Scripture Reference: Matthew 9:35-38
I. The Waiting Harvest – Continued
A Christlike Compassion
When Jesus saw Matthew, He did not see a conniving, cheating, and thieving politician. Rather, He saw the writer of the first Gospel. When Jesus met Simon Peter, He wasn’t looking at a cursing fisherman. He was anticipating the day that Peter would be the great preacher of Pentecost. When a woman taken in adultery was brought to Christ, He did not see her as a harlot; He saw a potential home missionary. And when Jesus saw Saul of Tarsus persecuting the church, He did not see a cruel persecutor; He saw the greatest missionary the world would ever know, the apostle Paul. Christian history shows that the worst sinners can become the greatest saints. You and I are to reach out with an arm of love to bring them to our Savior.
That is the same type of compassion you and I need, the compassion of the Savior. When Jesus saw the multitudes, He began to weep and encouraged us to lift up our eyes to the fields that are ripe for harvesting.
A Christlike Commission
As we see the world, we will not only have a Christlike compassion, but I think we will also have a Christlike commission. The purpose of our ministry must be clear. There are many members in churches today that do not have a clear understanding of what they are to do. You and I are to be about the business of winning people to Christ and teaching them to observe all things that Christ has commanded (Matthew 28:19-20).
Jesus taught us that people need to be reached, for the Bible states, “Jesus went about all the cities and villages.” People need to be taught. Matthew tells us that Jesus was “teaching in their synagogues.” People need to hear preaching. The Bible states that Jesus was “preaching the gospel of the kingdom.” People need healing. As Jesus reached people, taught people, and preached to people, He ultimately healed them. Matthew tells us that Jesus went about “healing every sickness and every disease among the people.”
The church is to evangelize people, enlist, and enlighten people (Matthew 28:19-20). When our Lord won Zacchaeus, He summarized His whole ministry in one sentence: “The Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:9). In the final business meeting with the church before Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven, there was only one item on the agenda: evangelism and world missions. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church, once said, “The only business that you have, young ministers, is the salvation of souls.” Professor Schmearton of Edinburgh University, who long since has gone to be with the Lord, stated to a group of seminary graduates, “Gentlemen, reckon your ministry a failure if you do not win souls to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
I read a story of Margaret Sangster, the great religious poet, writer and editor, that indicated her patience, compassion, and love. As she did some volunteer work in a gymnasium in a metropolitan city, a boy came hobbling in on two crutches. His feet were turned in almost facing each other. Sangster’s heart went out to him.
One day she inquired, “Have you ever gone to a doctor to see if you can be helped?”
The lad responded, “My parents are so poor that we have never even talked about that.”
With the permission of the boy’s parents, Sangster took the lad to an orthopedic surgeon. The findings were encouraging. The surgeon said, “Margaret, with a series of five operations that will take a period of two years of convalescence, I can have that boy walking and running.” The doctor offered his services without cost. A local banker raised the money to pay the hospital bill and incidental expenses. The five operations on the crippled boy were performed, and some two years later, the boy came back into the gymnasium.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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