Love Your Enemies!

SERMONOUTLINE:

• THREE MISTAKES THE JEWISH LEADERS MADE;

• Mistake #1: They qualified God’s law.

• Mistake #2: They omitted God’s law.

• Mistake #3: They added to God’s law.

• THREE TRUTHS THAT JESUS EMPHASISED:

• Fact #1: Love is a command.

• Fact #2: Love is shown by action.

• Fact #3: Love comes from God.

SERMONBODY:

Ill:

• A reporter was interviewing an old man on his 100th birthday and asked him:

• "What are you most proud of?"

• The old man thought for a moment and replied;

• "Well, I don't have an enemy in the world."

• "What a beautiful thought! How inspirational!" said the reporter.

• "Yep," added the centenarian, "outlived every last one of them."

Quote: Oscar Wilde:

“Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much.”

I have been asked to speak this morning on a few verses from The Sermon on the Mount:

• This sermon is a collection of sayings and teachings of Jesus,

• Which emphasizes his moral teaching.

• It is one of the most widely quoted elements of the four Gospels;

• It includes some of the best known teachings of Jesus,

• Such as the Beatitudes, and the widely recited Lord's Prayer.

Ill:

• Now not a lot of people know this;

• But Mahatma Gandhi read from the Sermon on the Mount twice every day;

• For over 40 years of his life -- and he was not even a Christian!

• He considered this passage of the Bible;

• The greatest writings on nonviolence in the history of the world.

• And since he wanted to become a person of nonviolence,

• He treated these teachings as a basic primer, as the catechism of nonviolence.

• The Sermon on the Mount is revolutionary stuff;

• So different to anything else in literature or philosophy.

The context of our verses (this morning) relates to Jesus dealing with the Old Testament law:

• Now Jesus did not come to destroy the law but to fulfil it.

• Perhaps an illustration makes it clearer.

• i.e. An acorn can be destroyed by placing it on a rock and hitting it with a hammer!

• That is one way to destroy it.

• i.e. Or an acorn can be placed in the ground;

• And left to fulfil itself by becoming an oak tree

• In a similar way Jesus did not come to destroy the law but to fulfil it.

• And in doing so he revealed the true message of the law;

• What we might call the heart of the law.

• So in these verses we get behind the letter of the law;

• And we see the true meaning, the heart and spirit of the law.

Note:

• At the time of Jesus the law had been corrupted in its interpretation;

• The religious leaders had interpreted over the years;

• But their explanations had become twisted to fit their mown ideas.

• And inn his sermon Jesus deals with some of those important misinterpretations ;

• Just scan the chapter and you will see:

• i.e. Verses 21-26: On the subject of murder:

• "You have heard (this is what others have incorrectly taught)........

• But I say unto you." – this is what it really means!

• i.e. Verses 27-30: On the subject of Adultery:

• "You have heard........ but I say unto you."

• i.e. Verses 31-32: On the subject of Divorce:

• "You have heard........ but I say unto you."

• i.e. Verses 33-37: On the subject of Oaths:

• "You have heard........ but I say unto you."

• i.e. Verses 38-42: On the subject of Retaliation:

• "You have heard........ but I say unto you."

• i.e. Verses 43-47: On the subject of love:

• "You have heard........ but I say unto you."

Now this morning we will see what Jesus said, regarding loving your enemies:

• And I guess we all have one or two people we cannot get on with;

• People who may try to bully us or intimidate us;

• People who have been hostile towards us.

Ill:

• I met a former neighbour of mine this week in the local shops;

• He said; “Do you remember that family who lived next to you?”

• Now because he a white man was married to a black woman;

• He told me he had to put up with racial abuse and a hostile attitude,

• Every time he encountered that neighbour and his family

• In life at some time or other;

• We will all acquire enemies, people we do not get along with;

• And not everyone is good at how they deal with an enemy.

Ill:

• My former neighbour told me he just swore back at him;