LUKE 6:27-36 LOVE YOUR ENEMIES2011 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 6:27-36 Love Your Enemies

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You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2011. As we look at this portion in Luke chapter 6 today, we are continuing on this message or this sermon that Jesus has been teaching. It began back in verse 20.

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And we've been studying it for the past couple of weeks. We saw the blessed are you's that Jesus was sharing. Blessed are you if you're in this condition or that condition. Then last week we saw the woes. Woe to you if you're in this condition. Woe to you if you're in that condition. And now Jesus is continuing on. He's kind of like now on point three of his message. And now he is talking about the subject of loving your enemies. Now, as I've shared the past couple of weeks...

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You and I as believers are really not in need of some new information. It's not that, you know, we need something new and that's why our life is lacking. It's not that we need something new and that's why the Christian life is not dynamic or powerful for us. The reality that we've seen is not the new information that we need, but the need to apply the things that we already know.

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And that is certainly true as we begin now to look at the subject of loving your enemies. I'm sure you've heard this passage before, you've read it before, you've known these things, you've heard the golden rule, as we'll see there, that Jesus declares. But it's not just about knowing them and having it in your head. Really...

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The challenge for us today is to live it out, to put it into practice, to make it a reality in our lives. And when it comes to loving your enemies,

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Really, I think you could understand this is pretty much as hard as it gets. I mean, if you want to talk about difficult things in the Christian life, this is probably up there in that top two or three, right? I mean, it's just, it's one of those things that is very difficult for us. And so there's some serious challenges here.

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But we need to take them seriously because Jesus is speaking to us. Again, this message that he delivered was directed to his disciples. There in verse 20, it says he lifted up his eyes toward his disciples and he began to teach these things. And so this is a message for you and I today. We need to love our enemies.

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Now, something to keep in mind as we study this portion together is the overall principle that Jesus is teaching here is that you and I are to be like God. That's the way he kind of concludes this point. There in verse 35 and 36, he says,

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Tells us why we're to love our enemies. And it's because that's what God does. Why are we to be merciful? Because God is merciful. And so the overall principle here is that you and I, in our pursuit to walk with God, we need to become like God. We need to have His heart.

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His character, His nature towards the people around us. And that's really the overall principle that we see here in this portion. Now, because these things are a little bit difficult for us to put into practice and even sometimes comprehend, not that they're complicated, but just they're so unnatural for us. I want to encourage you later on, check out Matthew chapter 5 verses 38 through 48.

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There is the other portion of Scripture where Jesus is teaching these same things and it will help to reinforce in your hearts these truths that we'll see today.

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There in Matthew chapter 5, he teaches these same principles, a little bit different order, but it's the same truths to help and encourage and strengthen the things that we'll look at today so that your heart can rest assured, no, this really is how God wants me to live and how he wants me to relate to the people around me.

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And so there's four things I'd like to highlight for you in our portion today as we talk about loving our enemies. And the first one is just that. Love your enemies. That's what we see here in verse 27 and 28. Look at it again with me. It says this. But I say to you who hear, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. And pray for those who spitefully use you.

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I think we could probably just read these verses for the rest of the service and we'd be challenged enough, right? I mean, there's some difficult things that Jesus is teaching here as he gives us this command to love your enemies. He starts out the instruction here saying, This morning.

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Are you going to hear? Jesus says, look, I'm talking to you who will hear, who will listen, who will pay attention. Do you listen to Jesus and are you committed to obey him? That's something you have to settle first. That's something you have to settle right now in your heart. Because as we go on, as he begins to teach these other truths, if we're not fully committed to the Lord and willing to say, yes, I'll obey you, I'll walk with you,

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I'll follow your direction no matter what. If that's not the state of our heart, he's going to lose us in the next phrase. I mean, we're just going to be like, oh, well, never mind. Really, the challenge needs to be right here in the beginning when he says, I say to you who hear this morning, are you willing to hear from Jesus and to be obedient even if you don't like it or agree with it or understand it? Are you willing to hear from Jesus and obey him?

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He says, I say to you who hear, love your enemies. I think that's pretty self-explanatory, so let's pray. No, I'm just kidding. Love your enemies. You see, if I teach on these things, then I have to practice them, and that's what makes it difficult, right? Love your enemies. And we ask, how in the world can I love my enemies? Well, first of all, we need to understand that love is not a feeling.

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There are feelings and emotions that go along with love, but that's not what love is. Love is really about a choice. It's action that we take. And you can see that spelled out very clearly in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. There Paul talks about love and what it is. He defines it for us and it's not a one word definition. It's a paragraph of what love is. It's a paragraph of actions that love takes.

