Love & Compassion

Sometimes when we hear about love and compassion, we only think of kindness. God shows us love and compassion when He gives us relief. However, the love and compassion of God also includes God disciplining His children. Sometimes we think that what we understand is right, where in fact we have been influenced by secularism and liberalism instead of the true Word of God. Today we will talk about two things: a heart that is moved by love, and the love of God.

Matthew 24:9-14 tells about something that has been happening since centuries ago: that people who stand in the name of Christ will be persecuted. They will be hated and killed. On the other hand, there are also many christians who renounce their faith. We prayed about so many youths who have left their faith. In the 1500s, Germany was a strong base of Christianity. The work of Martin Luther influenced Zwingli, Calvin and other parts of the word. However, now we see Germany has fallen so deep. Therefore, we who believe in Christ should ask for mercy from God. What has gone wrong and why have we lost in this battlefield? One of the reasons is that our love has gone cold as we experience oppression and suffering. What should we do? We have to pray for God’s mercy and become the channel of God’s mercy to bring warmth to this cold place.

I saw once in social media a petition to end abortion for pets. So many people signed the petition. However, when human abortion is concerned, many hesitate. What many people do nowadays is really cruel: there are so many embryos killed. Before we ask for God’s mercy to help this nation, we should learn what the prophets in the Old Testament said when facing the Holy God. They said, ‘O, we are an unclean nation! We live among sinful nations!’. Even the apostle John fell before Christ. Fear and trembling before God is long gone. When we face the holy God, we should confess our sins and those of our nation. One of them is to kill so many innocent embryos.

Man is the image of God. If we had a photograph of ourselves, and then somebody came and spat on it, what would we feel? Or if somebody stepped on it and tore it apart? We would be angry and feel insulted. This is what sinful man does before God in killing so many embryos. They think it is alright to have transgenderism, gay and lesbian couples. In such a nation, do we ask for mercy from God? We have to come and confess our sins before Him. We should pray that God would heal this nation. The prophet Habakkuk said, ‘Why do you make me see iniquity?’. He had tears and a burdened heart when seeing the corruption. I remember my struggle while preparing for Rev. Billy’s seminar in the Netherlands a few years ago. The title was ‘Christian Freedom’. It was so difficult to find a church because so many churches raised the LGBT flag. Many people say that we should have love and compassion towards LGBT people. I say yes, but we should not consider their actions right. If there is a thief who gets caught, we bring the thief to the court. We love the people but judge their actions. If your child broke a plate that you love, and after you told him or her not to do it, he or she went on to break another plate or vase, what would you do? The behaviour must be disciplined. This is the time to show true love and compassion. Matthew 24:13 says, ‘But the one who endures to the end will be saved.’. We will be a witness to all nations. When we read another passage from 1 Peter 4:17-19, we might think of God’s harsh judgment, but we often forget His love. He purifies His people. In the Old Testament it is often mentioned that God purifies His people like gold or silver. Hebrews 12:6 says ‘For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.’. Today the church seldom talks about this. To many, love means no discipline, but we know that cheap love will destroy children. Is this not what we see today? Children who are not disciplined by their parents do not know what fear and trembling are. Of course we condemn child abuse. Many children have died of abusive actions. However, we cannot say then that there should be no discipline towards children. True discipline comes out of love and compassion. The father figure is very important in a household. God gives authority to fathers. When a godly father speaks, his children listen to him. Today we see a lot of families without fathers. There are so many divorces and it is considered normal. In the name of love, many commit adultery. How can then there be a father figure who loves and fears the Lord at home? How can fathers tell their children to keep a holy life? There will be no authority because there have been compromises. This is the society we see today. We have to honestly and fearfully reflect over what is happening in our society today. We see abortion in the name of love towards the mothers, transgenderism in the name of love towards the transgender people, same-sex marriage in the name of love, no discipline towards children in the name of love, and even adultery in the name of love. We are so filthy before God. What do we feel? Our conscience can become dull because this feels ordinary and everyday society shows this. Cheap love is like that of a prostitute: she will serve whoever comes because of money. This is not true love. This is a harsh reality, but we really must confess before God, and then ask Him for mercy and restoration. We pray that God raises people who love God and His Word, to do what Christ did. We will follow what Christ did in His life.

