Feast: Carrying Water for Jesus Christ
#FT23-05B
Ted E. Bowling
Given 04-Oct-23; 31 minutes
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transcript:
Please turn to Romans chapter 14, verse 17.
Romans 14:7-19 For the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.
That is why we are here, to grow in a deeper appreciation in our calling, to pursue peace and edify one another. As Richard said in his sermon yesterday, we are here to serve others. We are here because we are committed to submitting and allowing God to work through us that we may have His very mind, to be here in sacrifice, in service. All the while we live in a world that is on a totally different track, where violence is growing, road rage rules the roads, even to the point where people are even afraid to go outside of their homes at night. These are perilous times.
Turn to II Timothy chapter 3, verse 1 again. Richard read this on the opening night (and we did not coordinate anything).
II Timothy 3:1-2 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.
I am just going to stop there because it all grows out of self-centeredness. We live in a time of self-centeredness, a time that is lacking in compassion with little care for anyone else.
Just recently in the news I saw something which really bothered me, in Seattle, where it showed a policeman's body cam of an officer which had been recently released by the Seattle Police Accountability Office, which they were investigating. In this body cam, this police officer it catches him laughing and joking over the death of a 23 year old girl, a graduate student, who was struck by another police officer while responding to a call. That officer, over the death of that young lady, again laughed and jokingly said, "Yeah, just write a check, $11,000. She was only 23 anyway. She had limited value." What makes it even worse, that this was a training officer, which was a man that was to set examples for those officers under him.
Again, this story really disgusted me. But I also realize that this is only the tip of the iceberg in the world that we live in today. Where is the compassion? Where is the respect for our fellow man? We are here today enjoying the Feast of Tabernacles, a foretaste of the Kingdom of God. We have been able to step outside of the world for a short time. And in these few days, we focus on the Millennium and then what we will be doing in the Kingdom of God as we focus and prepare for those days to come.
This sermon is to focus on one aspect of that preparation. That preparation, again, is compassion. Because we will have responsibilities in the Kingdom of God under Jesus Christ, so compassion is fundamental to our service to God.
I came across a story a few months ago that really impressed me. I will take a few minutes to tell this to you. It is about a 19 year old Confederate soldier that fought in the Civil War. His name was Richard Rowland Kirkland. Kirkland was an infantry sergeant in the 2nd South Carolina Volunteers from Camden, South Carolina, not very far from here. In fact, I drove through Camden on the way here. I literally stopped by the graveyard just to drive through. I could not find his stone, but I drove by just to see it anyway.
I want to go over the events of December the 13th and 14th, 1862 at the Battle of Fredericksburg, which again really struck a chord with me.
On the 13th, the Confederate Army was massed up on the hills above Fredericksburg, and Kirkland's unit was formed behind the stone wall at the top of that mount called Marye's Heights. And then below, the Union Army had amassed in the town of Fredericksburg. There was more than 100,000 men there for the union soldiers and they felt that they needed to take this hill and that it would strike a blow to the Confederate Army.
So early morning on the 13th, the Union forces began to began a desperate charge up that open-terrain hillside, which, I think, from the very beginning was doomed because they were up there in a very fortified position. And by the end of the day, there was heavy casualties in the Union Army which littered that hillside.
Now that night, many of the walking wounded made it back to the Union base and went to the field hospitals but many were disabled and forced to remain on that battlefield. When the morning came, December 14th, it revealed that over 8,000 Union soldiers had been shot in front of that stone wall at Marey's Hill. So many of them remaining on that battlefield were still alive and they were suffering terribly from their wounds and lack of water. Soldiers on both sides were forced to listen to their painful cries throughout the night and through the day of the 14th, but neither side would venture out with the fear of being shot by the enemy.
But at some point during that day, Richard Kirkland approached General Joseph Kershaw, also from Camden, South Carolina, and informed him he wished to go out and help the Union soldiers. Well, at first Kershaw said "No," but Kirkland kept asking. He was persistent. Kirkland said, "I want to go out there." And Kershaw said "You're going to get shot." But after a while, with the persistence of Kirkland, he was granted, but he was even forbidden to take a flag of truce with him.
So Kirkland gathered all the canteens he could carry, filled them with water, crossed that brick wall from safety, and ventured out on to the battlefield. Instantly shots rang out from the Union soldiers, thinking that he was out to attack them, which resulted in the Confederacy returning fire, which put Kirkland in a crossfire. But finally the Union soldiers realized what Kirkland was doing and both sides stopped shooting. Both sides stood in amazement as they watched Kirkland move from one wounded soldier to another, giving them water, binding their wounds to the best of his ability. Kirkland went back and forth for over an hour and a half, bringing water and comfort to as many of those Union soldiers as he possibly could, only returning back to his side when he had done all that he could do.
