Be Compassionate Towards Everyone — Zac Poonen

The Need for Compassion Beyond High Standards

Many, many people, when they come to the end of their life and stand before the Lord or even before they leave, they have a lot of regret about many things they did, many words they spoke to their loved ones especially, to their husband or wife, or the hard way they treated their children.

And especially in a church like this, where we have such a high standard, very often we forget that we ought to live by that standard. We're not here to demand that standard of others, but unconsciously, that's what happens.

And we can expect a high standard from people who have heard the message so often. And that's why we need to learn more about the compassion of Jesus. I want to read a verse in Isaiah chapter 49. Isaiah 49, it says here, speaks here about compassion.

Verse 13, the last part. The Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted. Verse 15, can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.

That word compassion, I don't know whether you think much about that word. We think about victory over sin, and hating the flesh, and crucifying the flesh, and all necessary, but what about this word compassion?

It's the only place in the Bible where God is compared to a mother. Everywhere else he's a father, but here he's compared to a mother who's just had a baby. And God says, can she forget that nursing child?

Even she may forget, but I will not forget you. Those who feel condemned and rejected, here's a great verse, you must never forget. And you know, our children also, as they grow up, they can hear all these high standards in the church, and one, they can feel condemned and rejected, the more sensitive ones.

Compassion as the Antidote to Spiritual Pride

And I'll tell you what I've also seen, that some of our children can become spiritually proud, yeah, in CFC churches, because they feel we are living such a good life, and we know so much doctrine. We have to be very careful that our children don't destroy themselves with their pride, because of their knowledge, or because they are gifted, or especially, particularly our chief child, some of our children are not doing well in their studies, or accomplish something educationally.

Dear brother, sister, be careful. Teach them that more important than all the things they accomplish on earth is to have compassion. And the measure in which you have compassion, in that measure, you're like Christ.

Compassion Is Essential for Godly Leadership

There's another verse here that the Lord has spoken to me. This, by the way, is a chapter God gave me. I remember it clearly, on the 6th of May, 1964. When I read it, the Lord said, I'm calling you for my service from this chapter.

And one of the words he spoke to me then was here in verse 10. Again, the word compassion, you see a number of times it comes in this chapter. The middle of the words, he who has compassion on them will lead them.

And what the Lord spoke to me is, you can never be a leader without compassion. You want to lead your children in godly ways? Compassion. You want to be a leader in a church? Compassion. You want to minister God's word to people?

Compassion. You can preach high standards, but it must come out of a heart of compassion. Not artificially trying to show compassion to others. A heart that God sees has got compassion, then God will bear witness to those words.

Jesus' Compassion for the Samaritan Woman

We just heard from Senthil about the woman of Samaria. Let me just amplify on that. John chapter four. There's something that struck me here when I read this many years ago. Jesus knew all about her. And she said, I don't have a husband.

In John 4, 17. And Jesus said, yeah, I know, you had five husbands. And the one you're living with is not your husband. He saw through completely, but he had no judgmental spirit on her. In fact, there's a verse that says here, in verse four, John 4, 4, he had to pass through Samaria.

Now I was reading somewhere that the Jews avoided the Samaritans. They were like low class people. You know, if there's anybody you have despised of some community, you understand what that means. I hope you don't despise any community or any class of people.

If you do, please work out your salvation. I don't know whether you'll enter God's kingdom with that attitude. I don't believe God will ever allow people to enter into his kingdom who look down another human being whom he has created because they are not up to his level or socially not that level.

I want to warn you. It's my job as a servant of God to warn you. You will miss God's kingdom. But here was the Jews avoided Samaritans because they were the mixture of the Assyrians and the Jews. They're a mixed race.

And so Jews would always bypass Samaria and go via the River Jordan when they wanted to go up north to Galilee. And that's the way usually even the disciples went. But here, Jesus decided, I'm gonna go through Samaria.

I'm gonna mingle with these people who are despised. He had to go. And that was the prompting of the Holy Spirit because there was one woman there who needed to be saved. That's challenged me that if I'm sensitive to the Holy Spirit, he will guide me.

If I really say, Lord, I want to have no respect of persons. All human beings are the same to me. High class, low class, mixed race, anything. It doesn't make any difference to me. I am a child of God.

Then the Holy Spirit will lead you to bring people to him. He'll bring you in touch with people. It's amazing what God does. What he did for Jesus, he'll do for you. And when he met this woman and he says, I know all about you, she changes the subject.

