Biblical Compassion,Part 1

For Jonah, God told him to get down and get a ticket and go to Nineveh, which is east from where he was. He said, I'm going to get a ticket and go the furthest point west known to mankind at that time.

Dr. Michael Yousaf. Go east, go west. Obey me in this area.

Well, I'm just not ready right now. I will do it when I get to it. Jonah went his way, paid his own fare, never finished the journey, and he got nothing. But when you go the Lord's way, you will always get to where you're going, and he pays for it.

Jonah is one of the best known persons in the Bible and a favorite of children because of his adventure in the giant fish. That to adults, it's a look into the face of rebellion, and it's a reminder of how repentance leads to restoration. Welcome to Leading the Way with pastor and author Dr. Michael Yousaf. Over these next few days, Dr. Yousaf unpacks practical lessons found in Jonah's life adventure.

So listen with me as Dr. Michael Yousaf begins a challenging Leading the Way. Another problem with the overuse of the word compassion is that it has the danger of becoming muddled and muddied and marred, and then really ends up being nothing more than sentimentality. And you don't have to be a genius to recognize that sentimentality is killing the truth. Sentimentality is blurring the acceptance of evil. Sentimentality is covering up sin with the dress of tolerance. Sentimentality is redefining sin and wickedness. Sentimentality is indeed deciding what is right and what is wrong, or I should say, re-deciding.

And let me tell you something. As a person who trained in the field of sociology, it will not be long for a culture that adopts sentimentality. It will not be long before God and his word will be replaced by what society decides is right and wrong. It will not be long for God's absolutes to take a back seat to man's definitions. It will not be long before God's commandments and God's injunctions will give way to humanistic arbitration.

It will not be long before that happens. Watch my words. And that is why I want to explain this day and the coming days the difference between compassion, biblical compassion, and distinguish it from political and humanistic compassion. Biblical compassion is rooted in the God of the Bible, not in secular humanism, not in Eastern mysticism, and not in multiplicity of religion.

Biblical compassion has its origin in the compassionate God of Abraham and Jacob and Esau, the God of the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Biblical compassion is far removed from humanistic sentimentality. And we the people of God must understand the difference.

We the people of God must comprehend the distinction between the two else we will be swept off our feet into that kind of sentimentality. Now the book of Jonah is a book of compassion. The book of Jonah is a book where God reveals to us his compassionate heart. The book of Jonah shows us clearly that our God, far from being a sentimental God, far from being a God who ignores sin, is a God who represents the very heart and the very essence of true compassion. And while the theme of compassion in the book of Jonah of course does not really expose, does not become clear until the very end of the book, it's not a very long book, but the theme itself runs through it.

But yet it's revealed only toward the end and we will see that as we go through the book of Jonah in the next few messages. Someone said there are only two types of Christians. There are those Christians who are traveling with the will of God and there are those Christians who are traveling against the will of God.

There is no third. If you think as a Christian that you can coast through life in a neutral gear, take it from me, you are fooling yourself and you are in danger. And the question that I want to pause to you this day and throughout the series of messages, I pray God that this question would never ever leave you or leave me until you've answered it to yourself, not to anybody else, but to yourself.

And I answer it to myself and the question is this. Are you traveling with the will of God or are you traveling against the will of God? Now having said that, I want you to listen carefully to what I'm going to say because make no mistake about it. We have every conceivable force working on us to help us travel against the will of God. We live in a time when it is much easier and much more comfortable to travel against the will of God than travel with the will of God. It is more acceptable today to rationalize traveling against the will of God than traveling with the will of God. Which way are you traveling?

Which direction are you heading? In your business deals, in the decision making, the process that you make, are you traveling with the will of God or against the will of God? In your relationships, are you traveling against the will of God or are you traveling with the will of God? In your marriage, are you traveling against the will of God or with the will of God? With your money and possessions that God has given you, are you traveling with the will of God or against the will of God? Have you sufficiently fooled yourself to the point of convincing yourself that you are really traveling in the will of God when in reality you know when you are alone with God that you're not?

Have you sufficiently deceived yourself to the point of blurring the fact that you are traveling against the will of God? Now, look with me in verse one, Jonah chapter one, verse one. Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah. In Old Testament sense, this was a great privilege. It is indescribable privilege to hear the word of the Lord. It is a privilege beyond all privileges. But I've got news for you. You and I have that same privilege. We have the word of God.

The average Christian probably has five to ten different versions of the Bible on their shelves. We have the word of God. It's with us. We hear it preached. We hear it taught. It surrounds us. It's on radio and on television.

We read about it in Christian books and we're surrounded by it. But here's the question, beloved friends, listen please. Here's the question. What are you doing with it? What are you doing with it? Are you internalizing it? Are you internalizing it or intellectually giving an intellectual assent to it? Now many Christians are running around saying I want to discern the will of God. Oh I want to discern the will of God. I really want to discern the will of God. That is always dead giveaway as far as I'm concerned that that person's not spending time with God. The Bible said so clearly that the will of God for you is your sanctification. What does that mean? It means that when I'm walking with the Lord in intimacy with God relating to him every moment of every day, every single day that passes by, every moment of every single day that passes by, I am going to discern the will of God.

