THE POWER OF LOVE
MATTHEW 5:38-48
In Matthew 5:17 Christ said that he did not "... come to destroy the law or the prophets? but that he came ?to fulfill" it. Christ has often been accused of destroying the law of the Old Testament. Nothing could be further from the truth. Christ never taught anything contrary to the law. In fact, He endorsed the law. Look at Matthew 5:19-20 "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.? What Christ condemned was the oral and scribal law, which was a perversion of or a misapplication of God?s law. Christ taught that the spirit of the law is fulfilled through the power of love. In verses 38 through 48, Christ addresses two areas where the law had been misunderstood and misapplied. These areas have abused and misused down through the centuries as people have used them as an excuse to treat others however they wish. But the Christian has been called demonstrate the power of love in his life by keeping a higher law with respect to the laws of rights and relationships.
I. The Law of Rights (Matthew 5:38)
A. The law was given to control unregulated men
1. Exodus 21:24 "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,"
2. Leviticus 24:20 "Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again."
3. Deuteronomy 19:21 "And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot."
B. The law was given to civil authority to guide the courts in execution of justice. It was not given to individuals to exact vengeance.
C. It limited reparation or punishment to fit the crime.
D. The demonstration of love?s power in the face personal wrongs.
1. A Slap in the face (Matthew 5:39)
a. Right cheek ? had to be backhanded ? insulting
b. The believer is not to retaliate to against the most terrible insults, slights, criticism, rumor, abuse, or contempt.
c. Doing an injury puts you below your enemy; revenging one makes you even with him; forgiving it sets you above him.
d. Consider the example set by Christ - 1 Peter 2:23 "Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judges righteously:"
e. Matthew 5:11 "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake."
2. The Coat off your back (Matthew 5:40)
a. Coat = tunic ? inner garment / Cloak = outer robe
b. Jewish law allowed a man?s tunic to be taken as a pledge but never the mantle.
c. 1 Corinthians 6:7 "Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?"
d. Colossians 3:2 "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."
e. Do not let your happiness depend on something you may lose. Things pass away.
3. A Second Mile (Matthew 5:41)
a. This law comes from the Persians where a postal courier was authorized the requisition of animals and anything else that he might need to expedite him on his trip.
b. A citizen of a conquered country could be compelled to carry water supplies, anything. Matthew 27:32 "And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross."
c. Galatians 5:13 "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another."
d. In a recent NCAA basketball Final Four playoffs here at Dallas, one of the coaches prior to the game was asked, "Why has your team done so well? What is it about this team that has made it come as far as it has, because everybody wants to know about success?" He said, "We have a motto on our team, and the motto is this: ’Good people do for themselves; great people do for others.’"
4. Give (Matthew 5:42)
a. In contrast with the preceding examples, Christ does not say give a man double of what he asks. ? Reason ? This is a request not compulsion.
b. Luke 6:38 "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."
c. Christ was not declaring that we should be foolish in our giving for Psalms 112:5 states "A good man shows favor, and lends: he will guide his affairs with discretion."
d. Give with no thought of personal greed or gain. Luke 6:34 "And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again."
e. 1 John 3:17 "But whoever has this world’s good, and sees his brother have need, and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwells the love of God in him?"
f. John Bunyan - He who bestows his goods upon the poor shall have as much again and ten times more.
Transition: Not only did they misapply the law of rights but they misinterpreted the law of relationship.
II. The Law of Relationship
A. Loving your neighbor
1. Matthew 5:43 "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy."
a. Leviticus 19:18 "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD."
b. They inferred they were to hate their enemies.
B. Love your Enemies (Matthew 5:44)
1. Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin - Peace is not made with friends. Peace is made with enemies.
2. This is against human nature and can only be done by the power of Christ?s love. ? Agape love
3. Martin Luther King, Jr. Men of Integrity ? Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.
4. Loving our enemies does not mean that we are supposed to love the dirt in which the pearl is buried; rather it means that we love the pearl, which lies in the dust.
C. Bless those that Curse You (Matthew 5:44)
1. Proverbs 15:1 "A soft answer turns away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger."
2. I Peter 3:9 "Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called that ye should inherit a blessing."
3. Laurence J. Peter - Speak when you’re angry--and you’ll make the best speech you’ll ever regret.
4. To say what is untrue, what is unkind, or to say it unkindly, constitutes failure in Christian living and Christian witness.
D. Do good to those that hate you (Matthew 5:44)
1. Two shopkeepers were bitter rivals. Their stores were directly across the street from each other, and they would spend each day keeping track of each other’s business. If one got a customer, he would smile in triumph at his rival. One night an angel appeared to one of the shopkeepers in a dream and said, "I will give you anything you ask, but whatever you receive, your competitor will receive twice as much. Would you be rich? You can be very rich, but he will be twice as wealthy. Do you wish to live a long and healthy life? You can, but his life will be longer and healthier. What is your desire?" The man frowned, thought for a moment, and then said, "Here is my request: Strike me blind in one eye!" - Thomas Lindberg,
2. Matthew 10:16 "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."
3. Romans 12:21 ?Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."
E. Pray for those who persecute. (Matthew 5:44)
1. Pray for their forgiveness - Luke 23:34 "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."
2. Pray for peace
3. Pray for their salvation
4. According to an Associated Press account, in September 1994 Cindy Hartman of Conway, Arkansas, walked into her house to answer the phone and was confronted by a burglar. He ripped the phone cord out of the wall and ordered her into a closet. Hartman dropped to her knees and asked the burglar if she could pray for him. "I want you to know that God loves you and I forgive you,’’ she said. The burglar apologized for what he had done. Then he yelled out the door to a woman in a pickup truck: "We’ve got to unload all of this. This is a Christian home and a Christian family. We can’t do this to them." As Hartman remained on her knees, the burglar returned furniture he had taken from her home. Then he took the bullets out of his gun, handed the gun to Hartman, and walked out the door. Praying for our enemies is incredibly disarming.
III. The Effect of Demonstrating the Law of Love (Matthew 5:45-48)
A. Identification as a child of God. (5:45)
1. Ephesians 5:8 "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:"
2. For the watching world, we ourselves serve proof that God is alive. We form the visible shape of what he is like.
B. Differentiates you from others. (5:46-47)
1. 1 Peter 2:9 "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:"
More people have been brought into the church by the kindness of real Christian love than by all the theological arguments in the world, and more people have been driven from the church by the hardness and ugliness of so-called Christianity than by all the doubts in the world.
