Amen, so in Romans chapter 14, I'm gonna focus in on verse 7 there. It says,
For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. And that verse kind
of, you got to kind of think about what it's trying to say there in the context,
and I hope that I have it right, where he's basically kind of saying, hey, you
know, everything that we're doing, we're doing for the Lord, basically. You know,
everything that we do, whether we're eating or not drinking, whether we're
eating or not eating, whether we're guarding the day or not regarding the
day, everything that we're doing is for Christ. It reminds me of what Paul said.
He said, For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. He's saying, None of us live
to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we love unto the
Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live therefore or die, we
are the Lord's. And of course, he ends by saying, you know, whatsoever is not of
faith is of sin. Whatever is not of faith is sin, right? But if you notice also in
the context, he kind of, he's kind of getting that across that, hey, everything
that we're doing is for the Lord's sake, but he's also kind of using it to kind
of temper our interpersonal, you know, relationships in a way, because he's
bringing up verse four, Who art thou that judgest, you know, another man's
servant? And he says again, verse 10, But why dost thou judge thy brother? He's
saying, you know, we should be conducting in ourselves in a way because of the
fact that everything that we're doing is for Christ, everything, our whole life is
wrapped up in Christ, but specifically, you know, at least what I'm gonna take
the broader principle out of this passage is that, you know, we need to
make sure that we're conducting ourselves with one another and the
people around us, you know, in a in a in a good way, you know, that that we
shouldn't just be, you know, living in our own world. That's the title of the
sermon tonight. We should just be people who just kind of live in our own world
and not really think that, you know, what we do matters or what we do or the way
we behave or conduct ourselves doesn't have consequences because it does. You
know, the things that we say and the things that we do and the way we carry
ourselves, you know, they have an impact on those around us and and people in
the world. And this is important because of the fact that today, you know, we're
living in a day when when so many people are becoming so socially inept, they
don't even understand, like sometimes just the most basic things of, you know,
of having manners and common courtesy and things like that. And that's really
all I'm gonna talk about tonight is just being courteous, being kind and
being compassionate. But these are things that are kind of getting
forgotten of about in the world. You know, I was I'm not going to bore you
to death with any articles, but I read a few articles when I was writing a
sermon about, you know, how today so many even just Millennials, which are
people I'm kind of on that cusp, you know, 1980. So I can say, well, I'm
technically a Gen Xer, you know, I'm not one of these Millennials, right? But I
realize it's like December, you know, I was like, oh, just a matter of weeks
away from being a Gen Xer. So you know, I'm probably one of you. But, you know,
even the Gen Xers for people who are already in their 40s, you know, they've
done surveys where they're saying, hey, it's really hard for us to, you know,
have just normal face to face interactions with people. And I can't
imagine that's getting any better, you know, in the day and age that we're
living in now where we have generations that are coming up that are doing
everything online, they're having all of their relationships online. I mean,
you know, I'm at least from that generation where, you know, you had to
like, go to your friend's house and knock on the door. You know, if you
talk to him, like there was no internet, you know, there was a phone you had to
and you had to pick up the phone to see who it was, you know, you had to
actually say hello, to find out who it was that was calling you, you know,
there was no backing out. Remember, I mean, caller ID came along, everyone
was like, dude, check it out. You can ignore people now, right? But, you
know, that's the that's the world we're living in where people are just
becoming more and more isolated, more and more secluded, you know, through
technology. And it's not that I'm against technology or anything like
that. But it's, it's this double edged sword that we have to just, you
know, not be ignorant of the fact that there are, you know, there's a
there's a negative side to all this technology. It's obviously a great,
powerful tool. But isn't it ironic in a time where, you know, avenues of
communication have never been broader, have never been more open, that
people are finding themselves more isolated and having more difficulty in
how they interact with another person in the flesh. It's kind of ironic
when you think about it. So I'm kind of using verse seven, you know, and
hopefully not tearing it completely out of context, but this evening, but
it's saying there that, you know, none of us liveth to himself, and no man
dieth to himself. And it reminds me of that phrase, I don't know who said
it or where it's from. But basically, that no man is an island unto
himself, you know, we think we can't just think that our lives don't have