Why? The Bible said that the secret of the Lord are with those who fear him. God is going to give you secrets that nobody else can see or understand or comprehend when you are spending time with God in intimacy with God. That is why you will discern the will of God when you are intimate with God.

So running around saying I don't know what the will of God is, beloved friend you're not spending time with God. What about Jonah? Poor old Jonah. You know those of you who feel sorry for Jonah and saying well you know he might not have recognized the voice of the Lord. You know he maybe just was confused and did not know let me put a pin in your balloon.

It's a false sympathy. And that is why I got 2 Kings chapter 14 verse 23 to 27 to make my point. And the point is this, that God has spoken to Jonah before. That God had given Jonah messages before. We don't know how many times but at least we know there was one more time before this time that God had spoken to Jonah. And turn with me to 2 Kings chapter 14 verses 23 to 27.

But here's the thing. Jonah liked what God said to him in 2 Kings 14. He really liked that.

And man he was all ears. You know what I mean? You've been there haven't you?

I sure have. You know when you hear God telling you something you really like, lead you in the way that you want to go and said oh Lord thank you. I mean man you're very spiritual. You're on cloud nine spiritually speaking.

You are just very excited in all ears. Oh God gave him a privilege in 2 Kings 14 to announce a great blessing of God despite of the fact they were very unworthy of it. In fact they were far from worthy of receiving the blessing because of King Jeroboam the second and the miserable things that he did in the nation and the miserable thing that the nation did. But despite of this God said to Jonah, Jonah I'm still going to bless this nation. I'm going to pour my blessings upon them.

I'm going to do some great things for them. God told Jonah that God's blessings upon the people of Israel is coming despite of King Jeroboam's wickedness. Despite of the people turning away from the living God, God is still going to bless him. Why does God do that? Why does God do that? Because it is of the Lord's compassion. Because of the Lord's grace.

Not because of the repentance. You see God will bless them and he bless them despite of their sin hoping that his kindness, that his compassion, that his mercy, that his grace may compel them to repentance. Just as his blessing this nation.

God hoping that it may lead us to repentance and holiness not to greed and more greed. Oh Jonah was delighted to preach the blessing of God. He was all ears.

Man he was very obedient. He was ready. He declares that with joy. So I want you to imagine now his initial excitement when he begins to sense that the Lord is going to speak to him again. The Lord is about to speak one more time.

Hey Lord this is great. I'm just, I can't wait to hear what you have to say. I can't wait to declare to the people what you're going to tell them. Then after that initial excitement that immediately died down as soon as in verse two of Jonah one, Jonah hears the voice of the Lord. Jonah pack your bags and take the first boat to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. You must preach repentance there because their wickedness has come up to me. You notice there God told him which Nineveh?

There are really not too many for just one but he want to make sure it's the capital of Assyria. And Jonah hears the voice of the Lord and he says, huh? What are you talking about? What is me going to the big wicked city of Nineveh? Did I hear you right Lord?

What is this all about? I've never been out of the country, let alone out of the city, let alone out of the country. You mean I'm going to get a passport and go through customs and immigration and get this big wicked city? I'm going to tell you about Nineveh. Actually back in those days Nineveh was even greater than New York would be today in the world or London or one of the big cities.

It was incredible metropolis. He calling me to do that? God, let me remind you. We are your people. God, let me remind you. We are the ones who deserve your favors.

God, let me remind you. We're the only one who should receive all of your blessings. God, what's going on here?

We are favored by you even though we might not have repented. Why do I have to go and preach to them? Why don't you just burn them like you did with Sodom and Gomorrah? Why don't you just flood them out like you did in the days of Noah? Why don't you do it?

Why send me? You're not to be blamed if you feel sorry for Jonah. I'll think that his apprehension about preaching in the big wicked city is a result of being fearful and intimidated. You're not to be blamed if you are sympathetic with Jonah because of his reluctance or fear of ridicule.

After all, many of us are in the same boat, right? I mean that's why you're reluctant to witness to your coworker or to your neighbor. That's why you are not witnessing for the same reason. But guess what?

That is not the reason why Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh. I want to tell you something very important. If fear is holding you back from witnessing to your unsaved friend, your unsaved neighbor, your unsaved coworker, shame on you. Get on your knees.

Ask God to give you boldness and courage and he will. Believe me, he will. I've been there. Now there are some that have thought that Jonah was afraid lest he would go there and prophesy and then the prophecy would not come true. And where would he be?

He will have agar all over his face. And you know, you got to understand that a little bit. But that's not true either. That was not the reason why he didn't want to go.

Here's the fact. Jonah was no doubter. Oh, Jonah knew God. He knew God and he knew him to be a merciful God. He knew God and he knew him to be a gracious God. He knew God to be a God who keeps his word.

