If you have your Bibles, I wanna invite you to
open them up to Matthew chapter five. Matthew
chapter five as we finish out the closing of
this chapter and this section of the greatest
sermon ever. to be told. Before we jump into
that I want to kind of illustrate kind of where
we're in the middle of as far as the Sermon on
the Mount goes and what Jesus is trying to do
for his disciples and of course by proxy all
those who are listening. He's trying to draw
out the illustration of the difference between
the semblance and reality. What was actually
happening in the days of the Pharisees and their
teaching of the law and what the actual law was
trying to get to as far as what the heart of
the matter was. And I came across these here
recently. They're not new by any stretch of the
imagination, but I enjoy doing them. I thought
it would be a lot of fun for us and for the kids
and that to get started with. And so let's do
a little bit of quiz. Okay, I'm going to show
you by way of color and blocks an illustration,
a semblance of a character, and then I want you
to guess what the character is. Okay, so you
can just shout out the answer and they'll go
from a little bit easy to a little bit more difficult
or a little bit more specific. All right, so
let's throw up the first one here. Give you an
idea. Any guesses as to what character this might
be? Yeah, very good. Goofy. Very good. So, you
see how that works? It's a character and it's
the semblance of it in color, okay? So that's
the first one, all right? Let's go to the next
one, all right? Very good, I heard it over here.
Winnie the Pooh, very good. They're not all Disney,
by the way. All right, the next one. Wow, that
was pretty quick. Yeah, good job, Matt. The Hulk,
very good. Incredible Hulk. You see that? See
the color there? All right, we're getting a little
bit more difficult now. Very good. Once you see
it, you eventually see it. You start seeing them
a lot quicker, right? That's Sonic the Hedgehog.
All right, this next one's a little bit more
specific. Very good, yeah. Mads, you're on it
tonight, man. You're on it tonight. This is from
an anime, Monkey D. Luffy. I think that was that
the last one or is there one more? Is there one
more? Okay, that was the last one. All right.
You can throw up the next slide, if you will.
So that's kind of the idea, right? There's semblance.
It's something that looks kind of like it. I
saw some people shaking their heads like, no,
it doesn't look anything like the character,
right? And that was kind of what was going on
in this time with this concerning the Pharisees,
the lawyers and their teaching of the law of
God. They had a semblance of what the teaching
of the law of God or what their interpretation
of what that might be. But Jesus is trying to
illustrate with them and he's using a interesting
combination of sayings here. We're halfway through
the middle of it. Last week we began it, but
he uses this little couplet to kind of draw to
mind the Old Testament teaching and then his
interpretation of it or his fulfillment of that
law. And so he uses this little couplet, these
words, and you can see them throughout chapter
five. He says, you've heard it said, He has actually
six different points where he actually does this.
We've looked at the first three last week and
we'll finish up this at the end of Matthew chapter
five. But Jesus is kind of making this stark
contrast between what He commands and what the
law actually commanded and what existed in the
traditional form of Judaism at that point. And
in reality, he was sort of criticizing or attacking
the corrupt Judaism system of the day. The system
that had largely not ignored the Old Testament
text, they were very literal of using the Old
Testament text. However, they had taken the Old
Testament and then added to it their own belief
system, kind of built upon it. And the problem
with it is that their building of it was very
superficial. It was one dimensional. And the
religion of their day had sort of flattened the
law of God into this very superficial, all on
the outside version of what God's law was actually
commanded. And God's law wasn't just a one -dimensional
thing, but they had squished it down to justify
their ungodly behavior, to justify hate, to justify
lust, to justify divorce. But holiness is not
a flatted one -dimensional thing, it is a three
-dimensional thing. The heart of the issue is
what concerned our Lord. And the integrity of
the person in his kingdom was paramount for what
he was trying to teach his... disciples in what
true holiness, true integrity, true kingdom living
was to look like. And that's what I want us to
kind of focus on tonight. And that's the reality
that I believe that if we are going to be believers,
followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have to
exhibit integrity in our relationships. by displaying
three traits that Jesus is going to draw out
through his couplet teaching tonight. All right?
So let's look into the word of God. We'll start
off with a word of prayer, and then we'll jump
into Matthew chapter five, starting in verse
33. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, we
thank you for the word. We thank you for the
truth that is revealed to us, Lord, and As we
consider your very words, Lord, we pray that
you would illuminate our hearts to know that
we ought to obey what you teach. Father, may
it change the way that we not just think, but
the way that we act so that we might be the sons
of God. Father, I pray that you would help us
to understand this passage this evening and help
us to live it out. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
So we're going to look at three traits tonight.