Matthew 14:34-36 is a summary of what Jesus did in His life. Matthew 9:13 says, ‘Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.’. This is the moment where Matthew, the tax collector, was called by Jesus. Tax collectors were not only evil but also betrayers of the country. At that time the Jews would quote Psalm 1 to justify not sitting with tax collectors. At that time Jesus risked His image by sitting with Matthew. The Pharisees were questioning why Jesus sat with tax collectors if He was a good Rabbi. Jesus’ reply is very important for us to meditate upon. We, christians, might be hypocrites. We might pray that God would help the poor and the homeless, but do not do anything. God demands not only offerings but also mercy. Some youths in our church are discouraged in seeing this. It is only when we bring them to orphanages and difficult places for ministry, they see the reality and feel compassion. Just like when we have a boyfriend or a girlfriend or a spouse, we not only say ‘I love you’ but also do real acts of love. God wants us to do those. Matthew 9:35-38 is about compassion towards the work of God. So many people are like sheep without shepherds. The harvest is plentiful but laborers are few. When the audience of Matthew in the time before 70 AD, they got the rhetorical sense. They knew that upon reading this, they had to take part in that work. Suppose a married couple enters a house that is very dirty and requires a lot of cleaning, would the husband leave the wife to do everything? If there is too much work, then they should work together. Our church has a lot of ministries. Suppose someone comes and says he or she will pray, and then leave. Such a person is not a family member, for one would take part in the plentiful work. This is the calling of God for all believers. Too many christians lack commitment. Even praying can just be about following a template. Maybe we really do not have love for the house of God. When Jesus cleansed the temple, He said ‘the zeal for your house will consume me.’. The love for God makes a person think about the work of God. It is like a person who falls in love and keeps thinking about the beloved. When a husband comes home and finds a messy house, if he is full of love towards his family, he will help clean the house. We ask God for mercy and compassion, but if we do not have love for God, our words are empty. It is not only about our actions but also our heart filled with love for God.

In Matthew 12, the disciples were hungry and plucked heads of grain, and then the Pharisees caught them while doing that. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and emphasized compassion that is shown to people who do not commit sins. This is also the second time that Jesus makes a point that He desires actions. The event in Matthew 14:13-14 happened after the disciples were sent out, came back, and were about to rest. Suddenly so many people came and Jesus was moved by compassion. Suppose we were very hungry, and went to a McDonald’s five minutes before their closing time, perhaps we’ll be served. Imagine if there are 5000 people who came, and now they have to be served. We see Christ served them with compassion. This is the initial stage where we see Christ broke His body for others and taught His disciples to serve with compassion. In many IREC branches, there seems to be fatigue among those who do ministry, and so when they went to Indonesia, they stayed low key because they felt too tired in serving. We see here, however, Jesus served with compassion. This is like the love of a mother, who is very patient in feeding her children. Like a mother who gives herself to her children, believers should give themselves to serve others. Christ gives Himself, to the point of death on the cross, for us.

After the ministry of feeding the 5000 people, what would the disciplines expect? Perhaps it was an anticipation that they could finally rest. However, Jesus told them to take a boat and go to the other side. The crossing was without problems. Suppose they left at night, and until morning they would still be in the boat because there was a storm. Sometimes we think that after doing so many ministries, we feel entitled for a peaceful journey. Christ told them to go to the other side. Why did He allow such a storm to happen? This is actually a chance for them to see who Jesus truly is. They did not reach their home, Capernaum, but Genesaret. Many people recognized Jesus and came to them, so they had to do even more ministries. Such a ministry requires good health and a heart that surrenders everything to God. Wherever God leads, let His will be done. In every opportunity, may we keep showing the love that we have received from God.

Matthew 15:32 is the feeding of 4000 people who were Gentiles. The feeding of 5000 people was for Jews. This shows that Christ shows compassion towards all nations. The Pharisees were not doing this because they felt the Gentiles made them unclean. However, Jesus kept walking, up to Golgotha. Sometimes we are grateful that Jesus died for us, but do we realize that Jesus’ ministry goes all the way from when He was in the womb, His birth and all His life up to the death on the cross. Are we following the true Jesus Christ or other ‘christs’? There are many christians who are fooled by false prophets who also talk about love and compassion, but those are false and bring people to death, as well as a dull conscience that cannot distinguish truth from falsehood.

I would like to close by reading Ephesians 5:14-16, which says, ‘for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”. Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.’. (S.W.)