Exodus 34 Compassionate God –

Hi guys, so today and tomorrow we turn to Exodus 34.

Exodus 34.

And Exodus 34 is the revelation of Yahweh to Moses.

Exodus 34 happens after Moses breaks the first set of stone tablets and then he goes up a

second time.

And that is when Exodus 34 happens and that is the first time Yahweh reveals his character.

So it's a critical chapter in the Bible because it's the first revelation of Yahweh as this

is who I am.

So if you read from 34.1, the Lord said to Moses, chisel out two stone tablets like the

first ones and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablet which you broke.

Be ready in the morning and then come up to Mount Sinai, present yourself to me there

on top of the mountain.

No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain, not even the flocks and the

herds that graze in front of the mountain.

So Moses chiseled out two stones, two stone tablets like the first one, went up to Mount

Sinai early in the morning as the Lord had commanded him and carried the two stone tablets

in his hands.

That's when this whole revelation of God, for the first time happens.

Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the

Lord.

And if you read some versions it actually says Yahweh and the Lord passed before him

and proclaimed the name of the Lord as in he says that I am Yahweh.

Yeah, the self-existent or eternal one, that's what he means when he says I am the Lord.

And then it goes on to say that in verse 6, and he passed in front of Moses and proclaiming,

The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in

love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, forgiving wickedness, forgiving

rebellion, forgiving sin, yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.

Moses bowed, he punishes the children and the children's children for the sin of the

parents to the third and fourth generation.

Moses bowed down to the ground at once and worshiped.

And so I want to focus today on Exodus 34 verse 6 and the title for today's teaching

Exodus 34:6

is Exodus 34, Compassionate God.

Exodus 34, Compassionate God.

So Exodus 34, 6 is what we look at today and it says there that the Lord is gracious and

compassionate, full of mercy and rich in loyal love.

The Lord is gracious and compassionate, full of mercy and rich in loyal love.

So these two words usually pair together, gracious and compassionate, and it basically

emphasizes God's undeserved favor on one hand, gracious as in undeserved favor, and

compassionate, and this is why you find so many different translations, but the words

are basically the same.

Compassionate is tender mercy, but it's become such a Christian word that we don't know what

it is, so we'll stick with the word compassionate.

And right off the bat in Exodus 34, God says this is who he is, because there's a tendency

to think of the Old Testament God as pretty nasty and the New Testament God as really

nice, not true.

The first revelation of God is one which is gracious, compassionate, full of mercy, rich

in love.

People who say that the Old Covenant is not merciful and who suddenly make the New Testament

and the New Covenant full of grace and the Old Testament is not full of grace aren't

really right because the first revelation of Yahweh, who Jesus then represents, who

is the unchanging one, is that I am gracious, I am compassionate, I am full of mercy, and

I am rich in loyal love.

That I am full of tender mercies and I show undeserved favor.

This is the first thing he says about himself.

There is this principle of first mention.

Whenever a person, I mean very often when you ask somebody, hey, what do you do?

They usually tell you what's most important to them.

It's only now that on Facebook and Twitter everybody starts with husband of so and so,

proud father of so and so.

That's a recent thing because you need to be modest.

But when, if Facebook and Twitter were to disappear tomorrow, we'd go back to what we

really are.

And there's so many scriptures in the Bible that seem to indicate this idea of who God

is as a compassionate God.

So Psalm 103 verse 13, I love what it says.

Psalms 103:13

It says that as a father has compassion on his children, so God has compassion on those

who fear him.

As a father has compassion on children.

And there's nothing as compassionate as that, as a father or mother who has compassion on

the children.

So the nature of this compassion that we are talking about is very fatherly.

And two, it takes into account your frailty.

One of the reasons parents are so compassionate towards their children is when they look at

those children lying there, they just think to themselves, what can this child do?

What can I but show except compassion?

There's a frailty to these, to the compassion that God shows.

And guess what?

Because it's a father who treats his children with compassion, it is he who first loves

and then shows compassion.

I'm just trying to explain or describe the nature of God's compassion.

Psalm 51 verse 1, David had just committed adultery.

Psalms 51:1

And his statement in Psalm 51 is, I'm going to wait for your love because according to

your great compassion, you're going to blot out my transgressions.

He depended on that.

David knew something about God's compassion where after committing adultery, after murdering

the husband of the woman he committed adultery with, he has not just the audacity but the

humility and the dependence to go to God and say, oh God, according to your compassion,

I know you can blot out my transgressions because of your unfailing love and therefore

I will wait.