If you're taking notes, I'd encourage you to
do so. The first one we'll be finding in the
first few verses here of Matthew chapter five,
beginning in verse 33. And that's, if you're
taking notes, the first trait of truthful speech.
Let's pick up in reading in verse 33, Matthew
chapter 5. It says this, again, Neither shalt
thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not
make one hair white or black. But let your communication
be yea, yea, nay, nay, for whatsoever is more
than these cometh of evil." Now as we continue
through Jesus' teaching here, he's already covered
such topics as anger, such topics as lust and
such topics as divorce. And he's continuing through
his teaching here, speaking specifically about
integrity in our speech. Jesus continues to re
-examine and then expedite his teaching to the
people of the Old Testament law. He's expositing
for them what the heart of the law was supposed
to be. Jesus references here the Old Testament
law and then also the traditions of the Pharisees
and the lawyers that were being taught in his
day. And he's trying to help them understand
what the intention of the law of Moses was supposed
to bring about. He first points here in Matthew
chapter 5, 33 through 37, the idea of oath squaring
or taking oaths. This was mentioned several times
in the Old Testament law. once in Numbers, once
in Leviticus, and another time in Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy chapter 23 -21 says it this way,
when thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God,
thou shalt not slack to pay it, for the Lord
thy God were surely required of thee, and it
would be sin in thee. The law of Moses had a
certain prescription for what it looked like
in taking or making oaths. In each case, these
oaths were to bind the person who gave their
word to their cause on the level of divine retribution
should they be found lying. These oaths in each
case were optional and not required by the Lord.
That was an important stipulation of these oaths.
I don't believe that Jesus is teaching that the
Old Testament law somehow was written wrong and
so he's going to come fix it. That's not what
he's trying to do. Remember what it said just
a few verses before in Matthew chapter 5 verse
17. He says, think not that I've come to destroy
the law or the prophets. I'm come not to destroy
but to fulfill. And then from that point on,
he begins to say, you've heard it said, but I
say unto you. Jesus wasn't trying to correct
the Old Testament, he was trying to bring it
to fulfillment. That word fulfill literally means
to come full circle, to bring it to completion,
to help them understand, as Pastor Miles so eloquently
put it last week, to understand the heart of
the matter. Jesus is teaching them here, in effect,
the intention of what the law was meant to have
on mankind. When we're talking about the giving
of these O's. What we have to understand is that
the oath taking of the Old Testament time and
even up to this time there was an understood
realization that when you took an oath you were
swearing by the name of the Lord and in fact
it says that the punishment for breaking this
oath was the same as profaning the name of God
that when you broke your oath there was to be
divine consequence for misusing the name of God
So these interpreting the law, those interpreting
the law had come up with clever ways to kind
of circumvent this assumption. And what they
decided to do, Jesus points out in criticism
here in Matthew chapter five. And again, he'll
do it in Matthew 23, only a little bit more specific
when he's face to face rebukes the Pharisees
for their misuse of oaths. He says in verse 34,
swear not by heaven. for it is God's throne.
He says in verse 35, not by earth or by Jerusalem,
in verse 36, not by your head. There's some assumption
that these were things that the lawyers and the
Pharisees had found to use in Proxy or instead
of the Lord's name So instead of saying I swear
by the name of the Lord that such and such is
the case They would say by my head or by Jerusalem
or by the by the heavens or by the earth And
so Jesus says I know that you think you're getting
around what I was trying to mean by the law But
I'm going to tell you that you're not getting
around it at all." And see here, he connects
each of those back to God. He says, don't swear
by heaven because it's God's throne. That's God's
ruling place. Don't swear by earth because it's
God's footstool. It is his creation and he has
control, sovereign control over it. Don't swear
by Jerusalem. It's the city of the king. If you'll
notice in my translation, it has a capital K
there. Don't swear by your head, he says. You
think you might get around it by doing that?
No, no, no, no, no. He says you can't even change
one hair, white or black. Speaking to God's creative
control, the capacity that you don't have, the
choice, what color hair you were born with, that's
all under God's sovereign creative control. As
David said, I am fearfully, wonderfully made.
