COMPASSION FOR THE MULTITUDE - 2007 AG Harvest Festival
Download this episode (4 min)
Before going forward, listen to this John Piper Jam about the Cross.
“And they say unto Him, We have here but five loaves and two fishes.
He said, Bring them here to Me.” Matthew 14:17, 18
I recently downloaded a CH Sprurgeon sermon entitled “Compassion for the Lost.” It is now one of my all time favorite sermons. If you haven’t listen to any of the audio I’ve posted, I pray that you listen to this one. Please take the time, YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY YOU DID.
You can download the audio here:
http://tinyurl.com/2lk7dz
If you prefer, you can download the text transcript here:
http://tinyurl.com/2wlvde
As I listened to it (three times), I thought about our Lord Jesus Christ. He had compassion for the multitude like none other. I asked myself, “Self, why does your concern for the lost come and go? Why don’t you have that deep, lasting, compassion – the way Jesus did?”
I thought, “give me a break Allen, you’re not Jesus. He had compassion like no other because He is God.” Yep – that’s true! But then Spurgeon quoted this verse, “Greater works than these shall you do, because I go unto My Father.” Then he said, “Let the words sink down into your ears. Let the vision rise perpetually before your eyes. See your work. Great as it is, dispirited as you may be by the great multitude who crave your help…” Christian, our work is to be compassionate and get to work taking the Gospel to the lost.
In the sermon he likens our gifts to the “five loaves and two fishes,” that Jesus commanded to be brought to Him. Small and weak as they may be it is our Lord Jesus Christ who multiplies them, so we can distribute to others in need. The little bit of weak compassion I have, that comes and goes, I must take it to the Lord Jesus. It is He who will multiply and give back to me in greater measure for the good of the lost.
Spurgeon went on to say “As Christ fed the hungry, so the Church, wherever she meets with those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, is to bless them in the name of Him who has said, “They shall be filled.” Your business as a Church today, and my business as a member of the Church of Christ, is to feed hungry souls who are perishing for lack of knowledge with the bread of life.
They had thought over the problem of how to feed these people and had come to the conclusion that they could not do it. As they could not feed them, the next best thing would be to send them away to provide for themselves. Since they could not supply their necessities, they would endeavor to shut their eyes to their needs. “Master, send them away. Let them go and buy for themselves.” The Master promptly replies, “They need not depart. There is no necessity for it—you give them to eat.”
I also remembered something else when I listened to this sermon. At the end of September, my brother in Christ, Robert Bass and I set up a booth at the Harvest Festival in Arroyo Grande.
Brother Robert is a man who adores the Lord Jesus and is driven by this love for the souls of men. Never have I known someone who desires that men are saved like Brother Robert.
It was pretty hot during the festival. Robert sat outside the booth and ministered to “the multitude.” It was a privilege to minister along side this man of God. I listened to him plead with the hard hearts. I saw Brother Robert share the Gospel so tenderly to four little Catholic girls (4yrs old to 6). It was the most precious thing to see. At one point on Saturday, neither one of us had eaten all day, just one encounter after the other – God is faithful – I was going to take a break under the booth canopy we had set up. I went under the cool of the tent, grabbed my bottle of cold water, took a big drink and looked out at Robert sitting in the hot sun, perspiring like mad. He was just pouring himself out Christian!
Brother Robert is an example of compassion in action. If ever I knew a man with all the excuses NOT to be faithful and obedient to God’s command for us to be, as Spurgeon puts it, “warriors who must carry the victorious arms of the Cross to the uttermost parts of the earth,” it would be Robert. Robert is paralyzed from the waist down – but in Christ Jesus, I’ve never seen someone battle so valiantly. He has health and comfort issues, but I’ve never heard him use them as an excuse why he can’t “hit the streets.” With all that he endures, he’s there – not thinking of himself but allows the compassion that God gives him to compel him.
Christian, what is your excuse? Why is it so difficult to get you out of your comfort zone? Do you have any compassion for the lost? Take it to our Lord Jesus, ask and believe He will multiply it. Take your weak tongue to Him. Do you tremble at the thought of handing a stranger a gospel tract? Take it to your God and ask Him for help.
