Take your Bibles and turn to Jude chapter, or Jude, the first and only chapter of Jude, verse 22.
So, very famous verse in there.
The title of my sermon this morning is Compassion That Makes a Difference.
Compassion That Makes a Difference.
Let's look at the verse here in Jude.
It says, and some have compassion making a difference.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for the opportunity to go soul winning today.
And Lord, I pray that you just help us to love people and care about people and not worry so much about numbers,
but worry about those people's souls and Lord that we would see people and have pity on them and have compassion.
In Jesus' name, we pray.
Amen.
All right, so compassion means sympathetic pity and concern for sufferings or misfortunes of others.
I'll read that again because I know that we're all have a Baptist hangover from partying too hard last night.
But when I woke up, I was like, it can't possibly be nine o'clock.
But I think most of us didn't get to bed for two o'clock.
So yeah, yeah, it's right.
But I'll read that again.
It says, compassion is sympathy or sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.
And of course, we know that the Lord Jesus Christ had a lot of compassion for people and it's very evident.
I'm going to take you through some passages where it talks about him having compassion for multitudes or single people,
just one person at a time.
And he also, he just wore himself out trying to reach the multitudes.
He, you know, he would work hard and go all day and not take breaks.
And even on his vacation, he still was working hard all day.
But we'll get to that here in just a minute.
But some people might say the amount of people getting saved versus the amount of people in the world,
that our soul winning is not really making that much of a difference.
But you know, that's not true. That's a lie straight out of the pit of hell.
And if you start thinking that way, then, you know, you need to change your way of thinking.
Because everything that we do when we're going out soul winning does make a difference.
Even if nobody gets saved, we're still making a difference for God's kingdom.
And we need to understand that even though it's just a few number of people that are going out soul winning,
that we can make a difference.
And we do make a difference and we will make a difference.
It is a wrong way of thinking to think that what we're doing,
oh, it's just one person got saved this week or two people got saved during, you know, so,
hey, what is everybody else doing though?
Because I guarantee if you look at the numbers and other people's bulletins in this city,
you're not going to find soul winning numbers or, you know, 20 people going out soul winning this week.
Usually it's just a pastor and some other person that probably just is on fire and wants to do something,
but their pastor is too lame to even actually do real soul winning.
It's really bus calling or it's some other kind of lame substitute for soul winning.
We're going on visitation. You know, somebody dropped a card in the offering plate or gave it to the usher.
And that person is just, you know, there's people all over that are seeking like,
hey, I want to serve God in some way.
But like the churches that they go to don't even offer them an opportunity to do that.
How sad is that?
But you know, you're in a great church here and you know, your pastor wants to make a difference in this world.
He wants to make a difference in this city.
And you know, you being here and going to the soul winning times,
it does make a difference.
And it probably encourages your pastor to know that you're here this morning,
even after having a great time of, I think it was, was it Record Breaking Fellowship?
Did it break the record? Okay. Amen.
And you know, that's great. I'm glad to be a part of Record Breaking Fellowship.
But you know, you know, fellowship is important.
But you know, what's more important is going out and getting people saved.
So I was in the Philippines when the, I think it was the first missions trip to the Philippines.
And I was really sick. Like I was sick the whole time I was there.
I felt terrible. And I was still going out and things like that.
But I was like just passing off people
and trying to get them to people that actually spoke the language.
Brother RJ was my soul winning partner.
I think he got like 37 people saved in one day.
He must have, you know, he must have needed to take some tea
and some lozenges or something after that because he got a lot of people saved that day.
Me and my wife are just kind of directing people and say,
hey, you want to hear the Gospel? And I'm like just giving them to him.
But like on that missions trip, I think between my wife and I, we had 13 salvations.
So, but like compared to all the other people,
like especially the people that spoke the language, we really didn't, that was a small number.
But you know, one day I was really sick
and I actually held back and stayed in the hotel for the whole day.
And I'm not trying to prop myself up or anything like that.
But what I'm saying is that, so I was super sick.
I didn't feel like talking. I didn't feel like going out that day.
But I went, I was trying to find a place so I could get something to get some relief.
And over there, they don't have relief.
Like you could go get Nyquil here or you know,
some kind of antihistamines or something like that.
But over there, they don't really have anything.
Like I was just trying to find something that was comparable.
It's just some cold medicine, right?
