1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:23,840 Chapter 5. 2 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:32,040 Matthew 5 will begin in verse 43 and go to the end of the chapter. 3 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:38,560 Our Lord was preaching to those who had gathered on that hilltop and He said, 4 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:44,320 you have heard that it was said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 5 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:47,160 But I say to you, love your enemies. 6 00:00:47,160 --> 00:00:52,240 Bless those who curse you and do good to those who hate you. 7 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:57,680 Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your 8 00:00:57,680 --> 00:00:59,960 Father in heaven. 9 00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:04,640 For He makes His Son rise on the evil and on the good and He sends His reign on the 10 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,160 just and on the unjust. 11 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:12,800 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? 12 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,080 Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 13 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:19,540 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? 14 00:01:19,540 --> 00:01:22,960 Do not even the tax collectors do so? 15 00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:30,800 Therefore you shall be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect. 16 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:32,360 Let's pray. 17 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:35,680 Father, help us. 18 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:38,320 God help me this morning. 19 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:41,000 Lord would you give me your Holy Spirit. 20 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:49,680 Allow me to preach with an unction, with power, in demonstration of the Spirit of God. 21 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:55,880 Lord I pray that no man will be exalted but only your preeminent Son, the one who died 22 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:57,520 and rose again. 23 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,080 For He alone deserves all the glory. 24 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:02,040 We ask this in His name. 25 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:04,480 Amen. 26 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:12,000 We live in a fallen world and it's a world full of hate and darkness, injustice. 27 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,520 It's a world full of hurt. 28 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:18,140 And there isn't a person alive, there's not a person in this sanctuary who will escape 29 00:02:18,140 --> 00:02:20,780 the world unscathed. 30 00:02:20,780 --> 00:02:26,820 What that means is all of us have been or will be hurt or wounded by someone. 31 00:02:26,820 --> 00:02:31,480 Some of you have been hurt in small ways and some of you have been hurt in a very big way. 32 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:38,160 And the most difficult thing to do is to genuinely forgive someone who has hurt you deeply. 33 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,320 Yet as Christians we know where to forgive. 34 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:41,880 It's not an option. 35 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:43,800 The scriptures are clear. 36 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:51,200 Paul said in Ephesians 4, and be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another 37 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,600 even or just as God in Christ forgave you. 38 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:59,800 As you have been forgiven, you are to forgive others. 39 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:04,480 Peter went to our Lord and he says, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me 40 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:06,440 and I forgive him? 41 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:08,640 Up to seven times? 42 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:15,280 And Jesus said, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 43 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,040 The ideas continue to forgive. 44 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:22,200 Yet we try to make excuses as to why this is not possible in our case. 45 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:26,160 We get it, we understand the scriptures, but this is not possible in our case because Lord, 46 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:33,160 you don't know how bad I was hurt, you don't know my pain, or you don't know my husband, 47 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:35,880 or you don't know my wife. 48 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,240 Our Lord did you not see what they did? 49 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:41,640 And yet our Lord does know. 50 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:46,840 And it is because that he does know that he commands us as his children to forgive and 51 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:50,540 to keep on forgiving. 52 00:03:50,540 --> 00:03:56,680 Most of you I think are probably familiar or at least have heard the name of Corrie Timboom. 53 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,880 Many of you all probably read her book The Hiding Place. 54 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:05,720 In World War II, Corrie's family would hide Jews in their home to keep them safe from 55 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:08,120 the Nazi regime. 56 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,240 Yet we know that one day they were caught and they were sent to a Nazi concentration 57 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:13,560 camp in Ravensburg. 58 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:19,520 In that camp, Corrie describes how she was ridiculed, belittled, she lost all dignity 59 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:26,480 that she had, but worst of all her beloved sister Betsy and her father were killed in 60 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:28,600 that death camp. 61 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,760 Now Corrie survived, we know that, and she eventually was freed. 62 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:35,600 She then traveled the world telling everyone her story. 63 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:39,960 But one day she was confronted with the powerful decision whether she would forgive or not. 64 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:44,040 See what had happened is one of the Nazi soldiers who had worked at Ravensburg, worked at that 65 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:49,960 concentration camp during the time Corrie was there, came to hear her speak. 66 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:54,560 He had given his life to Christ and he wanted to shake her hand and to meet her. 67 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:57,280 Let me quote what she said for just a moment. 68 00:04:57,280 --> 00:05:01,560 She said, it was at a church service in Munich that I saw him. 69 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,840 The former Nazi soldier who had stood guard at the shower door in the processing center 70 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:07,540 at Ravensburg. 71 00:05:07,540 --> 00:05:12,560 He was the first of our actual jailers that I'd seen since that time and suddenly it was 72 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:13,920 all there. 73 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:20,720 The room full of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, and my sister Betsy's pain blanched 74 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:22,760 face. 75 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:26,960 He came up to me as the church was emptying and he was beaming and he bowed to me and 76 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:30,760 says, how grateful I am for your message. 77 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:36,560 To think that as you say he has washed my sins away and his hand was thrust out to shake 78 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:38,300 mine. 79 00:05:38,300 --> 00:05:43,300 And I who preach so often to people in the Netherlands their need to forgive, I kept 80 00:05:43,300 --> 00:05:47,200 my hand at my side and I stood there. 