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I would encourage you to spend some time considering what love is there in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 later on so that you can better understand how to love your enemies. But let me summarize it this way. Love is doing what is best for people. That's what love is. When you love somebody, you do what is best for them.

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When you love your child, you do what is best for your child. Now, your child may not always like what you do, but you do it because you love them. So discipline, for example, no kid says, yes, I want to be disciplined. Please discipline me. They don't like it. They don't care for it, but you do it because you love them.

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You also give them good things that they say, please give me good things. And they want those good things. And you give them good things because you love them. And so love is doing what's best for people. That's the way that God relates to us. And that is the way that he is calling us to relate to others by doing what's best for them. Whether they know it or not,

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We do what's best for them. Whether they like it or not, we do what's best for them. Whether they agree with it or not, we do what's best for them. These things cannot be done in your strength or in my strength. What Jesus is asking us to do is completely contrary to our nature. It can only be done

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As He transforms us, as He makes us more like Him. We have to take up the nature of Christ and ask Him, Lord, make me more like You so that I can love my enemies, so that I can do what's best for them, whether they know it or not, like it or not, agree with it or not. And so love your enemies. Now, as we consider this idea of loving your enemies, let me ask you, do you have any enemies? This word for enemies, it means enemies.

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Someone who hates. It could be passive or active. It's a passive hatred or actively hostile. And so an enemy could be anybody who, you know, is there giving you the evil eye. Kind of not really throwing things at you, not really attacking you, but they're sitting back there. They just, they want nothing to do with you. They have this hatred towards you. Or it could be the person who's actively hostile.

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Throwing things at you, shouting at you, trying to get you in trouble, trying to mess up your life. Either way, passive or active, these are the people that Jesus is talking about. Those who are acting in hatred or sitting back and hating you. Anybody who is this hatred towards you, is hateful towards you, is who Jesus is talking about. And he says, for that person who hates you, love your enemy. Love them. Love the person who hates you.

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Do what's best for them. Maybe it's a neighbor. Maybe it's all your neighbors. Maybe it's a co-worker. Maybe it's a boss, a spouse, or an ex-spouse, the guy who cut you off on the way to church this morning. Whoever it is, anybody who behaves this way, who has this heart towards you, Jesus says, here's the command, you're to love them. You're to love them.

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Now, specifically, I believe Jesus is talking about our relationship between... a relationship between...

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A disciple of Jesus, a Christian, a believer in Jesus, and an unbeliever. The context is Jesus is talking about these things as we've been studying the past two weeks. Those blessings and woes. Remember the last blessing and woe? It was, blessed are you when men hate you, Jesus said, for my name's sake. And then he said, woe to you if everybody likes you because it makes you or it means that you're like a false prophet.

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And so the context, the thought that Jesus is conveying here is as we come in contact with unbelievers and they are responding to us with hatred, that our command is to love them, to love them, to do what's best for them. We're going to wrestle with that thought for the rest of the message, but it gets a little bit worse. So let's continue on. He goes on to say, and do good to those who hate you.

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So not just love your enemies, but do good to those who hate you. This word for hate is the idea of detesting or persecuting. So again, it's the person who's in your face, the person who is openly seeking to mess up your life, seeking to destroy things, seeking to get you in trouble, the person who detests you.

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For that person, Jesus says, do good. Notice on our part, again, there's action required. It's not just don't do evil to them, but it's do good to them. Go out of your way. I think it's interesting too, this command to do good is in the present tense, which means that it's a command that we ought to keep on doing. Keep on doing good to those who hate you.

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I think sometimes, you know, we'll do one good thing. Hey, I bought you a soda. And then we can kind of check that off list. You know, I don't have to do good to you anymore, man. I bought you a Coke, so. All is fair now. But Jesus says, no, keep on doing good. Let me ask you this. We're heading into the holiday season, right? Are people that detest you and persecute you on the top of your Christmas list?

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You know, are they the ones you're buying gifts for? Now typically, that's not our nature, right? Who do we buy gifts for? The people that we love, the people that love us, the ones who got us a good gift last year, we want to get them a good gift this year. But consider, Jesus says, do good to those who hate you. Now I'm not saying you have to go buy them a big Christmas gift, but consider that.

