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1. How is the devil active when seed is sown, according to Jesus? What is the devil trying to prevent, according to verse 12? The devil is active in preventing a person from understanding the truth of the gospel, and he does this by snatching the message out of their hearts, so that they will not believe and be saved. To have any chance of redemption they must first hear the gospel, have a basic understanding of who Jesus is, and be aware of their sinful state and their need of forgiveness. He snatches these basic truths out of their hearts: that all have sinned (Rom 3:23); that the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23); that Jesus died to pay the penalty for their sins (Rom 5:8); and God’s promise of forgiveness and eternal life (John 3:16). He does this through pride, through doubt, through prejudice, through stubbornness, through the love of sin, through the embarrassment of being identified with Jesus Christ, and through false teachers who attack the gospel. These are hard-hearted and stiff-necked people who are callous with no conviction, no repentance, no faith, and absolutely no interest in the gospel at all.

4. Is there any way that we can assist those with hardened hearts? If so, what can we do? We have been told to present the gospel to all, even to go to the ends of the earth with the gospel. We are to tell all about the wonderful story of salvation. Even those with hardened hearts who cannot understand spiritual truths, or the concept that God's Spirit lives in believers. So, we mustn’t expect most people to approve of or understand our decision to follow Christ – this is all foolishness to them. We must not remain silent, however, using others' difficulty in understanding as an excuse not to try and bring them to salvation. We are to persevere and be alert to opportunities, and leaving the Holy Spirit to His work of redemption. We must continue to pray earnestly for their salvation. Our job is plain and simple - bring the gospel to people so that they can believe and be saved. One never knows whether they are one of the elect, and need to hear the gospel and will then repent and put their faith in Christ. If they ask questions, this may be evidence that God's Spirit is drawing them to make a decision. On the other hand, Jesus says it is futile to try to teach holy concepts to people who don't want to listen and will only tear apart what we say. We should not stop giving God's Word to unbelievers, but we should be wise and discerning in our witnessing, so that we will not be wasting our time. There are those who don’t want to hear, who reject His Word totally. There will always be those people that are hard-hearted and the stiff-necked, who are resolute and rigid in their indifference, disinterested and lovers of sin.

3. In what way does Jesus' teaching harden people's hearts? Historically we saw what happened to the people of Israel who rejected God. Their eyes were blinded, their hearts became hardened beyond repentance, and God then loses patience with their rebellion and He abandons them to Assyria and Babylon. Most would not repent, but a few, the remnant, would listen and turn from their sins, and believe. This happened in Isaiah’s time hundreds of years before Jesus’ coming to earth. Those who reject Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God, the gospel of salvation are never going to know divine truth, and their spiritual blindness and hardened hearts will be compounded deeper by rejection and even deeper by divine judgment. History repeats itself, and as a result of the people of Israel's stubborn and wilful rejection of the Messiah, they cut themselves off from sight, healing, conversion, and understanding. Here again, He did not do this at first, but only after they had closed their eyes and hardened their own hearts. Sin, guilt, forgiveness, redemption, salvation, righteousness, and eternal life are foolishness, meaningless, and irrelevant to these people. They are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned – they lack the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit to enlighten their understanding.

2. How could people listen to Jesus, but not really understand what He was saying? People would listen but not really understand, perhaps because they were not concentrating or their thoughts were elsewhere. They may have had a preconceived idea of how the Messiah would be, and our Lord in His gentle teaching did not fit this image at all. Or, they were not part of God’s elect and the meaning was concealed from them. The teachings of Jesus was hidden from unbelievers and revealed only to believers, and without an explanation, a parable can be nothing more than a meaningless story. God had spoken, but they didn’t listen and now judgment had fallen on Israel and that judgment is seen in the fact that they can no longer understand their own Messiah. God was judging them for their rebellion, their apostasy, their unbelief, and their idolatry. Jesus came not only to instruct and to help people understand the kingdom of God, He came also as a judgment on those who don’t want to hear the truth. In Isaiah 6:9, God told Isaiah that people would listen without learning or understanding his message, and this is the reaction that confronted Jesus. In Mark 4:10-12 we read about when Jesus was alone with the twelve apostles, they asked Him about these parables, and He answered that they had been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for others everything is just a story. These people will look and look, but never see. They will listen and listen, but never understand. Only if they repent and turn to God would He forgive them and only then could they understand.