And so there's this simple equation that we need to look at which is at the center is

love and on one end is mercy and on the other end is compassion.

And they always go together.

And this has been since the beginning of time and will be forevermore.

Got to depend on this, eh?

I was listening to a song called Already Yours.

One of the lines in that song really got me where God is singing it and he's saying,

you have won my heart so you can take all my time.

You have won my heart.

You've already won my heart so you can take all my time.

Meaning you can take my time.

My time is for you because my heart is for you.

This is how he always is.

Love is at the center, mercy goes out one way, compassion goes out another way.

Isaiah 30, verse 18, Isaiah 30, verse 18, Isaiah 30, verse 18.

Isaiah 30:18 Isaiah 30:18 Isaiah 30:18

I love this because it says, I long to rise up and be gracious.

I long to show you my compassion.

God is speaking and he's saying, I long to rise up and show you my graciousness and my compassion.

As in he yearns to do it.

Isaiah 30, verse 18, the Lord longs to rise up and be gracious.

Isaiah 30:18

The Lord longs to show you his compassion.

It is not something that we wrestle out of him.

It is his longing to show it.

Which means I must move into position to receive it.

His compassion is really anew every morning because the word mercy and compassion are so closely knit together.

He knows my frailty and he knows how well I'm trying to do in my frailty.

This is his primary nature guys.

This is his primary nature and this is his nature towards me in everything he does.

Don't forget that. It's critical to remember that.

So pay attention to this guys.

This is the first revelation of Yahweh to the earth.

And because this is the first revelation of Yahweh to the earth,

he is saying to them, I want you to know the essence of my nature right off the bat.

And then he says, this is the essence of my nature.

I am gracious.

I am compassionate.

I am merciful.

I am rich in loyal love.

That's his first revelation.

It should be your first revelation every morning.

Wake up and go climb Mount Sinai and say, Oh God, I recognize you as one who is gracious to me today.

One who is compassionate to me today.

One who is merciful to me today.

One who is rich in loyal love.

I declare it. I receive it.

I let the world know that this is the God I believe in.

What a way to start the day.

It's his first revelation to the earth.

This is who Yahweh is. He's telling them.

And then he goes on to say, and I'll forgive.

I'll forgive wickedness. I'll forgive rebellion.

I'll forgive sin.

Maintaining love to thousands.

We get hung up with, but he also said that he'll punish the third and fourth generation.

And then he did something about that too by sacrificing himself.

Any questions?

But Jacob, this is not my experience.

Quite true.

We may have experienced otherwise.

But again, it's an old phrase that I keep using.

Our experiences don't determine color or exaggerate or distort the nature of God.

Because who he says he is, is who he is.

And now I press into experiencing his nature because he is true.

Let God be true and every man a liar.

So I must press into experiencing his nature.

Because only in experiencing his nature do I make it visible to the world.

Only in experiencing his nature am I able to make it visible to the world.

Manoj, can you shift the light a little?

Because I can't see you.

Just a tiny bit.

Yeah, that's good.

Am I still looking good?

Okay.

Yeah.

Is it too dark?

I can suffer under the lights if it makes me look better.

Okay.

Guys, a global revival is basically an outpouring of God's compassion for nations and people.

A global revival.

A global revival.

If you go back to what we said in Shekinah,

then a global revival is a profuse, uninterrupted, intentional outpouring of God's compassion on peoples and nations.

We are incapable of doing this on our own.

My human love is incapable of showing the kind of compassion that God wants to show.

It's almost like this idea of the moon.

The moon doesn't produce any light of its own, but it reflects the light of the sun.

And so compassion is the depth.

Compassion is the depth of God's love.

Compassion is the depth of God's love.

Compassion is the depth of God's love reflected through us, to strangers and then friends.

This is basically what the Good Samaritan story is about.

Compassion is the depth of God's love reflected.

Compassion is the depth of God's love reflected.

We are incapable of this kind of compassion, but we are called to embody this kind of compassion.

This really helped me that, oh God, I may be incapable of it, but I am capable because of who you are.

To reflect in situations, in relationships, to reflect the depth of your love through me to strangers.

And when you do this, a strange thing happens.

Mercy comes into judgment.

You may judge things correctly, but you introduce mercy.

You forgive your captors like Jesus did at the cross.

You forgive your captors.