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Consider, how are you doing good to the people that are against you, that persecute you, that come against you because of your faith or for whatever reason that they find to hate you? How are you doing good to them? Well, he goes on to say, bless those who curse you. This idea of cursing is to wish evil or ruin upon somebody. So bless those who curse you. Now,

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What do you normally do or what do you at least want to do when someone curses you? You want to curse them back, right? Oh yeah? Why don't you just drop dead? That was kind of loud and mean. I'm sorry. But that's what happens in our hearts, right? That's what we... I mean, someone curses us. Someone says, oh man, I hope this happens to you. I want you to fall. I want you to fail. And there's something that rises up within us. It's like...

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And we one-up them, right? The arguments that happen. You talk over each other, talk over each other. You get louder and louder. You yell at one another. The cursing at one another gets worse and worse. It escalates. Because not only do we want to retaliate, but we want to get them worse. Get them back plus one for what they did to us. But here's what Jesus says. Those who curse you, bless them.

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It means to speak well of. Speak well of them. Speak kindly to them when they curse you. Well, it doesn't just end there. He finally says, pray for those who spitefully use you. It gets a little bit more difficult with each phrase that Jesus utters, doesn't it? So love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and now pray for those who spitefully use you. This idea of spitefully using means

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It includes a whole lot of things. It includes an insult. It includes abusive treatment, reviling, false accusation, and threatening. You have any of those things going on? People insulting you, treating you abusively, maybe physically or verbally, falsely accusing you, threatening you. Jesus says, pray for those who treat you that way. What kind of prayer should we pray? Well, Jesus says,

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set the example for us there on the cross. As they were falsely accusing Him and threatening Him and slandering Him and crucifying Him. What did Jesus pray for them? Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do. It's not, you know, pray for them. You know, Lord, let a truck fall on their head. But pray for them that God would work in their hearts, that God would work in their lives.

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Jesus says to those who hear, this is how you're to live. This is how you're to behave towards your enemies, towards those who hate you, towards those who curse you, and towards those who spitefully use you. These are hard things to do in our strength. But this is what needs to happen. This is the kind of change that needs to take place in our hearts. I think this portion right here separates the Christians from the churchgoers.

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Those who say, yes, I will hear what Jesus says and I'm going to live it out. I'm going to be obedient. I'm going to do what he commands. It separates those from the others who come and just, I want to make sure that I don't go to hell. I want to feel good this week. I want to hear something encouraging. I want to be reminded that God loves me. And those are all good things, but

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It needs to be accompanied by a commitment that Jesus is my Lord and I'm going to do what he says even if I don't like it, even if I'm not comfortable with it, even when I don't understand it. Because as God said in Isaiah chapter 55, his ways are not our ways. So if we only do the things that we agree with and that we understand, we're not going to be practicing God's ways. Because his ways are higher than our ways, as high as the heavens are above the earth.

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We have to be obedient and do what the Lord says when we don't understand it and when we don't agree. Otherwise, we will never be doing what God wants. We'll never be walking in His ways. Now, as you seek to walk in His ways and do what Jesus commanded, well, you should also understand that He gives us these commands because these things are what's best for us.

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He doesn't just say love your enemies for their sake. Although there's an element of truth in that and He's going to work through you in that. But loving your enemies is what's best for you. For Him to do the work, for Him to set you free, for Him to redeem you and change you, for you to be more Christ-like. It's what's good for you. It's part of His plan for you which is good and perfect. He wants what's best for you. So love your enemies.

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It's not natural to us, but when is things that are natural to us ever actually been helpful and beneficial for us? No, those are the things that destroy our lives. God's redeeming us from our flesh, from our sinful nature. And so we need to throw down what we think, what we know, what we've been taught, what we've heard, what is our natural response. And we need to hold fast to what Jesus has said. These things are what is best for us.

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I look at it this way. God is the most well-adjusted being in the universe. And this is the way that He is. So be like Him. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. And pray for those who spitefully use you. This is the way that God relates to us. In Romans chapter 5 verse 10, Paul tells us when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son.

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While we were enemies with God, that's when He demonstrated His love and died upon the cross for our sin. While we were enemies. He didn't wait for us to be friends and then He did something good for us. But while we were enemies, He demonstrated His love for us. He did good and He does good to those who hate Him. He blesses those who curse Him and He prays for them. He wants what's best for those who would falsely accuse Him or spitefully use Him.