81 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:53,320 I who sins had again and again to be forgiven and I could not forgive. 82 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:56,880 But my sister Betsy had died in that place. 83 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:02,240 Could he ease her slow terrible death simply because he asked? 84 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:06,760 Even as the angry vengeful thoughts boiled through me I saw the sin of them. 85 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:11,360 Jesus Christ had died for this man and I was going to ask for more. 86 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:17,400 Lord Jesus I prayed forgive me and help me to forgive him. 87 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:19,120 I tried to smile. 88 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:22,440 I struggled to raise my hand but I could not. 89 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:24,780 I felt nothing. 90 00:06:24,780 --> 00:06:28,540 Not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. 91 00:06:28,540 --> 00:06:30,720 And so again I breathed a silent prayer. 92 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:34,640 Jesus, I cannot forgive him. 93 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:35,640 Give me your forgiveness. 94 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:41,360 And as I took his hand the most incredible thing happened, from my shoulder along my 95 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:47,120 arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him while into my heart sprang 96 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:51,160 a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me. 97 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:57,760 And so I discovered and this is my favorite part, it is not on our forgiveness any more 98 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:06,200 than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges but on his forgiveness and goodness. 99 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:13,480 When he tells us to love our enemies he gives along with the command the love itself. 100 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:16,680 What a tremendous witness to the authenticity of our Christian faith. 101 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:21,720 I mean who else other than the Lord Jesus commands his followers and it's a command 102 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:23,400 to love their enemies. 103 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:27,360 And that brings us to our text this morning. 104 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:33,040 Here's the sixth and final illustration that the Lord is using in comparison with the Pharisees 105 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:35,480 and the truth of God's law. 106 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:40,680 Back in chapter five verse 20 Jesus said these sobering words, for I say to you that unless 107 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:45,800 your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you will by no means enter into 108 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:47,760 the kingdom of heaven. 109 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:49,920 You don't get in. 110 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:56,080 These religious leaders, the scribes and Pharisees had perverted and abused the law of God. 111 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:57,640 How did they do it? 112 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:02,960 Well they had taken God's law and reduced it to what they felt was manageable and then 113 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:07,600 they became proud for their supposedly having kept it. 114 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:12,080 So this was nothing less than hypocrisy and our Lord was publicly rebuking them and calling 115 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:13,780 them out for it. 116 00:08:13,780 --> 00:08:19,420 So then Jesus began the sermon to give the true interpretation and the true intention 117 00:08:19,420 --> 00:08:22,320 that lay behind God's law. 118 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,720 For example he said he started with the first illustration. 119 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:30,080 It's not only murder that's prohibited in the law, it's also sinful anger in your heart. 120 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:33,560 You have heard that it was said to those of old you shall not murder and whoever murders 121 00:08:33,560 --> 00:08:36,080 will be in danger of judgment. 122 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:40,840 But I say to you whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger 123 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:42,000 of the judgment. 124 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:46,800 As Jamie mentioned it's not only adultery but lust in the heart. 125 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:50,520 You have heard it was said to those of old you shall not commit adultery. 126 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:55,400 But I say to you whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery 127 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:57,480 with her in his heart. 128 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:01,120 The Pharisees taught that you could simply divorce your wife for any cause at all and 129 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,000 as long as there was a certificate of divorce you're free to remarry. 130 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:10,920 Verse 31, Jesus said whoever divorces his wife let him give her a certificate of divorce. 131 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:16,840 But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality 132 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:19,520 causes her to commit adultery. 133 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:25,240 The Pharisees said you could break an oath unless you swore by the divine name. 134 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,360 If you swore by the temple that's fine but if you swore by the name of God you had to 135 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:30,120 keep your vow. 136 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:32,720 But Jesus said don't swear at all. 137 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:37,080 Verse 33, again you have heard that it was said to those of old you shall not swear falsely 138 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:39,480 but you shall perform your oaths to the Lord. 139 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:44,400 But I say to you don't swear he goes on to say let your yes be yes and your no be no 140 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,880 for anything more of this comes from sin. 141 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:52,960 The Pharisees taught an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 142 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:55,720 Our Lord says no don't resist an evil person. 143 00:09:55,720 --> 00:10:00,000 Turn the other cheek and go the extra mile and that's in verses 38 and 39 that you can 144 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:01,000 see there. 145 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:06,480 And then today we come to the sixth and final example. 146 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:11,200 We will see the Pharisees hypocrisy once again how they had preferred it and twisted the 147 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,200 truth of God. 148 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:14,920 Here's what they were teaching. 149 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:20,440 You are only required to love your neighbor because that's what the law said. 150 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:23,360 And Jesus like you missed the entire point. 151 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:28,440 Not only are you commanded to love your neighbor but I say to you love your enemies as well. 152 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:30,320 Look at verse 43 again. 153 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:34,800 You have heard that was said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 154 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:37,560 But I say to you love your enemies. 155 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:43,120 Now where in the Old Testament does it say that one is required to love their neighbor? 