an impact on other people, that the things that we do, the things that we
say don't impact those around us, you know, they do. So I'm just going to
have a couple just quick three points tonight, about being courteous, about
being kind about being compassionate, you know, and just this understanding
that the way we conduct ourselves does not does not exist in a vacuum. Okay, no
man liveth unto himself, no man dieth unto himself. If you want to keep
something in Romans, we'll come back later. But go to First Peter three,
we're going to be in First Peter three a couple times tonight as well. So if
you want to keep a bookmark there, my first point tonight, when it comes to
this idea of not living in your own world, you know, not being somebody who
just has kind of isolated themselves or just, you know, doesn't think that the
way that they conduct themselves around other people matters. My first point is
this is that we need to learn to be courteous people. Like this is something
that's going way out of style. I mean, just common courtesy. You know, it's
shocking to me when you come across it. It's shocking to me when you see a
young person be courteous. I mean, I remember a few weeks ago, I was at a
store I was I think we had ordered pizza and I was waiting for the pizza
to be given to me over the counter and I finally got it. And there was this
young guy, this kid probably in his teen years. And he when he I turned
around the pizza, he stood up and went over and opened the door and held it
open for me and called me sir. And first I just felt really old. But then I was
like, wow, and you know, and it also reminded me to not just, you know, judge
people quickly by, you know, the exterior because he was, you know, he
looked kind of kind of rough, you know, he's kind of sagging the pants and he
had the piercings and the the hairdo that they're all doing. And it was kind
of, it was just kind of shocking, you know, but there's a reason why that was
shocking. You know, it's because that's typically that's not something you find
a lot, you know, that's something that's kind of gone by the wayside. And really
courtesy, just common courtesy, just being polite, being respectful and being
considerate. You know, this is really just kind of like base baseline. Like we
need to get this down first before we move on to the other points. And the
Bible commands us to be courteous. If you look there in First Peter chapter number
three, verse eight, he says, finally be of all of one mind, having compassion one
another, love his brethren, be pitiful, be courteous. You know, we should be pitiful,
not meaning that we should be, you know, pitiful creatures or something like that,
but we should have pity on other people. You know, we shouldn't be quick to just
cut people down or, or, you know, throw things in their face. But, you know, we
should be pitiful, you know, we try to be understanding of where people are coming
from, understanding that people have struggles, people have difficulties,
people are going through things, you know, we should show pity to them. That's part
of loving his brethren. You know, if we're gonna be a church that has unity, a
church that when people come here, they, they, they can feel the love, right? They
can come in here and say, this is a loving place, I feel that, you know, this
is a place I'd be accepted, I could grow, and that the people care about me. You
know, if we have to, if we're gonna love his brethren, we're gonna have to have
pity one of another. We're gonna have to be courteous. You know, we're gonna have
to be polite and respectful and considerate of one another. And we're
pretty good about this around here. I think that this is something we've got
down. People are very polite, people can be very respectful, and obviously
considerate. I'm gonna break those three points down real quick within, you know,
these greater points of being courteous, kind, and compassionate. So
don't get all the points confused tonight, I'll try to help you. But
basically, when it comes to being courteous, you know, that's kind of the
definition to be polite, respectful, considerate. Let's look at each one of
those real quick. If you would, go over to Philippians chapter number four.
Philippians chapter number four. The first thing, if you want to consider
yourself a courteous person, is that you have to be a polite person. You know, if
you're not, because people care about how they're treated. Whether
they act like it or not. Whether or not people will let on that it
bothers them or not. People care about how they're treated. They care about
whether or not you treat them coldly, whether or not you treat them warmly. It
affects people. Again, no man liveth unto himself, no man dieth unto himself. We
are not an island unto ourselves. You know, we affect those around us, okay. We
don't want to throw a stumbling block in the way of our brother. But
basically, when it comes to this idea of being courteous, we want to make sure
that we're polite, okay. It says there in Philippians chapter number four, verse 21,
salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet you. And
that salute, you know, it's basically, it's not talking about, you know, standing at
attention and saluting, right. But it basically, it's like a salutation, like a
greeting, like saying hello. You know, acknowledging people when they come.