God is the one who knits us together in our mother's
womb. Heaven, earth, Jerusalem, even your head
belongs to the Lord. And so Jesus here is speaking
to the heart of the law, that when we speak as
citizens of God's kingdom, we have to exhibit
the trait of truthful speech. So he lays it out
to them very clearly in verse 37. When you communicate,
let your yea be yea, and your nay be nay. Let
your yeses be yes, and your noes be no. Jesus's
prohibition of oath -taking here is setting the
tone for what it means to live and exist in God's
kingdom. However, like divorce, there is the
sad understanding of the human condition and
therefore the reason why the law of oath -taking
existed in the first place. God knew that we
would fail. God knew that there would be a need
for such things. And so the law existed. to help
give reason for how they were to use them. Jesus,
once again, I'm saying, isn't teaching His disciples
that they ought never take an oath. Let me give
you maybe a more modern example. I don't believe
that Jesus is saying that you can't sign a note
of promise when you purchase your house, right?
You're making an oath that you're going to be
making that payment. If that was the case, we'd
all fall short of Jesus' teaching. Those of you
who have purchased a home and you didn't pay
100 % cash for it, right? I don't think that
Jesus is teaching that when you go to court,
right? And you place your hand on your Bible
and you raise your hand and you make an oath
that you're going to be telling the truth, the
whole truth and nothing but the truth. God is
not saying that you shouldn't do that. Rather
I believe he is bringing into fulfillment the
meaning of why such thing exists in the first
place Why did God set up a rule in the first
place? It's because he wanted people that represented
him to have integrity in their words He wants
us to have to be known as people who when we
say yes, we mean yes When we say no, we mean
no That we don't find ways to get around such
integrity in our words. We ought to be known
as people. The people of God ought to be known
as people who keep their word. There's an illustration
I'd like to share with you. Sir Shackleton, he
was known in the history books as one of the
first person to cross the Antarctic. And when
he went by boat, he took 28 brave people on his
crew, and he made them a promise. His promise
was, if you come with me, I will bring you home.
That was his promise. And when his ship, the
Endurance, became trapped and eventually crushed
by pack ice, Shackleton faced an impossible situation.
He knew that he wanted to keep his word above
all things, to bring all 28 men home back to
their families. The crew spent months camping
on ice floes. Shackleton made critical decisions
all along the way, always keeping his promise
in his mind. In his journals, he writes that
they finally reached a desolate island named
Elephant Island where he left 22 men of the 28
behind and took the rest five volunteers on an
800 mile journey in a 22 foot lifeboat. across
the rest of the Antarctic area. Nearly two years,
he led his men across those ice flows, eating
seal meat, enduring temperatures down to minus
40. Having... Despite every justification to
abandon hope and to prioritize his own survival,
Shackleton never wavered from his promise. He
famously said, I have promised to bring you all
home safe and sound and I shall. Shackleton's
commitment to his promise was demonstrated through
his relentless rescue efforts. He finally made
it to the South Georgia Island where he was able
to then remount a rescue for the other 22 men.
The first time he tried to get through, he was
cut off by the ice. He had to return. The second
time he attempted, also failed due to the icy
conditions, returned. The third attempt also
prevented from reaching his men. It was only
until after the fourth attempt, nearly four months
after leaving those men on that island, that
he finally broke through the ice and reached
them. And when he counted his men, From the rescue
ship, he reportedly said in his own journals
with great relief, they're all there. They're
all safe." And you can see a picture there of
the 28 men he was able to bring back home. This
expedition became legendary, not for achieving
the original goal, which was crossing the Antarctica,
but for something far more important. Shackleton
kept his fundamental promise. In the end, His
character was revealed not in his success, but
in his unwavering commitment to his word when
everything else on the mission had failed. That's
the kind of people we need to be. That if you're
going to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, your word
needs to mean something. Your yeses ought be
yes. Your nos ought be no. If we're going to
live with kingdom integrity in this world, we
need to be known as people who keep their word.
Let's keep going for the sake of time. The second
thing that Jesus is going to bring up here is
what I would call the trait of surrendered rights.