156 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:48,080 Well Leviticus 19 18 you shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children of 157 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:51,560 your people but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 158 00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:52,560 Why? 159 00:10:52,560 --> 00:10:54,000 I am the Lord. 160 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:59,640 So the law did say you shall love your neighbor as yourself but where was there a command 161 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:02,600 that you had to hate your enemies? 162 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:04,320 There isn't one. 163 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,720 This was the Pharisees hypocrisy. 164 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:11,160 They invented this to justify their own actions. 165 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:12,840 Here's how they got it. 166 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:17,840 The only thing that was commanded in the law of God was to love your neighbor. 167 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:25,160 So if you're only commanded to love your neighbor hatred of your enemies must be permitted. 168 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:27,480 And well who's your neighbor? 169 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:29,120 This is the kicker. 170 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:31,280 Only your fellow Jews. 171 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:36,880 Thus everyone else in the entire Gentile world you were free to hate them and they did. 172 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:40,480 Do you remember how they referred to the Gentiles at this time? 173 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:42,480 They referred to them as dogs. 174 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:47,120 They referred to them as pagan dogs and they truly believed that they were honoring God 175 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:51,320 by despising anyone who was not a Jewish man or Jewish woman. 176 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:53,640 They honored God that way. 177 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:57,560 There's an ancient saying that was dug up recently and it was given by the Pharisees 178 00:11:57,560 --> 00:11:59,520 and here's what they said. 179 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:05,840 If a Jew sees a Gentile falling into the sea let him by no means lift him out for it is 180 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:10,120 written you shall not rise up against the blood of your neighbor but this man is not 181 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:11,120 your neighbor. 182 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:18,560 Do you see where this hatred deep-seated hatred had started to infect the culture? 183 00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:24,440 But Jesus said no you're missing the entire point of the law which is to love. 184 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:27,600 Love your neighbor as you would love yourself. 185 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:32,200 Loving others including love for one's enemy has always been God's plan because even in 186 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:35,640 the Old Testament we find love for your enemy. 187 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:44,080 Proverbs 23 if you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray bring it back to him. 188 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:48,440 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden and you would refrain 189 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:53,280 from helping it you shall surely help him with it. 190 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:57,000 Proverbs 25 if your enemy's hungry give him food if he's thirsty give him something to 191 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:58,920 drink. 192 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:00,680 This is love of enemy. 193 00:13:00,680 --> 00:13:03,580 Now here's where we get tripped up this is why this is so hard for us. 194 00:13:03,580 --> 00:13:08,360 It's the way that we use love we use love to mean have an affection toward to be warmly 195 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:15,720 affection toward someone a family member a friend a romantic interest but loving your 196 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:19,720 enemy does not mean to have natural affection. 197 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:24,820 Let me just say this loving your enemy does not even mean to have warm feelings necessarily 198 00:13:24,820 --> 00:13:26,840 about him. 199 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,120 To love your enemy means to do good to him. 200 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:34,400 If he sees hungry feed him that's love. 201 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:38,760 If he's having trouble with one of his animals or something like that in life you help him 202 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:40,880 that's love. 203 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:47,360 But by the time we get to our Lord the scriptures had been perverted by centuries of rabbinical 204 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:51,480 tradition that had clouded and even contradicted the scriptures. 205 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:56,280 We know the mission of the oral interpretation of the law given by the rabbis. 206 00:13:56,280 --> 00:13:58,160 So here's what was happening. 207 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:02,480 These religious leaders the scribes and Pharisees had paid more attention to the Mishnah to 208 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:07,880 what former rabbis had said about the law than they did to the law itself. 209 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:13,480 So by this time the Pharisees are interpreting God's judgment on the Gentiles which he had 210 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:17,880 to justify their hatred and mistreatment of the Gentiles. 211 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:20,120 Now did God judge the Gentiles? 212 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:27,500 Yeah and his judgment was just it was fair but this never gave the Jewish people vindication 213 00:14:27,500 --> 00:14:30,080 to hate them on a personal level. 214 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:36,840 But the Pharisees as they've done before they took the law and they twisted it. 215 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:37,880 Why? 216 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:41,200 So that could suit their own agenda. 217 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:42,680 Notice how they did twist the law. 218 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:45,920 They left something out from Leviticus 19, 18. 219 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:50,080 The Pharisees were saying you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy but the law said 220 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:54,280 what you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 221 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:56,480 They didn't put that in there. 222 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:59,000 Why is that a big deal? 223 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:02,800 Because when you love someone as yourself it's to show the same level of care, the same 224 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:06,600 level of dedication to meeting someone else's needs as you would your own. 225 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:08,280 But the Pharisees were hypocrites. 226 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:10,040 Now they loved to look righteous in public. 227 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:11,880 They loved to have their names dropped. 228 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:16,000 They loved to look and be allotted in the streets. 229 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:20,640 But underneath all the garb they were self-centered hypocrites that could not love the neighbor 230 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:21,640 as themselves. 