Once he pronounced it, he keeps it. Therefore the reason why Jonah did not want to go was because he knew that God was going to have mercy on the Assyrians. In fact, he spells that out at the end of the book. He knew that God will forgive them if they repented and he did not like that one bit. Can you imagine witnessing to someone who insulted you? Can you imagine you're witnessing to someone who called you every name in the book? Oh, it's easy to pray for a family member who doesn't know the Lord. It's easy to pray for a friend, a loved one who doesn't know the Lord.

But it's not easy to pray, let alone reach out to somebody who hates you. Verse 3, but Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. That's another way of saying he was running away from the will of the Lord. He didn't like the will of God in his life and he said, well, I liked it when he told me about blessings. I liked it when he gave me all these wonderful promises. I liked it when that happened, but oh, I don't like it now. It just doesn't fit my lifestyle, doesn't fit my goals for life, doesn't fit my plan for my life.

I'm just too busy to do this. And he came up with every excuse in the book. You know, I'm sharing this with passion because I can tell you honestly that I feel sorry for anyone who can sufficiently fool themselves into thinking that they can flee from the will of God and still have joy in their lives. You can flee, well, Jonah did. Come on, we're going to hear more about that.

He had a great ride, didn't he? You can flee, but you know what? I honestly, deep down in my heart, I feel so sorry for you. I wish I can do something for you. I pity you. I really do with all of every ounce of sincerity.

Why? Because I've been there. I've been there. By being indifferent, by being neutral, by coasting in life, you are traveling against the will of God in your life.

I can testify to the fact that we as Christians, not in the before Christ, but as believers, I can testify to that, that we are capable of blinding ourselves sufficiently, blinding ourselves into thinking that we can flee from the will of God. I've been there. I have been in the proverbial whale. Listen to me carefully, I'm getting close to the end.

I want you to listen to what I'm going to tell you. Somebody said that when you flee from God, or you try, you pay the full fare. You never complete the journey and you never get a refund. That's what happened to Jonah. But when you are traveling with the will of God, he pays the full price and you always get to the end of your journey.

Poor Jonah. God told him to get down and get a ticket and go to Nineveh, which is east from where he was. He said, I'm going to get a ticket and go the furthest city west. As far as they were concerned back then, the furthest place, the end of the world for them was Spain. And this is where Tarshish was.

And he was going to go the furthest point west known to mankind at that time. Go east. Go west. Do this. Well, I'm too busy, I'll do this. Obey me in this area.

Well, I'm just not ready right now. I will do it when I get to it. Who will know? It's my secret sin. Who will know? It is my secret thought. Who will know? It is my secret rebellion. Who will know? It is my secret flight from God. Who will know?

It is my secret adventure. Who will know? Here's the bad news, my friends. There's good news also. But here's the bad news. God does.

And to me, that's good news because that's really who matters as far as I'm concerned. He knows. For he is the one to be reckoned with. Jonah went his way. Paid his own fare. Never finished the journey. And he got nothing. But when you go the Lord's way, you will always get to where you're going.

And he pays for it. Let me repeat the question with which I began. Are you traveling with the will of God? Or are you traveling against the will of God?

I want to testify to the Lord. I want to testify firsthand that after experiencing the pain of traveling against the will of God for a while, I have developed a simple prayer. And my dealing with the Lord is so simplistic and simple at the same time.

Unashamedly so. Because I know as my Heavenly Daddy, he understands. I've developed a simple prayer. Let me share it with you. Oh Lord, I give you permission to let me travel with your perfect will, even if you have to drag me screaming and kicking. Amen.

And I can truthfully testify also. It doesn't mean that when I'm in the center of the will of God that I've never had problems. It doesn't mean that I've met some errors in judgment.

It doesn't mean any of that at all. But it means that the joy of the Lord, that unspeakable joy has always been there as I travel with the will of God. You're listening to Leading the Way audio with pastor and international evangelist Dr. Michael Youssef. You know, we understand that not everyone who listens may be a faithful follower of Jesus. So if these messages that you hear on this station or today's words from Dr. Michael Youssef have brought up faith questions, won't you consider a conversation with the Leading the Way pastor or counselor?

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There is no greater example in the Bible than the life of King David. In his book, A Heart for God, Dr. Michael Youssef offers you powerful reminders of God's faithfulness to bring glory and victory out of brokenness and failure. The website where you can learn more about the content and order your copy, A Heart for God, is ltw.org. The number to call to reach a ministry representative in our call center 24-7 is 866-626-4356. They'd be so happy to help you place an order, give to the ongoing ministry of Dr. Youssef in Leading the Way, or even just answer your questions. Call them now. 866-626-4356. Well, it's time to say goodbye for now, but please do make plans to listen and watch Dr. Michael Youssef on the radio, online, on television, on Spotify, iHeart, Apple Podcast, Google, YouTube, and more. Thank you for engaging with Leading the Way. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef.