Sound The Trumpet : Love Your Enemies and be Different - Matthew 5:43-48

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“Love Your Enemies and be Different - Matthew 5:43-48 - Part #2”
by Art Sadlier
December 2nd, 2012

In our first study we saw that Jesus gave six contrasts between the Pharisees and the citizens of the Kingdom of God. In each of these major points we have three factors. We have the teachings of the Old Testament, the traditions of the Jews, and the truth from Christ.

1 – The Traditions of the Jews

Verse 43, “Ye have heard that it hath been said....” This is the sixth time Jesus has said that. It refers to Jewish tradition; it does not come from the Old Testament. This is a tradition that has been handed down to them. It is a system that they had developed. This was the current rabbinic teaching, it is not the Word of God, and it is not my truth, Jesus is saying.

What is this teaching? “Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy.” This is what they were taught. Figure out who your neighbour is and you can hate everybody else. You can hate up a storm!

“Thou shalt love thy neighbour.” Where did they get that? Leviticus 19:18, “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD.” They taught love thy neighbour, but notice, they left something out. They left out the words, “as thyself.” That makes a tremendous difference, but they dropped it out. That was too demanding, too defining. They would have to treat others the way they treated themselves. They didn’t want to go that far.

You can love people at a distance and it doesn’t cost you very much, we are all good at that. To love others as you love yourself is very, very costly!

I love myself, you love yourself, yes you do!

Whose teeth did you brush this morning? Whose breakfast did you eat this morning? Whose hair did you comb? Whose wardrobe hangs in your closet? Whose savings account is in your bank?

You are concerned about yourself, you love yourself. You spend great volumes of time and effort to meet your needs and God intends you to do that. You are fervent in your love for yourself, your habitual about it. Whenever you have a need or a desire you seek to fulfil it. We are very concerned about ourselves; we know no limits to gaining what we want.

Now that is exactly the way we are to love everybody else! In other words, you are to have that same, totally consuming, fervent, habitual, permanent love motivating you to meet the interests and needs of others. A love that prompts you to do everything you can to make sure that all their welfare, safety and interests are met. Their needs are your concern. And Jesus said, not just your neighbours, but your enemies also. How do we measure up? Who do we really care about? Christianity is radical!

Question; how much money, how much effort and how much love is too much to reach the lost souls of your area, to meet their greatest need.

Do you see the high standard Jesus is setting? It is humanly impossible.

But they not only dropped something, they added something. What did they add? “And hate your enemies” Where did they get that from? It didn’t come out of the Bible, nowhere does scripture teach that. The imprecatory Psalms teach Israel to hate her national enemies. Where did they get this idea? They just made it up.

We are to love our neighbours. The obvious question then is who is our neighbour? They said our neighbours are the Jews, not the gentiles. And even among the Jews only certain ones qualified.

Matthew 9:10, “And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.” Notice two categories, Tax collectors and sinners. Verse 11, “And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?”

The conclusion is that our neighbours are Jews who are not tax collectors and sinners. We can hate everybody else. John 7:49, “But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.” They go even further, the Jews who were not trained in the law as the Pharisees were, were under a curse. Only the people in their group, their fellow Pharisees were their neighbours. Us four bar the door, no more.

They didn’t read far enough. Leviticus 19:34a, “But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”

Christianity is radical! Christianity is unique to God’s own divinely empowered children. No one else is empowered to live like that. Apart from the new birth, Christianity is absolutely impossible.

2 Corinthians 517, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Romans 8:4, “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

Expressing the love Christ is talking about is the normal Christian life, anything less is sub normal and not Christianity at all. Is your life marked by the fruits of the Spirit?

11 - The Teachings of the Old Testament

What did the Old Testament teach about love? Did the Old Testament say anywhere, \"Hate your enemies\"? No! Did the Old Testament say, \"Love your enemies? Yes! What is the sum of the Old Testament teaching on love?