What are you showing in forgiving your captors who are tormenting you and who've nailed you to a cross?

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they're doing.

We always think, oh, that's just Jesus.

No, that is a compassionate God.

I've heard of so many stories where people forgave their captors and their captors start weeping.

Because they don't understand this kind of compassion.

It's not from the earth.

It's got such divine quality that it breaks the hardest of people.

Compassion is one way to pray.

God will begin to hire you to pray for him.

Compassion is one way to pray.

God will begin to highlight nations.

I don't know if anybody here knows anyone from Honduras.

But one of the nations that's going to be touched first in this global revival is Honduras.

Compassion can direct you to where God is going to move next.

I remember waking up with such mercy and compassion in my heart for Honduras.

I don't even know where Honduras is.

Thank God for the map in my, the map I can roll myself up in.

That map in my house because you can find Honduras there.

Don is trying to look for it on his laptop right now.

He was looking below Singapore and he realized it's not there.

The point is guys, sometimes compassion that God has towards something

can help you preempt where he's going and be there when he gets there.

One of the nations that's being highlighted by God is Honduras.

Where you begin to, if not weep, at least begin to cry out for that nation

because you can see the outpouring, the profuse uninterrupted intentional outpouring

of God's compassion on peoples and a nation.

It's the same way with prayer.

I remember recently suddenly feeling such compassion for, of all the people,

Tiger Woods in a sport that I highly dislike.

Having such a compassionate heart towards him,

either in lying in hospital or at home now.

Where your heart begins to pray, not like you would pray for someone's salvation,

but as if it mattered to you because it matters to God.

When you pray with compassion, you unpack God's heart before you unpack a promise.

When you pray with compassion, you unpack God's heart before you unpack a promise.

What do you mean by that?

So you can pray for nations.

Oh God, in the name of Jesus Christ, I just claim the scripture right now and release it,

saying ask for the nations and I will give it to you as an inheritance.

So in the name of Jesus Christ, I declare Honduras is my inheritance and I claim it.

Nothing wrong.

You should use scripture to claim things.

But compassion has the ability to unpack God's heart before it unpacks a promise.

So this is a deliberate teaching.

Most of these teachings nowadays on Saturdays and Sundays are towards an end.

They're not piecemeal.

So today we are talking about Exodus 34, the compassionate God.

Tomorrow we'll take another characteristic of God, which I'll let you know at the end.

Compassion is also being moved by someone else's sorrow,

someone else's unjust treatment, someone else's pain.

Compassion is also being moved by someone else's sorrow, someone else's pain,

someone else's unjust treatment.

Compassion is being moved by someone else's sorrow, unjust treatment and pain

in a way that motivates you to act to help the one suffering.

The actual Greek word, I don't even know how to pronounce it,

so I'll just tell you the actual Greek word basically means,

when it talks about compassion, it talks about your bowels,

as in it is something that moves you so deeply that it tears up your insides.

That's the actual word.

You know what's fascinating is you see compassion right at the bat.

Adam and Eve just destroyed the perfection of paradise.

Adam and Eve had just destroyed the perfection of paradise.

And God moves towards them in compassion.

He slaughters an animal from his pristine creation

to clothe the very pair that introduced death and destruction.

Instead of moving away from them, instead of maybe restarting,

Adam and Eve just destroyed the perfection of paradise.

God moves towards them in compassion.

He slaughters an animal from his pristine creation

to clothe the very pair that just brought in death and destruction that is with us even today.

What about Jesus at Lazarus' tomb?

Jesus grieved the death of his friend even though he knew he was about to raise him from the dead

because he felt the hurt of others.

What kind of God is this and therefore what kind of people should we be?

Jesus grieved at the death of his friend Lazarus even though he knew he was about to raise him up from the dead

because he felt the hurt of others.

What a cool thing to be.

I'm going to do a miracle but I grieve for you because while you're waiting for me

I know how much you're hurting.

This is what allows God to move as he wants on earth through a people

and do what he wants on earth in a revival.

These are very deliberate teachings so that my heart changes, your heart changes.

Because as we said last weekend, if we are to bring to pass Isaiah 58,

we must have compassionate hearts.

Compassion effectively loves, not compassion just loves,

Compassion effectively loves and pursues the rescue of the perishing,

of the addicted,

of the mentally ill,

of the mentally ill,

of the enslaved,

of broken people,

of sinners and tax collectors and prostitutes.

