08/24/2026
Praise God for this powerful message Pastor Pam preached this morning…examine your heart. Do you have compassion for lost?
Text: Matthew 9:35-38
Do You Have Compassion?
You see Jesus had been going through all the towns and villages in Israel teaching and preaching in the synagogue and all in
the community about the kingdom of God. Jesus, round about the community here, observed the crowds that day. And it says here in the word of God that He was moved with compassion towards them. You see compassion means to have a strong emotion for. It means to feel deep sympathy, to have affection after. It is an inward feeling, Church. And we find here that Jesus, Himself, was moved with compassion when He was looking at these people. Amen! It says there in verse 35 that, He was teaching them. Number one, He was teaching them. And He was preaching to them the gospel of the kingdom at that time. Then it says that Jesus went about healing every sickness. There was not one person there that was sick that Jesus did not heal. And it says every disease that was there that day among the people, they were healed. Amen! And you know what? He had not even yet went to the cross. And He was healing everyone that was sick. And everyone that had a procedure. Amen! That was powerful!
Then we find here in verse 36, He saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion. He seen them, He seen the people. He was moved within Himself with compassion. Jesus was human. But He was also God. It says, He was moved with compassion. And it even stated they were fainted. And they were scattered with abroad without even having a shepherd. They didn't have a leader. They didn't have someone to guide them and help them or even bless them. And Jesus seeing that they had no shepherd. He looked at these people with His own heart. And He seen that they were in despair. And that they were being harassed. You know, God sees when you're being in that state, when you're being harassed by the enemy. When you're being harassed by religious people. When you're just being harassed. I'm serious. God has compassion on you. Amen! You see, these people that day were among wolves. They were lying down and they were helpless and they were unable to help themselves. Have you ever been in that place? Where you couldn’t help yourself? The Bible says when we are weak, He is strong. God likes us when we're weak. When we don't think that we can control everything by ourselves. We just let go and let God have it. He likes that. He likes to be in control of us. Amen!
You see, it felt like they didn't have a shepherd. They didn't have a guide or something. They were wandering around being blind and deceived by a religious leaders that day. And you know what? Jesus had a word for them. Just like Jesus had a word for you today. Amen! His word is for you today, Church. He called them people, that was harassing them, blind guides. You strain out of gnat. But you swallow the camel. He said, they're a bunch of hypocrites. He said, “You serpents, you generation of vipers.” He asked them, “How can you escape the damnation of hell?” That's what he said to them. He said, “How do you think you're going to escape hell today? That was pretty, powerful looking at a bunch of religious leaders. A bunch of people that thought they had their act together. “How are you going to escape the damnation of hell the way you’re acting? And what you’re doing. How you're lying. And how you're deceiving them. He wasn’t afraid to tell them about hell. Jesus preached more on hell than He did in heaven. You better preach on hell.
They had no real shepherds to guide them or protect them. So they began wandering around, place to place, looking for a true shepherd. People do that. They want to see. There are some times, tell the truth and shun the devil. You've got to tell people the truth. If you can't tell people the truth, then you're not a child of God. Jesus said, all liars have their part in the lake of fire. He even told them in the word of God, “Your father is of the devil.” Have you ever told somebody, their father is of devil?” It’s the truth! Jesus told them! God knew Himself that what was going to be happening. He knew what going to be happening then, and He knew it was going to be happening today. We find this in Jeremiah 23:1-4. “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.” That’s what He said! Woe unto them. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; you have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit them. And will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord.” How about that? Are you fearing the day? I hope not. Are you dismayed? I hope not. You’re not lacking anything, are you? I think you’ve got a good shepherd. Is what I’m saying! Amen! God was prophesying death through Jeremiah. And Jesus said it would be happening in our time. Amen! That these shepherds deserve punishment also, Jesus said, because of the evil they have done by destroying and scattering the sheep. And Jesus doesn’t like that, Church! He doesn't like that at all. When you go to the word of God, there's things that He likes and there's things that He does not like.
Now, turn with me in the book of Matthew chapter 14 beginning at verse 14“And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and He healed their sick.” He did it again! “And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, ‘They need not depart; give ye them to eat.’ And they say unto Him, ‘We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.’ He said, ‘Bring them hither to me.’ And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.” So we see here that Jesus just had gotten word that John the Baptist is dead. Just before this happened and gave his body for a decent burial (John’s disciples).
Jesus then took the disciples, entered into a ship and headed into a desert place church. The people heard of where Jesus was going and were there when He arrived. The first one, when Jesus went forth and sought the great multitude, He was moved with compassion towards them. And He healed them. Jesus healed everyone that was sick among them. Why? Because He was moved with compassion. What I'm sharing with you today is how our Lord, no matter where He went. And what He did, He was moved with compassion.
