I. Introduction
A. The newly-married husband came home from the office to find his young wife in floods of tears. "Darling, whatever is the matter?" he asked. "Sweetheart," she sobbed, "the most terrible thing has happened! I cooked my very first Beef Bourguignon for you, and I got it out of the oven to season it, and the phone rang. When I came back from answering the phone," she sobbed again. "I found that the cat had eaten it!" "Don't worry, darling," said her husband. "Don't cry. We can get a new cat tomorrow."
B. No subject is more important than the subject of human relationships except perhaps that of our relationship to God
C. God is creating a family of believers who are to live together eternally
1. To live together in heaven, that will be glory. To live here below with the people we know, now that’s another story
2. God wants that family to live together as a family, loving each other and loving their neighbors as they should
3. God's family must never allow hate to enter their hearts
4. God's family is to treat no person as an enemy
5. Every person is to be loved as a true neighbor
a. Lets turn to Matthew 5:43
II. Body
A. The law
Matthew 5:43 (NKJV)
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
1. Turn to Leviticus 19:18
2. The law said,
Leviticus 19:18 (NKJV)
'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
3. Israel made two fatal mistakes in interpreting this law
a. First, they said "neighbor" meant only the people of their own community, religion, and nation
(1) They did not include anyone else
(2) In fact, they shut out and cut off everyone else
b. Second, they inferred they were to hate their enemies
(1) God said, "Love your neighbor"; therefore, they reasoned and added, "Hate your enemy."
(2) Human reason actually leads a person to think that he should oppose and hate his enemy
(3) But such is just deduced or inferred from depraved human reasoning
(4) It is not God, and it is not what God knows to be the best for the world: love, joy, peace
(a) Turn to Matthew 5:44
4. Many fall into the same mistake as Israel
a. They interpret "neighbors" to be only their friends and those who live close by
b. They never think of enemies nor of the world as a whole as their neighbors
B. The real meaning: be perfect
Matthew 5:44 (NKJV)
"But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you
1. Turn to Matthew 22:37-40
2. Love your enemies
3. Believers are to love all men, even enemies
Matthew 22:37-40 (NKJV)
Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' {38} "This is the first and great commandment. {39} "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' {40} "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
a. Jesus was asked, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
(1) Of the 613 laws in the Law of Moses, Jewish theologians had been arguing for many years which commandment was the greatest, the most important and Jesus answered, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
(2) But then He immediately added the second commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”
b. In the book of Luke 10:25-28 one man asked Jesus a question
Luke 10:25-28 (NKJV)
And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" {26} He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?" {27} So he answered and said, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.'" {28} And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live."
(1) Then in the very next verse the lawyer asked Jesus this question
Luke 10:29 (NKJV)
But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
(2) Now the Jewish Rabbi’s had taught that neighbor only extended to Jewish neighbors
(3) But the lawyer asked a great question, who is my neighbor?
(4) Under the circumstances, a very reasonable question
(a) Are the Rabbi’s right?
(b) Or is there a different answer?
(5) If we were to read Luke 10:30-35, we see Jesus answer to the lawyer’s question
Luke 10:30-35 (NKJV)
Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. {31} "Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. {32} "Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. {33} "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. {34} "So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. {35} "On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'
(a) We have to understand that a Samaritan was considered by the Jews as outcasts
i) It was worse than being a person of African origin among the Southern whites in the 18th and 19th centuries
(b) Jesus asked the lawyer another pointed question in the next verse
Luke 10:36 (NKJV)
"So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?"
(c) In the next verse is the lawyer’s answer and Jesus response
Luke 10:37 (NKJV)
And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
i) One preacher commented that the Jews hated the Samaritans so much that the lawyer couldn’t even say “the Samaritan” he could only reply, “He who showed mercy on him”
ii) I can’t say that is correct, the Bible doesn’t say
iii) Jesus accepted the answer and challenged the lawyer, “Go and do likewise.”
c. Jesus commandment was not a new commandment, or that is commandments
(1) The first commandment is found in Deuteronomy 6:5
Deuteronomy 6:5 (NKJV)
"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
(2) The second is found in Leviticus 19:18
Leviticus 19:18 (NKJV)
'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD
4. You see, the Jews were to respect and honor all men
a. Peter spells it out in 1 Peter 2:17
1 Peter 2:17 (NKJV)
Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
5. Every human being has something that is commendable, even if it is nothing but the fact that he is a fellow human being with a soul to be reached for God
a. Loving our enemies is against human nature
(1) But then as Rose Thayer told Charles Olnaught in the movie “The African Queen” “Human nature, Mr Olnaught, is what God put this on earth to rise above.”
(2) There is one thing as Christians we can have for our enemy and that is mercy or compassion.