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This is the way that God is. And this is the way He calls us to be. So love your enemies. I like what Warren Wiersbe says. He says, the best way to conquer an enemy is to make him a friend. Think about that. We think about vanquishing, you know, or wiping out the enemy. But he says, the best way to conquer an enemy is not to one-up them on the insult, not to get them in trouble instead of them getting you in trouble. The best way to conquer an enemy is

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is to make them a friend. That's what God wants to do through us. So love your enemies. The second thing we find in verses 29 through 31, now Jesus gives a couple examples and sums it up with the saying, do unto others as you want done to you.

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Do unto others as you want done to you. Verse 29 says, To him who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods, do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.

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Now again, the overall principle as we study this passage is to be like God. And we need to keep that in mind as we look at these things because there's some challenging things that we need to consider. He starts out there in verse 29. You've probably heard the phrase, turning the other cheek. Well, that's where this comes from here in also Matthew chapter 5. To him who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other also. What is Jesus saying here?

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If someone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also. I think there's some important context that we find in Matthew chapter 5. In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus teaches the same truth, but it's in connection with another principle that he's teaching. And that is, well, he says, you've heard it said, an eye for an eye. That is, you can retaliate to the same extent as the evil that was done towards you.

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But Jesus goes on to say, you've heard it said eye for an eye, but I say to you, if someone strikes your cheek, offer him the other also. Now I think that's interesting because he's talking about an eye for an eye and then he talks about striking the cheek, a slap basically. Jesus doesn't say, you know, if someone gouges out your eye, then let him gouge out the other one also. I think that's important to understand what he's talking about here. So what is Jesus saying?

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Is he saying that you have to let people beat you up? Is he saying that you have to let people behave violently towards you? There's some limits that apply to turning the other cheek. David Guzik puts it this way. He says,

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When Jesus speaks of a slap on the cheek, that was culturally understood as a deep insult, not a physical attack. Jesus does not mean that if someone hits across the right side of your head with a baseball bat, you should allow them to hit the left side as well. There's some limits here and we need to be careful not to take it too far. But we also need to be careful not to just do away with it altogether. There's a balance that must be struck here.

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Now David Guzik points out, culturally, a slap on the cheek was, it was a deep insult. It wasn't so much a physical attack, they were, you know, trying to take your life, but it was a matter of your honor. And it was something that was very common within their culture, that that's how you would insult somebody. And so it could be very well that Jesus is really dealing with that principle of receiving insults,

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Not so much the physical. But I would ask you to consider, really, what harm is there in being slapped? What's the harm? Even for us today, I mean, someone slaps you, that's insulting. That's still true in our culture. Physically though, what harm is being inflicted? Sure, there's some cases where serious harm could be done, but most of the time, a slap is a slap. It stings physically,

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But it hurts our pride more than our face. It hurts us within, right? More than on the outside. Yeah, there's the burn, there's the sting. Maybe it leaves a little red mark or something. But what's the real harm of being slapped? Now, as I talk about these things, please, I wish I didn't have to say this, but it is necessary in our day. This is not talking about abusing a spouse, right?

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If you're in a situation where there's spouse abuse, that's a whole different ballgame. Again, the context here is unbeliever to believer on behalf of the name of Jesus. Within a marriage, if you're experiencing that type of thing, please talk to one of us after the service. We'd love to help you get out of that situation. That is not what God has in mind. That's not what God is saying.

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That you should just take it and stop complaining. That's not what he's saying. That's not what he's talking about. But what harm is there in being slapped? What harm is there in being insulted? What harm is there even in being shoved?

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You know, it doesn't hurt us that much physically. It's really inside. When we stop and think about it, it's inside that is boiling up, that is so offended by the behavior of that person. And so if someone were to strike you on the cheek, your natural response, my natural response, retaliation. You strike me on the cheek, I might slug you in the jaw.

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It's that retaliation that Jesus is talking about here. He says, you've heard it said, an eye for an eye. Hey, you slap me, I'm going to slap you. But here's what I'm saying, Jesus says. Turn the other cheek. Don't be so focused on getting somebody back and paying them back, retaliating for what they did. Jesus is basically saying, take the insult. Yeah, maybe there's a little physical pain involved. Take it. A little slap, a little shove.

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some type of insult, just take it. Let them. Turn the other cheek. Don't retaliate just because you're offended within. Don't retaliate just because how dare they treat you that way. Again, the principle is to be like God. What did Jesus do? He was slapped. He was beaten. He was slandered and insulted and falsely accused. He did not retaliate.

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So what if they insult you? Let them think less of you so that they can think more of God. That's the objective here. And so Jesus teaches us to turn the other cheek. Take it. Receive it. Don't be so caught up in paying them back for what they did. Well, he goes on to say, "...and from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods, don't ask for them back."