231 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:23,200 So what they do? 232 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:24,200 They omitted it. 233 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:26,240 They just dropped it. 234 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:32,600 And supposedly these men were God's representatives on the earth yet they had far strayed so far 235 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:34,560 from him. 236 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:37,040 That's what is angering our Lord. 237 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:42,300 And Jesus said no, I said you love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those 238 00:15:42,300 --> 00:15:44,440 who hate you. 239 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:48,240 He's exposing the hypocrisy of the religious elite. 240 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:53,240 Let at the same time, and here's where it applies to us church, what does life in the 241 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:57,320 kingdom of God today look like? 242 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:01,200 We said if you want to know how my kingdom operates, here it is. 243 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:05,480 Agenda number one, you love your enemies. 244 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,800 This flew in the face of the Pharisees' doctrine. 245 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:11,120 The Lord said love them. 246 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:15,480 The Greek word, it comes from akipaō and it means love of action. 247 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:18,840 Now this can involve some emotion, it may, but it doesn't have to. 248 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:22,560 It's just a love that's going to seek the welfare of someone else. 249 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:26,240 So this is the, again, I want to say this very clearly. 250 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:33,080 This is a call not to loving feelings, but to loving actions. 251 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:36,400 Because I've met Christians and some say if I don't feel it, well I don't want to be a 252 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:38,960 hypocrite so I'm not going to do it. 253 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:44,200 It is not hypocrisy to do something that God commands you to do whether you feel it or 254 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:45,200 not. 255 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:46,320 That's not hypocrisy. 256 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:53,080 To love someone as God commands us to love them is not dependent upon your feelings. 257 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:55,620 It doesn't depend on how desirable the other person is. 258 00:16:55,620 --> 00:16:58,460 It doesn't depend on how attractive they may or may not be. 259 00:16:58,460 --> 00:17:02,440 You can love your enemy and still not even like him. 260 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:05,720 Now that sounds a little controversial. 261 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:06,720 R.C.H. 262 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:13,960 Linsky in his commentary, he said I cannot like a low, mean criminal who may have robbed 263 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:16,400 me and threatened my life. 264 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:23,360 I cannot like a false, lying, slanderous fellow who perhaps has vilified me again and again. 265 00:17:23,360 --> 00:17:26,400 But I can by the grace of Jesus Christ love them all. 266 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,120 I can see what is wrong with them. 267 00:17:28,120 --> 00:17:32,920 I can desire and work to do them only good and most of all to free them from their vicious 268 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:33,920 ways. 269 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:36,600 Yeah, it's not, it's hard. 270 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:39,160 Liking someone means there's a camaraderie there or something. 271 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,000 But to love your enemies means I'm willing to do them good. 272 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:48,360 I'm willing to seek their welfare regardless of what they have done or who they are. 273 00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:51,240 I'm willing to forgive them and work for their good. 274 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:55,760 And there's a great illustration of this in the scriptures in that parable known as the 275 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:56,760 Good Samaritan. 276 00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:01,200 Do you remember the central question of this parable revolves around the question once 277 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:05,320 again who is my neighbor? 278 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:09,840 That's what this lawyer, and the lawyer by the way was like a scribe, not a lawyer today 279 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:13,440 but a law, a specialist in the law of God. 280 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:17,880 So he said basically, Lord, I want to do what's right. 281 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:20,520 And then he said, well, what's the law say? 282 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:22,840 Love God, love your neighbor. 283 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:25,160 And he says, well, who's my neighbor? 284 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:30,040 Now keep in mind the Jews and the Samaritans at this time hated each other. 285 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:32,360 It's much like the Jews and the Palestinians today. 286 00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:33,760 Bad blood on both sides. 287 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:37,040 But at this point the Jews looked at the Samaritans and they were half breeds. 288 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:39,600 They were half Gentile, half Jews. 289 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:40,800 So they weren't a pure stock. 290 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:45,520 So there's racism, there's xenophobia, lots of things present there. 291 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:48,160 But they just hated each other. 292 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:53,500 And now Jesus says this, and behold, a certain lawyer, that's a religious leader, stood up 293 00:18:53,500 --> 00:18:57,880 and tested him saying, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 294 00:18:57,880 --> 00:18:59,160 He said, well, what's written in the law? 295 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:01,040 What's your reading of it? 296 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:04,200 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, 297 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:07,800 and all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. 298 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:09,840 And Jesus said, yeah, that's impressive. 299 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:10,840 You've answered right. 300 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:13,920 Go do that and you'll live. 301 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:18,840 But he, wanting to justify himself, said, well, who's my neighbor? 302 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:21,880 Now Jesus did not immediately answer back. 303 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:24,640 Instead, he said, well, let me tell you a story. 304 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:28,840 A certain man went down from Jerusalem down to Jericho and fell among thieves who stripped 305 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:33,660 him of his clothing, wounded him, departed, leaving half dead. 306 00:19:33,660 --> 00:19:36,600 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. 307 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:39,520 When he saw him, passed by on the other side. 308 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:41,800 Likewise a Levite, that would be a temple worker. 309 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,000 Both of these are religious professionals. 310 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,240 When he arrived at that place, he came and looked, and he went on the other side. 311 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:53,300 But a certain Samaritan, now this, their ears would have perked up here. 312 00:19:53,300 --> 00:20:00,240 As he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 313 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:03,120 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. 