1. Why do you think Jesus called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear?" What was He getting at? We hear many sounds, and when Jesus says, “He who has ears, let him hear,” He knew that most people would audibly hear His teaching, but it will not pierce their understanding or their hearts. He spoke in parables and unlike a simple analogy they demanded an explanation. This is the reason Jesus makes this distinction here between those who hear and those who don’t hear. Jesus was talking about believers who have an ability to hear, to understand, and to embrace the truth - they have ears to hear. They understood the parables, but to others these were only stories without any spiritual meaning at all.

6. How can we be responsible to save for retirement and still give generously to Jesus' work? The principle is the same as above. Much forgiveness, much love. Here our love is displayed by our giving, since our giving is motivated by our Lord’s grace and should follow our salvation. By the time of our retirement, we should have learnt to be content with what we have, to live with less rather than desiring more, and we know by now to rely on God’s promises and Christ’s power to help us to be satisfied. We can trust the LORD with all our heart, not to lean on your own understanding, in all our ways to acknowledge Him, and He will make our paths straight (Prov 3:5-6). At the same time, we must not forget to see God’s love in all that He has provided, and that money and possessions will all pass away. If we start thinking that God can’t or won’t take care of us, it can result in a feeling of insecurity, which can lead us to focus solely on our bank balance instead of relying on God to meet all our needs. For, He will supply all our needs, but in a way that He knows is best for us. Besides in 1 Tim 6:18 we are reminded that the money we possesses is not our own. We are only stewards, and we are responsible to use it wisely for the glory of God by donating to His ministry. But giving to the Lord’s work and other forms of ministry are the privilege of believers only. A person who is not yet a believer may wrongfully think that by giving or by serving, he can earn his way into heaven. But the Bible is clear that no one is saved by good works (Titus 3:5).

5. What was the women's chief motivation for contributing financially to support Jesus' mission? Here again, the women’s chief motivation for contributing financially to support Jesus’s mission, is out of love and gratitude for what He has done for them. It is not that Jesus and His disciples ever solicited funds for their ministries. These faithful women could see that Jesus and the disciples were not getting rich off the gospel, and they saw the needs and took the initiative to give without being pressured. The women in this story, like the woman in the previous story, had been forgiven much and so they loved Jesus much. Those who have experienced the Saviour’s mercy have the privilege of serving Him out of love. These women were delivered and healed from the afflictions that had dominated their lives, and they wanted to serve the Lord. Here we see that when Christ powerfully breaks into a life with His good news of salvation, the captive sinner is released from bondage. The gospel always makes a demonstrable difference in the life of the person who has responded to it.

4. Why did the women respond as they did to healing? Their response was that they wanted to serve Jesus Christ out of love and gratitude. We see this in the story of the sinful woman (Luke 7:36-50) who loved much because she had been forgiven much. Many woman must have been healed of evil spirits and various sicknesses, and so they were now serving our Lord Jesus and His disciples. In Joanna’s case she was probably willing to give up the comforts of palace life and endure the hardships of following Jesus on His travels because of what He had done for her. Her entire value system was transformed, and now we see that she lives to serve her Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ. We don’t know anything about Susanna but she would have had her reasons for serving Jesus. God’s grace as shown to us at the cross of Christ is always the supreme motive to serve Him with all our might.