Acknowledging people when they enter the room when they first arrive and
acknowledging the presence of other people. And this is something that, you
know, if we're not careful, we can get away from. You know, you could find
yourself getting wrapped up in your own thoughts. And I understand it happens. But
if we're not careful, you know, we might end up just ignoring somebody. Maybe even
unintentionally. But people can take that the wrong way, can't they? So we got to be
careful about that. And then notice it's salute every saint in Christ Jesus. You
know, everybody, because, you know, there's another passage we could go to in Hebrews
13. I won't take us there. But it says salute all them that have the rule
over you. Like we would never imagine just ignoring, you know, those that are
in authority. I'd never imagine, you know, giving a cold shoulder to somebody, you
know, who warrants a certain level of respect just because of the position
that they're in, right. Just as a leader, right. But, you know, the Bible says
salute every saint in Christ Jesus. You know, whoever it is that walks through
that door, they deserve to be greeted and saluted and said hello to. They need to
be asked their name, you know. And obviously we don't get carried away, you
know. We want to be courteous and kind. We also don't want to, you know, badger people,
you know. And I think we're really good about this. And perfectly honest, not
every church is as good as this as we are, I don't think. Some people can really
get, you know, a visitor shows up and it's just like we're all over them, you know.
We're gonna find out everything that they believe about every single doctrine
before they even sit down and get the church service started. Save that for
afterwards, you know. We'll get to that, you know. We'll get to people.
We'll help them in these areas and over time, you know, the most important
thing people need to feel when they walk through these doors is welcome, you know.
And I'm preaching this because, you know, I do have some plans. There's some things
I want to do in over the summer months and even leading up to Easter, you know. I
want to really start working on bringing people into church and really working
and trying to get visitors to come to church. And I want to kind of make sure
we're maintaining this idea or this standard that we have of treating our
visitors well. Because here's the thing, you know, the people that come and visit,
those are the people that we really need to make sure we're treating well and
following up on, you know. A lot of times we will have all these other
ideas about what we can do, you know, to people that we get one to the Lord and
I'm all for follow-up. I'm all for all those type of things and discipleship
and things like that. But when somebody's actually taking the time to walk through
the door, I mean, that's like, you know, that's who we need to make sure we're on
our game. We need to make sure that we're, you know, finding out who they are and
getting some information. And I've got other plans, you know, for that.
But broadly speaking, to apply to everybody in the church, let's just make
sure we're polite. You know, not just to the visitors but also to one
another. Because that's another thing that can kind of go by the wayside,
isn't it? We can say, well, I've seen you. You'll be there every
Sunday and we can start to take people for granted. And we can start to take for
granted that the people that come here, we don't want to do that. We want to make
sure that we're polite, that we're respectful, and that we're considerate,
that we're saluting every saint, and that we're being not just polite but also
respectful, okay? And this is maybe a little bit harder to do, isn't it? It can
be a little bit more difficult to be respectful sometimes. And if you would, go
over back to Romans chapter number 12. Because, I mean, being polite, you know, I
understand there's some people that might struggle with that, but that's
really, you know, things that you're just kind of taught growing up. You know, say
hello, shake the hand, look them in the eye, speak up. That's pretty basic. That's
a very simple just, you know, things that kids get taught, okay? And hopefully we
have that as adults. You know, having respect or what I believe the Bible
would refer to as having honor for somebody, you know, that might be a little
bit more difficult to maintain. That might come out if it's, you know, if we're,
you know, we've got, we have to be, we can't be disingenuous with that. I mean,
being polite, that's just kind of formality, isn't it? Being polite to
somebody and just saying hello and shaking their hand and being nice, I mean,
that's just kind of a formality that you would extend to a lot of people. But, you
know, when it comes to this idea of being respectful, you actually have to respect
that person. You can, you know, you actually have to feel that in your heart.
That has to be, that has to be something that, it can't be disingenuous. It has to
be real. It has to be genuine. That's something we need to, we need to work on
too. The Bible says in Romans chapter 12, look at verse 9, let love be without
dissimulation. Meaning, you know, don't let it be fake. Don't let it be simulated.
