He was the Son of God. But He asked us to be compassionate.

I want you to turn over to Luke 15. Jesus, once again, He’s talking to the Pharisees. He’s talking to religious people.

And they’re upset with Him. Luke 15. They’re upset with Him.

Why is He spending His time with Pharisees? I’m sorry, why is He spending His time with sinners? And He’s even eating with them. I mean, that’s the highest form of fellowship. He’s eating with sinners.

And the Pharisees and scribes did not understand. And so Jesus told the story. You’ve heard, I’m sure, many times the story of the prodigal son.

The son who asked for all of, kind of, his inheritance before his dad died. Pretty much, he’s saying, Dad, I wish you might as well be dead because I want all your stuff. Give me my share of your stuff.

And the father did it. And he went off to a far land and he wasted everything the father gave him. Probably partying and drinking and drugging.

The older brother says he was out spending his money on harlots. On prostitutes. And he finally came to himself where he had no more money.

There’s that country song, you got no more money, honey, I got no more time. And his friends were gone. And he was so down and debased that he had to go feed pigs.

And his pigs ate better than he did. And finally he said, I’ve got to go back to my father and just become a hired hand. I’ve just got to come be a servant.

He said, I’ll go to my father and tell him I’ve sinned and I’m not worthy to be your servant. Verse 20. He arose and he came to his father, but when he was still a great way away, his father saw him and had what? Compassion.

His father saw him and had compassion and ran to him and fell on his neck and he kissed him. Said, the one that’s lost has now been found. That’s our father.

He said, I’m sorry father, I’m not worthy. He says, bring the fatted calf, let’s have a party. Because what’s been lost has now been found.

What has been dead is now alive. What’s been lost is now found. But I’ll tell you, that’s the heart of our father.

That is the heart of Jesus. And he wants us to have that same heart. I want you to flip back over to Matthew 9. Because I stopped a little short.

Matthew 9, verse 37. Verse 37. When Jesus saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion.

How long has it been since you’ve been moved with compassion? It’s fine for us to talk about it. It’s fine for us to read about it. The question is, how long has it been since you’ve been moved with compassion? Not just feeling sorry for somebody.

Compassion is not only just feeling sorry for where they are. But you’ve taken steps to do something about it. See, Jesus was the answer to God’s compassion.

Because he brought Jesus as the solution for our problem. How long has it been since you’ve truly been moved with compassion? I can watch TV and see things that are on the news. And say, oh, isn’t that sad? Isn’t that bad? That’s not being moved with compassion.

Because when we’re moved with compassion, God calls us to move. Move means to what? To move! Right? If I told y’all to get up and move, y’all would probably get upset with me. I’d say, all you over here, you need to move over here.

And all of you over here, move over. And all you, just wait, change places. You know, probably most of you would look at me and say, I’m not going to do that.

Wouldn’t you? I like my chair. And you know, it feels kind of strange not to be sitting where I usually sit. Because I’m used to this point of view.

I’m used to this particular angle. And it’s a little unnerving when you’ve got to move. Go sit over there.

It’s like Sheldon on that TV show, this is my spot. This is my, this is Bubba’s spot. That’s his spot.

But I’m going to tell you what, God wants us to be moved with compassion. And when we move, we move. It’s uncomfortable to move.

Because you know what happens when you have to move? You’ve got to throw away a bunch of junk. There’s something to be said about those who move quite often. The people who move quite often don’t have as much junk in their garage.

Why? They got rid of it, they’ve got to leave it behind. God wants us to move. He wants you to move.

He wants you to get moved with compassion. Oh, to see through the eyes of God. I remember when I first got glasses.

I was in sixth grade. Y’all will see me with glasses sometime, I wear contacts on Sunday. But I need glasses to see.

I was just amazed. The things that I’d been missing. I saw individually blades of grass.

That used to just be kind of a green area. I could see pine needles up in pine trees. I didn’t even know they looked like that.

The world took on a new meaning. And a new excitement. And a crispness of what I’d been missing.

I’ll tell you, God wants you to learn to look through his eyes. Corrected eyes that see people. That see people through his eyes of compassion.

To see through his eyes. Shouldn’t that be our prayer? God, give me the eyes to see what you see. That rude person you just ran into.

You just said some ugly things about. You have no idea what they’ve just gone through. You know, hurting people hurt people.

When I look at them through David’s eyes, I think they’re a jerk. They’re ugly, they’re rude. They don’t know any better.

Look at them through God’s eyes. Man, you have no idea what kind of family life they had. You have no idea what somebody just said to them 30 minutes earlier.

You have no idea what I’m going to do in their life. Because my spirit is not through drawing them yet. Oh, to see through the eyes of Jesus.

It says, Jesus, when he saw the multitudes, chapter 9. Put that up again, chapter 9, verse 36. But when he saw the multitudes. I mean, he saw them.

He saw the multitudes. You know, it’s so easy when you see the multitude. The people who you don’t want to interact with.