3. What do you think Jesus' critics said about the women who travelled with Jesus' band continually? Why do you think Jesus allowed it? Do you think He encouraged it? Why? There was much criticism about the women who continually travelled with Jesus. This was largely due to the Jewish culture at the time. This was a culture where women played invisible roles, and the mention of women travelling with Jesus and His disciples would have been completely uncharacteristic of rabbis/teachers - since women were considered to be inferior. Jesus allowed women to travel with Him thereby showing us that all people are equal under God. And He encouraged it, resulting in the uplifting of women, enabling them to enjoy fellowship with Him and to be of service to Him. One woman in particular, Mary Magdalene, seemed to have followed Him everywhere. She was with Him during His ministry. She also wept at His feet as He died at Calvary. She followed His body to the tomb and sat outside His tomb after He was buried. She was also among the first to return to the tomb following the Sabbath. And, she was the first one to whom He appeared when He arose from the dead. These women, and many others, were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and His disciples. People, like the women listed here, gave money to Jesus and the disciples out of gratefulness for what Jesus had done for them. This passage of Scripture (8:1-3) provides us with an insight into how Jesus and His disciples met their basic needs, and how the women were able to supply the daily necessities of Jesus and His disciples. Without them, humanly speaking, Jesus and the twelve would have had to spend time working to support themselves and would not have been free to preach the gospel.

2. Why didn't He skip the smallest villages? Jesus’ ministry was always under complete sovereign control by God, His Father. Initially God had chosen Galilee, and although it was only a small area, it had over 200 towns and villages, and a preaching tour could take some time. Overall, Jesus spent three years just going around and around the little towns and the little villages and talking to the most ordinary people. Besides sticking to the geographical region God had chosen, He also did the Father’s will in the Father’s timing. He even went beyond that to say, "Not only do I do God's will only and God's will only in God's time, but only to those people to whom God sent Me." Jesus says to the disciples, "Do not go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." The gentiles time would come. And furthermore, not just to the Jews but we remember in Luke 5:32 He said, "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." Among the Jews, not the self-righteous, not the Pharisees, not the scribes, not the Sadducees, for the most part, but the sinners, those who recognized their sin. We see geographical concentration, economy of effort, and narrowness of topic in God’s plan. In His infinite wisdom and power this is the plan our heavenly Father chose, and what a success it turned out to be. We would want to go as far and wide as we could, as often as we could and speak to as many different people groups as we could, and yet Jesus had this amazing kind of concentration and achievement.

1. According to Luke 8:1, what was the content of Jesus' message? Jesus’ message was the good news of the coming of the “kingdom of God,” the new era of salvation which our Lord has inaugurated. The good news that sinners can be saved; that they can be delivered out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s Son; that they can be delivered out of the domain of Satan into the domain of Christ. In other words, Jesus was preaching salvation. The good news that God had fulfilled His promises and had sent Jesus as His Messiah and King, the one who would reign on earth and suppress all unrighteousness. There is both a present and a future aspect of His Kingdom, and presently, Jesus reigns from heaven over all who willingly submit to Him as Saviour and Lord. But in the near future, Scripture clearly teaches that He will return bodily to rule over the nations with a rod of iron (Rev 19:15; Ps 2:6-9). However, whether in its present or future aspect, the kingdom of God is built around the lordship of Jesus Christ.