Surrendered rights. Let's look at verse 38 and
following. Christ says, you have heard it said
an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but
I say unto you that you resist not evil but whosoever
shall smite thee on the right cheek turn him
the other also and if a man will sue thee at
the law and take away thy coat let him have thy
cloak also and whosoever shall compel thee to
go a mile go with him twain give to him that
asketh thee from him that would borrow of thee
turn thou not away Jesus here is speaking to
another point of kingdom integrity, and that
point is the misuse of the mosaic law for personal
use that had become common in their day. One
of the most well -known laws that sometimes people
will cite for good or for bad is the eye for
an eye law dealing with the retribution and the
justice system in the Old Testament. This law
was in place to regulate the extent of reciprocity
and justice and it existed in three places once
in Exodus once in Leviticus and once in Deuteronomy
Leviticus puts it this way, Leviticus 24, 17
through 20 says, and he that killeth any man,
surely be put to death. And he that killeth a
beast shall make it good, beast for beast. And
if a man cause a blemish of his neighbor as he
hath done, so shall it be done to him. Breach
for breach, that's literally bone coming out
of your tissue. Breach for breach, eye for eye,
tooth for tooth, as he hath caused a blemish
in a man, so shall it be done to him again. The
reason why these laws existed is because of the
depravity of man in the fallen temptation to
always return more evil for less evil. The idea
of escalation. It might be a best illustrated
by the idea of what was originally invented on
Charisica Island, the idea of the vendetta. Anybody
familiar with the idea of the vendetta? It kind
of originated here on this French slash Italian
island, a place that had become lawless. And
the only way that they decided to get even with
each other was to escalate the situation. So
a tavern brawl would turn into a mockery, would
turn into a fight, which would then turn into
In fact, there's even specific kind of knives
that they would use are as known as vendetta
knives from these people. There was always this
temptation of escalation and always taking things
one step further. Now God's law understood that
that was part of their pravity of fallen man.
And so God's law understood this and had a prescription
for restitution. Interestingly enough, ancient
Jewish texts here don't record much of this type
of restitution. In fact, many of the ancient
Jewish documents changed this idea even early
on to instead of it being eye for eye, tooth
for tooth, as specifically drawn out by the Lord,
they watered it down to just forms of monetary
restitution or just paying for whatever happened.
And it's interesting to know that even from the
very beginning, the seeds of reinterpreting the
very plainly written Word of God were being sown
in the lives of God's people. That while the
law dealt with the one in debt, Jesus is actually
going to speak to the one who the debt is owed.
And Jesus is going to use three illustrations
here for this same point. He says in verse 39,
I say unto you that you resist not evil, but
whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek,
turn to him the other also. Now I wanna illustrate
this because I think that there might be some
interesting details here that Jesus includes
and we include here in our King James Bible that
I wonder that might give us some insight into
the meaning. And I wanna kinda illustrate this
on purpose. So Miles, I didn't ask you ahead
of time, but can you come up here and help me
illustrate this for a second? So Jesus says,
if anyone strikes you on your right cheek, turn
to him the other also, all right? Yes. No, you're
not gonna really smack me. But here's what I
want you to do, all right? We're talking about
a time, and it's still very much the truth today,
but we're talking about a time of people who
are predominantly right -handed. So raise your
right hand, show everybody your right hand, okay?
Now I want you to point to my right cheek, okay?
No. yeah that's my right cheek all right now
I want you very kindly and remember there is
a microphone here to strike me with your right
hand on my right cheek no no not for real just
like act it out act it out all right do you notice
something about how you struck me yes yes and
did you guys see that as well this is what I
wanted yeah you want to do it again maybe afterward
right we'll sell tickets all right thanks miles
I appreciate that I wonder if there might be
some insight into what Jesus is trying to communicate
when it comes to this idea of striking on the
right cheek. In a society and a people dominated
by the right hand, a strike on someone's right
cheek, I believe, would seem to indicate exactly
what you just saw. A backhanded strike, most
notably associated with what we know as an insult.
I believe that Jesus here isn't advocating for
complete pacifism or the unrestricted violence
on yourself and those who you are called to care
for. I don't believe that that would be the case
because it wouldn't line up with what the rest
of the scripture teaches about our responsibilities.
Exodus chapter 22, Luke 22, Romans 13 just as
some understanding text. Here, this word evil,
not resisting evil, is the word poneros, which
is almost always associated with speech and thought
in the New Testament. Not with physical altercation,
but speech and thought, the immaterial, the ethical
portions of evil. I personally believe that Jesus
is saying here that when you are insulted, even
if your enemy raises a hand to physically demonstrate
his insult, your response is not what the law
requires, but rather the surrendering of your
rights to return such an insult. He'll also use
another two examples. The other one is in verse
40. Just sue someone at the law. He says if someone
sue you and take away thy coat, let him have
thy cloak also. Now this one also carries with
it some interesting historical perspectives because
in Jewish society, one could use your clothes
as collateral for a debt. And so if you had a
debt, you could actually use your clothes as
collateral to try to pay off that debt. And so
it was common that if your debt came due and
you didn't have the money, someone could see
you at the law for the clothes on your back.
