Sermon Tone Analysis

COMPASSION 10

JEHOVAH GOD IS ESPECIALLY COMPASSIONATE

TOWARDS THOSE WHO DELIGHT IN HIS WORD

(cmpas10.doc)

*LOVE'S GREAT SACRIFICE*

 

        The home of an English family was discovered on fire.

The neighbors thought that everybody was out, but the baby was still on the second floor.

The mother, motivated by her motherly love and instincts, ran back into the house and saved her baby.

For years as the child grew up the mother went about the house with her hands covered.

No one in her house had ever seen her with her hands uncovered.

But one day, the daughter barged unexpected into her room.

There sat the mother with her hands uncovered.

They were torn, scarred and disfigured.

Instantly the mother tried to cover them up, but it was too late.

Knowing that her daughter would want to know what happened, she murmurred, "I had better tell you about it.

It was when the house was on fire and you were in your cradle.

I fought my way through the flames to get you.

I wrapped you in a blanket and dropped you out of the window to someone below.

I could not go down the stairway, because it was blocked by the fire.

So, I climbed out of the window onto the roof looking for a way of escape.

In fighting through the fire my hands were burned and, as I looked for a way down, I slipped and had to catch onto the metal trellis work.

When I fell, my hands were torn.

The doctor did his best, but, my dear, /these hands were torn for you/."

And the girl, who had grown to womanhood, sprang toward her mother, took one hand and then the other, and buried her face in those hands, and as she wept she kept saying, "They are beautiful hands, beautiful hands."

What love and compassion this mother demonstrated towards her daughter!

What love and compassion Jesus Christ demonstrated towards us when He died on the cross that we might be saved!!!  We are presently studing that love and compassion.

This is study number ten in our series on the biblical doctrine of compassion.

We have reached double figures.

We are presently studying the magnificent compassion of God.

Nine messages ago we embarked on a long expedition through the uses of various Hebrew and Greek words translated "compassion," "compassions," and  "compassionate."

We have surveyed all the Scriptures where the Hebrew word /racham/ (raw-kham'), 7355, is translated "compassion," "compassions," or "compassionate," in relationship to God.

We are now working on the second most commonly used Hebrew word that is translated "compassion," "compassions," and "compassionate."

That word is /racham/ (rakh'-am), 7356.

We will complete our study of this word today.

\\         After reviewing the Scriptures where the word /racham/ (rakh'-am), 7356, is used, I could see:

 

*Principle #3:*  Jehovah God, as to His nature is love, He demonstrates His love by consistently being compassionate.

In certain instances His compassion is depicted as a Motherly feeling towards His children.

/(As we look at how each of these principles concerning God's compassion is represented in the Scripture, we have been making specific observations in each individual passage of Scripture.

Although these observations will, in many cases, include an observation, an interpretation and an application, for the sake of brevity we have been calling these statements "observations".

We have been numbering them with a double number.

The first number indicates the principle that is being applied and the second number indicates the particular observation with respect to that principle.

Let's continue our present study with:)/

 

 

Psalm 119:77, "May Thy *compassion* come to me that I may live, For Thy law is my delight."

*Observation 3.20:*  The 119th Psalm is an acrostic hymn of praise about the Scriptures, i.e. the Word of God.

Each stanza begins with the succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

In this acrostic hymn of praise about the Scriptures, David prays to God for His compassion in the midst of some kind of danger.

He seems to be appealing to God for His compassion on the basis of His delight in the law or Word of God.

We have already observed and learned that God's compassion is a demonstration of His absolute, intransitive, eternal lovingkindness.

We have observed that there appears to be an eternal compassion and a temporal compassion which flow from His eternal lovingkindness.

We know that His eternal lovingkindness and compassion are unconditional and cannot be affected by man, but we have also observed that the temporal, transitive, relative, compassion of God is conditional and can be affected by man.

One condition that we have already observed is how man deals with sin.

We can infer from the words of David that God is also predisposed to manifest His temporal compassion towards His children who delight in the law of God!

        We can see that this was true in the Old Testament, but it is equally as true in the New Testament.

John 14:23, "Jesus answered and said to him, `If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word; and My Father will love him and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him."

If you want to experience God's love and compassion, you must delight in, i.e. read, study, memorize, meditate on and obey God's Word!!!  The written, living, Word of God is so important to knowing and having a relationship with the living, personal Word of God, Jesus Christ!

 

/(Let's move on to the next Scripture.)/

Isaiah 54:7, "For a brief moment I forsook you, But with great *compassion* I will gather you."

*Observation 3.21:*

Here is a promise, From Jehovah God, that He will gather Israel from her dispersion among the nations with great compassion.

We have already covered the interpretation and the application, but it bears repeating.

We covered this interpretation and application way back in

 

*Observation 1.13:*  God's anger and its demonstration, i.e.

His forsaking of Israel, the hiding of His face from Israel, etc., is momentary, but His lovingkindness /(hesed)/ and its ultimate demonstration, compassion, is everlasting.

This is stated again in the next verse

 

Isaiah 54:8, "`In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have *compassion* on you,' Says the Lord your Redeemer."

and in

 

Psalm 30:5, "For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy /comes/ in the morning."

If you have ever experienced the anger of God it will seem like an eternity, but it is only momentary.

Joy, lovingkindness and compassion will be everlasting.

Try to remember that?

To those of us who are His children through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, these promises to Israel only remind us of His promise to us

 

Hebrews 13:5, "Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, `I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you."

 

2 Corinthians 4:17-18, "For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

\\ I know that the trial or affliction that you are facing does not seem momentary and light at the time.

Eternity can seem to be captured in the moment of some experiences, but when weighed against the eternal weight of glory they will seem insignificant!

 

 

*THE LOVE THAT DISCIPLINES*

 

        All of us would rather enjoy life's blessings than face its trials.

Yet both are part of our lives, and our heavenly Father knows exactly how much of each is appropriate for us.

Everything He allows into our lives comes from His heart of love.

Here is how one writer has described the balance between mercy and discipline.

"The Christian life is like the dial of a clock.

The hands are God's hands, passing over and over again--the short hand of discipline and the long hand of mercy.

Slowly and surely the hand of discipline must pass, and God speaks at each stroke.

But over and over passes the hand of mercy, showering down a twelvefold blessing for each stroke of discipline and trial.

Both hands are fastened to one secure pivot:  the great unchanging heart of our God of love."

Perhaps this is what Paul is teaching in

 

2 Timothy 2:11-13, "It is a trustworthy statement:  For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him; If we endure, we shall also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself.'"

Perhaps Jesus denies us, i.e.

Christians, in anger by allowing us to suffer some of the consequences of our sinful ways, but if we are faithless, He remains faithful:  He cannot deny Himself.

He cannot deny His nature!

He cannot deny His steadfast covenant love!!!

        God is teaching me a great deal about boundaries right now.

Bonding and boundaries go together.

God bonds us to Himself in lovingkindness, but He is able to bond us to Himself because He knows who He is.

He knows the difference between Him and you.

He knows the difference between Himself and His creation.

This is why God perpetually declares who He is by declaring His boundaries.

We are learning the nature of God, i.e. the very personality of God by looking at His boundaries.

His boundaries are declared by what He likes and dislikes, what He chooses and rejects, what He feels, what He thinks, what He wants, what His attributes are, etc.

He says through all of these things:  "This is Me and This is not Me!"  So, you can understand better now the reason for this series.