In 1903, a fellow soldier of Kirkland's wrote in an article called, "The Confederate Veteran,"
The enemy saw him, and supposing his purpose was to rob the dead and the wounded, they rained out shots and shell upon this brave Samaritan. God took care of him. So he lifted up the heads of these wounded men, placed the canteens to their lips, and cooled their burning thirst. His motivation was seen and the fire had silenced. Shout after shout went up from friends and foe alike in honor of this brave deed. It is easier for us to risk our life for a friend or a fellow soldier. But to risk your life for the enemy. . . In the end, this soldier's actions resulted in much more than a moment of mercy. It was a moment that stopped the Civil War and reminded everyone there are circumstances that we should have compassion for our fellow man.
Today, up on that mount in Fredericksburg, there stands a monument to Kirkland where it shows him raising up a Union soldier and giving him water, and a plaque below it reads, "At the risk of his life, this American soldier of sublime compassion brought water to the wounded foes at Fredericksburg. The fighting men on both sides of the line called him the Angel of Marye's Heights."
Again, when I came across this story, it really struck a tone with me because this is the very character that God wants to see in each and every one of us. To be sons of God, love and compassion must be at our core. And again, my subject today is compassion.
The word compassion is in the Scriptures about 47 times. What is compassion? Compassion is an awareness and an empathy of the suffering and a willingness to share in that suffering of one another with the inclination to give aid or support. It is a powerful urge to alleviate the pain or distress, or to remove its source. You could say awareness plus empathy plus action equals compassion. Here we see a young man aware of the suffering before him. He felt empathy for them and he then was moved to compassion to help them, even though it was going to put his life in jeopardy, so he can alleviate the pain and suffering of his enemy soldiers.
When I told Richard Ritenbaugh my subject was compassion and I told him about this story, he had a simple comment. He said, "We carry water for Jesus Christ." Well, I thought that was profound. And that is exactly who we are. That is exactly what we are doing. We are to carry water for Jesus Christ. Because this term "carry water" means to assist, to serve as a servant. We are servants of our Great God and Jesus Christ. This is our role. We have been called into service to serve our fellow man and in the Kingdom of God as a royal priesthood.
So at the core, again, of our service to God is love and compassion.
By the way, we talk about sometimes sympathy and pity, that we have pity on someone. But there is a difference between sympathy and compassion. Sympathy does not require any involvement. It is merely a feeling. And it is not a bad thing to have pity and empathy. But compassion, on the other hand, requires involvement. It literally means "to do." It is an action word. Please turn to I John 3.
I John 3:16-18 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
In verse 17, the King James Version says, "and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?"
It is interesting, this term bowels of compassion. The Greek is a very expressive term and it means it comes from way down deep, even figuratively from the spleen or even the intestines, a little bit deeper than just the heart. And because they feel this is the seat of tenderness, affections, especially kindness, benevolence, compassion, tender mercies, well, and then hence the heart.
And then in verse 18, he said, "Let us not love in word or in truth, but in deed." That means action again, that is doing, it is laboring, it is working. And as the Confederate soldiers on that hill saw those wounded soldiers out there on that battlefield, men crying out in agony and in pain throughout the night and then through that next day, I am very sure that many of those soldiers had pity on those folks. They had sympathy for them. There were 35,000 Confederate soldiers up on that ridge, but only one, only one man, actually was willing to step out and show compassion, willing to sacrifice his life to show compassion on those men.
Again, these are the characteristics that God is looking for in us because this is the way that Jesus Christ lived His life. He did not just have sympathy for those men out there. He had compassion for them and it caused him to act, and it was for His enemies. The Scripture does tell us to love our enemies and pray for them that persecute you. So Kirkland had a very godly trait within him.
But when we look at Jesus Christ, what greater example do we have of a man, a God of compassion? As we look through the Gospels and the ministry of Jesus Christ, He preached compassion. In the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:7 it says, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." This word for mercy is the exact same word for compassion. It could also read, "Blessed are the compassionate, for they shall obtain compassion." And Christ did not just preach these things, He also practiced them. All through the Scriptures, all through the Gospels, you will see that He was serving. He was showing compassion.
And briefly, I will just read through a few of these.
Mark 1:41: We see Christ moved with compassion, stretched out His hand, and touched the leper, and he was healed. He was cleansed. Matthew 14:14: when Christ looked out over the multitude, He was moved with compassion for them and he healed their sick. And then He had compassion for the 5,000 because they had nothing to eat. And so He fed them with the five loaves and two fishes. And then again, in Matthew 15, He fed the 4,000 because He had compassion on that multitude. In Matthew 20:34: we see Jesus had compassion on the two blind men. He touched their eyes and they instantly receive their sight. In Luke 7:13: out of compassion, Christ raised the son of the widow from the dead. As well, He did raise His friend Lazarus out of love and compassion.