Compassion effectively loves and pursues the rescue of the demonized.

You see how critical this is because this is how God operates.

Compassion is the avenue through which his power,

Compassion is the avenue through which his kingdom and his nature and his power flows.

Take away the avenue of compassion and what you are is a salesman.

A very good salesman who has the skills, has the ability, has the authority,

has the know-how, has the company credentials, has street cred, but still a salesman.

I cannot afford that anymore.

My acts should be motivated by the same things that motivate the heart of God

because otherwise I might do what he wants but I do not convey his heart.

Compassion effectively loves and pursues the rescue of the demonized,

the perishing, the addicted, the mentally ill, the enslaved, broken people,

sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes. This is how Jesus did it.

A heart that is this way, a heart that is immersed in compassion this way,

will overcome barriers, will overcome barriers,

will overcome cultural barriers, superficial barriers, societal barriers,

fear, will overcome barriers.

And then what happens is like I just said, you will release the nature

and the power of the King and the Kingdom.

This is the story of the Good Samaritan.

This is the story of the Good Samaritan.

It overcame barriers. He was a Samaritan.

The man lying there was half dead, beaten, Jew.

It overcomes barriers.

The Samaritan regarded the man as his neighbor,

but he was not a Samaritan.

The Samaritan regarded the man as his neighbor because of the compassion of his heart.

In Luke 1033 it says that the Samaritan had compassion.

The Samaritan regarded the man as his neighbor because of the compassion in his heart.

You cannot say that the Levite and the priest did not have love in their hearts.

That's what we arrive at after listening to the Good Samaritan story multiple times in Sunday School.

We arrive at the conclusion that the priests and the Levite were unloving people.

But we cannot say that the Levite and priests did not love in their hearts.

But concern for their safety or for their purity, ritual purity,

killed their compassion and does it not happen to us too?

I mean, they're all traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho.

There are bandits on the way.

They're probably going to the temple.

There are two issues there, either concern for safety or concern for ritual purity.

Because they don't know if he's dead or alive.

You cannot touch one who is dead, even though the Lord did make room for it.

And isn't that the same with me, where there is enough compassion but I'm scared?

What if I get involved? How long is this going to take?

Will this get too complicated?

I didn't know before, man.

I remember this young kid outside where I was staying in Richmond being hit by a car.

And I run to him and I cradle his head.

And his head is bleeding because his skull was broken.

I'm holding his head and he's bleeding.

And I've hardly been in Canada for 20 days.

I'm holding him there and just praying out loud.

People are standing at a distance and some are saying, don't touch him.

If anything goes wrong, you'll get sued.

I'm thinking of it as a stuff it. That's not true.

So little knowing that there are other possibilities.

I know there's a good Samaritan rule now, but not in those days.

The point being, there's so many things that bring concern now where we would rather not get involved.

Compassion will help me stride into fear, stride into the shame that people may be experiencing,

stride into places of brokenness, stride into the lives of the least of these, even if it costs me dearly.

My prayer today when we end shortly is, oh God, could you help me overcome the barriers that I have constructed

because of my concern for safety? It's too small a cost to pay.

Matthew 25.40, when did we see you hungry? When did we see you naked? When did we see you in prison?

As much as you did to the least of them.

I think churches should ban token visits to prison, soup kitchens, street ministry.

Happens once a year, twice a year. The one in summer is like a fun time.

The one in winter is miserable because it's raining and cold.

After the winter one, you feel a little more noble. The summer one is just sheer fun.

These random acts of compassion are not very helpful because it makes you go home thinking you've done your bit.

Well, this is a regular way of living.

Compassion relieves suffering and if it cannot relieve suffering, it walks with you through it.

Compassion relieves suffering. Guys, I wish I could say, imitate me and you will learn this.

It is so not my strong point and I'm ashamed that it is not.

Not I'm ashamed, I'm embarrassed that it is not. I'm not ashamed yet. I'm embarrassed that it's not.

Well, I know some of you, I can name you and you'd feel so embarrassed if I did.

For you, this has become so natural.

Compassion relieves suffering and if it is not able to relieve suffering, it will walk with you through it.

I was reading excerpts from a book by a Jesuit priest called Gary Smith who used to work in the inner city of Portland

and decided that he was going to dedicate the rest of his life and he's been doing it for 10 years now, loving the unloved.

So he's written this book called Radical Compassion where he wants to show compassion to the dying, the poor, the addicted, the mentally ill and the exploited.

