The Truth About Loving Your Enemies - Part 2 Series

Dr. Bradford Reaves

Crossway Christian Fellowship

Hagerstown, MD

www.mycrossway.org

We are continuing today with a portion of the Sermon on the Mount that probably challenges the believer more than any other section. I believe if the rest of Jesus’s sermon is going to make sense, then we have to grasp this part and take it to heart.

Over the last several weeks, we’ve covered a series of statements that are aimed at correcting the whole interpretation of the law by the Pharisees. These six statements follow a format of “You have heard it said… but I tell you.” The intention of these statements is to expose the corruptness of the human heart because that’s where sin originates. Jesus is telling the Jews who are bound by obeying the Law of Moses, that sin is not merely in the external things that you do. Rather sin is an issue of the heart and that is where is needs to be dealt with.

Murder begins with anger, adultery begins with lust, and so on. Last week we looked the fifth of these statements with the phrase, “An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth.” The idea is that revenge and retribution are not in our hands, but we give them over to God. It is rooted in the idea of radical forgiveness. I shared with you an illustration of how the Amish demonstrated that kind of forgiveness after a man shot 10 Amish girls in the Nickel Mines Amish School near Lancaster, PA, killing five. Following the incident, the Amish community demonstrated incredible forgiveness to the family of the shooter.

This week we are continuing along that theme with the final of these six statements. Let’s read it together:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ 44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 “And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43–48 LSB)

We are living in a time when aggression toward our adversaries is at an all-time high. We are living in a day of hostility and it stands to reason that the Kingdom of Darkness is leading the charge of people's hostility, aggression, hatred, and retaliation. That is never more true than Satan’s battle against the Church, especially the churches that are holding fast to the truth. In Canada, Pastors James Coats and Derek Reimer have faced or are currently facing criminal charges for speaking out against evils in our society. Here in the US, nearly a dozen Pro-life advocates like Mark Houk are being arrested in their homes by FBI Agents in full tactical gear for supposed violations of the FACE act, while pedophiles, murderers, and rapists are released without bale hours after their crimes.

Today what is right is hated and what is wrong is celebrated and those who speak out against evil are villainized as those who hate. Meanwhile, the nation continues to advocate the legalized murder of the unborn, the sexualization of children through drag shows is celebrated and their sexual mutilation through surgeries and hormone treatments is promoted, even when it is opposed by the parents.

Our children have grown up in a society that glamorizes violence. They see it on TV, hear it in music, and play it out in video games. We sexualize our children through media, even commercials. The family order is being systematically destroyed, our social order is being dismantled, and our nation is becoming a place of increasing lawlessness. Everything that is an abomination by God is promoted as good and everything that is righteous is socially evil. It is as the Prophet Isaiah wrote:

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20 LSB)

These liberal agendas are being driven by a vocal and increasingly powerful minority who are gaining increasing support from misled and misinformed people who think they are doing the right thing by following the current “trends.” What is even more concerning is the number of churches and church leaders joining the parade, not wanting to be labeled as a hater. Which begs the question, in light of the Scripture we just read, how should we respond to the evils of our day and the people who lead these evils?