The Gospels are full of the accounts of Jesus Christ. He was always compassionate. In each one of these accounts we see Christ showing compassion for people whose circumstances have reached the point of dire need and they did not have the ability to help themselves. So He performed miracles to alleviate their problems. While we may not have the ability to perform miracles as Christ, Christ makes an example to us though, very clearly, that we should be willing to help others in whatever capacity or power that we have. Is it any wonder then why Christ is working so hard to develop His character in us?
Turn to Luke chapter 10, verse 25. This is the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I think it could be also called the Parable of Godly Compassion.
Luke 10:25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
Now, this lawyer already was keeping the physical laws of of God. Everyone was keeping the laws then.
Luke 10:27 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.'
Luke 10:30-33 Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at that place, came and looked, and passed on the other side. But a certain Samaritan as he journeyed, came where he was. And he saw him and he had compassion.
Brethren, this is the core of this parable. The lawyer asked, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" The answer is be a man of compassion. When the priest and Levite came upon the injured man, a fellow Jewish man, they crossed to the other side of the road. Now they might have felt pity for him and sympathy for that poor gentleman. But their pity did nothing to alleviate that man's pain. The priest and Levite give an appearance to be of God, but they were empty inside.
And the message to us here is we may attend church, we may do all the physical things we need to do. But do we have the love of God at the core of our souls? The Samaritan gentleman, he showed compassion for that wounded man and he had to help him. If you remember, my last sermon I gave was of this Samaritan woman at the well. Remember, the Jews and the Samaritans hated each other. They were enemies. They, the Jews, despised the Samaritans. The Jews even looked at them as dogs. But even the Jewish leaders here would not help him, but it was the Samaritan that offered the assistance.
I think Christ is making a very profound statement about true love and compassion here, just like Kirkland showed his compassion to those wounded soldiers. I will say it again, What was Christ's point? Practice compassion. Because the Parable of the Good Samaritan is about a way of life.
Brethren, God has entrusted you and me with the Holy Spirit and He expects us to produce the fruits of that Spirit and to take on the divine nature while we are growing in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ—serving God and serving others. This may take years to develop, but He has given us ample opportunity to grow. He is testing us every day. That is why we must understand that the life we are living today, the testing that we are going through today, is in preparation for the age to come. If we have compassion and love, then we will be the instruments Jesus Christ can use when He is reigning on this earth when He returns.
Please turn to Matthew chapter 24.
Matthew 24:3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will and these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and the end of the age?"
Matthew 24:6-11 "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they shall deliver you up to tribulation and shall kill you, and you shall be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then shall many be offended, will betray one another, and shall hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. [again, Richard spoke about this] But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."
Matthew 24:21 "And then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not been seen since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be."
Brethren, the world that we live in today is unparalleled in history. There are destructive powers today, both nuclear and biological, that could wipe out the world, the entire world. We see global events happening every day in all parts of the world and every one of us seem to be affected by those events, regardless of where they are located. We see diseases rapidly spreading throughout the masses on a global scale. And we live in a time that is lacking the love of God.
The great tribulation will be the worst the world has ever seen. The world will be engulfed in such chaos and violence that humanity will be on the brink of annihilation. In verse 22 it says, "And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be [alive]." Here, we are seeing the compassion of Christ. God will stop short of what is occurring lest everybody be killed. If He was to allow this to continue, everyone would die.
Matthew 24:29-30 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with a power and great glory."
The return of Jesus Christ will be a powerful event beyond description. And the people on the earth will shake, they will quake in fear thinking that they are all doomed destruction. I think you can say those remaining will be in shell shock because the world is going to be like a battlefield beyond anything that we have ever considered.
As those soldiers up on Marye's Hill looked down on those on that battlefield and saw all the wounded soldiers and those soldiers that had died and they looked over all those thousands of men, only one out of all that 35,000 men had compassion to step out and help. Now think on this on a worldwide scale. What will people be thinking then? Well, I think they will be thinking about themselves because human nature will kick in, the enemies of God.
Brethren, when this day comes, this will be a world in need of help. I ask you, will you be ready to carry water for Jesus Christ? To show compassion, mercy, kindness, gentleness, tenderness, longsuffering and love? Is it any wonder why God is working so hard now to develop His character in us so it can prepare us for that day.
We must ask ourselves: Am I faithful in the little things? Am I tenderhearted? Am I compassionate to others? Am I willing to come to the aid of my enemy? And the most important question, am I imitating Jesus Christ?
This is very humbling when you consider what is before us. It is humbling to know that we are here only because of Jesus Christ and for a chosen purpose. We are here at the Feast, this foretaste of the Kingdom would come. Let us also, though, be thankful for this wonderful opportunity that we have to serve our heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, preparing to minister and care for those who will come through the tribulation and beyond.
Remember I Peter 2 and verse 9:
I Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people [we are His chosen special possession], that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
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