314 00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:06,800 He set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 315 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:10,160 And on the next day when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper 316 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:13,400 and said to him, take care of him. 317 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:16,420 Whatever more you spend, when I come, I will repay you. 318 00:20:16,420 --> 00:20:19,040 So now Jesus is back to the lawyer. 319 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:23,880 So which of these three do you think was a neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? 320 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,480 And he said, he who showed mercy on him. 321 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:31,520 Jesus said, now go and do likewise. 322 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:34,680 You go and love your enemies. 323 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:36,840 This would have blown their minds. 324 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:41,280 Was Jesus saying these despised Samaritans were neighbors whom they were commanded to 325 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:42,280 love? 326 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:45,600 Yeah, that's the whole point. 327 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:47,960 See if you look, who's the hero of the story? 328 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:48,960 The Samaritan. 329 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:54,160 He's moved with compassion for a fellow human being, and he loved him by seeking his welfare 330 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:58,440 without any regard to his own convenience or cost. 331 00:20:58,440 --> 00:20:59,440 It cost him something. 332 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:02,240 He gave up his resources. 333 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:04,680 That's loving one's enemy. 334 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:08,080 Now why would you and I do this? 335 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,800 Because you are in the kingdom of God. 336 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:14,500 Have you experienced God's mercy in your life? 337 00:21:14,500 --> 00:21:22,640 When you were God's enemy, he loved you, he sought you, he saved you, he sent his spirit 338 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:28,800 to convict you of your sin and point you to Christ, and lastly to indwell you. 339 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:33,960 So now this is a radical love that is life in Christ's kingdom. 340 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:35,560 You've been born again. 341 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:36,560 This is the fruit. 342 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:41,000 Remember, for by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves. 343 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,240 It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. 344 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:45,240 Amen. 345 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:51,840 For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus and two good works. 346 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:53,620 Finish the verse. 347 00:21:53,620 --> 00:21:56,640 This is the fruit of regeneration. 348 00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:01,240 Barton Lloyd Jones, he says, men are born in sin and they're shaped in a new degree. 349 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:05,720 They're not capable in and of themselves of becoming anything that is right. 350 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:10,800 But God has so ordained it that this wonderful gospel of redemption has sometimes been conveyed 351 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:13,920 to men and women in the following manner. 352 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:18,560 They look at a person and ask, what has made that person different? 353 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:21,280 And that person says, I am what I am by the grace of God. 354 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:23,360 It's not because I'm born different. 355 00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:27,840 It is because God has done something to me and what the love of God has done for me, 356 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:28,840 it can do for you. 357 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:31,880 This morning we've been together for prayer. 358 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:35,160 One of the petitions that Brother Forrest prayed, he said, Lord, might you make someone 359 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:39,440 jealous today that they might desire what we have? 360 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,280 This is what we're trying to talk about here. 361 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:49,720 Loving your enemies gives you a platform to share the gospel. 362 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:51,760 The apostle Paul did this so well. 363 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:55,400 In Acts 16, do you remember when Paul and Silas are in jail? 364 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:59,640 It says at midnight they are praying and they were singing hymns and the prisoners were 365 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:00,760 listening to them. 366 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:03,040 They're having church in prison. 367 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,040 It's midnight. 368 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:06,800 Suddenly there's a great earthquake. 369 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:10,680 The foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were open and 370 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:14,360 everyone's chains were loose, not just Paul and Silas. 371 00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:18,280 And the keeper of the prison, waking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing 372 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:19,680 they'd all fled, which would make sense. 373 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:22,120 I mean, what's a prisoner going to do when the doors are open? 374 00:23:22,120 --> 00:23:23,840 They're going to run out? 375 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:24,840 He then drew his sword. 376 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:28,760 He was about to kill himself because he was going to be killed anyways. 377 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:34,800 But Paul called out with a loud voice saying, now why didn't those other prisoners run? 378 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:36,900 Paul said, do yourself no harm. 379 00:23:36,900 --> 00:23:39,280 We are all here. 380 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:40,280 And he called for a light. 381 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:43,040 He ran in and fell down, trembling before Paul and Silas. 382 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,360 And he brought them out and says, sirs, what must I do to be saved? 383 00:23:46,360 --> 00:23:50,360 He's been hearing what Paul and Silas are preaching the whole time. 384 00:23:50,360 --> 00:23:51,360 And here's what they said. 385 00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:55,720 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved and your household, by the way. 386 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:57,080 They could have escaped, friends. 387 00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:00,880 Paul and Silas could have easily walked out of that prison on that night at midnight when 388 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:03,200 the earthquake took place, but they stayed. 389 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:04,200 Why? 390 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:06,560 They did not want that guard to kill himself. 391 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:13,360 This so moved that prison guard that God used it to bring him to faith in Christ. 392 00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:15,040 This is what it means to love your enemy. 393 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:20,160 You have a platform to share how the gospel has changed you. 394 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:22,280 Why are you different? 