But we just walked around to the corner to this little old lady's shop
and she had her kids were playing in the background
and it was like a mom-and-pop style pharmacy.
And so, but I, you know, I didn't feel like giving that lady the Gospel.
But I did. I asked her if she was 100% sure she was saved.
And she said no. And she was Roman Catholic.
And like I, she was the easiest salvation I think I've ever had.
But I wanted to have compassion on her.
And I fought through that cold to get that lady saved.
But I think back and I think, you know,
all these people are getting all these people saved.
And they're just like, yeah, I got, you know,
50 salvations and all this other stuff because it's very receptive over there.
And I think, well, I was, I was stifled.
But I think that God allowed me to get that sick
so that day I could walk into that store
and get that one lady saved that needed to hear the Gospel.
And so I thank God for that.
But, you know, if we don't have that attitude of compassion towards people,
then we're going to, we're going to pass situations like that by
and not even think about it.
So we have to have an always soul-winning mentality
and try to get people saved that we come into contact with
because that wasn't just me going and knocking on doors.
I was just a random person, you know, that was selling me some drugs.
So, and they weren't very good either.
So anyway, some cold medicine drugs, all right.
So, but, you know, how do we make a difference?
Well, we make that difference by having compassion for the lost.
Turn to Matthew chapter 9 verse 35.
Matthew chapter 9 verse 35.
And I'm going to try to get through this really quickly.
But Matt, here's an example of Jesus caring for the lost.
It says, And Jesus went out, went about all the cities and villages,
teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom
and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
That's, that's compassion right there.
He went to all the cities, not just some of them.
He went to all the villages, not just some of them.
He was teaching in their synagogues and he was also preaching the gospel.
He was getting people saved and also healing people.
Now, obviously, we don't have the power to put our hands on people
and heal them like that.
But we can still pray for people that are sick
and we can still try to have compassion on them in one way, shape, or form.
You know, we might not be able to heal every disease,
but, you know, Christ left us here to make a difference.
You know, and that's, and going soul winning is going to make that difference.
It says, But when he saw the multitudes,
he was moved with compassion on them because they fainted
and were scattered abroad as sheep, having no shepherd.
So not only did Jesus, does Jesus care about the individual,
but, you know, you see, he works hard to get that compassion,
to make that difference out in the world.
And it says, when he saw the multitudes.
So when we see the multitudes, if you just think, you know,
we kind of sometimes live in our own little world,
in our own little town.
But when you, like, take a big picture and kind of zoom out or whatever,
if you would, there's billions of people on this planet
and most of those people are going to hell
because they don't have someone in their city to preach the gospel to them.
It's very sad.
But Jesus had a view of, hey, I saw these multitudes
and I wanted to make a difference
and make them have the salvation that they need.
And verse 37, it says, Then saith he unto his disciples,
The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.
And he's right about that.
The laborers are few.
It doesn't say the laborers are many.
The harvest is plenteous.
There's a lot of people that need to be saved,
but the laborers are few.
And so when you come here and you come to your soul-owning times,
you're the few.
You're the few that are going out.
And so that you, that few right there is you, right?
And so it's important that you're here.
It's important that you show up to the soul-owning times.
It's important that you back up your pastor and make it like, you know,
if nobody ever showed up to soul-owning,
it'd probably be pretty disheartening to your pastor.
But you know, I know he appreciates you being here.
But you know who else appreciates you being here?
The Lord Jesus Christ.
Because he said there's a lot of people,
but there's not very many people that are helping work that,
that harvest.
So turn to Mark chapter 1, Mark chapter 1,
and we'll see a story where Jesus cared about one person.
So it's not just about, you know, having an overall view of the multitudes,
but it's also one single person.
Christ would stop, like if you think about the woman at the well,
he sat there while they all went off to get food,
and he knew there was a divine appointment happening.
That woman of Samaria was going to come and talk to him.
That's a great picture of just caring about the individual
and just regular soul-owning in your everyday life.
It wasn't like they were knocking on the doors of Samaria.
There's people and individuals that will come to you in your life,
and you should care about them.
You should care whether they get the gospel.
Look at verse number 40, it says,
And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him,
and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
And Jesus, what was he? Moved with compassion,
put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him,
I will be thou clean.
And as soon as he had spoken immediately, the leprosy departed from him,
and he was cleansed.
