Love Your Enemies...Seriously!
Scripture Reading: Luke 6:27-49
27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28
bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29 To him who
strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your
cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And
from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. 31 And just as you want
men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
32 “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners
love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what
credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from
whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to
sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping
for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most
High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, just as your
Father also is merciful.
37 “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be
condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good
measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your
bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
39 And He spoke a parable to them: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both
fall into the ditch? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly
trained will be like his teacher. 41 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s
eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your
brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do
not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your
own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s
eye.
43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 For
every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do
they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of
his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings
forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? 47 Whoever
comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:
48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.
And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could
not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like
a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream
beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
For the last month or so we've been looking at how a believer should
progress in Christ. This week we're going to be heading a different direction.
When a person is dying, usually they say some profound things. When we
were attending our former church we did a cantata one year, I don't
remember which one I'm thinking of but I do remember one line in the
program. It had a line that said - you can tell a lot about a person by the way
they live and by the way they die. That line always resounded with me
because it is so true. In the next few weeks, we're going to be looking at the
way someone died with a bit of a microscope. Our scripture reading begins
with Yeshua telling us to love our enemies. It's easy for us to understand the
concept of loving our enemies, but it's much tougher to actually live it. How
difficult is it to 'say' that you love Osama Bin Ladin and pray that he would
come to Messiah, when you know you'll likely never have to actually meet him
and put that love into practice. But what about your next door neighbor or
your little brother; or the drunk driver that killed your loved one or the serial
rapist on the loose. Do you ever contemplate how much you love them?
If people would be really honest with themselves, they would probably
recognize that loving your enemy is completely anti-human nature. What I
mean by that is that it is not a thing that would come naturally. Some people
may be the type that would not hate their enemies; they may even sympathize
and empathise with them, but love? Love is not just the lack of hate. Love
goes much deeper than that.
I Corinthians 13:4-7
Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed
up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not
account of evil; rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth
all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
I think that first line puts a lot into perspective. Love suffers long! Dwell on
that for awhile the next time someone cuts you off in traffic or says some
harsh words to you or happens to do something that hurts you either
physically or emotionally. For the most part we wouldn't even consider those
people or enemies; maybe not or friends. So, it Yeshua expects us to love;
suffer long, not think of ourselves, not take an account against, bear, hope,
and endure all things with regard to our enemies, wouldn't He expect the
same from us in regards to those who are not our enemies? How about our
family, friends, and acquaintances? It's easy to forget about that 'love thy
neighbor' thing when our neighbor iritates us just a bit too much. How much
more difficult is it to remember to love our enemy? While Paul tells us 'what'
love is, the apostle John tells 'why' this love is so important.
I John 4:15-21
Whoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God.
And we have known and believed the love that God has in us. God is love, and he who
abides in love abides in God, and God in him. In this is our love made perfect, that we
may have boldness in the day of judgment, that as He is, so also we are in this world.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. He
who fears has not been perfected in love. We love Him because He first loved us. If
anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For if he does not love his
brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And we
have this commandment from Him, that he who loves God should love his brother also.
John calls those who say they love God but don't love their brother liars. That
sounds pretty drastic but that is really what it comes down to. If you believe
scripture when it tells us that man was created in the image of God (Gen. 1:
26-27), how can we truly love God, who we have never seen if we don't show
love for those made in His image? It's a very fair question when you take the
time to analyze it. I know I had to deal with this early on in my Christian walk.
When I came to faith, I had started reading in the book of Matthew, and within
a few chapters I actually got it for the first time, and gave life to Jesus. So, as
I continued reading on, I came to this passage: Matthew 6:14-15 - For if you
forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do
not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
That passage pretty much smacked me right in the face because there were
a couple of people for which I had quite a bit of unforgiveness. I was never
the type of non-believer that held malice toward people on a grand scale but
as I said there were two for which, although there were no outward signs of
unforgiveness, I knew it was there. The first was my step-sister Sarah. We
had a physical conflict about seven years before I got saved... I had verbally
forgiven her, more for the sake of family unity than anything else but I held so
much animosity against her. I didn't want anything good to ever happen to
her. In fact, if she had fallen off a cliff, I wouldn't have shed one tear. But
when I read that scripture about God not forgive us if we don't forgive others,
it was clear that I had to deal with this unforgiveness. It wasn't something that
just came on its own either. I had to pray long and hard. I had to make it a
priority; a mission. And one day, something happened. My mother told about
something good that had happened in Sarah's life and I was happy for her. It
was then that I realized that the bitterness was gone; really gone!It was such a
refreshing feeling...for me! That the thing, we think that forgiving someone
does something food for the other person, but the reality is that it does
something great for us.
