True Christian Compassion

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility Colossians 3:12 Intro: If I were to ask you this morning What do you think is the most important quality you need to develop in order to be more pleasing to God in the church? what would that be? The single most important, Godpleasing virtue, that you and I would best glorify God within the church. Maybe we might say: 1) Maybe we might say, in a rather hushed and serious sounding voice, surely holiness is what pleases God. I mean, without holiness no one will see the Lord. 2) Maybe prayer would be on the top of our list. No doubt that a more prayerful Christian would be an enormous blessing to the fellowship of believers. 3) Maybe we might say become a better evangelist. Sharing your faith with others, inviting them to church, learning the skills of apologetics, being ready to give an answer. All of these things are important. None can be safely ignored. But as Paul turns our attention to Christian Living in the church, he does not begin with any of those things. Rather, what Paul says is needed is this: Become a Compassionate Christian. Grow in your compassion toward those who are suffering and sorrowing among you. I mentioned last week that Paul uses about 12 words or phrases in this passage to describe what we, as Christians in the church, are to put on. And they are not merely random. And this morning we are going to consider the first 3 words: tender mercies, kindness, humility. These 3 words introduce us to what we might call: True Christian Compassion. The FIRST word, tender mercies, shows us where Christian compassion must begin: in the heart. The SECOND word tells us about what Christian compassion does: acts of kindness. The LAST word tells us the manner in which Christian Compassion is conducted: humility.

I.

The first thing I would draw our attention to this morning is the high priority placed on compassion in the Scriptures. A) To do this we could easily turn to many of the examples of compassion found in the OT saints. Can you think of any examples from the Old Testament of compassion? 1

Davids kindness toward Mephibosheth Elisha shows compassion toward the poor widow, tells her to gather empty jars which he causes to be filled with oil so that she can sell the oil and pay off her debts B) God Himself is often described in the Bible as full of compassion. Psalm 78:38, 86:15, 111:4, 148:8. In fact, in Exodus 34:6 when the Lord describes Himself as merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth that very first word merciful is the Hebrew word (racham) which the NT writers translate as compassion. C) But there is probably no better place to turn to understand the High Priority on compassion than the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 9:36 Spurgeon says that the word here used by Matthew to describe Jesus had to be invented because no word in Greek existed that would give proper expression to the compassion of Christ. Preaching on this verse on December 24, 1914 Spurgeon said If you would sum up the whole character of Christ

in reference to ourselves, it might be gathered into this one sentence, "He was moved with compassion."

Matthew 20:31 Two blind men Mark 1:41 Compassion on weak faith Mark 5:19 Compassion on the demoniac Luke 7:13 Clearly the author of Hebrews saw this Compassion of Christ as a significant point of emphasis. Turn to Hebrews 4:14-16. The example of Christ alone is more than enough to convince us of the priority on compassion. The example of Christ tells us something else about compassion as well. Compassion is not a virtue reserved for those who are presently comfortable. If there was anyone who was uncomfortable in this world, it was Jesus Christ.

II.

Second, consider the description of Christian Compassion as found in our text. Paul uses 3 words to describe Christian Compassion. : A. Tender Mercies. The New King James uses the word tender mercies. Does anyone have a different translation? ESV: hearts of compassion. NIV just uses compassion. The Old King James uses the phrase bowels of mercies. The variety of translations gives us some clue that the translators are struggling to find a word in English equal to the meaning of the Greek. Calvin, commenting on this word, describes it as earnest affection. William Hedriksen calls it a heart of compassion. 2

The Greek word is splanchnon. It literally means intestines. And although it is a word that may create some challenges to translators, it is not very difficult for us to understand. We all know what it feels like when sympathy for someone else actually produces a physical effect within us. We use phrases like it turned my stomach or we say it broke my heart. The word Paul uses here assumes a visceral, emotional if you will, response to the sorrows, struggles and sufferings of others. We will see that Christian compassion isnt merely emotional, but it surely is not less than emotional. Your hurt in my heart is the way one person describes it.

Lets quickly look at a couple places in the NT that use this word, and then I am going to ask the question: How do we put on tender mercies? Turn to Luke 1:78 the word tender there is the Greek word splanchnon. Turn to Philippians 2:1 the word affection is the Greek word splanchnon HOW DO WE PUT ON TENDER MERCIES? Is Paul saying that we need to work up some hysterical, emotional condition in our hearts? 1. Give some thoughts to where others are hurting. The Bible says that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. 2. 3. 4. Spend less time thinking about ourselves. Consider that one of the offices of affliction is to teach us compassion. Pray for the Lord to soften our hearts.

Jason Poquette For Immanuel Chapel OPC Upton, MA www.immanuel-chapel.org