Now, evening was now approaching. And these disciples wanted to send everybody away to give, to get something to eat. Jesus speaks up and said, “They need not go away. You give them something to eat. You don’t need to send away. You give them something to eat!” And they said, Lord, all we have is five loaves and two fishes. And Jesus said, “Give me what you have.” Just give me what you have. And He commanded the multitude to sit on the ground, took the five loaves and two fishes, and looking up at heaven, He blessed, and He broke, and He gave those to His disciples. And the disciples gave to the multitudes. Five thousand men plus women and children did eat. And there was 12 baskets. You know that theologians say that with the women and children that day, it’s possible that it was 15,000 (just 5,000 men). Five loaves and two fishes. How great is your God? How great is He to you?
My Lord, that miracle took place at the festival. This signifies that this miracle was intended primarily for the disciples. Jesus did that miracle for the disciples. He would illustrate to His disciples the kind of ministry they would have after His departure. They would be involving and meeting people in need. But most of all, giving them spiritual food, the Word. They were supposed to be moving in the same compassion as He was. My question is, are we giving spiritual food, the Word, in the same compassion as the Lord was? Are we lining up? We find here in verses 18 and 19, I want to show you some. I've seen in these passages and how the Lord, Himself, deals with us exactly the same way. He said, “Bring them hither to me,” He commanded the disciples. He commanded the multitudes, to sit down on the grass. And he took those five loaves and two fishes. And looking up to heaven, He blessed, He broke, and
He gave to His disciples. Church, some of us today can say, it's just a miracle that I'm saved. You see, the first thing that happens is that we come to the Lord just as we are. Did you not come to the Lord just the way you were at that time? And in return, we receive the miracle of salvation. Did you not? Amen! You got saved. You got born again.
The second thing is that He commands us to sit down. Where does He tell us to sit down? At his feet. This is where it all begins. With His disciples sitting down at His feet. While He is shepherding and mentoring every one of them. When you sit at the feet of Jesus, and you're praying, and you're reading the word of God, and He's feeding You, the Word of God. He is mentoring you. He’s saying, “I want you to do this, and I don't want you to do this, and I don't want you to do that. I want you to go here. I want you to go there.” Does He not? He's the one, the Holy Spirit is mentoring you, but you've got to be steady. Church, He takes what we have. What we have learned. He looks to heaven and He blesses, “Lord, this is what my disciple has. This is what my woman of God, my man of God has, bless it!” He takes us and breaks us. So that we're not doing our will. But we're doing His. That we are not doing it our way. But, we are doing it His way. As we get it, the word and we're ready. He places it with our hands.
Then we find the scriptures of how to do His work, with His words. You follow Him. “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, and baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” He says, “Teaching them, to observe all thing whatsoever I have commanded you.” It's a command to you. “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world” Matthew 28:19-20. If you were wondering, how the fish come into play? Well, we know what the fish represent. It's symbolic for the fish to be empty for the disciples. Mark 1:17 Jesus tells them, “Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.” That’s what we’re suppose to be fishers of men, women, children. You see, Jesus is moved by comparison to the law. And so much, we need compassion. We must be compassionate. In Matthew 15:32, Jesus called the disciples to Him and said, I have compassion on the multitude because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.” But Jesus here has been ministering to these people for three days and He knew, Jesus knew Himself, that they were hungry. So once again He called His disciples asking what are our resources that we have here? What do we got here for them to eat? “Well, we got seven loaves and two fish. So, Jesus commanded another time to sit down took what they had and He blessed it. He gave thanks, He broke it and He gave to His disciples and in turn they distributed to the people this time four thousand men plus women and children did eat and the bible says there were seven baskets full left on this one. Why? The word says that Jesus was moved with compassion for the multitude of people. You see what compassion will do to you? Miracles! He came to do miracles! He would be their shepherd having compassion. Where is this compassion?