The book is basically very bleak and has these stories on the street.

A line from his book got me and I just want to read it out to you because this is along the lines of things we spoke about last week.

Here's the line.

It's a question. If you want to know about the indignity inflicted on another human being, talk to a woman off the streets.

Do you want to know the indignity inflicted on another human being made in the image of God?

Talk to a woman off the streets. I read that line and it turned my insides.

So for us to take up those two causes of caring for the homeless and rescuing those trapped or drowning in the sex trade is something that God will thoroughly enjoy doing because he loves rescuing.

More than that, and I said this last week and I was watching the video again and I thought to myself, why did I say it?

But God is going to bless your children and your children's children because of what you do.

It's like this bonus promise that he's assuring you of.

Let me end. Jesus' earthly ministry demonstrated compassion particularly when it came to healing.

I want to end with that because I really believe that, like I said at the beginning of the service, that we are at this threshold.

And if we cross over, we'll begin to see the things we talk about, dream of, teach about.

And one of the things we're going to see is this inability that decay, death, grave, the demonic disease and damage.

It's inability to prevent, stop the hand of God from moving from city to city to city to city.

Even though this revival will be known for its purity, especially among the young.

When we read out the promise first, we also talked about it being a place of power and signs.

And my prayer today is that we become a church that has this new dimension added to us, that I become a person that has this new dimension added to him of compassion.

What a cool thing if over the next 10 years that could be cultivated in my life so that when I die, about 40 years from now, you guys will have to include that word on the gravestone.

Here lies one of the most compassionate people we've met. I know you're laughing now, but it could happen.

I want that. Why? Because it's one of the essence, it's the essence of my father, it's the essence of the son, it's the essence of the spirit.

It was there in the first revelation of God to the earth. How can I continue without that being a marked nature in me too?

I am Lord your Lord, I am gracious and compassionate, I'm full of mercy and rich in loyal love. My God, man!

Jesus' earthly ministry demonstrated compassion every time he healed. He felt compassion on the harassed crowds in Matthew 9.36, on the sick in Matthew 14.14, in Matthew 9.36.

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, healing every disease and sickness.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.

Is it possible? I believe it is. Can the Holy Spirit do it? I believe he can. Can it happen in a day? I believe so.

Can it be sustained over a period of many years? There perhaps he'll need our cooperation too.

But can it be that a people call Acts 29 and 8, that they are not able to do it? I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

There perhaps he'll need our cooperation too. But can it be that a people call Acts 29 and anyone else who wants to take part in this could walk the streets with this kind of an attitude that Jesus had?

Where every time he looks, it used to bother him and it would move his heart with compassion that here were people that were harassed and helpless.

Mark 14, 14. Sorry, Matthew 14, 14.

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and he healed their sick.

It was compassion that became an avenue through which the restorative nature of God, who threw a stick into a bitter pond in Exodus and healed its waters.

That same God, his nature flows through compassion. Jesus used to have healing flow through the avenue of compassion.

I had this happen to me once and it was so powerful, so powerful. I was in Shillong and we got photographs of this. Someone clicked every stage of what was happening.

You can literally put it on TV and it would be like a storyboard. And so this guy comes up to me. I think his name was Dunbar or something.

He comes up to me and he's got pus flowing out of his left ear and his left ear cannot hear.

As he comes up to me, this is the first time I ever experienced this thing called compassion during healing because usually I pray out of knowledge that God is healer, that healing is the will of God.

But this time it was just nothing like that. It was sheer compassion. He comes and tells me what he's doing and so much kindness and mercy and compassion and love grabs my heart that I'm just weeping like a kid because I know what God is going to do.

I know I don't have to touch him. And there are these four photographs. I'll try and see if I can retrieve them tomorrow.

And all I'm saying to him is, Dunbar I think his name was, God loves you so much that he's healing your ear.

And as I'm saying that, and I'm not touching him, as I'm saying that he just goes down on his knees because his ear is being healed. The pus is drying up, his ear is opening, he can begin to hear.

And the last scene, the last photograph is him down on his knees and me weeping over him. And nobody touched him, nobody prayed healing. It was a sheer compassion of God.

I've always longed for that experience when I pray for healing, but sometimes healing is so hurried, so professional, so promised, a promise pact that you miss out on the nature of God.

That's why those lines that I quoted make so much sense. You already want my heart or want my love. You can take all my time. God likes to take time to do things. God likes taking time to do things.