And Jesus is saying here that if someone takes
your shirt, offer them your coat as well. Now
here's what's interesting. The Old Testament
law actually had provisions in it that protected
the coat. You couldn't sue and take someone's
coat from them. Exodus chapter 22, 25 says this,
if thou lend money to any of my people that is
poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as a usurer,
neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. If thou
shalt take thy neighbor's raiment to pledge,
thou shalt deliver it unto him by the sun goeth
down. For that is his covering only. It is his
raiment for his skin. Wherein shall he sleep?
And it shall come to pass when he crieth unto
me that I will hear, for I am gracious." Old
Testament law said that you could not take someone's
coat from them to pay off a debt. Yet, Jesus
here is saying that if anyone is going to take
your shirt, which they could, give to them your
outer garment. That cloak that was protected
by law, give it to them freely. What is he trying
to say? Surrender your rights. Compelling to
carry. He says that in verse 41 and 42. given
to him that asketh, and from him that we should
borrow unto thee, turn not away." The Roman occupation
of this time, there was an obligation that was
found in Persian text that said that the Jewish
people or any conquered people by the Roman soldiers
could be compelled to be used as a pack mule.
Some of them might even be able to take your
mule, if you had one, to carry their belongings.
But They could not overdo it. And so their understanding
or that Roman law that was found is that any
Jewish person 12 years or older could be compelled
to carry these belongings, but could only do
it up to one mile, not Jewish mile, Roman mile.
And so Jesus says, if anyone's asking you to
do that, to go one, don't just go one, go two.
What is he saying? surrender your rights. You're
compelled by law to go one, I'm compelling you
to go two. Surrender your rights. As a person
of the kingdom, surrender your rights. For sake
of time, let's keep going. The third trait that
we see that Jesus is going to point out in verses
43 to 48 is the idea of unbiased. love, unbiased
love. Let's keep reading in verse 43. He says,
you've heard that it has been said, thou shalt
love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy, but I
say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that
curse you, do good to them that hate you, and
pray for them which despitefully use you and
persecute you, that ye may be the children of
your father which is in heaven. For he maketh
his son to rise on the evil and on the good and
sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. For
if you love them which love you, what reward
have you? Do not even the publicans the same?
And if ye salute your brethren only, what do
you more than others? Do not even the publicans
so? I can imagine the sting as Matthew writes
these words. But ye therefore be therefore perfect
even as your father which is in heaven is perfect
In this final section of chapter 5 Jesus here
speaks to the misconception around the Old Testament
law Concerning one's neighbor and he brings to
climax climax this couplet. You've heard it been
said I say unto you It was no secret that the
idea of one's neighbor was a highly controversial
and misconstrued concept for the Pharisees and
the lawyers and the teachers of the law. Most
famously, we have the incident between the teacher
of the law and Jesus. And you might remember,
he comes to him and he asks the question, who
is my neighbor? And of course, Jesus speaks to
him the parable of the good Samaritan. in trying
to help illustrate what the Old Testament law
meant by your neighbor. The specific law was
found in Leviticus 19 verses 17 and 18 which
said, and the Lord. For many Jews, the Old Testament
was just used to justify the inclusive behavior
of extending care only to your people group.
The people of Israel would take that law and
they would say, well, I'm going to narrowly define
who my neighbor is. And they would continue to
narrow it down. Our neighbor is just the Jew.
The Pharisees and the religious elite would narrow
it even further and say, it's only the people
that are like you. In fact, the religious elite
believe that the mass of the Jewish people had
a curse upon them. In tradition, the Pharisees
would speak such things as this, quote, If a
Jew sees a Gentile fall into the sea, let him
by no means lift him out thence. For it is written,
thou shalt not rise up against the blood of thy
neighbor, but this man is not thy neighbor. Plainly
spoken, if you see a Gentile drowning, let him
drown. You have the right to be indifferent.
He's not your neighbor. That was what they taught.
And Jesus, speaking to His disciples, wanted
them to have the integrity that was required
for being a part of His kingdom. And He says,
I'm going to tell you about the neighbor and
about your enemy. Now, we do live in a culture,
and I won't mince words with this reality, we
live in a culture that is increasingly hostile
towards believers, towards Christianity, and
towards maybe even you specifically. We live
in a culture and in a world where sometimes we
can feel overwhelmed by these realities. And
there is within, I believe all of us, a emotional
stir that happens when we see the great evils
of the world. Some might use the word hate, and
I think that that might not be the wrong word
to choose. But I think that it is okay that when
we see something like an infant who's murdered
in the womb, that we should hate that. I think
that it is okay for us to say when a pastor is
jailed for speaking truth and then a child abuser
is released from prison because we don't want
to keep them in prison, we should hate that kind
of miscarriage of justice. That when those who
are supposed to uphold rights and decency are
the ones allowing the opposite to happen, at
peril of those who are the most innocent among
us, we should hate that kind of misuse of power.