The second person that I held unforgiveness over was my father. When he
left for Texas when I was a young preteen I got very angry at him and never
let that anger go. Our relationship consisted of him calling and me crying. I
would tend to blame everything on him but in retrospect, a lot had to do with
the emotional hurt and abandonment I had held onto for so many years.
Once I was able to forgive him, our phone calls consisted of laughing and
joking and generally enjoying each others company. When my father passed
on a few years later, I thanked God so much for giving me the chance to get
to know my dad. But the reality is that if I had never listened to His word and
made the effort to seek true foregiveness, it never would have happened.
You see, so many people are sitting around waiting for God to make there life
better when He has already given us everything we need to have a better,
more fulfilled life but we have to do the things He's laid out for us to do in
order to receive it.
In the last portion of our scripture reading, Yeshua asks why we would call
Him Lord and not do what He says. I really think it all comes down to that. We
have to do what He says to have the house built on the rock that will withstand
everything the enemy has to throw against it and still come through. Jesus
tells us that we have to first take the plank from our own eye before we start
looking for planks to take out of other people's eyes. Until we learn the deal
with any unforgiveness we may have, we will not be able to come into the
fullness of what God has planned for us to do in the kingdom. Many times
when we first come to faith, our first instinct is to go out and start pulling
planks from other people's eyes. While it is true that we should have a heart
like God's that wants everyone to be saved, our priority as a believer needs
to be first to deal with our own flaws. Once we do that, our lives which are
much more effective than our words, will be what will draw unbelievers to
Messiah. I was listening to a DC Talk song this morning called 'Love is a
Verb' and it really is. Love is not merely a word that you say, it is an action
that you do. We began by talking about loving others and moved to talking
about forgiving others, but the two are really synonymous. As Yeshua hung
on the cross, His body bruised and beaten, bleeding and dying, He said this:
Luke 23:34 - And Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
That, my friends is our great example of love and forgiveness all wrapped up
in one. Yes, you can tell a lot about a person by the way they die, and
Yeshua died as He had lived; loving us and forgiving us. Since we are to be
imitators of Christ, this should be how we live, as well.
John 10:27 - My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
Are you one of His sheep that has heard His voice? Do you desire to follow
Him? Learn to love and forgive, everyone!
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: March 25, 2007
Scripture Reading: Luke 6:27-49
27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28
bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29 To him who
strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your
cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And
from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. 31 And just as you want
men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
32 “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners
love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what
credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from
whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to
sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping
for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most
High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, just as your
Father also is merciful.
37 “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be
condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good
measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your
bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
39 And He spoke a parable to them: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both
fall into the ditch? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly
trained will be like his teacher. 41 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s
eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your
brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do
not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your
own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s
eye.
43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 For
every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do
they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of
his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings
forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? 47 Whoever
comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:
48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.
And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could
not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like
a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream
beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
For the last month or so we've been looking at how a believer should
progress in Christ. This week we're going to be heading a different direction.
When a person is dying, usually they say some profound things. When we
were attending our former church we did a cantata one year, I don't
remember which one I'm thinking of but I do remember one line in the
program. It had a line that said - you can tell a lot about a person by the way
they live and by the way they die. That line always resounded with me
because it is so true. In the next few weeks, we're going to be looking at the
way someone died with a bit of a microscope. Our scripture reading begins
with Yeshua telling us to love our enemies. It's easy for us to understand the
concept of loving our enemies, but it's much tougher to actually live it. How
difficult is it to 'say' that you love Osama Bin Ladin and pray that he would
come to Messiah, when you know you'll likely never have to actually meet him
and put that love into practice. But what about your next door neighbor or
your little brother; or the drunk driver that killed your loved one or the serial
rapist on the loose. Do you ever contemplate how much you love them?
If people would be really honest with themselves, they would probably
recognize that loving your enemy is completely anti-human nature. What I
mean by that is that it is not a thing that would come naturally. Some people
may be the type that would not hate their enemies; they may even sympathize
and empathise with them, but love? Love is not just the lack of hate. Love
goes much deeper than that.
I Corinthians 13:4-7
Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed
up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not
account of evil; rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth
all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
I think that first line puts a lot into perspective. Love suffers long! Dwell on
that for awhile the next time someone cuts you off in traffic or says some
harsh words to you or happens to do something that hurts you either
physically or emotionally. For the most part we wouldn't even consider those
people or enemies; maybe not or friends. So, it Yeshua expects us to love;
suffer long, not think of ourselves, not take an account against, bear, hope,
and endure all things with regard to our enemies, wouldn't He expect the
same from us in regards to those who are not our enemies? How about our
family, friends, and acquaintances? It's easy to forget about that 'love thy
neighbor' thing when our neighbor iritates us just a bit too much. How much
more difficult is it to remember to love our enemy? While Paul tells us 'what'
love is, the apostle John tells 'why' this love is so important.