Now this is a situation where he's actually doing a healing on somebody,
but look, if you know anything about the New Testament,
and when Jesus healed people, if they didn't have faith, he wouldn't heal them.
And so this man had faith, but you know, he took the time,
and it says he was moved with compassion.
See, a lot of times, we're supposed to be like Jesus,
but we're not like Jesus because we don't see that one individual and say,
hey, that person needs the gospel.
And so we just walk by, and it's like, hey, it's not a soul-owning time,
so you know, while it's not soul-owning time, I'm not going to go out soul-owning.
That's a wrong attitude to have because Christ took the time to deliver people
that were sick and delivered devils,
but he was moved with compassion for the individual, not just for the multitudes.
Now turn to Mark chapter 5, verse number 18.
It says, and when he was come into the ship,
he that had been possessed with the devil,
prayed him that he might be with him.
Now this is talking about when Jesus heals this man that was possessed by devil,
and it says in verse 19, howbeit Jesus suffered him not,
but saith unto him, go home to thy friends.
And so it says in verse 19, howbeit Jesus suffered him not,
but saith unto him, go home to thy friends.
And tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee,
and hath had compassion on thee.
So what is he saying?
He's saying, hey, don't, you know, go and spread the message to other people.
Go tell them what the great things that God's done for you,
and how he had compassion on thee.
And I think when we get people saved, and people realize that we care,
that, you know, we have to realize that people aren't going to just,
you know, if we're in robotic mode, and we're just like, hey, next door, hey,
and we just give them this spiel, this used car salesman style of soul winning,
you know, people could tell if you care about them or not.
And so that man, you could tell that he had,
that he realized that Jesus actually did care for him,
and the Lord told him, hey, tell them what compassion that he had for thee.
So when we go, and we have compassion for people,
so when we go, and we have compassion for people,
that's going to probably motivate them to go and tell other people.
And so when they see the care that you have for them,
they want to care for other people too.
That's what you would think would happen, but that doesn't always happen, obviously.
But it says, and he departed and began to publish into capitalist
how great things Jesus had done for him, and all men did marvel.
See, we're supposed to shine, once we get saved,
we're supposed to shine our light on other people also.
We're supposed to have compassion on other people,
just like someone had compassion for us.
Because everybody in this room, if everybody in this room is saved,
somebody at some time individually took the time
to give you the Gospel and to get you saved.
You know why? Because they cared about you.
They cared about your soul.
And whether it was by watching a DVD, you know,
or whatever got you saved if you were listening to some pastor online,
or whether it was Pastor Jones, or whoever got you saved,
they took the time to have compassion on you,
and we need to reflect that light that we get to other people also.
We need to have compassion and make a difference in their life
so that they can do it for other people.
That's how the Kingdom of God works. It just branches out.
But, you know, if there's not enough people doing the caring,
then there's not going to be a lot of people saved, right?
So, when you show compassion on someone,
don't be surprised when that person wants to share that compassion with others.
But if we don't, if we just are, like I said, robotic,
and just like, it's obvious we don't care about them,
people sense things like that.
And they can see the look in your eyes
when you're either ready to just roll your eyes and walk off,
or whether you actually really do care about them.
And you're trying to get that last verse in,
to try to just put something in their heart for eternity.
And when people don't, won't go soul winning,
or don't care much about soul winning,
even though someone showed them that compassion for Jesus,
and got them saved, I think that's sad.
You know, I don't understand that mentality.
I mean, there was 50 people here last night,
but not everybody showed back up for soul winning, right?
And I'm not saying that, you know,
I'm not trying to bash on any of those people.
Maybe they have other stuff to do,
and they go on a different day or whatever.
But I don't like, I don't see,
I don't want to see people, you know,
say, oh yeah, I'm for all this stuff,
and then they don't do it themselves.
And so turn to Mark chapter 6, verse 33.
Mark chapter 6, verse 33.
It says in verse 33,
and I just want to give you a little bit of background here,
Jesus said, go you part in a desert place and rest awhile.
So he's giving, so John the Baptist is killed,
and Jesus, you know, said,
let's go take a little vacation to a desert place,
and just get away for just a day, you know.
And sometimes we feel like that too.
We want to just get away and take a day off,
and we're all whiny.
I'm whiny on Monday morning sometimes,
after I've had a long weekend of ministering to people,
and I'm like, why is this person calling me?
Don't they know it's Monday?