Don't be let it without dissimulation. Abort that which is evil. Cleave that
which is good. Be kindly affectionate once another with brotherly love in
honor, preferring one another. You know, we should be respectful. We should be
honoring one another. We should be, you know, not just respecting those like our
father and our mother as we're commanded in Ephesians chapter 6, but every saint,
everyone, you know, everybody that comes here deserves to be respected. You know,
need deserves to be treated well and treated politely and be made to feel
welcome. Lastly, on just this point of being courteous, you know, we're talking
about what is it, so what does it mean to be courteous, right? It means that you're
gonna have some, just be polite, you're just gonna have those basic manners. You
know, you're just gonna be able to just say hello and shake hands and greet
people. You know, also being part of being courteous is being respectful, right? But
also it's being considerate and this is one maybe that is more applicable to the
sermon. Maybe kind of fits in the theme of the sermon of not living in your own
world, okay? Because being considerate, you know, that's more like, you know, your
actions, the things that you're gonna do, okay? It involves more of a
consideration of your actions rather than just your words. And it's
easy to just kind of smile and say hello and do that and kind of get that
formality out of the way, but then when it comes to being considerate, you know,
we have to consider, you know, the way we conduct ourselves. What is that gonna do
to other people? Maybe it's not our words or the things we say, but maybe it's
something that we're doing that is upsetting somebody. Maybe it's something
that we're doing that is showing a lack of respect. Maybe it's something that
we're doing that would be considered uncourteous. If you would, go
over to Titus chapter number three. Titus chapter number three. Of course, you know,
one of the first passages that came to mind when I'm thinking about this idea of
being considerate, you know, you know, the idea of your actions rather than your
words making an impression on somebody is obviously the golden rule, right? We've
all probably heard the golden rule. Whatever you want people to do to you, do
to them. You know, that's kind of the golden rule. Well, that's biblical.
Jesus said, and as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them
likewise. You know, and that's a filter that we need to get screwed on.
That's a filter we need to think, you know, have on our attached to our minds
and allow to go through our thought process before we say or do things
sometimes. And I understand everyone's filter can get a little loose
sometimes, but sometimes we just need to tighten that up a little bit and think
about if I were in their shoes, if I were this person, would I want to hear what
I'm about to say? If I were this person, would I want to be treated in the way
I'm about to treat them? You know, that's a really good practice to stay in.
But again, that's what it means to be considerate. You have to think about
other people more than yourself. You know, it's not just the formality of being
polite. It's not just the formality of being nice, but you actually have to
think about how your actions, the things that you do, the decisions that you make
are going to affect other people around you. As you would that men should do to
you, do you also to them. Jesus said in Matthew seven, therefore all things
whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you even so to them for this
is the law and the prophets. You know, that's the law is basically, you know,
what helps me and you get along. That's something I'll say out soul winning a
lot of times, right? Because people say things like, Hey, I got, I'm gonna go to
heaven because I, I keep the commandments. You know, I don't want to
cut people down and be like, that's not good enough. You know, obviously we all
know it's not, but sometimes I'll say, Hey, you know, that's a good thing to do,
isn't it? To love your neighbor as yourself, you know, to treat others as
you want to be treated. The law is there to help me and you get along. You know,
it's, it's the key to help us maintain a civil society. It's not there to get us
to heaven. Now, if we could keep the whole law, obviously, yeah, we could go to heaven,
but we all know we fall short. But that's what Jesus is saying there in Matthew
seven. He's saying, look, all things whatsoever you would that men should do
to you, do you even so to them. This is the law. I mean, the law really is the
golden rule. That's the, if you want to just sum up the law, you know, it's
love thy neighbor as thyself. That's the second great commandment, right? That's
the second one is like unto the first thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second is like unto it thou shalt love
thy neighbor and thyself. Upon this hang all the law and the prophets. That's what
Jesus said. So it's a pretty big deal to, to, to, to think that the way we treat
other people is the summation of the law. Everything that's been written there, all
those commandments, you know, it's get us to love the Lord our God and to love our
neighbors as ourself. This is a big part about, of being courteous and not living
in your own world, is to be considerate of other people, not just the things that
you say and do, rather how the same things you say and do affect other
people, the decisions that you make, okay? If you're there in Titus chapter three,
look at verse one, put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to
obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work. Now, you know, that's why I'm
preaching this because it says right there, put them in mind, remind them, right,
to do these things. Verse two, to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but
gentle, showing all meekness unto all men. You know, we should be meek towards other
people, we should be gentle towards other people. Why? Because that's how we like to
be treated. We like to be treated nicely. You know, whether we admit it or not,
whether we want to put out some kind of tough, gruff exterior and, you know, we
don't care about what people think of us, yes we do. It's a fact. Everyone wants to
be treated well. You know, and if we want to be treated well, you know, then we need
to learn to treat other people well, okay? That's just part of common courtesy. You
know, it's not just being polite, being respectful, but it's also being
considerate. That's really the more difficult of the three. Let's move on to
our next point of, you know, how to not just live in your own world. Again, because
we have a world today where people, they're just living in their own world. We
see it all the time. You know, I'm trying really hard not to go through a litany
of examples of this, you know, in relation to traffic and driving, right? I
mean, traffic, you know, maybe I should have been a sociologist, I don't know, but
I just observe human behavior, right? And it's so funny the way people are when
they drive, right? All the rules kind of go out the window, you know, the way, and
you could see who's courteous and who's not. And it's not, I don't know what it is
about when people get behind that wheel and turn that engine on, or just like
some, for some people, all common courtesy just goes right out the window. All of a
sudden it's like, well, I'm gonna be blown by you at 80 miles an hour, so I'll never
see you again. Well, it's kind of a small town, and when you're driving a big
yellow van that says Faithful Word Baptist Church on it, you know, you might
want to just start waving people in. That's, you know, but I don't know where
I'm going with all that, but, you know, just the idea of being courteous, being
kind, being considerate. My next point is this, being, oh yeah, that was it, you know,
living in your own world. People get behind the wheel, they just start to live in
their own world, right? They, they get the stoplight, and all of a sudden it's like,
okay, I got to check, you know, my notifications real quick. It's like, no,
you need to focus on driving right now, right, because you've got all this
traffic around you. The next point about not living your own world beyond just
being courteous is kindness. Being friendly, being generous, being, again,
considerate. Go to Ephesians chapter number four. Ephesians chapter number four.