He's got oodles off it, but he loves taking time to do things.

He had compassion on the hungry in Matthew 15, 32. Matthew 15, 32. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, I have compassion for these people.

They've already been with me three days and I have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry or they may collapse on the way.

Now if you guys here on the sound crew, if you guys had been here for three days, I'd have compassion too. But right now, it's only been an hour.

Matthew 15, 32. Compassion on these people. They've been with me three days. They've had nothing to eat. He has compassion on the blind.

Matthew 20, verse 34. Matthew 20, verse 34. The only reason I'm going through each of these scriptures is because it's Jesus.

Matthew 20:34 Matthew 20:34

It's fun reading everything and anything he did. Reading verse 32. Jesus stopped and called them. What do you want me to do for you? He asked.

Lord, they answered. We want our sight. Jesus had compassion on them and he touched them. He touched them.

Mark 141. Mark 141. He had compassion on the leper. Mark 141. In this case, Jesus had compassion on the leper.

Mark 141. He had compassion on the leper. Mark 141. He had compassion on the leper.

Mark 141. Mark 141. He had compassion on the leper. Mark 141. In this case, the compassion showed itself in indignation.

Sometimes compassion, because of the injustice, comes out as indignation. We might talk about it a little tomorrow.

But a man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees. If you're willing, you can make me clean. Jesus was indignant.

He reached out his hand and touched the man. I'm willing. Be clean.

If you read the KJV, they translate the word as compassion. Mark 141 or NKJV. Jesus moved with compassion. Put forth his hand and touched him.

But I believe it was a, on one hand he felt compassion towards the man, but felt such indignation against the disease.

You must hate sickness. If you do not hate sickness, you will tolerate it. And the first place you learn to hate sickness is in your own body.

As in it is something that is off the world, yes, but it is not something from my father.

And that Jesus paid a price for it, a very, very severe price for it.

Mark 922. Mark 922. He had compassion on the demon possessed. Mark 922.

He has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you do anything, take pity on us and help us.

If you can, Jesus said everything is possible for one who believes. And then he cast out the deaf and mute spirit.

Here is a, it's a pleading by the father to say, hey, could you have compassion? Could you show pity? Could you show mercy?

Where people begin to see that Jesus is that way. And now the appeal is not to his power. The appeal is to his compassion. Beautiful, eh?

Can you imagine a healing crusade that is advertised as come and experience the compassion of Jesus?

How is it usually advertised? Come and experience the power of Jesus.

One last scripture, Luke 713, Luke 713, where it's the bereaved that he has compassion for, Luke 713.

I love the way the NIV reads it. Verse 12.

As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a large crowd from the town was with her.

When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, don't cry. What kind of God is this, man? Who talks like this?

I mean, which God talks like this? Oh, my heart goes out to you, don't cry.

Where is God, man? He embodied compassion, and he continues to want to embody it through us.

He embodied compassion, he embodied compassion, and then he left his body behind, and he continues to want to embody compassion through us,

pouring out the balm of his love through us so that it heals, so that it restores.

The avenue for healing is compassion. May we get it, we need it.

He longs to rise up and show us compassion, but we must embody it too.

We're going to pray now.

Tomorrow, today we dealt with the compassionate God. That's one side of the equation, and it is part of what a global revival is about,

because it is an intentional, profuse, uninterrupted outpouring of God's love and compassion for nations and peoples.

So today was 34.6, the Lord is gracious and compassionate. Tomorrow we deal with, he's a jealous God.

That's in 34.14, jealous God. Today was compassionate God, tomorrow is jealous God.

It is in the same revelation, fascinating. It's not one or the other. It's both.

Today we want to pray that God would begin to affect our lives with compassion.

Michael just sent me a text saying, what happened to that boy who was hit by a car and his head was bleeding?

It took him months, but he recovered. Yeah, it took him months, but he recovered.

I saw him in a school. I used to play guitar in that school and teach them all kinds of funny songs,

and then began to teach them Christian songs and didn't know that was not kosher. So then I had to leave.

It is good Christian songs like, do ba ba do ba, those kind of songs.

And then it would be a Christian line.

We got the Lord on our side, on our side, do be do ba ba.

Yeah, we got the Lord on our side, on our side.

Sue Ruth and Jonah are so tired of this song when I sing it because they've heard it a million times.

We got the Lord on our side. Chris used to play this too. On our side.

Yeah!