You know, and we have the tendency to do that,
but Jesus was not like that.
And he says, let's go apart to this desert place,
but what happens, look what happens in verse 33.
It says, and the people saw them departing,
and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all the cities,
and out went them, and came together unto him.
So Jesus is being followed by this multitude of people,
and you know, for whatever their motivations were,
they were still going and seeking Jesus.
And it says, and Jesus, when he came out,
saw much people, and was what?
Moved with compassion.
You know, if your compassion doesn't move you,
then it's not going to do any good.
But he was moved with compassion toward them,
because they were a sheep not having a shepherd,
and he began to teach them many things.
So this is on his vacation, right?
So you know, when I get whiny about, you know,
having to do extra stuff on a day that's supposed to be like my day off,
or whatever, you know, I think about these scriptures here,
and I think, you know, Jesus didn't just,
you know, he was supposed to be on vacation,
it was supposed to be his day off too,
but what happened?
He got moved with compassion, because people needed his help, you know.
And he was here to minister, and go full steam ahead,
and his ministry was only three years.
So he had a short amount of time to do the things on the earth himself.
So, but it says, he had compassion toward them,
because they were a sheep not having a shepherd,
and he began to teach them many things.
And when the day was now far spent, so this is their only day off,
the day's over, right?
What's he doing?
He's still working with people.
He's still having compassion on people.
He's still trying to make a difference.
It says, and his disciples came unto him and said,
this is a desert place, and now the time is far past.
So what are they saying?
They're complaining.
This is them complaining, like, hey, you know,
we're supposed to be on vacation, but the day is far past now.
And he's like, and he says, and they said to him,
send them away, that they may go into a country roundabout,
into the villages and buy themselves bread,
for they have nothing to eat.
You know, I really honestly believe that the disciples were kind of upset,
that they didn't get the day off that they were supposed to have.
But Jesus, he just kind of ignored all that and said, hey, you know what?
I'm going to have compassion on people.
But that's the kind of compassion that we should have towards other people.
You know, we say we follow Jesus, but then we're like, you know what?
I don't really care.
I want to go have a ham sandwich and take a nap or whatever.
But, you know, or I just don't want to talk to people today.
You know, I kind of get into that mode.
I talk for a living now, and I talk to people.
And I'm not trying to complain.
That's my job.
I love my job, but I'm just saying that sometimes you get burnt out
with talking with people.
Sometimes you just want to have that day that you go to the desert place
where nobody can contact you, put your phone on airplane mode,
and just be done.
But we shouldn't have that attitude.
You know, we should have the attitude that Jesus had,
because when he had a chance for a day off,
instead he realized people still needed him,
and he still had compassion that would make that difference.
And he answered, verse 37, and it says,
And he said unto them, Give ye them to eat, give ye them to eat.
And they said unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred penny worth of bread
and give them to eat?
So what are they saying?
You know, basically what Jesus is telling them,
hey, why don't you feed them?
And that bread represents the word of God, obviously, the bread of life.
And he did that great miracle, and they distributed the meat to the people.
Jesus, you know, he'd break it and put it in the baskets,
but they all went and served them to the people.
Because what's he saying?
He's saying, hey, be like I am.
Go and give them the bread that they need.
Give them the food that they need, and you minister to them.
Don't tell them to go minister to themselves.
You minister to them.
So sometimes we're out soul-winning, and it's like you'll find a saved person,
and maybe they just needed some correcting on something,
or maybe they just needed some encouragement.
Because when we go out soul-winning, we're not just soul-winning.
We're preaching and trying to help people in their lives
and say, hey, why don't you come to a church that's actually doing something?
Why don't you come and be a part of our team so you can make a difference too?
And, you know, a lot of times it just doesn't happen.
Oh, yeah, I'll be at church. I'll see you on Sunday.
It's like they never come.
But every once in a while they do.
But people just don't understand what Christianity is all about.
What it's really about is seeking and saving that which is lost.
That's what Jesus asked us to do.
So we need to quit whining about our me time.
I just need some me time.
That's not what Jesus said.
He said, you do it. I'm doing it.
He's trying to provide an example of how He does it,
and then they're all like, send them away.
The day is far spent, Jesus. Don't you understand?
We're supposed to be our day off. That's what you said.
We're supposed to go to a desert place and rest a while.
And He's like, no, we're not going to rest.
You know, because people need us.