I think I had you go there earlier, but anyway, we're going back there now.
Ephesians chapter four, verse 29, he said, let no corrupt communication proceed out
of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying that may minister
grace unto the hearers. I mean, think about what he's saying there, okay? He's saying,
don't, don't let corrupt communication come out of your mouth, but rather, that
which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the
hearers. You know, if we, you know, really stuck to that, I think a lot of us would
probably speak a lot less. We'd be a lot more careful about what we say when you
think about it. Not necessarily because what we're saying is corrupt, not just
because maybe something's, we're saying things that we shouldn't, but if we were
to ask ourselves, is what I'm saying going to edify somebody? Is it going to
minister grace unto these people or not? I mean, if that, if that were the hard
rule, like, is this, you know, there, we would probably speak less. You know, I
listen to, you know, a lot of pastor Jimenez's sermons, and one things I often
hear him say is, when it comes to this idea of, you know, of thinking before you
speak, you know, ask yourself, is it kind? Is it necessary? I think there's a third
point, I don't remember, but he often repeats this from the pulpit, and it's
something I've tried to put in practice in my own life. You know, is what I'm
about to say kind? Is it necessary? And obviously, you know, I'm not perfect in
that. You know, just ask my wife. And we will all fall short in these areas,
because again, the Bible tells us in James, the tongue can no man tame. But
that doesn't mean we just, well, since no man can tame the tongue, let's just throw
the reins off, and just let this thing run wild, and just say whatever comes to
mind. You know, rather than saying everything, everything we think, we should
probably spend more time thinking about what we're going to say. Instead of just
letting everything that comes to mind come out of our mouth, we should make
sure that what we're saying ministers grace unto the hearers. Verse 30, and
grieve not the Holy Spirit, whereby you're sealing of the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away
from you with all malice. And be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. I mean, man, Paul really
knows how to just bring it home, huh? You say, oh, I don't know if I want to do all
that. I don't know if I want to put off all the
wilderness. I don't know if I want to be kind. It's like, well, even as Christ has
done so for you, even as for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. You know, if
Christ can condescend to us, if he can come down and be as kind and
compassionate and gentle and pitiful towards us, I mean, certainly we can do
that for another individual and be more considerate of the people around us. You
know, a good rule of thumb, another rule that's been expressed to me, and this is
something that maybe we could all benefit from is, you know, when we're
considering how we're going to behave towards somebody, we're gonna take some
kind of an action towards another individual. And this is something that a
lesson I've had to keep in mind as somebody, you know, who's pastoring a
church and sometimes has to, you know, or is consulted and asked my
opinion or people sometimes come to me and want me to take certain actions or
take sides on an issue or something like that. And this is something that you have
to keep in mind is that, you know, you have to be impartial and I know I
preached about this recently. You can't do anything without preferring one
before another. We cannot be a respecter of persons, okay? So good practice to make
sure you're not being a respecter of persons and maybe we could apply this to,
you know, our conduct, you know, how we're treating somebody else is to ask
yourself this question, you know, what if the person in question were somebody I
liked, okay? You know, sometimes people want you to do something and it might be
that you'd be easy to take that side because you don't really like this
person, right? But that would be being a respecter of persons, right? You know,
that's more applicable to somebody who's making decisions, but think about in terms
of your conduct, the way you conduct yourself towards somebody else. Sometimes
when we don't like somebody, it's really easy for us to start treating them
rudely, isn't it? You see, because we really don't care what they think of us.
