But everybody does not love us. There are people who hate us:
? If we do not think the way they think or
? Do things the way they do things
In their warped way of thinking this is grounds for hating you!!!
That is, you can do and say 99 things they would like you to do or say but that does not count if you do one thing wrong.
All they can remember is that one thing you did or said that they did not like, or agree with.
Illus: Two men were on a cruise ship together and began to talk. Finally one of them asked,
? “Do you believe in God?” He said, “Yes.”
? I asked, “Are you a Christian or a Jew?” He said, “A Christian.” I said, “Me, too!
? Protestant or Catholic?” He said, “Protestant.” I said, “Me, too!
? What denomination?” He said, “Baptist.” I said, “Me, too!
? Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?” He said, “Northern Baptist.” I said, “Me, too!
? Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Moderate Baptist?”
? He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist.” I said, “Me, too!
? Are you of the Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?”
? He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.” I said, “Me, too!
? Are you of the Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?”
? He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.”
? I said, “Die, you heretic!”
To get along with some folks you have to be a carbon copy of them or else you become their enemy.
Again, if you do one thing to displease some folks they are out for revenge for that one thing.
For others it is a combination of bad things.
Illus: A truck driver is sitting in a crowded roadside diner ready to eat his lunch. It’s not just any diner and any lunch. It’s his favorite diner on the road and his favorite lunch. Just as the waitress brings the truck driver’s meat loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans to his table, a motorcycle gang swaggers in the door. Most of them seat themselves at the table next to the truck driver but there’s not room at that table for all of them.
? The gang members left standing turn to the truck driver and bark, “Move! We want that table!”
? The truck driver calmly says, “I haven’t finished my meal.”
? One of the motorcycle bullies takes his dirty finger, swipes it through the mashed potatoes and gravy, sticks his finger in his mouth and says, “Hey, not bad grub.”
? Another gang member takes the trucker’s cup of coffee and slowly pours it over the remaining food on the plate and snarls, “You’re finished now!”
? The trucker stands, takes his napkin, wipes his mouth, walks to the cash register, pays for his meal, and silently walks out the door.
? All the bikers are laughing now. One of them says, “Ain’t much of a man, is he?”
? The waitress says, “And he’s not much of a truck driver, either. He just backed his rig over all your motorcycles.”
This sermon deals with what we call “jerks” in our life. We all encounter people who are hard to live with…don’t we!!! (I see some of you women looking at your husbands and some of you men are looking at your wives and you are glad that your spouse is here to hear this sermon!!!)
Just kidding - but the Bible is serious about how you are to treat the “jerks” in your life.
Our natural reaction to these people is to seek REVENGE!!! They have made us suffer and now we want to find a way to make them suffer!!!
Now some of you are looking at me like I am preaching to the wrong congregation. Loosen your halo…YOU KNOW I AM PREACHING TO YOU!
The rabbi's teaching with regards to love in verse 43 is said to be this, Jesus says: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.”
They said,“Love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy!” Now, there’s only one problem - the law of God did not say that.
WHAT DID IT SAY?
Look at Leviticus 19:18. We read these words: “Love thy neighbour as thyself,” but there it stops. IT DOESN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT HATING YOUR ENEMY.
The Jews had perverted the law of God once more to make it say what they wanted it to say.
Now in all fairness we can see why the Jews might have misinterpreted the law of God concerning loving one’s enemies.
We need to consider two things in the scriptures that could have caused them to think like this.
(1) If you remember in the Old Testament there are a number of passages where God commands Israel to completely destroy nations. That is, totally wipe them from the face of the earth. So they might have concluded, “Well, God wants us to hate our enemies. God wants us to destroy our enemies.”
(2) Another reason to make them think like this is perhaps as they looked at the Psalms, where there are some penitential prayers. In some of those prayers David prayed for God to destroy someone. So the Jews might have concluded, “Well, God wants us to hate our enemies. God wants us to destroy our enemies.”