And we need to have compassion and compassion that makes a difference.
And sometimes I do wonder if people really believe that billions of people
in this world are dying and going to hell
because of the way that they are in their Christian life.
Like, you know, if we really believe that people are dying and going to hell,
we need to act upon that.
We need to have that compassion, and we need to make that difference.
And, you know, but really what I think is that people are just lazy.
I think that they're just depending on other people to do it.
And, like, just the disciples were depending upon Jesus to do it,
and then it was their turn. They were like, send them away.
But we shouldn't be like that.
We should be a type of people that has compassion on people.
Some people just don't have any empathy.
They don't have any compassion.
You know, if that's you, if, like, you've lost your zeal for soul winning,
it's like, you know, it's cold, you know, it's snowing,
or whatever the excuse is, it is cold.
It is snowing.
But, you know what, it's going to be hot for them in hell.
And, you know, I hate being hot.
I'm always hot, it seems like.
But, you know, I want to make sure people don't go to a place
that they're burning forever and ever.
You know, and let's look at Jude 23, the verse 23 in Jude.
See, some people get this idea that you all, like, being compassionate
is just like being real.
And I think we should be nice at the door,
but sometimes we need to jump into fear mode
when we scare the hell into them.
It says in verse 23 there, it says,
And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire,
hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
You know what, it's still compassion to scare people into salvation.
So, however you get them, you get them.
But it's still compassion.
It's like, well, you were pretty harsh with them,
you were telling them they were going to hell.
Yeah, because that's where they're going.
And sometimes we need to tell them that.
Sometimes, like, you guys have been soul winning for a while, some of you,
and you know that when someone really just needs a scare,
like, sometimes you got, you know, if it's some little old lady
and they're, like, really nice, we need to tell them,
hey, this might be your last chance to ever receive the gospel.
That is compassion, even though it seems like you're kind of being mean.
But do you think, who's going to knock that door again?
You know, some lady, some little old lady that's someone's grandma
or some old man that, you know, someone's been praying for
to get saved for a long time,
you might have to just give them a little more.
Maybe give them a little scare before you walk away
and give them another chance to hear the gospel
because it's probably their last chance, you know.
So it's still compassion to scare people into salvation, I believe.
So I'm going to finish here. Let's go to Psalm 126, verse 6.
It's another famous psalm, Psalm 126, verse number 6.
It says in Psalm 126, verse number 6, it says,
He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed,
shall doubtless come again, with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
And sometimes, you know, in unreceptive areas we're like,
hey, you know, it's tough.
And it is tough, like, when you don't get a salvation.
But what's your motivation?
You know, is it for you to be able to come back and say,
I got somebody saved?
I mean, I hope that's not your motivation.
But, you know, the Bible promises us this.
If we go forth and weeping, that means you're caring.
You're having compassion for somebody.
If you go forth and you weep
and you bear that precious seed, the word of God, to somebody
so they can get saved, they shall doubtless come again
with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
You're going to get people saved.
That's what the Bible says.
And maybe it's not the amount of people that you think
you should be getting saved, but that's up to God.
That's up to that individual.
You know, God doesn't appear like Calvinists believe
out of the sky and they're sitting there drinking coffee
and all of a sudden they're saved.
That's not how it works.
We've got to get out there and knock those doors,
and we've got to be, you know, if you're at a store
and you know that God's given you this opportunity to talk to somebody,
then take that opportunity.
Have compassion on that person.
You know, maybe what you're about to do next is not that important.
You know, maybe taking that day off isn't as important as you thought it was
because there's other people that are suffering
and they need people to have pity on them
just like somebody had pity on us.
And so Jesus cared about the multitude,
and his compassion made a difference,
so much of a difference that all of us could be saved.
And he wants us to follow him and do the same things.
He gave us examples.
I read through some of those where he had compassion on people,
actually cared about people and loved them to the point
where he said something to them or healed them
and he saw the multitudes and had compassion on them.
And we need to see the multitudes, but we also need to see the individual person.
He wants us also to have compassion that makes a difference.
Let's pray.
Lord, we thank you so much for Shield of Faith Baptist Church.
We pray, Lord, you continue to bless this church for many years to come,
and I pray that you'd help us as we go out soul-wanting
and be motivated to help people and to have compassion upon them,
have pity on them, and to really actually care about them
so that they can be saved, Lord.
And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.