I John 4:15-21
Whoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God.
And we have known and believed the love that God has in us. God is love, and he who
abides in love abides in God, and God in him. In this is our love made perfect, that we
may have boldness in the day of judgment, that as He is, so also we are in this world.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. He
who fears has not been perfected in love. We love Him because He first loved us. If
anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For if he does not love his
brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And we
have this commandment from Him, that he who loves God should love his brother also.
John calls those who say they love God but don't love their brother liars. That
sounds pretty drastic but that is really what it comes down to. If you believe
scripture when it tells us that man was created in the image of God (Gen. 1:
26-27), how can we truly love God, who we have never seen if we don't show
love for those made in His image? It's a very fair question when you take the
time to analyze it. I know I had to deal with this early on in my Christian walk.
When I came to faith, I had started reading in the book of Matthew, and within
a few chapters I actually got it for the first time, and gave life to Jesus. So, as
I continued reading on, I came to this passage: Matthew 6:14-15 - For if you
forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do
not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
That passage pretty much smacked me right in the face because there were
a couple of people for which I had quite a bit of unforgiveness. I was never
the type of non-believer that held malice toward people on a grand scale but
as I said there were two for which, although there were no outward signs of
unforgiveness, I knew it was there. The first was my step-sister Sarah. We
had a physical conflict about seven years before I got saved... I had verbally
forgiven her, more for the sake of family unity than anything else but I held so
much animosity against her. I didn't want anything good to ever happen to
her. In fact, if she had fallen off a cliff, I wouldn't have shed one tear. But
when I read that scripture about God not forgive us if we don't forgive others,
it was clear that I had to deal with this unforgiveness. It wasn't something that
just came on its own either. I had to pray long and hard. I had to make it a
priority; a mission. And one day, something happened. My mother told about
something good that had happened in Sarah's life and I was happy for her. It
was then that I realized that the bitterness was gone; really gone!It was such a
refreshing feeling...for me! That the thing, we think that forgiving someone
does something food for the other person, but the reality is that it does
something great for us.
The second person that I held unforgiveness over was my father. When he
left for Texas when I was a young preteen I got very angry at him and never
let that anger go. Our relationship consisted of him calling and me crying. I
would tend to blame everything on him but in retrospect, a lot had to do with
the emotional hurt and abandonment I had held onto for so many years.
Once I was able to forgive him, our phone calls consisted of laughing and
joking and generally enjoying each others company. When my father passed
on a few years later, I thanked God so much for giving me the chance to get
to know my dad. But the reality is that if I had never listened to His word and
made the effort to seek true foregiveness, it never would have happened.
You see, so many people are sitting around waiting for God to make there life
better when He has already given us everything we need to have a better,
more fulfilled life but we have to do the things He's laid out for us to do in
order to receive it.
In the last portion of our scripture reading, Yeshua asks why we would call
Him Lord and not do what He says. I really think it all comes down to that. We
have to do what He says to have the house built on the rock that will withstand
everything the enemy has to throw against it and still come through. Jesus
tells us that we have to first take the plank from our own eye before we start
looking for planks to take out of other people's eyes. Until we learn the deal
with any unforgiveness we may have, we will not be able to come into the
fullness of what God has planned for us to do in the kingdom. Many times
when we first come to faith, our first instinct is to go out and start pulling
planks from other people's eyes. While it is true that we should have a heart
like God's that wants everyone to be saved, our priority as a believer needs
to be first to deal with our own flaws. Once we do that, our lives which are
much more effective than our words, will be what will draw unbelievers to
Messiah. I was listening to a DC Talk song this morning called 'Love is a
Verb' and it really is. Love is not merely a word that you say, it is an action
that you do. We began by talking about loving others and moved to talking
about forgiving others, but the two are really synonymous. As Yeshua hung
on the cross, His body bruised and beaten, bleeding and dying, He said this:
Luke 23:34 - And Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
That, my friends is our great example of love and forgiveness all wrapped up
in one. Yes, you can tell a lot about a person by the way they die, and
Yeshua died as He had lived; loving us and forgiving us. Since we are to be
imitators of Christ, this should be how we live, as well.
John 10:27 - My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
Are you one of His sheep that has heard His voice? Do you desire to follow
Him? Learn to love and forgive, everyone!
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: March 25, 2007