4. Is your love for the Lord more like the sinful woman's or Simon's? Why? Simon, being a Pharisee, I assume was outwardly a good, upright, religious man; who tithed and fasted regularly, who never missed synagogue, and who prayed at least 3 times a day. On top of this he was a respected religious leader. Being a self-righteous, legalist – as a Pharisee he had no need of our Saviour. Jesus had nothing to offer him – he had it all. Since Jesus was getting a lot of attention and drawing large crowds, he wanted to find out more about this young Teacher, but he didn’t want to be seen as being too friendly with Jesus, so he kept everything formal, cool and distant. Even to not extending to his visitor the usual common courtesies. He did not provide a servant to wash Jesus’ feet, or as was customary to greet an honoured guest with a kiss – especially one who had been addressed with the title ‘teacher’. So, in addressing Jesus as ‘teacher’ Simon was not really sincere; it was almost a sarcastic use of the word. Neither did Jesus have oil poured on His head, which was also a sign of welcome. His actual motive in inviting Jesus into his house was to try to trap Him into saying or doing something which would give this Pharisee the ammunition he needed to ‘prove’ that Jesus was not a man of God – that He was a blasphemer! So, we can assume there was no love for the Lord from Simon. In contrast the sinful woman, a prostitute, had exactly what Simon needed – a loving, thankful heart toward Jesus. Previously she must have heard Jesus say, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). Perhaps she had also heard of what Jesus said to another sinful woman, “Neither do I condemn you; go your way; from now on, sin no more” (John 8:11). Again, maybe she heard about greedy tax collectors being transformed after meeting Jesus. Sensing that here was a Man who did not condemn her. To show this amount of love she must have approached Jesus and had her sins forgiven. Now out of gratitude she needs to show her love – much forgiveness, much love. She showed a lot of courage to openly express her love for Jesus in this gathering that probably included many Pharisees. And so, she repented of her sins and put her trust in Jesus as the One who came to seek and to save the lost. I would love to think that my love for the Lord is more like that of the sinful woman. Recognising that I’m a sinner and that I’m at the mercy of Jesus; for without Jesus there is no forgiveness of sins and I would be hopelessly and helplessly lost in my sins. Also, I’m not ashamed to express my love and gratitude for Jesus (Luke 9:26), in spite of what people might think. I should be even more grateful than this woman since I know about the Cross. About Jesus having died for me. God sent Jesus Christ to die for me, and this while I was still a sinner, not because of any good in me, but because He loved me (Rom 5:8). Absolutely amazing!

3. Why did Jesus let her continue, since by all appearances what she was doing was scandalous? Jesus let the woman continue because He wants us all to see the power He has to transform even the most despicable of sinners. Here He uses the very person that the Pharisee despised the most, the low-life, reprobate, wretched, immoral prostitute. Simon was disgusted by what the woman was doing, but then again he was satisfied in that it proved that Jesus was not who He said He was. No prophet, or man of God, who had divine insight, would ever allow such a woman to defile or touch Him, since she was well known in the town. However, her transformation was very clear to all those present. Jesus had explained that the woman had been forgiven her many sins (7:47), and that is why she was weeping; she was full of gratitude to the Lord. That is why she washed, kissed and anointed the feet of the Lord. But she did not do this in order to obtain forgiveness. She did it out of gratitude because of her sins which had already been forgiven her. All could see that her behaviour was tied to her forgiveness. They could see she was forgiven by the transformation that took place in her behaviour of joy, gratitude, love, and affection towards Jesus. Great forgiveness, great love. So, Jesus had used this woman as a clear testimony to His power to transform a life - the transforming power of His truth. The sad thing about this story is that Simon and his friends thought that they were religious and respectable, definitely not sinners, and had no need for Jesus, but we know that all who reject Christ, all who refuse to weep because of their sin, will die without Christ and, therefore, without hope.

2. What was the sinful woman's motive for coming to see Jesus? She had met Jesus earlier, and He had forgiven her sins. A complete change had taken place in her life, and she was no longer the person she had been. She had to see Jesus, she had to thank Him! However, she knew of Simon’s reputation for high moral standards and that they all knew about her reputation. There was a possibility that she would be driven away. So, she showed great courage and determination in having gone to Simon’s house. She wanted to express her gratitude and love to Jesus, but she quickly became so overcome with emotion that she couldn’t stop weeping with her deep emotions as she stood at His feet. She must have noticed that His feet are dirty, which is really a social disgrace, and instead of anointed His head, she starts washing His feet with her tears and long hair. Once His feet were clean she starts kissing His feet, and finally anointing them with perfume. This might at first seem like extravagant behaviour, but her sins had been forgiven, and the guilt and shame was gone. So much so that she couldn't even contain herself, since somebody who has been forgiven much, loves much. Here this woman whose sins were many has been forgiven, therefore she loved much. Where we see great love, we see great forgiveness - the greater the forgiveness, the greater the love.