In the sermon, Spurgeon said, “Barrenness, leanness and sterility have seized upon all the fields of man’s tillage. They yield him nothing. He sows, but he reaps not. He plows but obtains no harvest. By the works of the flesh no man living can be justified, and in the devices of human tradition or human reason, no souls can possibly find substantial comfort. See, disciples of Christ, see the great need which is before your eyes. Open the eyes of your understanding. Let your heart move, let your hearts beat with sympathy. Let your souls be alive to pity—do feel for those millions! I beseech you, if you cannot help them, weep over them. Let there be now before your mind’s eye a clear and distinct recognition of the many hundreds and thousands who are crying to you, “Feed us, for we famish! Give us bread to eat, or we die!”
There are people who need to hear the Gospel. BUT why will you not MAKE TIME to share the message that God uses to save the souls of men? You say, “Not today the games on.” You say, “Can’t make it today, I didn’t use my time wisely.” You say, “Something came up.” When is a good time for you? When it’s too late?
Spurgeon goes on to say this:
“The blasts of Hell and the wrath of Heaven would fall upon us if we renounced the task. The world’s only hope— shall we put that out? The lone star that gilds the darkness—shall we quench that? The saviors of men, and shall we fold our arms and let them die? No! By the love we bear for Your name—by the bonds that unite us to You—by everything that is holy before God and humane in the sight of our fellow mortals—by everything that is tender and gentle in the throbbing of our hearts, and the yearning of our hearts—we say we must, though we feel we cannot!
…there is a strong tendency in our hearts to shift personal responsibility. “Let us send them away into the villages to buy meat.” We look towards some Bethsaida in the distance and say, “Let them go there and get food.” This is a strong temptation with many Churches. Perhaps, you say, “We have not got all this work to do ourselves—there are other Churches. Let them do their part. In all the suburbs of London there are Chapels. There is the parish Church— cannot they hear the Gospel there? There is the City Missionary going about after them. What need is there that we should visit them? No doubt there are some good men preaching in the street. Why should I do it? Let them go into the villages and get meat.
Ah, but not so—the Master said to you, “You give them to eat.” “YOU.” Let this Church feel that it should look upon the world as if it were the only Church and do its utmost as if it had no helper under Heaven but had all the work to do itself. And let the entire body of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ—instead of looking to societies for evangelization, or to commerce, or to governments—remember that she is the sole savior of the world. Christ never was incarnate in kings and in princes. His incarnation today is in the sacramental host of His elect.””
Christian, make no mistake about it – it’s you’re blessed duty to take the Cross of Jesus Christ to the lost people of this world. But why is it so difficult to get us to do it? Why? You don’t have any excuses – valid one’s anyway. Let me give you one more Spurgeon quote: “The world’s salvation is given instrumentally into your hands. As far as your power lies, you are to consider yourselves as the world’s hope, and you are to act as such. And what shall I say of you if, instead of accepting this charge from Christ, you shall sit still and do nothing? If, after having built this great house in which you meet, you should disregard others who hear not the Word of Christ—if, being fed with Heaven’s food yourselves, you shall be satisfied to let others perish—I tell you that, as a Church, Ichabod shall be written upon your brow!”
Brothers and sisters, Spurgeon spoke to his flock with tender love, “do you hear it?” My love for the Church of Jesus Christ is growing every day. It is this same kind of love that compels me to say what I say. Don’t sit back and do nothing.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1
Please pray for those who heard the Gospel during this event. Here is a short list of names you can lift up to our Merciful God: Steven, Marilyn, Thomas, Jacob, Kyle and family, Abbie and Ashton, Nate and Kaitlan, Frank, Jordan
Kobe, Zach, Mario, Al, Joe and Chad, Daniel, 4 little catholic girls, Taylor/ Kaitlan, Bart and Kristen, Rockey and Angela, Bill and Donald, Jed and Devin, Anthony, Colby, Nancy, Jen and Chad, 4 evolutionist, Cathy L, Kylee, Dawn and Terry, Davie, Kelley, Jacqueline, Karly and Andrew, Jessica and Cathie, Casey, Steve, Taren, Joe, Loren and Samantha, Michele and Steve, Jenell, James and Reanna, Alex, Michelle, Erica, and Savannah, John and his friend....they were about 13-14 years old...admitttedly gay and proud of it, Michael and Tyler, Matthew , Alex, and Dennis, Philippe.
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