When we don't like somebody, that's when we can get short, that's when we can stop
being courteous, that's when we can stop being kind, that's when we can stop being
polite, we can stop being respectful, you know, we can stop honoring them just
because we don't like them. But that's being a respecter of persons, you know, and
if we're struggling in this area with somebody, you know, if there's someone
that we know that we really don't, we have a hard time being courteous and
polite to, ask your, just pretend that was a person that you like, you know, just
pretend that's somebody that you actually, who you want to like you back,
right? And we'll probably find ourselves being kinder towards that person, at
least we ought to be. Let's move on to the last point here. So we're talking
again tonight about, you know, not living in your own world, making sure that, you
know, we're being courteous, that we're being kind, but lastly I want to look at
this idea of being compassionate, being compassionate. And this is really, you
know, the ultimate, I think, you know, expression of this idea of loving
your neighbor, is actually having compassion on other people. Because again,
if you notice, these are kind of levels, right? There's kind of levels to this.
Being courteous, you know, that's pretty basic, you know, a lot of people can pull
that off. We can go through the formality of being polite, we can go through the
formality of being respectful, might even get to the place where we're not so
self-centered that we're actually considerate of how our actions
affect other people. You know, that's kind of a lower level, lower tier,
you know, skill. But then we might move on to, you know, making sure that we're also
being kind, even to people that we don't like, even to people that maybe rub us
the wrong way, people that we might not want to spend a lot of time with in our
personal lives. We still make sure that we're kind to those individuals, we treat
them well, we help them. But lastly, compassion. And compassion really, I think
is kind of the top tier of this idea of being considerate because of the fact
that, you know, when you're being compassionate, you're going to be
compassionate towards people that really don't have a lot going for them,
so to speak. Compassionate on people who are really kind of just out on their own,
that really are just looking for sympathy. Because that's what
compassion is. It's having pity for somebody in a sympathetic way. Not just
like empathy where you can just kind of say, well I can understand what
you're going through, but sympathy says I know what you've been through. I can
relate to what you're going through, right? And this is something, you know, the
idea of coming out of your own world. We have to understand that we can relate to
everyone around us, every lost sinner, everyone that's, you know, living a
backwards life. We should be able to be sympathetic to those people because
we're just, you know, we maybe not have done all those things, but you know, that
they're doing, but we can definitely relate to what it's like to be lost, to
be the natural man, to be in the flesh, to not know God, to be ignorant, to have our
hearts blinded to be through the darkness that is in us, through the
ignorance that is in us. You know, that's where compassion comes in. And
compassion is something we don't want to lose sight of. And look, if you can't get
these other ones down, you know, compassion is probably not going to come
very naturally to you. If we can't work on just being polite and being courteous
and being kind to one another, how in the world are we going to go out and be
compassionate on a world that, you know, hates Christ in a lot of ways,
rejects Christ? How are we going to be compassionate towards those
people? We need to be compassionate. We need to have pity and concern for the
suffering of others. You know, and Jesus obviously is the greatest example of
this. Go to Luke chapter 7, Luke chapter number 7. You know, this idea of having
compassion is not just, you know, feeling bad for people, but actually being able
to relate to them, understanding where they're at, and actually being able to
take action to help them out, okay? You know, a great example of this also is
with Moses. Remember when Moses in Exodus was put into the the Ark of
bulrushes and set in the river by his parents because he was a
goodly child and they didn't want to just throw him in the river and obey the
Pharaoh's commandment? So they were like, we're not going to drown our son
because he's a goodly child, you know, they didn't want to follow that wicked
commandment. So they put him in that Ark, right? And then what happened? Pharaoh's
daughters came along and saw it, heard the babe crying, and it says when she
opened it, meaning the Ark of bulrushes that he's in, she saw the child and behold
the babe wept and she had compassion on him and said, this is one of the Hebrews
children. You know, when she saw this helpless child just left to perish, she
had compassion on them. And really this is what we need to have when we go out
soul winning, you know, this is what should move us to reach the lost, is that,
you know, the lost are kind of like that little baby Moses. They're just kind of
left to perish. You know, if she hadn't come along and saved this baby and had
compassion on him, who knows what would have happened? You know, we need to have
compassion. We need to have sympathy for those that are suffering around us,
especially spiritually. You know, a lot of people, obviously it's great that people
have compassion to meet people's worldly needs, their physical needs, but the
greatest need that any people have is the need to be saved. And we should have
sympathy towards that and not get cold-hearted towards that. Look at Jesus.