So Psalm 84 verse 6.

Psalms 84:6

Psalm 84 verse 6 is such a cool scripture.

Psalms 84:6

I pray God that this is how we become.

As we pass through the valley of Baka, we make it a place of springs.

As we pass through the valley of Baka. Baka means weeping.

What if, because of the compassion that now begins to flow through us,

every time we pass through the valley of weeping, we make it a place of springs.

The autumn rains cover it with pools.

So, hey Michael, would you stop texting me in the middle of the teaching?

If we learn to hate sickness in ourselves,

but healing is slow in coming or doesn't arrive,

how do we still hate it but not become hardened and bitter?

Diana, I have the answer to that question.

Okay?

So,

yeah, so,

I want to try and keep this answer short so that's why I'm thinking.

I have to come to a place in my life

where I'm convinced of the nature of God in different areas.

Once I'm convinced of the nature of God in a certain area,

then even if I get bitter, get sad, get disappointed,

feel let down,

I can keep going back to the nature of God because I'm so convinced of it

that it is not possible to deviate me from it anymore.

I'm like, too bad I know my reality is different,

but there's something that I'm so convinced beyond this reality

about the nature of God that I just can't but go there.

So lament, so cry, so argue, so sometimes lash out at God,

beat his chest, and then after that when you're tired,

you can come and say, but after having done all that, I just want you to know that I know this is who you are.

I've got no other choice but to come back and start afresh with you

because I just can't get over who you are.

And all of us have areas in our life where we are very convinced of certain

aspects of the nature of God. For all of us, it differs, eh?

But begin to

have more and more such areas in your life about the goodness of God,

about the healing power of God, and the only person that

you can actually be responsible for when it comes to recognizing, tasting,

experiencing, and making visible the goodness of God and the healing of God is your body, your life.

You can't do it for your wife, you can do it for your small children, you can't do it for anybody

but yourself because there may be a hundred reasons why things are happening in other people's lives,

but you know the reasons for your life and so you begin to work with it.

And then there have been teachings done at Acts 29 in the past which give you an easy

way to figure out, especially when it comes to sickness, where is the source lot?

If you know the source, then you know how to deal with it. If you don't know the source, you won't know how to deal with it.

Is it really an attack from the devil like it happened with Job? Is it really

my foolishness because I ran around half dressed in the dead of winter?

Ain't happening in my case.

Is it because of discipline,

especially in terms of strife in the body? Is it because of something that is

hereditary? Is it because of anxiety and fear?

Is it because of...

There's one more. Ah yeah, is it because of sin?

I mean that's like, don't ever talk about that in churches because it will make people feel guilty,

but we also have a guilt remover.

So these are the different reasons. Once we know the source, then we can deal with,

we know how to deal with it, otherwise it can be so confusing where you beat yourself up really badly.

So that's the long answer, that's the actually short answer to a question.

So let's just pray Psalm 84 verse 6 and other

Psalms 84:6

ways of talking about God's compassion. So I'm just going to have a mic

placed here and if people want to pray that the church begins to

walk in this kind of compassion, feel free to come and pray into it. If you guys want to pray

loudly from your livestream, then maybe

Don can hook you up with some way of being heard.

You'll have to text Don. It will complicate his life, but then

it's a Saturday and his life has been pretty boring today. So let's pray.

Father, wouldn't you like Acts 29 to be a church that walks

in the first revelation of yourself that you gave the earth,

gracious and compassionate? Wouldn't you like its pastor to be like that?

Wouldn't you like me to be gracious and compassionate? Wouldn't you like me to be full of mercy

and rich in loyal love? Wouldn't you want us to be like that?

Wouldn't you want us to be able to reflect the depth of your love

to strangers, to friends? Wouldn't you want us to judge

things well but bring mercy into judgment? Wouldn't you like us to pray

over nations because suddenly in the middle of the night we wake up

and we are weeping over Honduras, we are weeping over Tiger Woods.

Wouldn't you like to lead us with compassion? Wouldn't you like us to meet

you in places where you already are weeping like you did

over Jerusalem? Wouldn't you like us to set aside our

concern for safety and ritual purity so that it doesn't kill compassion?

Wouldn't you like us to have the kind of compassion that pursues the rescue of the

perishing, the sinner, the demonized, the addicted, the enslaved, the broken?

Wouldn't you want us to go restore the dignity after the

indignity inflicted on another human being, especially the women who work on the streets?