What do you do? I walk right by them. You ignore them. You surely don’t want to make eye contact with them.

It says, he was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and they were scattered. He saw exactly where they were and what they were and what has happened to them. And he knew their condition.

He said they were like sheep who have no shepherd. Sheep need a shepherd. Because sheep are dumb animals.

And sheep will do dumb things. You know what? I do my fair of dumb things too. How about you? And I need a shepherd.

Because a shepherd takes care of their sheep. They help take them where they need to be. They give them the water that they need.

They protect them from the wolves. They protect them from the harm. They do because they’re the shepherd.

They’re looking after them. That’s what Jesus saw. He looked and he saw these people who were scattered.

It says, bless their hearts. I wish he would have said that. That would have been neat, wouldn’t it? If he just said, Jesus said, bless their hearts.

But it said here, he said he turned to his disciples and said, the harvest truly is plentiful. But the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

He’s talking to you and he’s talking to me. He’s saying, well, you start seeing these people the way that I see them because there’s work to be done. There are wounds that need to be healed.

There are hearts that need to be mended. There are people who need to be lifted out of addiction. There’s somebody out there who needs a friend.

There’s somebody out there who just needs a hug. There’s somebody out there who needs the compassion of Jesus to be shown to them so they will know exactly who God really is. And he’s asking for us.

And we’re going to pray for that. That God will send… It’s fine, God, send them, just don’t send me. Yeah, God, I want you to send somebody.

Won’t you send somebody to help the man? But you know, I’m a little busy today. Well, be real honest. We get so busy sometimes we don’t see the multitude.

And we’re surely not moved with compassion for them. And I’m going to tell you what a spirit-filled church looks like. And a spirit-filled church is one that is moved with compassion for people because it’s the heart of our Father and it’s the heart of our Son, His Son, Jesus Christ.

It’s because the Spirit operates through you and has given you instructions of where you need to be, who you need to call, what you need to do. I’ll tell you, God will prompt you to call somebody. And it will be just exactly what they need to hear right then.

Have you all ever done that before? Out of the blue, God just puts somebody on your heart and you call them and you reach out to them and God does something right then. And if you hadn’t called, you know what? You would have missed it. And so would they.

So we start glorifying God because there’s a harvest that’s plenty. See, the Spirit of God is working on all these people. He’s working on us.

And my hope and my prayer, my hope and my prayer is that God will give us Jesus’ glasses. And I don’t see one of them. I see somebody who God wants as His child.

Oh yeah, they may be living wrong. They may be doing wrong. They may be speaking wrong.

They may be writing wrong. They may be acting wrong. And you would say they’re just filled with the devil.

Well, that’s right. But a God of compassion sends a son of compassion who goes and casts out devils. The influence of the church is to place the love of Christ in their hearts and drive the devil out.

Do you want to be moved with compassion? Really? Because it’s going to mean some changes in your life. I love that song, I’m Available. Do you know what it’s going to say? It says, You pray that God’s going to… It’s just like praying for patience, you know.

You pray for patience, what’s going to happen? Everything seems to go wrong, right? Because God’s trying to teach you something. I’m going to tell you, you start praying for God to move you with compassion. You know what He’s going to do? He’s going to put people in your path.

He’s going to put people in your path. And you know what? He’s going to want you to be available. Are you willing to be available? There’s a lot of you who are available.

Call 24-7. And I’m thankful that God does that. But I believe He’s going to change this church because we begin to see through the eyes of compassion.

And that God’s going to use you to touch someone who is wounded, who’s hurt, and whose life needs to be changed. You may be one of those people today. You’re hurting.

You’re saying, I heard what Cassie said, but I don’t think God would ever do that for me. What would you tell Him? Yes, He can. That’s exactly what you’d say.

I don’t know where you are. I wish I could speak with each and every one of you individually of where you are in your walk with God right now. I venture to say there are people in here who are wounded right now.

And I’m praying for those of you who are feeling well that God would reveal to you somebody you need to speak with today before they leave. Just grab them by the arm and let them know that God loves them. That’s why we come together.

I want us to spend this song… Where’s Dallas? Dallas around? Come play a song here. I want us to take this little time of praying together that God would heal your heart. See, I’ve got a lot of things wrong with me.

The only time the mercy of God doesn’t extend to you is when you say, I don’t have anything wrong with me. Okay, well, next. Is there somebody here who does have something wrong with them? I do.

We’re going to be honest. I’m going to tell you what. When we’re willing to say, God, there’s still something wrong with me, the compassion of God will never, never, never, never fail you.

But if you say, I’m fine. I’m good. Nothing wrong with me.

Jesus says, I didn’t come to call you to repentance. You think you’re fine. But you’re not.

Y’all stand, would you? I would like for those who want to just come before the Father and just say, Father, I just thank you for your mercy and for your goodness. I thank you, but Father, give me eyes to see. And we’re going to pray.

And we’re going to pray for those who need some healings today. And we’ll be through. Bless you.