He was obviously the greatest picture of compassion. He said in verse 12, now when
he came nigh to the gate of the city behold there was a dead man carried out,
the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. So again it's kind of like the
situation with Moses when he was a baby. She's kind of left on her own. She
doesn't have any other sons to take care of her and she's a widow and much of the
people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her he had compassion
unto her and said unto her weep not. And he came and touched the the buyer and
they that and they that bear him stood still and he said young man I say to the
rise and he that was dead sat up and began to speak and he delivered him to
his mother. I mean that's one funeral I probably would have loved to have been
at. I look forward to the funerals but if I knew that was gonna happen I'd be I
do you know the guy? No. But I can't miss this. That's pretty cool right. But why
did that happen? Because Jesus saw you know the suffering of this woman and had
compassion on her. And look we're living in a world today that's there there's so
the people are living so much in their own world today that they're they're not
even compassionate towards the suffering of other people. They you know a lot of
other people will look at go oh another funeral. You know I'm not going back
again to my example of you know of traffic right because this is a great
place to observe human behavior is in traffic. You know how do you respond when
you see those you know the traffic starts to back up on the surface road or
the freeway and it slows way down and it just starts to crawl and you've got
somewhere to be and then you see those lights flashing ahead right. You see
those those blue and white and red lights flashing and it's like oh great
there was an accident. A lot of us we probably go man I got somewhere to be.
Someone was just in an accident. You know someone I mean what if you know when it
gets really bad where they'd like shut down the whole lane like the traffic's
completely around it that's usually a fatality. But how many people are just in
their car going man really come on what I gotta go on a detour that's gonna add
15 minutes to my commute. You don't think people are like that out there today?
Sure and people are just oh just another accident just another fatality just more
human suffering and people lack compassion today why because people are
living in their own world. You know they they might be they might have being
polite down they might have you know being considerate down they might have
even they might even be kind when it's convenient having compassion that's a
whole nother thing. You know our heart should go out to people like that when
we see suffering you know we shouldn't just write that off. Look at 1st Peter
chapter 3 if you're still there verse 8 finally brethren excuse me finally be
all of one mind having compassion one of another at love is brethren be pitiful
be courteous. So we started out focusing on the courteous aspect of it right
that's you know if you're not gonna live in your own world you're gonna be a
courteous person you're gonna be considerate of other people you're gonna
be kind you're gonna be polite you're gonna be respectful you're gonna
consider how your actions and the things that you do affect other people because
they do whether you believe that or not they do know what none of us live unto
himself none of us dies unto himself none of no man is an island unto himself
no one is living in their own world okay so obviously be courteous but also more
than that be compassionate let's learn to have compassion on other people
lastly let's go over to Jude chapter number one Jude chapter number one it's
the only chapter in Jude but go to Jude right you know we need to have
compassion on the lost I mean yeah maybe I could maybe I could pull at your
heartstrings a little bit when I bring up you know the people that were in a
car accident we might even get a little convicted be like oh man I felt like
that oh man I've had that thought I never thought about the fact that
someone who's actually suffering you know that obviously sometimes a
realization we have to come to okay and that might pull your heartstrings a
little bit what up when we consider the fact that there's people every day that
are dying and going to hell there's people that are gonna die today and
tomorrow and the next day and they're gonna go straight to hell and they're
gonna be there for all of eternity and look I understand that we can't get
every single person saved but you know how can we sit there and say we're a
compassionate people that we have compassion in our hearts but we don't go
soloing when we don't want to preach the gospel when we have we're just there's
just no desire to go out and reach the lost to any degree whatsoever we're just
so wrapped up in our own lives wrapped up so much of what we got going on we're
just you know we're like it's like we're in that traffic jam we're all we're
thinking about is the clock and where we need to be you know we're not there's
no compassion for the people that are suffering you know we're just living our
lives and we're not thinking about those that are dying and going to hell how
can we then say that we're a compassionate people if we're not
willing to go out and preach the gospel you know and and here's the thing you
know again this idea of compassion is this idea of having sympathy of being
able to understand you know not just understand but actually know what it's
like that know what it's like to be going through something you know we can
have compassion upon people in a sympathetic way when we've gone through
other things right well here's the thing we were all on our way to hell everyone
here without Christ you're going to hell you know if you hadn't believed and put
your faith on Christ you'd be going to hell think about that if someone hadn't