That's the point I want you to notice. Verse 19, oh, you're a prophet. And she completely changes the subject because this is embarrassing. That this shabbat is discovered, I'm not married to the man I'm sleeping with.

What's he gonna say next? So she changes the subject. By the way, I want to talk about worship. I want to, can you tell me something about worship? And you know what the average preacher would do? No, no, no, no, no.

We got to deal with this matter about your man you're sleeping with. Let's settle that first before we go to the subject of worship. And that's what thrills my heart about Jesus. He didn't do that. He said, okay, let's talk about worship.

Dear brother, would you have done that? Sister, would you have done that? That you avoid, when you find a subject is a bit embarrassing to that person, you quickly change. You don't want to embarrass that person at all.

That's the mark of a true Christian. Even with a child, that you're sensitive, that's gonna hurt that child. That's gonna hurt that person. Let me not talk about it at all. I want to avoid it. You know, with all our talk about victory over sin, if we don't have this attitude, we're fooling ourselves.

We're gonna be a bunch of self-righteous Pharisees, though we don't think so, we're gonna preach against the Pharisees, but we don't realize the Pharisee isn't within ourselves. It's compassion that'll save us from it.

Jesus' Compassion for Zacchaeus and the Despised

We heard also about Zacchaeus. Look at that in Luke 19. It says here that, Luke 19, one, he entered Jericho and was passing through. And we read here later on in verse 11 that he was near Jerusalem. And when he passed, there were so many streets in Jericho.

Why did he go through this one? I thought about that. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, because there was one man despised. He was a rich man. We think the Samaritan woman was a poor, despised woman. Jesus didn't care only for them.

He cared for the rich, who were also despised, like Zacchaeus. There's no respect to persons with God. We don't go only to the poor. We're willing to go to anybody. And sometimes there are rich people who are in great need.

And he was prompted by the Holy Spirit, go this street, don't take that street, go this one. And he comes under a tree and the Holy Spirit says, stop. The Holy Spirit says to Jesus, look up. That man's name is Zacchaeus.

You know, the Spirit is telling Christ. Okay, Zacchaeus, come down. I wanna stay with you tonight. A man who was despised by the whole city. I say, Lord, make me like that. Maybe make me willing to mingle with people who are despised by everybody else or where somebody in CFC may wonder, why do I go there to that group?

Or why do I go to that person? It's okay. I'm not here to please CFC members. I have to be led by the Holy Spirit. Jesus didn't even care what his disciples thought about him. I'll tell you something, if you wanna serve God, you have to be completely free from the opinion of even your fellow believers in NCCF.

And say, Lord, I wanna live for you. They may misunderstand me, that's okay. I'm not here to judge them. And that's what led this man to Christ. And Jesus proclaimed such wonderful words to him, salvation has come.

Love as the Goal of the Christian Life

I praise the Lord for that. When the world is occupied with so many things, I was listening to the RLCF service this morning, where Sanjay has gone to Colorado this week and he was sharing a word there.

And he was saying, what is the world occupied with at this time? Football. All over the world. Billions of people watching on TV. And he said there, what are the two words in football that they all talk about now?

Goal. And he said, the Spanish have a way of saying goal. And then he said, the other word is price, which they gave out today. So, then he quoted about, what is our goal in the Christian life? And he referred to 1 Timothy 1 .5.

So, it came home to my heart as well, 1 Timothy 1 .5. The goal, this is the goal, which everybody was trying to kick the ball into the last, I don't know how many weeks. What is our goal? What's the goal into which we have to kick the ball?

Love from a pure heart. Not just holiness. Holiness is love. From a pure heart, love, compassion. And the price, Philippians 3, verse 14. I press toward the goal, goal again. For the price, what is the price?

It's not that empty golden ball that some team got today. But it's the price of becoming like Christ more and more. Becoming compassionate like him. So, dear brothers and sisters, as we think of overcoming dirty thoughts, being righteous in money matters, and keeping separate from Babylon and all its corruption, let's not forget compassion, like we sang in that song.

Compassion Toward Family, the Weak, and the Stumbling

Life passes so quickly, especially those who are near you. Be careful that you don't hurt them. If you see them stumbling, don't despise them. Be careful, especially of those who are old and weak. If you've got an aged mother or father who are stumbling, be compassionate towards all of them.

Amen.