(3) If we doe not have compassion for those who hate us, we have gained nothing of the spirit of Christ
6. We are often criticized for coming so far short of this command
7. Note two facts.
a. First, all are not to be loved equally
b. Second, love is not license, it is not complacent in dealing with wickedness
(1) Looking back at our passage
Matthew 5:44 (NKJV)
"But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you
(2) Bless those who curse you
(a) Turn to Proverbs 15:1
(3) What is it to bless
(a) In this instance Christ is saying to speak softly, gently, kindly to the curser
Proverbs 15:1 (NKJV)
A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger
(4) When face to face, be courteous; when behind his back, commend his strengths
(5) Do not render "railing for railing," that is, do not condemn or attack him in bitter or abusive language
(a) Turn to 1 Peter 3:9
c. You know it is often forgotten that if we react with sharp, harsh words, it will only stir up more anger and hate in the curser
1 Peter 3:9 (NKJV)
not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.
d. Cursing is a serious sin to God
(1) I mean both foul language
(2) And voiced thoughts of grievous harm
(a) Turn to Luke 6:27
8. Do good to those who hate you
a. "Doing good" goes beyond words
b. It does things for the person who hates
c. It reaches out to him through his family or friends, employment or business
d. It searches for ways to do good to him, realizing that he needs to be reached for God
9. The greatest proof of love is "doing good to those who hate you."
Luke 6:27 (NKJV)
"But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
10. Pray for those who persecute you, four things in particular we need to pray for
a. First, for God to grant you the grace to forgive the persecutor
b. Second, for God to forgive the persecutor
c. Third, for peace between you and the persecutor
d. Fourth for the persecutor's salvation or correction
(1) Turn to Matthew 5:45-47
C. The incentive
Matthew 5:45-47 (NKJV)
"that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. {46} "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? {47} "And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?
1. The incentive to love everyone as a true neighbor is threefold
a. First, love makes a person a child of God
(1) Turn to 1 John 4:19-21
(2) Love is unmistakable proof that a person truly loves and truly knows God
(3) A Christian cannot hate another person, not a true believer
(4) If we say we love God and hate some person, whether former friend or foe, we need to search our heart. We lack the genuine love demanded by God
1 John 4:19-21 (NKJV)
We love Him because He first loved us. {20} If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? {21} And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
b. Second, love makes a person like God
(1) God loves His enemies
(2) He causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on His enemies as well as on those who love Him
(3) The Christian is to be just like Christ, we are to love our enemies
(4) In loving our enemies, the we Christians becomes more and more Christ like
(5) Man was created "in the image, after the likeness of God"
(a) Man's very purpose for being is to glorify God and to be like God
(b) No man can look at God's nature and learn hatred
(c) God's sunshine and rain bless all
(6) There is no indication of favoritism in the sunshine and the rain
(7) Therefore, the learning of reaction and hatred does not come from God, but from within man or Satan
c. Third, love makes a person distinctive from other men
(1) A Christian must do more than others
(2) We must go beyond what others do
(3) Everyone loves his friends, so doing more and going beyond means that we Christian will love our enemies
(4) Everyone is friendly to those who salute him; therefore, doing more and going beyond means that we Christian salute our enemies
(5) Motives have to be watched
(a) Too many are nice and kind out of self-interest
(b) They hope to gain something, a vote, money, inheritance, or support from those to whom they are friendly
(c) The Christian is to be different and distinctive
(d) Our motive must be to reach out to the unfriendly, even the enemies of Christ
(6) If people loved and cared only for those who loved them, think how divided the world would be, how divided the world is right now
(a) Someone has to reach out to bring us together
(b) All must be reached: the bitter, the cold-hearted, the withdrawn, the angry, the murderer, the attacker, the thief, the enemy, the curser, the hater, the spiteful, the persecutor
(7) It is the task of the Christian to do more and go beyond
(a) The Christian is to reach all, for we know the true love of God.
(8) God has done more and gone beyond by sending His Son into the world
(a) The Christian knows this; therefore, it is our calling to do more and go beyond
i) Turn to Matthew 5:48
D. In this verse we have a charge: be perfect
Matthew 5:48 (NKJV)
"Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect
1. Be perfect, who are you kidding, we know that in this life we can’t be perfect
a. But, the idea here is perfection of purpose
(1) Ryries note say this about the passage, not without sin, but mature and complete in the likeness of God
(a) It has to do with an end, an aim, a goal, a purpose
(b) It means fit, mature, fully grown at a particular stage of growth
(c) For example, a fully grown child is a perfect child; he has reached his childhood and achieved the purpose of childhood
(d) It does not mean perfection of character, that is, being without sin
(e) It is fitness, maturity for task and purpose. It is full development, maturity of godliness
i) Turn to 1 Corinthians 3:2-3
(2) So many Christians have stunted growth
1 Corinthians 3:2-3 (NKJV)
I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; {3} for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
(a) Paul began with the sincere milk of the Word, to bring the Corinthians to a point where they should have been ready to take in the solid meat of the Word
(b) But they were stunted
(c) Many Christians today are stunted
(d) They nurse on the precious gospels, but neglect the weightier portions of God’s Word
(3) We should be striving for a deeper understanding of God’s Word, God Himself, and Christ and His purpose for our life