What we have to remember in these two instances I just mentioned is that it was the judgment of God falling on these nations…not individuals against other individuals.
God, who created all, has every right to destroy evil nations if He so chooses, BUT WE ARE NOT GOD!!!
What we are talking about today has nothing to do with nations; it has to do with:
? Personal enemies,
? Our personal animosities,
? Our personal hatred.
The Bible tells us how we are supposed to react to those who hate and despitefully use us.
That is, God’s Word says:
? Matthew 5:43, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.”
? Luke 6:27, “But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”
WHY WOULD THE LORD TELL US TO LOVE OUR ENEMIES WHEN WE REALLY WOULD LIKE TO CLEAN THEIR CLOCK FOR THE GLORY OF GOD!!!
He tells us to love our enemies for two reasons:
(1) It makes us better Christians. To hate them would put us on the same level they are on.
(2) It makes the world a better place to live.
Let's look at this command more closely. First, we need to discover who our enemies are.
I. WHO ARE OUR ENEMIES?
God commands us to love our enemies. Before we can begin to love our enemies, we need to know who they are.
WHO ARE OUR ENEMIES?
You may be saying, “Preacher, everybody knows who their enemies are. Actually, that is not true!”
Most of us, when it comes to knowing our enemies, makes me think of the Irishman who prayed: “May those that love us love us, those that don't love us may God turn their hearts, and if He doesn't turn their hearts may He turn their ankles so we'll know them by their limping.”
That is often the sentiment of folks when it comes to their enemies.
But we all do not know who our enemies are, in fact, there are some folks who think someone is their friend and they might be the worst enemy they have.
For example:
? Young people might hang out with a crowd that they think are their friends. But those same so-called friends are encouraging them to do things to destroy their lives. And in the years to come they will come to recognize those folks were not their friends.
? A young man might be trying to tell a young girl that he loves her and he wants her to throw away her virginity. But in the years to come she will come to recognize this fellow did not love her, he wanted use her for his own momentary pleasures.
? A married person may be hanging out with someone who is encouraging him to get a divorce. And in the years to come he will come to recognize those folks were not their friends.
Illus: Remember Job in the Old Testament who had these friends when disaster struck. When you see how they treated Job you can only say, “With friends like that who needs enemies!”
Our enemy can be a family member, neighbor, co-worker, or fellow-citizen who wishes us harm.
In other words, just about anyone who does not like us. Now let's ask...
II. WHY ARE WE TO LOVE OUR ENEMIES?
George Washington Carver said, "I will never let another man ruin my life by making me hate him."
Abraham Lincoln said, "Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?"
Listen, when we return hate for hate all that does is multiply hate. Hating our enemies is like adding fuel to a fire!!!
? Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
? Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Illus: It was said of Archbishop Cranmer: “If you would be sure to have Cranmer do you a good turn, you must do him an ill one, for though he loved to do good to all, especially he loved to do good to those who did him evil. He watched for opportunities to do good to those who were doing evil to him on a regular basis.”
When it comes to loving our enemies it does not mean:
? We have to agree with them. You can love people and not agree with them.
? It doesn’t mean that we capitulate to whatever they want from us or want us to do.
Listen, we all know that loving someone that hates us is un-natural.
In fact, I would like to make you think that I am spiritual – that if someone stepped up and slapped my face, I would turn the other cheek.
Someday I might be that spiritual but right now I’m not sure I have reached that level. The level of spirituality I have at the present might not keep me from making sure that person never tried that again.
Now I am sorry. I wish I was spiritual enough to always turn the other cheek, but right now I’m not sure I am that spiritual.
Illus: One example of how to handle a situation of attack took place when Dr. Charles Stanley was preaching on television one Sunday morning many years ago. Back then he always had his deacons sit on the front row. One of these deacons was angry with him and walked up while he was preaching and clobbered him. Dr. Stanley did not retaliate. Now I am glad that happened to Dr. Stanley instead of me because he was spiritual enough to handle that situation peacefully. If it had been me I may have been on the evening news – “Preacher beats deacon to death in the pulpit.”