First let us clarify the Old Testament teaching about hatred. Psalm 139:21 says, \"Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee... \" That is the only justifiable hatred in the Bible. It is based on the same heart attitude as Psalm 69:9, \"For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.\"

Understand that the Bible says it is wrong to be angry, but there is such a thing as righteous indignation. Jesus said we are not to be angry with one another, but Jesus made a whip and drove men out of the Temple courtyard. What is the difference?

Jesus never got angry with those who offended Him, but Jesus got angry with those who defiled the glory of God. We have the right to react in righteous indignation when God is dishonoured. We have no right to react in retaliation over personal injury.

Let’s apply that. We should have a perfect hatred for those who are the enemies of God. 2 John 9-11, \"Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.\"

David said in Psalm 139:21-22, \"Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.\" Right after that he said, \"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting\" (verses23-24). David is saying, \"Lord I hate them that hate thee, and I hate them with a perfect hatred.\" He is saying, Lord if you search my heart you will know that my motive is your glory, not my own personal injury.

There is a place for zeal for the holiness of God, for the sacredness of His truth and for the sacredness of His person. The Old Testament will tolerate that zeal, but it will not tolerate any kind of evil attack. It will not tolerate any kind of bitterness, or anger or resentment or hostility toward someone who brings against us a personal injury. There is no place for pride or prejudice, no matter what has been done to us.

We are to love our enemies and treat them as if they were brothers. Exodus 23:4, \"If thou meet thine enemy\'s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.\" Compare that with Deuteronomy 22:1, \"Thou shalt not see thy brother\'s ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother.\" We are to treat our enemies the same way we are to treat our brothers. The Old Testament never justifies hating an enemy, that is sin.

We have a monumental illustration of this principle as God the Son hung on the cross. His enemies abused Him and went about to kill Him. What did Jesus say to His Father? Father, forgive them. The man Stephen followed his Lord’s example as they stoned him. He said, “Lay not this sin to their charge.”

When a man can have such compassion on those who are unjustly killing him, he has learned a dimension of love that is far beyond any human level.

111 - The Teaching of Jesus Concerning Love

There are five ascending connected truths Jesus gives us about love. Keep in mind that there is a two-fold purpose in this.

The First purpose is to bring unbelievers to a realization that they fall short of God\'s standards. They do not measure up to the Lord\'s requirements. If you do not love like this you are a sinner and you need a saviour.

The Second purpose is to exhort believers who have been given the power to love, to live up to their calling, to live up to their divine enablement.

Here are the five points.

1 - Love your enemies

Verse 44, \"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.\" This statement came crashing down on a society that knew nothing about loving their enemies.

IIlustration

There was a tribe in Polynesia that hung tokens around the inside of their huts. Someone asked them what those tokens represented. The answer came back; every time someone injured them they hung a token in their hut. That token was to remind of their injury. Then the explanation was given, none of those tokens is ever removed until full vengeance is paid. That\'s the human way, but that is not God\'s way.

That was the way the Pharisees lived, \"an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.\" They were proud, vengeful, hateful men masquerading as religious. And Jesus said to them, \"Love your enemies.\"

Jesus illustrated them in Luke 10:30-34, \"And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.\"

Your neighbour is anyone in need. Love is an act of service to those that have a need, not a feeling, love is not bascially an emotion, it is action.

In 1 Corinthians 13 we have the love chapter. There are fifteen characteristics of love given. They all appear in verb form, love is action, and love is doing.

Lenzki said, \"I cannot love a mean low criminal who robs me and threatens my life, at least in the sense of liking him. I cannot like a false, lying slanderer who has perhaps vilified me again and again. But, I can by the grace of Jesus Christ, love them all in the sense of seeing what is wrong with them and desire and work to do them only good. And, most of all to free them from their vicious ways.\"

So we are to love, not in the terms feeling but in terms of service.

Paul said it beautifully in Romans 12:20, \"Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.\" Your love expressed will bring conviction of sin upon him, and that is the best thing that could happen to him.

In verse 21 Paul says further, \"Be not overcome of evil.\" When someone treats you evilly that is a temptation to cause you to do evil. Don\'t let that happen.

Paul goes on to say, \"But overcome evil with good.\" Let his injury to you fall like sparks into the sea.