395 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:26,260 Because I'm a citizen of heaven and I live in the kingdom of God. 396 00:24:26,260 --> 00:24:27,600 This gospel is good news. 397 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:28,600 What? 398 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:29,600 That God loved his enemies. 399 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:30,760 Who were his enemies? 400 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:34,320 You and I, his sinful people. 401 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:36,320 And what did he do? 402 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:40,460 He did not send his son to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. 403 00:24:40,460 --> 00:24:43,720 He sent his son to save his people. 404 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:48,360 You and I are the ambassadors as God has been to us, so we must be to other people. 405 00:24:48,360 --> 00:24:49,720 You're saying, but what does that look like? 406 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:54,840 He tells us, look at the second part, bless those who curse you. 407 00:24:54,840 --> 00:25:01,680 To bless, you get the word eulogy from this and it means to speak well of. 408 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:04,400 So others speak ill of you. 409 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:05,400 They criticize you. 410 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:06,400 They talk about you. 411 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:08,840 He says, well, you bless them. 412 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:11,080 When they curse you, you bless them. 413 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:13,580 You're like, what? 414 00:25:13,580 --> 00:25:17,400 In the world, it's an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 415 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:18,400 Oh, you're going to curse me? 416 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:21,080 I'll curse you back. 417 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,780 And Christ is not in my kingdom. 418 00:25:23,780 --> 00:25:29,120 When he was reviled, he didn't revile in return. 419 00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:37,120 First Peter 2, who Christ, when he was reviled, the son of God, he did not revile again. 420 00:25:37,120 --> 00:25:43,560 When he suffered, he did not threaten, but he committed himself to him who judges righteously. 421 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:46,800 How did he do that, folks? 422 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:51,600 Because he trusted his father and he knew his father will make all wrongs right one 423 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:52,600 day. 424 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:57,360 How can you possibly bless those who are cursing you? 425 00:25:57,360 --> 00:25:59,360 Does your father see? 426 00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:01,040 Does he know? 427 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:03,440 Will he bring vindication at his own time? 428 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:04,440 Yes. 429 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:05,800 He will call them account one day. 430 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:06,800 He's a great judge. 431 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:08,000 He'll judge the world. 432 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:09,360 Your job, love them. 433 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:12,240 You love them. 434 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:15,880 He goes on, do good to those who hate you. 435 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:18,840 Return, contempt with kindness. 436 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:20,600 Again, what does it mean? 437 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:21,600 That they're hungry? 438 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:22,600 Feed them. 439 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:23,600 They're thirsty? 440 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:24,600 Give them something to drink. 441 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:27,040 Remember, the Jews at this time are under Roman occupation. 442 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:29,080 Rome was in Israel. 443 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:33,380 And a Roman soldier could, anytime he wanted, go up to a Jewish man and force him to carry 444 00:26:33,380 --> 00:26:35,900 his baggage and equipment for one mile. 445 00:26:35,900 --> 00:26:37,560 And Jesus said, don't go one mile. 446 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:39,800 When you're done with that mile, go the second one. 447 00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:45,280 Yeah, the soldier may treat you terribly, insult you. 448 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:47,920 You return his evil actions for good. 449 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:51,400 You're saying that's not natural. 450 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:53,240 That's the whole point. 451 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:54,840 It's supernatural. 452 00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:55,840 This is the way of God. 453 00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:57,120 Look at verse 45. 454 00:26:57,120 --> 00:27:00,720 For he makes his son to rise on the evil and the good. 455 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:04,400 He sends his reign on the just and unjust. 456 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:05,600 Have you noticed that this morning? 457 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:09,360 The son did not only rise upon the home of Christians. 458 00:27:09,360 --> 00:27:16,360 The evil man, the atheist, the adulterer, the kidnapper, the injurious one, the son 459 00:27:16,360 --> 00:27:19,400 rose on his house as well. 460 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:24,440 The unrighteous man also enjoys beautiful sunrises and sunsets. 461 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:30,000 Farmers who may hate God still get the goodness of his reign and the son to grow their crops. 462 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,560 This is what we call in theology is common grace. 463 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:37,120 It's common because it goes to all men without distinction. 464 00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:41,360 All men and women, not just Christians, enjoy sun and rain that God sends. 465 00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:45,280 You're saying, does this mean that God loves all men and women the same way? 466 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:47,640 No, it does not. 467 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:51,880 There is a special, unique, covenantal love that God has for his own chosen people who 468 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:54,480 are in Christ. 469 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:59,160 But all people do enjoy God's beneficence to some degree. 470 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:00,880 They enjoy family life, right? 471 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:02,160 Unbelievers have families they love. 472 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:03,600 They have gifts. 473 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:04,960 They enjoy good food. 474 00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:06,360 They enjoy beautiful places. 475 00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:09,640 They enjoy romantic love, just as you and I do. 476 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:11,240 It's common grace there. 477 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:12,600 And here's what Jesus is saying. 478 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:17,200 If God treats his enemies this way and you and I are his children, then how should we 479 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:18,680 treat our enemies? 480 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,920 You do good to them. 481 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:26,840 And then you pray for those who persecute you and use you. 482 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:29,160 Who's going to be persecuted? 483 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:31,880 All who live codly in Christ Jesus? 484 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:35,080 How do you respond when you're persecuted? 