I feel that pain. You feel that pain. We should
hate to see God dishonored. We should hate to
see Christ dishonored. We should hate to see
the name of Jesus be used as a four -letter filth
word. We should hate when Jesus is demeaned and
blasphemed across our world. We should hate that.
We should have every reason to hate that. That's
a holy hatred. I believe that's the Spirit of
God showing in us what we should love and what
we should hate. But Jesus teaches here something
even more powerful. Jesus teaches that we are
to love our enemies. The phrase here is translated
from three Greek words agapo humon ethros agapo
Meaning the agape form of love. It's the highest
form of love. It's not the emotional kind of
love It's the love of the will it is the I choose
to love rather than I feel this love humon ethros
speaks to the personal enemy. Not this group
or just this ethereal idea of your enemy, but
the one who is your personal enemy. Jesus then
tells them that that love is supposed to look
like something. It's supposed to be manifested
in some certain way. He says it in verse 44.
Love your enemies. Bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you and persecute you.
All three of these, I believe, Jesus is doing
in an ascending and intensifying way. He says,
bless them, which means to wish good upon them.
He says, don't stop there, do good to those.
That's not just a wishing upon that's an action
let your words what your thoughts be an action
But then he says most of all pray Pray for those
who are doing the most harm to you He says pray
for those who spitefully use you and those who
persecute you It was Theologian and pastor and
spy Dietrich Bonhoeffer who wrote these words
specifically about this text. He wrote, this
is the supreme command. Through the medium of
prayer, we go to our persecutors, stand by their
side and plead to God for them. Because that
is the most important prayer request we can pray
for those who spitefully use us and who will
persecute us is to pray for their soul. Pray
that they would receive Christ as their Savior.
I like how one reinterpretation of some of his
earliest writings is written like this. I think
I could just read it because it just hits the
nail on the head. They write this, this command
that we should love our enemies and forego revenge
will grow even more urgent in the holy struggle
which lies before us. The Christians which will
be hounded from place to place, subjected to
physical assault, maltreatment and death of every
kind, we are approaching an age of widespread
persecution. Soon the time will come when we
shall pray. It will be a prayer of earnest love
for the very sons of perdition who stand around
and gaze at us with eyes aflame, with hatred,
and with who have perhaps already raised their
hands to kill us. Yes, the church which is really
waiting for its Lord and which discerns the signs
of the times must fling itself with its utmost
power and with the armor of its holy life into
this prayer of love. And I have to confess to
you that I have felt the sting of Jesus' rebuke
in my own life as I prepared for this sermon,
specifically about the events that happened this
week concerning father, husband, believer and
political advocate Charlie Kirk. Personally,
I first responded with deep sadness and then
with a red hot hatred against those who I believed
would have been the guilty party. I don't know
what your response was like, but I personally
felt the rebuke of Jesus' red words jump off
the page to me. Love your enemies. He tells us
in verse 45 that when you do so you will be the
children of your father which is in heaven When
we love our enemies we are like God Himself We
manifest the genuine of our sonship of the Lord
when we love the way that God loves When God
loves God loves his enemies all of them Because
those are the only people, I love this, those
are the only people that have ever to existed.
In a fallen world, God has no friends. He only
has enemies. But God commendeth his love towards
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. So Christ sets the example. be perfect,"
he says in the last words, as even your father
in heaven, which is perfect. He reveals the standard
of what it is to be a Christ follower, a kingdom
citizen, unobtainable by our own, yes, but obtainable
by the one who kept the law on our behalf. The
marvelous truth of the gospel is that Christ
met the standard on our behalf. And he offers
us that righteousness in exchange for our sinful
condition. Those he's transformed to exhibit
integrity by our relationships ought to speak
truth at all times. In every one of your dealings,
you ought to be known as a person of integrity.
Your yeses be yeses, your noes be noes. We ought
to surrender our rights for the benefit of others.
Yeah, but you don't know what they did to me.
It doesn't matter Surrender your rights and be
like your father in heaven Who had every right
yet humbled himself and became obedient unto
death even the death of the cross and Unbiasedly
loved this world into a relationship with Christ.
Yes, but they're killing us Love your enemies.
Love your enemies.