come and preached you the gospel and someone someone hadn't posted that
YouTube video or put that you know segment on the end of that documentary
where the gospel was clearly explained to you there's someone to come knock on
your door something to take you aside and show you the gospel you wouldn't
have gotten saved it'd be going to hell but here's the thing you know we
understand that we're glad we're saved but the only reason we're saved is
because somebody had compassion on us because somebody else realized hey I was
on my help on my way to hell once if somebody got me say let me go have
compassion on somebody else let me go show some sympathy for the lost and go
out and get other people saved that's how you got saved you know so we need to
you know continue with that we need to be compassionate people we need to have
compassion upon the lost look at Jude chapter 1 verse 21 says keep yourselves
and the love of God looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto
eternal life and if some have compassion making a difference you know some people
are going to respond to you just showing up and having that compassion and of
course and others save with fear pulling them out of the fire hating even
the garment spotted by the flesh other people just need to be warned you're on
your way to hell obviously we tell that to everybody but more people some people
are going to respond to that some people are going to respond to the compassion
some people are going to respond to you know the the love of God just the idea
that Christ died for them all that you know but either way whatever is going to
get people saved we have to go out and express that to them we have to be the
ones that go out there and have compassion on people and get out of our
own world right what's the title of sermon tonight living in your own world
and and obviously that take you know this idea of not living your own world
coming out of your shell and and being mindful of the people around you that
manifests in different ways doesn't it it manifests in being a kind courteous
polite but that's all just basic stuff that's all real easy you know being
respectful being kind but lastly being compassionate you know we're just gonna
live our if we're just gonna you know be concerned only with ourselves and only
what's going on with us and not be considerate of other people not be
compassionate of other people people are gonna die and go to hell that otherwise
would not have gone you know and that's an important point to think about
because even amongst Baptists there's this stupid philosophy that's out there
that if they're gonna get saved they're gonna get saved I remember being told
that being told having a Baptist preacher telling me that well if God
really wants them saved they'll get saved well here's the thing God wants
everyone to get saved God is not willing that any should perish so why isn't
everybody getting saved then oh I see so some people God doesn't want to get
saved because not everyone's getting saved I mean then people say things I
don't think they think about what they're saying well if God wants them
saved they'll get saved so everyone's getting saved then because God wants
everyone to get saved I mean is that that that's not that hard a logic to
follow is it but you know it's a lazy excuse to just say well if God wants
them to get say you know it'll just happen with or without us no it won't
you know we we are in Christ's stead you know we are ambassadors for Christ you
know we're there to beseech people to be reconciled to God you know he has given
unto us the ministry of reconciliation that's that's our responsibility and if
we drop the ball you know people aren't gonna get saved look if you just live in
your own world and you don't have compassion I mean maybe you're courteous
maybe you're a kind person but if you don't have compassion if you don't want
to get people saved there are people that would have gotten saved that are
going to go to hell it's a fact you know because I obviously I can't get
everybody you can't get everybody in fact there's there might be somebody
that you know would respond to you that would be more open to listening to you
they would be more willing to give you the time of day than me and the more you
get to know me it's easy to see why right I mean just look at me you know
but honestly though people what you might have there might be just something
about you just something about how you carry yourself your face your conduct I
don't know what it is but it just it might cause somebody else just kind of
let their guard down and they'll be willing to listen to you and I believe
this that God knows how to get people together God knows how to engineer
circumstances God knows if so-and-so is gonna he says hey so-and-so is gonna
show up and go soul winning and they're going to this neighborhood I'm just
gonna make sure that this person is there I mean you don't think God can do
that and at least give people the opportunity to get saved God can do that
but not if we don't go and not if you know we're not gonna go if we don't have
the compassion for the unsaved not not a desire to you know just make sure we're
checking off soul winning to the list but actually doing it out of a sincere
place of compassion you know Jesus obviously was the greatest example of
that you know and it's only by his grace that we're saved you know Jesus had
compassion on every single one of us that's the only reason any one of us is
on our on our way to heaven and we should extend that to other people so
don't be one of these people that lives in your own world okay and all these
different ways you know make sure when we're coming here and going to church or
wherever we are that we're being courteous to those around us that we're
being polite that we're being kind and we're being compassionate let's go
ahead and have a word of prayer