Wouldn't you want healing to display your love and compassion

rather than your power? You are such an odd God, you want an odd

people, you want to rise to the occasion. So I'm just going to ask those questions

and step aside and then I'll come and conclude Father. But Father

the problem with having these two services every week is it seems like every week there's

something new you want us to learn and it seems like how are we going to catch up, how are we going to

keep track, how are we going to make sure what happened last week is taken care of and your

response is very simple. Let my Holy Spirit place in you what I'm teaching you

and when necessary I will bring it to remembrance and I will help you walk and work it out.

It's very simple Father. Today it's compassion so we focus on compassion.

Changes of God because the Earth is at stake,

changes of God because a couple of generations are at stake, changes of God

because this has to continue for two or three years, changes of God because a whole

group, bunch, nations of young people are going to turn to you, changes of God

because Honduras awaits.

I just marvel that you picked us Father.

So I'll step away and

if someone can leave a mic here so you can come and pray then I'll come and conclude.

Father break our hearts Abba.

My heart says wherever my heart is hard and is looking out for itself

wherever my heart is saying today is Saturday, the service is almost done

yeah Father please give me some compassion.

Father I don't want that. I really want to be like you. This is not about compassion. This is about you.

It's about being like you. Can you give me my Father's eyes?

Can you give me my Father's eyes? Eyes full of compassion.

Can this be how I see the world, how I see people, how I see

ones I don't know, how I see the stranger. Can it be this way? I'm pleading for it

for us. Please oh God it doesn't take away anything from me

it adds things to me.

For the entire church, for every heart, all of us have hard

places in our heart. How we bring it to you so that it is first

us who receive your compassion. So here I stand oh God to receive your

loyal love. We stand to receive

your mercy upon our lives. We stand to receive your

graciousness, undeserved favor. Bring it on Aba.

We stand to receive the depth of your love poured out upon us

not out of a syringe but out of a bucket.

I stand to receive your compassion Aba. Where you

walk with me or relieve me from my suffering.

This is your nature. This is the first revelation of who you were

to Israel. I stand to receive it. Oh God having

received it, having received it today, going to receive it tomorrow I pray that I might

be able to give it to others.

They deserve it too. They don't deserve it too.

That's the way to say it. They don't deserve it too but they deserve you.

They don't deserve it too but they deserve you. Jesus

please Lord, please I want to beg you for this.

It can be life changing oh God so I'm begging you for this. Not because you are

a reluctant giver but because I need it

desperately because I don't have this. I beg you please let me have it.

Let this church have it.

Father I pray

that you

forgive me.

Father I pray that you

forgive me.

Father I pray that you

in the story that Jacob read about you had

compassion when you fed the 5,000 Father but it was a compassion

that cost you and it didn't cost you but it cost your disciples being

willing to set aside their fears to change their mindset to be willing to step

out Father. So I pray that we set aside our fears. We set aside

the chaos and the feeling like things aren't going right in our own house

and that we're willing to go out. We're willing to go out and see

have compassion for those around us even when things in our own house don't seem like

they're necessarily all going perfectly. When it seems like there's chaos and we don't have time.

But that we are willing to go out

and I'm reminded of something I saw where everything was going wrong

but this fellow felt like there had been somebody he'd seen on the street who

had an injury and he went out and talked to her even though everything

where he was where he was supposed to be things were being overwhelmed but he went out

and sought this woman and as he sought this woman she led him to somebody else who needed his help

and so I pray that we go out and seek those you're leading us to and as we seek those you're leading us to

they will lead us to more Father. They will lead us to more and we

you will save more because we're going out to seek Father. So I pray that we go out to seek

with compassion with your compassion Father and we put aside our fears

because we don't respond like the Levites and the priests who were maybe afraid

of what might happen but that we go out to seek Father to seek with your compassion

Abba I just want to ask that

you give us a heart that when we pray

and when we act with your compassion that we're always living out of the

unpacking of your heart that we're constantly in that space

that when we interact with anyone that you place before us we are always

in that overflow of the unpacking of your heart and so Abba I just

ask that you soak each of our hearts every single person here in this room

everyone in the church soak our hearts in so much of your deep and loving compassion

that wherever we go we will overcome barriers and then we will release your

nature and power the power of your kingdom to everyone around us

In Jesus name I pray

guys let's sing the first verse

and the chorus of that song

everyone needs compassion

yeah let's just sing that song and conclude

and we'll see you next time