2 - Pray for your Persecutors

Verse 44, \"....pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.\" When someone comes along and harms you or abuses you or persecutes and despitefully uses you, what are you to do? You are to go before the Lord on their behalf and intercede for them. That\'s what Jesus did on the cross and that is what Stephen did as he was being stoned to death.

There are countless stories of martyrs who died for their faith and while they were dying in the flames they prayed for their persecutors.

Men live in fear of judgment, they know that if there is God then when they die they will face judgment. When you go to individuals and tell them they are sinners and that when they die they will go to hell apart from faith in Jesus Christ. When you tell them they need to be saved, you are striking that individual at the core of his deepest pain. You are reviving all of his anxiety for sin and guilt, and all the fear he has worked to subdue by his philosophy and religion. That is why the most severe persecution is always religious persecution.

Beside that; persecution brings to focus the real battle between Satan and God. If we really stand up and live for Christ in this society, we will be persecuted. Can we, at the most serious point of persecution, pray for the very ones that are seeking to destroy us?

3 - Manifest your sonship

Verse 45, \"That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.\" Why pray for your enemies? Why pray for your persecutors? \"That ye may be the children of your Father.\" That it may become once and for all an established fact for all to see that you are a son of God who is your Father.

The Bible says God is love. If God is love and I am His child, then I should be characterised by love. 1 John 4:7, \"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.\" Do not claim to be God\'s child if you do not manifest love in your life. You will prove your sonship when the love of God is revealed in your life. We will never convince anyone that we belong to God unless we are like Him. You say that you are a Christian, prove it; prove it by your attitude and actions.

We are to demonstrate that we are related to a supernatural source of power. In other words your life is to be marked by heaven. God loves everybody; we show that we are like God when we love everybody. God\'s rain and sunshine falls indiscriminately on everyone; be like that and then it will be obvious that you belong to God.

Psalm 145:15-16, \"The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.\" Be like your Father in heaven.

4 - Exceed your Fellow Men

Verse 46, \"For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?\" You are then no different than unbelievers around you. The publicans were a despised group, yet they loved their own kind, their own group. So do the worst people in the human race, if we just do that we are no different.

Verse 47, \"And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?\" If we are no different, then we have nothing to say to our society.

Oswald Chambers said, \"The Master expects from His disciples such conduct as can be explained only in terms of the supernatural.\" If that is true of us, then we have something to say to our society. When our lives have no other explanation then that God is there, then men and women will know that God is with us.

5 - Be Like God

All of the first four truths lead up to this final truth. Verse 48, \"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.\"

Be perfect. How perfect? \"Even as your Father which is in heaven.\" The word perfect here does not mean mature or the process of maturing. God is not in the process of maturing. We are called to be perfect, even as God is perfect. You say that\'s a high standard, I can’t reach it, and you are right, you can’t make it.

Illustration

Matthew 19:23, \"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.\" That was hard for them to believe, they thought the rich had an advantage in getting into heaven. They could buy more lambs for sacrifices; they could give more money into the Temple treasury.

But Jesus reverses that, He says that it is difficult for a rich man to go to heaven. How difficult? Verse 24, \"And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.\" A camel can\'t go through the eye of a needle, Neither can a rich man buy his way into heaven. Verse 25-26, \"When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.\"

Nobody can be saved on his own efforts; nobody can be saved through his own works. Be perfect, but I can\'t be perfect, you are right, you need a saviour to give you the perfection you need.

Look what happens when you have a saviour, 1 Peter 1:4, \"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.\" God in the miracle of salvation enables you to be what you could never be by yourself, to be like God.

When you came to Christ you were made positionally like God (Not to be God but to obtain some of His characteristics). Now, you need to bring your behaviour into harmony with your position.

A Christian is not someone who keeps the Sermon on the Mount. A Christian is someone who knows he can\'t. A Christian is someone who comes to Christ by faith and receives God\'s righteousness and the power to begin to live these principles.

That\'s the point of the message, even when you fail you are forgiven.

Jesus is calling us to love this unlovely world with a love that knows no discrimination. That is the beginning of a life that pleases God. That is the beginning of effective evangelism.

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13