1. How would you describe the expression on Simon the Pharisee's face when he saw the woman touching Jesus' feet? Simon’s expression must have been one of disgust, shock, and embarrassment. Disgust - here was this woman with a notorious reputation in his house, near his table, touching Jesus’ feet, weeping and pouring perfume on the feet of his guest. Shock - this was a shocking scene. Her action of letting her hair loose and wiping His feet with her hair alone would have been scandalous enough, but the added action of her kissing His feet would have been even more shocking. Embarrassment – he must have been embarrassed, both for himself and for his guests. He had invited Jesus because the people were saying that He was a great Prophet (Luke 7:16), but here was Jesus allowing a sinful woman to anoint His feet! For this to happen must mean that Jesus is a fraud, for no Prophet would ever allow this to happen. He concluded, “If God had really sent Jesus, He would know what kind of woman is touching Him” and would have told her to go away.

3. Do you know anyone who has "rejected God's purpose for himself"? What can you do to influence him or her for Christ before it's too late. What is doing too little? What is doing too much? Where is the right balance, do you think? Yes, I have come across a few in my life. And I’ve learnt to handle them with care, and have an overdose of patience. You have to chip-away at their false belief, error of judgment, or lack of discernment. Never to confront them or come across as a Mr-know-all, and most importantly never ever get into an argument with them. We have to approach them with love and humility. However, we will find that most people have compelling reasons to do or believe whatever suits their purposes. I would think to find the right balance depends on the individual one is trying to convince. We have to help them examine their ideas in the light of God’s truth, being careful not to become self-serving as the Pharisees. Without the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit it might be an impossible task. Remembering that it is the divine wisdom that has brought the new covenant era, and made possible the new age of the Sprit and of God’s plan of salvation in Christ.

2. Why were people so critical of John and Jesus - and for opposite reasons? What are we learn from this? The people, especially the Pharisees, experts in the law, and religious leaders were so critical of John the Baptist because he didn’t drink wine and he often fasted. Because he was so different, they assumed that he was demon possessed. By contrast, Jesus would feast and drink. But that did not satisfy the Jews either. They simply labelled Him as a glutton and a drunkard who hung out with the lowest sort of people. Neither John’s asceticism nor Jesus’ enjoyment of life could please the stubborn people who chose not to believe, and to refuse to listen to either John or Jesus, no matter what was offered. They weren't troubled by their inconsistency toward John and Jesus; rather they were good at justifying their own so-called wisdom. What we learn from this is that the faithful lives and witness of Jesus’ disciples, are placed in contrast to those who have accepted the lies of the Pharisees and scribes, and joined them in rejecting John and Jesus. The irony is that it is the very outcast disciples of Christ and the despised tax collectors and sinners who are the wise while the religious elite, the leaders of Israel, are the fools. The world will always find fault with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and we will never change their mind. We must be content to walk in Jesus’ steps and let the world say what it likes. We must give up the idea of trying to please everyone. Whatever we do, we will never silence their ill-natured remarks.

