Sermon Tone Analysis

COMPASSION 5

GOD'S FEELINGS CAN TURN NEGATIVE

(cmpas5.doc)

*THE LAMB AND THE LION*

 

        In his book Discover Yourself in the Psalms, Warren Wiersbe recalls a story told by an evangelist he heard many years ago.

It went like this:  "In a frontier town, a horse bolted and ran away with a wagon that had a little child in it.

Seeing that the child was in danger, a young man risked his life to catch the horse and stop it.

The child who was rescued grew up to become a lawless man, and one day he stood before a judge to be sentenced for a serious crime.

The prisoner recognized the judge as the man who, years before, had saved his life, so he pled for mercy on the basis of that experience.

But the words from the bench silenced all his pleas:  `Young man, then I was your savior; today I am your judge, and I must sentence you to be hanged.'"

Jesus stands now, with arms outstretched, as the compassionate Savior of the world, but one day He will be the Judge of all the earth.

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

We are presently studying the magnificent compassion of God.

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

We are presently looking at all the Scriptures where the Hebrew word /racham/ (raw-kham'), 7355, is translated "compassion" in relationship to God.  *Today we shall complete our study of this particular Hebrew word*.

After observation and interpretation, I drew from these Scriptures various propositional statements or principles.

The particular principle that we have been working on is

 

*Principle #1:*  Jehovah God, as to His nature, is love.

He consistently demonstrates His love by being compassionate.

Well, believe it or not, in our last message we completed our concentrated study of the Scriptures that led to that principle.

We are now moving on to a new set of Scriptures.

We are still looking at the same Hebrew word /racham/ (raw-kham'), 7355, but we will now take up the six times that the word is used with respect to the fact that God's compassion does run out!

Yes, God's feelings can turn negative.

\\         My study of these Scriptures led to a new propositional statement or principle:

 

*Principle #2:*  Jehovah God, as to His nature, is love.

He consistently demonstrates His love by being compassionate.

But God does have self-imposed limits and boundaries.

These limits and boundaries have to do with how we handle sin in our lives.

His compassion can run out due to high-handed and unrepented of sin.

This running out of His compassion seems to be temporal, with respect to Israel, and not eternal.

He sets conditions for restoration to His temporal compassion, but seems to state that in the final analysis His immanent lovingkindness and transitive compassion will be eternally bestowed upon Israel.

We have been working towards the formal stating of this proposition all along, as we studied the first set of Scriptures.

Now we have stated it formally.

/(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.

Let's begin the study of this new principle with:)/

 

Isaiah 27:11, "When its limbs are dry, they are broken off; Women come /and/ make a fire with them.

For they are not a people of discernment, Therefore their Maker will not have *compassion* on them.

And their Creator will not be gracious to them."

*Observation 2.1:*  Isaiah, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is prophesying about Israel.

The previous Scripture states that Israel would lie down and feed on its own branches.

Here we see that Israel's branches would be dry and would be broken off.

Then women would come and make fire with them.

The interpretation and application of this particular metaphor entails more than I really want to get into now!

Let it suffice to say that this is a picture of God's judgment upon Israel!

Some of her people would be broken off and scattered throughout the Gentile nations.

He described Israel, in the process, as a nation that lacked discernment.

During this time God would not be demonstrating His compassion or grace towards Israel.

A lack of discernment, with respect to sin, short circuits or restrains the compassion of Jehovah God.

This is something that is very important for us to understand.

God's temporal compassion does run out!

We can sin with a high hand or sin to such an extent that He will no longer be inclined to express His temporal compassion towards us.

This is called the sin unto death!

 

1 John 5:16, "If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not /leading/ to death, he shall ask and /God/ will for him give life to those who commit sin not /leading/ to death.

There is a sin /leading/ to death; I do not say that he should make request for this."

Of course this person does not lose his salvation.

According to Paul in 1 Corinthians 5:5, this person's flesh would be destroyed but his spirit would be saved in the day of the Lord!

This is because, as we have already studied, God's temporal compassion is the relative, transitive, temporal demonstration of His absolute, intransitive eternal loving kindness.

With respect to the passage of Scripture before us, perhaps Paul is commenting on this passage of Scripture in

 

Romans 11:17-18,24, "But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, /remember/ that it is not you who supports the root, but the root /supports/ you.

For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more shall these who are the natural /branches/ be grafted into their own olive tree?"

Here, once again, we have it confirmed that God is not through with Israel.

God's love and absolute compassion towards Israel are unconditional and eternal.

That is simply remarkable!

But remember:  His temporal demonstration of His compassion is conditional!

It behooves us then to cultivate Biblical and Spiritual discernment with respect to sin, so that we don't cut off the temporal compassion of God in our lives!!!

 

Hebrews 5:14, "But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil."

I can tell as I talk to many of us, that we need practice.

We have yet to fully learn the difference between good and evil, i.e. good and evil attitudes, good and evil thought patterns, good and evil habits, good and evil people, etc.

This was graphically illustrated to me in the book /What Americans Believe/.

The book is a 1991 survey including the opinions of 1,005 adults randomly chosen from across the nation.

The geodemographic profile of the people interviewed very closely reflects that of the population at-large.[1]

In this survey, the majority of Americans strongly believe the notion "God helps those who help themselves.

Blacks are more likely to agree strongly with this philosophy than whites.[2]

Blacks, in particular, are likely to believe strongly that the Bible says God helps those who help themselves.[3]

/(This is sad,but it get's even sadder.)/

Most people (56%) strongly agree with the statement "Every person has the power to determine his or her own destiny in life."

The overall agreement with this statement ought to raise concerns among Christian leaders concerning the underlying philosophy of believers.

Self-determination is one of the guiding principles of the New Age Movement.

It is possible to argue that believers would respond affirmatively to this statement because they believe that through the acceptance of Christ as their Savior they have the power to determine their eternal destiny.

However, other research has underscored the reality that most Christians are susceptible to embracing perspectives championed by religions which are antithetical to the Christian faith.

The facts drawn from this study must challenge us to consider the possibility that many Christians have unwittingly embraced elements of the philosophy of the popularized religions of our society.[4]

/(That is sadder, but this is the saddest!)/

 

        One-third of all adults strongly agree that Satan is merely symbolic of evil, but does not exist as a true presence.

Overall, three out of five adults are inclined to disbelieve in the existence of Satan.

Only one in four adults strongly disagreed that Satan is symbolic rather than real.

Even Christians and adults associated with Evangelical churches are divided on the real existence of Satan.[5]

Can you see why many of us are not experiencing the full compassion of God.

We have no discernement concerning good and evil!!!

 

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

Jeremiah 13:14, "`And I will dash them against each other, both the fathers and the sons together,' declares the Lord.

`I will not show pity nor be sorry nor have *compassion* that I should not destroy them.'"

This is in line with observation 2.1.

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

Jeremiah 21:7, "`Then afterwards,' declares the Lord, `I shall give over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people, even those who survive in this city from the pestilence, the sword, and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their foes, and into the hand of those who seek their lives; and he will strike them down with the edge of the sword.

He will not spare them nor have pity nor *compassion*.'"

This is in line with observation 2.1.

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

Hosea 1:6, "Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter.

And the Lord said to him, `Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have *compassion* on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them.'"

*Observation 2.2:*  What an important Scripture.