Listen; it is hard to love your enemies. And to have someone slap your face and then you turn the other cheek to be slapped is a spiritual level that most of us do not possess.
? It is hard for me to pray for enemies in the right way!
? It is hard for me to do them good when I want to return harm for harm.
? It is hard for me, when they are saying bad things about me, to say nice things about them.
Illus: I like the story of the Irishman who was a boxer but left the ring to become a preacher. He was setting up his tent in one particular town when some of the local tough guys began to jeer and sneer as the preacher set about his business. Eventually, one of them came over and physically challenged the preacher to a fight.
? The preacher said, “So, you’d like to take a swing at me, would ya?”
? The local bully just sneered.
? So the preacher stuck out his jaw on the right side and said, “All right then, have at it.”
? The local bully took a swing, connected his fist with the preacher’s jaw, and the preacher went down to a knee.
? The preacher stood up, shook his head to clear the cobwebs, and turned his left jaw to his opponent and asked, “Would ya like to try it again?” The local tough man took another swing, connected with the preacher’s jaw, and the preacher went down on his other knee.
? Then the preacher stood up, took off his suit coat, rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, and said, “The Lord has not given me any more instruction after I have given you my right cheek and my left cheek - NOW YOU ARE ALL MINE!”
But listen; let me tell you why God tells me to love my enemies.
(1) I am more like Christ when I love my enemies than at any other time.
(2) I am more like the devil when I hate my enemies and want to hurt them than any other time.
(3) Another reason that God tells us to love our enemies is because we never know what people are going through in life to make them say and do the things they are doing.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger uses this story from time to time to illustrate a point, and it applies here. “I led this big bouncer, who was hard of hearing, to the Lord. We would go to the gym and work out together several times a week in my younger days. He and I were doing some bench presses together when this fellow walked over. As I was pressing some weight he said, ‘Some people just want to hog the bench.’ I put the weights back on the rack and stood up and said, ‘You go ahead and take a turn.’ He said a few choice words but Jimmy, who was hard of hearing, did not hear, so I punched Jimmy on the arm for us to walk to the other side of the gym and we started to do some curls with some of the dumb bells. Guess who walked over there? That man stood beside Jimmy who now was close enough to hear him, and cursed me while I was doing some curls. Before I could get the dumb bell down Jimmy slapped him so hard he went sailing across the floor and landed on his rear end. Jimmy walked over, extended his hand and said, ‘My name is Jimmy Oakley, I am a Christian, but you don’t talk to my preacher like that!’ The man stood up and apologized and told us he was going through a nasty divorce and he was looking for someone to take his anger out on.”
God tells us to love our enemies because we never know what people are going through. The last thing people need when they have been knocked down is for someone to come along and kick them!!!
(4) There is a fourth reason we are supposed to love our enemies, that is: Sometimes those who are our enemies simply don’t know how to be friends.
If we love them, perhaps they will learn from our example.
Each soul is worth loving. God certainly thinks so. He died for them. This is why God tells us to love our enemies.
Conclusion:
HOW DO WE LOVE THEM?
(1) BY BLESSING THEM...
(2) BY DOING GOOD TO THEM...
(3) BY PRAYING FOR THEM...
He not only commanded us to do this, He set the example for us:
? He was arrested, roughed up, insulted by the police.
? The authorities spat on Him, blindfolded Him, and slapped Him in the face.
? Then the Roman soldiers mocked Him by crowning Him with thorns and putting a purple robe on Him.
? They jeered at Him, “Hail King of the Jews!” Then they scourged Him.
When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly”
Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them…”
We have looked at:
I. Who are our enemies?
II. Why are we to love our enemies?