1. In what ways is your position in the Kingdom greater than John the Baptist's? (A hard question, but at the root of today's lesson.) Jesus is saying that in the old covenant period John was the greatest. But everyone who is part of the new covenant era is greater than John. He had the highest praise possible for John as no person has had a greater privilege in preparing the path for the Messiah. No person can match his importance to this world. He had done everything expected of him. He had clearly announced the arrival of the Messiah, directing the people's attention to that Great One: “Look, the Lamb of God who is taking away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He had emphasized the necessity of conversion (including repentance) as the only way for the sinner to enter the Messiah's kingdom (Luke 1:76-77). He had humbly receded to the background when the One had fully arrived, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). However, John was merely “preparing the way,” while the least important believer in this-world terms (that’s me/us) is greater because we get to experience the kingdom reality directly. We have a clearer knowledge of the purpose of Jesus’ death and resurrection. John would die before Jesus would be crucified and rise again to inaugurate His Kingdom. Because we witness the Kingdom’s reality, we as Jesus’ followers have the privilege and place greater than John’s. Jesus was not contrasting the man John with individual Christians; He was contrasting life before Christ with life in the fullness of Christ’s Kingdom. In other words, it is better to live in this age of fulfillment than to be the one inaugurating (but not experiencing) the kingdom of God itself.

4. How has God lifted your confusion and brokenness in a time of difficulty? How can you encourage those who are now under such a burden? In times of confusion, doubt, brokenness, difficulty, trouble, or hardship I cling to certain anchors, promises in His Word to sustain, help, guide me. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 (ANIV). But, firstly there must be total commitment – body, soul, and spirit to the Lord. We don’t only trust Him for our salvation but also for understanding, and direction in our lives. We admit that we don’t always know what is best for us. Finally, we acknowledge our Lord Jesus in everything we do. Wonderful to be in almost continued fellowship with Jesus Christ! We will find He is in control and will direct us through His Word, through advice from godly believers, through the converging of circumstances, through the inward peace of the Spirit, or through any combination of these. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 (ANIV) Sometimes we might be wondering what good can come out of our suffering heartbreak, tragedy, disappointment, frustration, and bereavement. We must remember that our lives are not controlled by impersonal forces such as chance, luck, or fate, but by our heavenly Father. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? Romans 8:35 (ANIV) No adverse circumstance can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 (ANIV) Here again, nothing is found that might conceivably separate us from God’s love. If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31b

3. How was John intended to take Jesus' mild exhortation: "Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of Me"? Jesus does not reprimand John for having asked, “Are you the Coming One, or must we look for someone else?” Instead, He gives John a very gentle rebuke, and reminds him that a special blessing awaits him who does not fall into this trap but continues by God’s grace to trust. Jesus now proceeds to praise John publicly and to rebuke those who were finding fault with him. Here we see the tender love of Jesus in His treatment of John, in His defence of John, and the upholding of John’s honour before the crowd. Only once we face our doubts honestly can we begin to resolve them.

2. Why didn't Jesus answer John's question directly? Why did He let His deeds speak instead? Being in prison, John must have been confused since he only received reports about Jesus that were unexpected and incomplete. Jesus knew this and for this reason didn’t answer John’s question directly or even rebuke him for his doubt. Instead, He responded in a way that John would understand: Jesus explained that He had accomplished what the Messiah was supposed to accomplish. He points to His demonstration of power, His healing and preaching, alluding clearly to Isaiah 35:5; 61:1-2. Jesus point is that the Messiah has arrived, something He already announced in the Nazareth synagogue (Luke 4:17-19). Jesus’ mission is not to conquer the Romans but to conquer sin and Satan and win the Romans and all nations to Himself. We see that what Jesus did was to redirect John’s expectations of what will occur.