485 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:36,680 You pray. 486 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:38,960 When you're persecuted, you're aligned with the prophets, right? 487 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:40,880 Because they were persecuted. 488 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,120 But when you pray for those who are persecuting you, you are aligned with the character of 489 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,760 God. 490 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:48,880 Luke 23. 491 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:53,080 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified him and the 492 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:56,040 criminals, one on the right, the other on the left. 493 00:28:56,040 --> 00:29:01,520 And we know this because we said it so much it doesn't move us anymore. 494 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:06,360 Our Lord said, Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing. 495 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:10,000 So when Jesus said to pray for those who are persecuting, you're like, pray what? 496 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:12,400 Pray that God would strike them dead? 497 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:13,400 No. 498 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:16,000 Look at our Lord. 499 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:19,560 He prayed for forgiveness to those who are nailing him to that cross. 500 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:21,440 We see the same thing in Acts 7 with Stephen. 501 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:22,440 Remember? 502 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:25,560 It says, as they stone Stephen, I think this would be a horrible way to die. 503 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:29,320 You're there and you've got a crowd of men in a circle around you hurling large rocks 504 00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:32,200 at your head until you die. 505 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:36,800 And Stephen's saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 506 00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:39,480 He knelt down and cried out with a loud voice. 507 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:42,120 Lord, don't charge them with the sin. 508 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:48,440 Now, friends in our natural flesh were like, Lord Jesus, strike them dead. 509 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:49,920 Don't lay this to them. 510 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:53,920 Alfred Plummer says, to return evil for good, that's devilish. 511 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:57,080 To return good for good, well, that's human. 512 00:29:57,080 --> 00:30:01,280 To return good for evil is divine. 513 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:06,480 We pray, guys, that God would have mercy on our enemies, the same mercy that you and I 514 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:07,480 have enjoyed. 515 00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:12,520 That God would remove the blindness from their eyes and soften their hard hearts. 516 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:16,760 Pray that God would grant them repentance that leads to life. 517 00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:19,800 I think one thing that we need to understand this morning is that you and I are not that 518 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,000 different from our enemies. 519 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,980 We're made of the same stuff. 520 00:30:25,980 --> 00:30:31,920 You and I were the ones who rebelled against the Lord and lifted our hands against him. 521 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:35,440 Do you understand that you and I are worthy of damnation? 522 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:42,420 See, our enemies are in the same position we once were in, but God in His mercy called 523 00:30:42,420 --> 00:30:48,440 us back to Him and He saved us through the bloody death and resurrection of His Son. 524 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:51,920 So as people are doing us wrong, as we have done God wrong, the same mercy we've received, 525 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:53,720 we're praying that God would show it to them. 526 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:57,880 Why, verse 45, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. 527 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:01,680 It shows the work of grace, right? 528 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:06,200 What other explanation is there for living this way than God lives in you? 529 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:09,880 You live in His kingdom and you're pursuing His character. 530 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:13,680 And Jesus' point, He said, those who have inherited the kingdom of God, they live in 531 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:17,640 a way that is superior to those around them. 532 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:20,320 Now loving your enemies does not make you a son of God. 533 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:21,760 That's not the point. 534 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,200 But it shows that you are. 535 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:29,720 It's a love that blesses when you're cursed and prays when you're persecuted. 536 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:33,040 There's divine life behind that. 537 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:36,120 Jesus is building His kingdom and the kingdom on earth is a church and it doesn't have limits 538 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:41,320 and it doesn't have bounds and Jesus commands us to love enemies as King Jesus has loved 539 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:42,320 us. 540 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:44,880 You've got to go beyond what the world does. 541 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:47,800 Look at verse 46 and 47. 542 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:49,960 If you love those who love you, what reward have you? 543 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:50,960 Big deal. 544 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,120 Tax collectors, sinners do the same. 545 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:55,040 Natural man does the same. 546 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:57,320 If you greet your brothers only, what do you more than others? 547 00:31:57,320 --> 00:31:59,320 Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 548 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:02,140 Do you see what the Lord is saying? 549 00:32:02,140 --> 00:32:04,740 If you love those who are lovable, that's what the world does. 550 00:32:04,740 --> 00:32:05,960 You treat me well, I'll treat you well. 551 00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:08,560 You scratch my back, I scratch yours. 552 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:09,560 No. 553 00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:13,000 John Piper said there's two reasons why we should love our enemies. 554 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:14,720 I'm hastening on. 555 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:19,160 Number one, it reveals something of the way that God is merciful. 556 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:23,880 The scriptures tell us He has not dealt with us according to our sins nor has He repaid 557 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:26,960 us according to our iniquities. 558 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:28,480 Praise God for that. 559 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:33,520 So when Christians live in this way, we're showing something of what God is like. 560 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:40,080 Secondly, our hearts are not out for revenge anymore because they are satisfied in Christ. 561 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:45,660 We're not driven like the world is for revenge or self-exaltation. 562 00:32:45,660 --> 00:32:49,120 What takes away that desire for revenge? 563 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:54,440 It's a deep confidence that God is our reward. 564 00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:56,960 He sees, He knows. 