The Call of Every Christian

Compassion

Luke 10:25-37

25And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to

inherit eternal life?" 26He said to him,

"What is written in the Law? How do you

read it?"

Luke 10:25-37 (ESV)

27And he answered, "You shall love the

Lord your God with all your heart and with

all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind,

and your neighbor as yourself."

Luke 10:25-37 (ESV)

28And he said to him, "You have answered

correctly; do this, and you will live." 29But

he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus,

"And who is my neighbor?" "

Luke 10:25-37 (ESV)

30Jesus replied, "A man was going down

from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell

among robbers, who stripped him and

beat him and departed, leaving him

half dead.

Luke 10:25-37 (ESV)

31Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place

and saw him, passed by on the other side.

Luke 10:25-37 (ESV)

33But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw

him, he had compassion.

Luke 10:25-37 (ESV)

34He went to him and bound up his wounds,

pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

Luke 10:25-37 (ESV)

35And the next day he took out two denarii and

gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take

care of him, and whatever more you

spend, I will repay you when I come back.'

Luke 10:25-37 (ESV)

36Which of these three, do you think, proved to

be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" 37He said, "The

one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do

likewise."

Luke 10:25-37 (ESV)

4 Observations

about Compassion

25And behold, a lawyer stood up

to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher,

what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"

1) Compassion cannot exist in the presence of SELFISH motives

(verses 25 & 29)

" 29But he, desiring to justify

himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" "

1) Compassion cannot exist in the presence of SELFISH motives

(verses 25 & 29)

A) Be Honest with YOURSELF

1) Compassion cannot exist in the presence of SELFISH motives

(verses 25 & 29)

Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV)“The heart is deceitful above all things, and

desperately sick; who can understand it?”

A) Be Honest with YOURSELF

1) Compassion cannot exist in the presence of SELFISH motives

(verses 25 & 29)

Psalm 4:4 - Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.

Selah

B) Be Honest with OTHERS

1) Compassion cannot exist in the presence of SELFISH motives

(verses 25 & 29)

I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of

an honest man. -- George Washington

C) Be Honest with GOD

1) Compassion cannot exist in the presence of SELFISH motives

(verses 25 & 29)

Psalm 139:23-24 (ESV)Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know

my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!

2) Compassion will be ABSENT when apathy is present (verses 31-

32)31Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he

passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the

other side.

2) Compassion will be ABSENT when apathy is present (verses 31-

32)

Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for

the worst of them all - the apathy of human beings.

Helen Keller

A) Apathy is easy to ACT upon

2) Compassion will be ABSENT when apathy is present (verses 31-

32)

Apathy is usually the majority opinion

B) Apathy is easy to JUSTIFY

2) Compassion will be ABSENT when apathy is present (verses 31-

32)

Matthew 9:36; 14:14; 15:32

Mark 6:34; Mark 8:2Luke 7:13

Jesus is COMPASSIONATE

C) Apathy looks nothing like JESUS

3) Compassion moves us to look on others

with GOD'S love (verses 33-35)33But a Samaritan, as he

journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and

took care of him.

3) Compassion moves us to look on others

with GOD'S love (verses 33-35)

35And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper,

saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come

back.'

3) Compassion moves us to look on others

with GOD'S love (verses 33-35)

A) Compassion BLINDS us to prejudices

3) Compassion moves us to look on others

with GOD'S love (verses 33-35)

B) Compassion MOVES us emotionally

A) Compassion BLINDS us to prejudices

3) Compassion moves us to look on others

with GOD'S love (verses 33-35)

B) Compassion MOVES us emotionally

A) Compassion BLINDS us to prejudices

C) Compassion DRIVES us physically

3) Compassion moves us to look on others

with GOD'S love (verses 33-35)

B) Compassion MOVES us emotionally

A) Compassion BLINDS us to prejudices

C) Compassion DRIVES us physically

D) Compassion PUSHES us financially

4) Compassion is a CHOICE to love others

(vss 36-37)36Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" 37He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And

Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise."

4) Compassion is a CHOICE to love others

(vss 36-37)A) Compassion without action is APATHY with good

intentions James 2:15-17 (ESV) If a brother

or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of

you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving

them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have

works, is dead.

4) Compassion is a CHOICE to love others

(vss 36-37)

B) Compassion is one of the clearest ways the lost world

will see Jesus Christ

Christ has No BodyTeresa of Avila (1515-

1582)Christ has no body but

yours,No hands, no feet on earth

but yours,Yours are the eyes with

which he looksCompassion on this world,

Christ has No BodyTeresa of Avila (1515-

1582)Yours are the feet with which

he walks to do good,Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the

world.Yours are the hands, yours

are the feet,Yours are the eyes, you are

his body.

Christ has No BodyTeresa of Avila (1515-

1582)Christ has no body now but

yours,No hands, no feet on earth

but yours,Yours are the eyes with

which he looks compassion on this world.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.