Also we find in Mark 1:41, there was a l***r that came to Him, seeking him again saying, “If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” The Bible says that Jesus was moved with compassion. “Put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will.” I want you to be whole. I want to do it! Se that I plead. You see Jesus touched the untouchable. But He also cured the incurable. Glory to God! don't think that Jesus can't cure the incurable. Jesus can heal every disease that's known to man. And I think those 39 stripes that He took on his back was for every one of them. He wants us whole. He wants us well. He cured the incurable, it was immediately! It was complete healing and physical all on this day. Why? Because Jesus was full of compassion for lost souls. He still is! He hasn't changed. He said I am God, I change not! I like this one it's a right one of my favorite. In Luke 7:11-17 you’ll read about the woman of Naim. She lost her son, the only son she had. She lost her son and the bible says when Jesus saw her; when Jesus saw this woman, He had compassion on her the bible says. He said, “Weep not.” I think He dried her tears. I think He said don't cry. Weep not, I know what you're going through. Weep not and He touched the coffin. And said, “Young man I said arise.” And the young man that was dead, set up. Spoke! And Jesus gave him to his mother! He had compassion on them. I don't care why you're going through, God has compassion on you! Don’t ever say that Jesus don’t have compassion on you.
Mark 5:1-20, there was a manic. He was a demon possessed man. He was one that no one could touch. They couldn't even get near him. He lived in the mountains, among the tombs. Can you imagine what that looked like? He was an outcast to society. We got a lot of them out there today. He always would cry out day and night, screaming and hollering. He would cut himself with sharp stones. Can you imagine how many lashes this demon man had scrapped himself with? He had no control. You know, demon possession is not mere of sickness. But it is a desperate sanctity of time to distort and destroy God's image. Man. Because man, God created man. The Bible says that when Jesus was a far off. And Jesus was going toward him. It says here, he ran. He ran and worshipped Him and cried with a loud voice. He said, “What am I to do with thee, Jesus? Thou son of the most high God. I adjure thee, my God, that thou has met me not.” And Jesus said, “Hey, come out of that man, thou unclean spirit!”
Three things in scripture here indicate that that unclean spirit that was possessing this man was fully aware of Jesus' divine origin and superior power. Number one, it says he knelt before Him. Not in worship, but in homage. Number two, he used Jesus' divine name in an attempt to gain control over Him. And number three, he crazily makes an appeal to Jesus not to punish him. But regardless of these three attempts that were made to try to deceive Jesus, guess what? He still had compassion on him. Jesus cast out the unclean spirit out of the man and told him, “Hey, go home to your friends. I want you to go home now. You're not receiving possession no more. You don't have to cut yourself no more. You do not scream at me. You don't have to do anything. Go home to your friends and tell them how great the Lord has done for thee.”
Finally, there was two individuals, together, that Jesus had compassion for. There were two blind men in Matthew 20:30-34. The blind men here, start to cry out for help. They cried out for help, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, Jesus stopped right to where they were. He’ll stop where you are at. He called them out, church! Jesus asked them, what they wanted. Jesus ever asked you what you wanted? They simply replied they wanted their sight. We'd like to be able to see Jesus. We'd like to be able to see you. Verse 34 says, Jesus had compassion. Jesus had compassion again on them. And He touched their eyes. He had time to do that. Do you have time to do that? Take the time for people (and touch their eyes). That's all you got to do. Jesus had compassion on them, He touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight! Not just that. The Bible says, they followed Him. When you see who Jesus Christ really is, you'll follow Him. He's a good God. He's a mighty God. They received their natural sight. They also received spiritual insight. For they knew who He was. And they followed Him. Jesus said it best in John 10:27, My sheep. The ones that belong to me. He said, “My sheep. Hear my voice. And I know them. He said, “I know you.” I know who my disciples are. And they follow me. They are not following some man. They are not following some tradition. They're following me. Why? Because of their my sheep. And they hear my voice. God says, I know them. Does He know you? He knows you.
So, in closing, finally with compassion on you. Romans 15: 9 says, “For He saved to Moses.” Hey, for Moses are you ready? “I will have mercy. For whom I will have mercy. And I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Laminations tells us in verse 22 and 23. Chapter 3. It is of the Lord's mercy that we're not consumed. Because His compassion failed not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Church, Jesus’ compassion for us fails not! They are new every morning. Every morning when you wake up. Oh, Jesus got compassion on me. Jesus was moved with compassion. And was moving any compassion. When He saw the people. His compassion moved Him to heal the sick, the diseased. To feed the hungry. To raise the dead. And set free of demons possessed people. Jesus personally touched people. And taught those ones that He was a shepherd. Jesus called on His disciples to pray for more laborers. And then in return. Jesus cast them out to do His work. The same is true today. Jesus is calling for His disciples. You and I to be moved with compassion. As Jesus was with lost souls. Do you have this compassion for the lost?
Are you moved with compassion for individuals who are lost in sin.
And multitudes of people, without Christ. Are we? Let's break it down this way. How many souls have you won to Jesus in 2026? How about 2025? How many of you wanted to share the gospel with them? Or even took the time to disciple them? Only you can answer that for yourself. If you allow Him. You will definitely be moved with compassion.