565 00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:00,940 So the ultimate reason why you and I are going to be merciful to others is because it makes 566 00:33:00,940 --> 00:33:03,880 God look great in the eyes of men. 567 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:07,560 We glorify God in this way. 568 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:11,240 Now the climax of our Lord's teaching comes in verse 48, the very last verse of the chapter. 569 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:16,320 Therefore, in light of all that you've heard, all these six examples, we've looked at the 570 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:22,800 last one today, He says, be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect. 571 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:25,760 Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you don't enter 572 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:27,380 God's kingdom. 573 00:33:27,380 --> 00:33:30,000 And now Jesus said, now let me just sum it up for you. 574 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:33,120 As God is, so you be. 575 00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:35,480 First of all, though, I do want you to notice something, and don't miss this because this 576 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:37,280 is the key to the gospel. 577 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:41,480 He said just as your Father in heaven, He is talking to His followers and He's saying 578 00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:44,280 that God in heaven is their Father. 579 00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:47,040 So this sermon is for believers. 580 00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:50,900 It is for those who are already in the kingdom of God, not those who are looking for a way 581 00:33:50,900 --> 00:33:54,060 to enter into the kingdom. 582 00:33:54,060 --> 00:33:56,920 But this perfection is what our Lord has been driving to all along. 583 00:33:56,920 --> 00:34:01,540 He gave six examples, all six Pharisees were hypocrites, but they led to this one point. 584 00:34:01,540 --> 00:34:04,600 You need to be like God, be as perfect as He is. 585 00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:06,400 Don't be like the religious leaders. 586 00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:08,160 They're twisting the law of God. 587 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:09,840 They're abusing the law of God. 588 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:11,020 You are to be perfect. 589 00:34:11,020 --> 00:34:14,760 I am to be perfect as God is. 590 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:15,760 Well how? 591 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:18,000 The law reflects God's character, right? 592 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:19,000 God is perfect. 593 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:24,480 He gave a law that is perfect, and it said for you and I to be perfect. 594 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:26,920 But I hope you feel it this morning. 595 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:28,880 But this requirement humbles us. 596 00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:32,840 There ought to be a despair if you're hearing this correctly. 597 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:34,640 You ought to feel the weight of divine perfection. 598 00:34:34,640 --> 00:34:38,200 Jesus is saying I have to be as perfect as God. 599 00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:41,120 I can never be close to that. 600 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:43,760 I have sinned and you have sinned grievously before God. 601 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:45,200 We are poverty stricken. 602 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:49,080 We are spiritually bankrupt. 603 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:50,080 Poor in spirit. 604 00:34:50,080 --> 00:34:53,080 So what do I have to do? 605 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:59,920 Great, you're telling me this kingdom's great, but I have to be perfect. 606 00:34:59,920 --> 00:35:06,420 Look to Christ, which is what the law was always designed to cause you to do. 607 00:35:06,420 --> 00:35:10,080 When you hear the words of Christ, you do hear the law of God. 608 00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:12,040 It tells me what I'm required to do. 609 00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:17,160 I look at my own life and I'm like I failed to do this. 610 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:20,200 God, have mercy upon me. 611 00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:25,900 God, I can't do what you have required me to do. 612 00:35:25,900 --> 00:35:28,720 Have mercy upon me, a sinner. 613 00:35:28,720 --> 00:35:32,560 And God in his grace gives us Christ. 614 00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:36,960 The one who did do all that the law required. 615 00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:42,600 And we come to him bringing nothing in our hands and he graciously clothes us in the 616 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:45,680 righteous robes of Christ. 617 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:54,680 So much so that I stand before God as righteous, not in myself, but because I'm in Christ. 618 00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:58,300 I'm aligned with the one who did it perfectly. 619 00:35:58,300 --> 00:36:03,280 And this righteousness, Paul says in Romans 3, comes by faith. 620 00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:04,280 See do you see it this morning? 621 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:08,520 The grace of God does not lessen or lower the standards of God by one iota. 622 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:12,360 No, this is the same standard. 623 00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:17,400 But grace gives to us as a gift what God required in the law. 624 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:19,040 That's what's so awesome about this. 625 00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:23,320 Let me just say this friends, the Lord Jesus is perfect. 626 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:29,440 And you and I are declared perfectly righteous in him. 627 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:32,040 This is the gift of the gospel. 628 00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:34,480 This is the grace of God. 629 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:38,160 And this is what we celebrate today as we get ready to head to the table. 630 00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:43,840 All of this, everything our Lord's been teaching is tied up in him. 631 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:46,240 He is the end of the law. 632 00:36:46,240 --> 00:36:47,800 He's the fulfillment of the law. 633 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:53,480 And you and I, even though we are absolutely unable to keep it and we're law breakers by 634 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:56,200 nature, are complete in him. 635 00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:58,280 Praise God for that. 636 00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:03,480 And today I'm praying as Forrest prayed, as Jamie and I prayed this morning, and Mike 637 00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:07,440 and people gathered, may the Lord open some of your eyes to see this. 638 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:13,640 May you see Jesus Christ as all glorious and desirable, willing to humble yourself, repent 639 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:16,640 of your sin, and embrace him as Savior and Lord. 640 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:18,440 May God make that a reality this morning. 641 00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:24,480 And for the saints, for those who know Christ, let's commune with the risen Lord. 642 00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:29,120 Can't you wait to go say thank you to Jesus for all that he's done? 643 00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:33,000 Let's go and we feast upon him today in the table that he has given to us. 644 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,040 Let us pray. 645 00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:38,280 Father, thank you for your glorious word. 646 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:43,280 And Lord, I'm so thankful for these gracious gifts you have given to us. 647 00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:46,920 Lord, the table of the Lord.