1. Why do you think John the Baptist had doubts about who Jesus was? Hardships can drag down our faith and then doubts start entering our mind. A year earlier John was the first to proclaim Jesus as the One who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29b), and I think, as John languishes in prison he begins to have doubts about Jesus’ identity. If Jesus was truly the Messiah, why didn't He exercise His power in freeing John? He was expecting that when Messiah comes, there's going to be a holocaust of judgment, the overthrow of the Romans, and the coming of His kingdom. But he hears that instead of judgment, Jesus is performing miracles, demons are being cast out, and people are being healed. It's all about compassion and tenderness and love and mercy. To John, Jesus was not acting the way He should have, and this must have planted the seed of doubt. Let us never suppose that God must limit Himself to act as we think He should. It is up to us to adjust to what God is doing – not the other way round. So, John sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus if He were really the Messiah, or if the Christ was still to come. It may seem strange to us that John should ever question Jesus, for if a man of such great commitment and faith can have doubts, we need not be overwhelmed at our own uncertainties. And also, we must remember that great men of the Bible have suffered brief lapses of faith. I must say that when I was younger, John’s doubt this was a problem to me. It worried me and I could not understand how John of all people could be doubting our Lord. It just did not make any sense to me. We often mention how important our faith is, but never say anything about how normal it is to go through periods of doubt.

6. How can a sense of compassion help you to pray effectively? If we want to be effective witnesses for Christ, we must ask Him to deepen our compassion, tenderness, and kindness to those that are lost, those in need, and those facing difficult situations. It doesn’t matter how much theology we know; what matters is how much we care. It is when we love our brothers and sisters in Christ, that we become aware of their situation. Being compassionate will reveal this to us, and we will be in a better position of understanding to effectively intercede on their behalf. We can then ask our Heavenly Father for specifics. The result is that our prayers become more effective, since we now know what to ask our Lord for on their behalf.

5. Can you be a true disciple and be dispassionate toward people in need? Why or why not? Our Lord is compassionate and gracious and that is how God’s people should be. We read in Psalm 103:8: “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” In all His dealings with us, He has shown Himself to be merciful and gracious, for He guides, protects, and provides for every step of the way. In spite of all the ingratitude we show Him, our rebellious and disobedient ways - He still puts up with our nonsense, and stays compassionate toward us. I don’t think we can be a true disciple unless we show compassion, tenderness, and kindness toward people not only in need, but to difficult people as well. Even our enemies (remembering Luke 6:27). I only need to think of the compassion, mercy, and love my heavenly Father showed me in my salvation. What right have I got to do otherwise? Returning to Romans 5:8 again; Christ died for me when there was no good in me. Only sin. God’s love for me is revealed in Jesus Christ who died on the Cross for my sins! What mercy, grace, and love! How utterly unworthy I am, dear Lord, of Thee, Yet Thou art always showering Thy wondrous love on me. Though oftentimes I wander and fail to do Thy will, Thy gracious love constraining abideth with me still. Author unknown.

4. Compassion is a dangerous virtue to cultivate. Why is that? What is the cost of compassion? What is the reward of compassion? In Col 3:12 we read, “as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Described here are the Christian graces we are to have for other people. These are the attributes we are to have as God’s chosen. Compassion speaks of tender mercies; kindness speaks of loving affection and sympathy; humility speaks of lowliness, to esteem others better than self, and lack of pride; gentleness speaks of a courteous and unassuming attitude; patience speaks of perseverance and not becoming irritated or angry. God’s standard is perfect and holy. God is so patient and so tender-hearted and so merciful as He deals with His sinning people. As holy and righteous and just as He is, He is that compassionate as well. And that’s the way we are to be. Col 3:13 goes on saying we are to bear with one another. Being compassionate towards people exposes us to their struggles, their sin, their problems, and their misery. It often takes the grace of God for us to put up with the idiosyncrasies of others, as it must for them to put up with ours. We must bear with one another. But, in living with others, it is inevitable that we will find out their failures. And the danger is that we might become judgmental and even condemn them for the situation they got themselves into. We become not so kind anymore, not so gentle, we start lacking humility, we lose our patience, and instead of winning them over for the Lord we chase them away and they see us as hypocrites. The rewards when we are compassionate towards people, might be that it opens their hearts to hear the truth of the gospel, and that they might see the compassion of Christ for the first time. Even perhaps winning them for the Lord. That would be a highlight – an extra bonus. I think of all the satisfaction we can obtain from helping our brothers and sisters in Christ.