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And sometimes as we look at these things, I think we get stuck on the hypothetical because it's like, oh no, man, don't read that verse out loud because what if they ask for everything? Alright, give me the keys for your house. Come on, fork them over. What is he saying here? If they ask for your cloak, don't withhold your tunic. Give to everyone who asks and from him who takes away your goods, don't ask them back. Remember the principle to be like God.

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What is he talking about? He's talking about loving your enemies. Love sets the limits for these things. Turning the other cheek, giving away your goods, letting people take your goods. Love sets the limits for this. When it is loving, now what is love? Love is doing what is best for people. When it is loving, when it's what's best, turn the other cheek. When it's what's best, when it is loving, let them take what you have.

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when it's loving, lend and hope that it's not returned. When it's loving. Love is the principle here. Love is what Jesus is teaching. We need to use wisdom, but we also need to obey God. So don't give away your grocery money so that you're unable then to provide for your family unless God tells you to. And if he tells you to, well then he's going to provide some other way and so you need to be obedient to him. But just because some guy says, hey,

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Give me your money and you've got $20 to feed the kids. Doesn't mean that you have to give him the $20 that you have so that you now cannot provide for your family. Unless God says to. And so this is where you really need to have a relationship with God and know how to walk with Him and hear His voice and talk with Him. But love sets the limits. You see, I will allow you to treat me this way because they treated my Lord this way because I want you to see that

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How much Jesus loves you and what he endured, what he received for your sake. It's a conscious decision to love them, to allow this to go on with the purpose, with the objective that they see the Lord through it. Again, let them think less of you so that they can think more of God. Also here, God is challenging our hearts so that we make sure that your attachment is to God.

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And not to yourself, not to your pride, not to your money, and not to your stuff. I mean, that's what really challenges our hearts here, doesn't it? But I like that stuff. I don't want somebody to ask for it and I have to give it to them. I like that stuff. That's my stuff. That's my money. I had plans for that. Jesus says, look, make sure your attachment is to God. Again, going back to the beginning.

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To those who hear. Those who are committed. I'm going to follow Jesus. I'm going to obey him no matter what. Make sure that's your attachment. Not yourself. Not your own comfort or pleasure. Not your own pride or your money or your stuff. Well he finishes it off with. Just as you want men to do to you. You also do to them likewise. This is what's often referred to as the golden rule. Do unto others as you want them to do unto you.

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Again, the principle is love. That's what sets the limits. And here Jesus says, put yourself in their shoes. Love them enough to put yourself in their shoes. How would you want to be treated if you were in the same condition? How would you want to be spoken of if you were in that same position? How would you want people to relate to you? So, if you were lost, you're on the road to eternity in hell.

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and you're a miserable person, your life is unfulfilled and empty because you don't have Christ, and you don't know the gospel, how would you want to be treated? You see, when we take a moment to put ourselves in their shoes, very often we'll find they're behaving towards us the way that they are because they're lost. They're miserable. They need a savior. They need to know the gospel. They're fighting against God and God is calling out to them.

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He's drawing them near and they're fighting it every step of the way. And that is why they treat you so poorly. And so if you were in that condition, how would you want to be treated? You'd want somebody to love you. You'd want somebody to do good to you. To tell you the truth. To give you the gospel. To lay aside. Yeah. I mean, I'm sure you could probably look back in your life, in the time leading up to your death,

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commitment to Jesus, the time when you were born again. There's probably things that you said. You look back and you go, oh man, I can't believe I treated so-and-so that way. I can't believe I said that to them. They were just trying to help me. As you look back, as you remember the way that you were, as you consider for a moment putting yourself in their shoes, Jesus says, do unto them as you would want them to do unto you. Consider, how would you want to be treated? If you were lashing out at people because you were hurting,

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How would you want to be treated? If your life was empty and without meaning, how would you want to be treated? Again, love sets the limits. But let's not just skip over this passage and go, that's explained away by love or there's this reason or that reason why I don't have to do it. Let me ask you to consider this.

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What would it really cost you to give and to meet the need of that person there who's hurting, who's requiring, who's demanding? Would it really be so terrible if you went without cable for a month so that you could represent Christ well? I know we get caught up in the principle of it, right? It's the principle of it. They can't treat me that way. They can't take what's mine. They can't do that.

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But again, check your heart. Is that because you're attached to your stuff and yourself and your pride and not to the Lord? What would it really cost you to be insulted in that way? It doesn't cost you eternity. That's still secure. So what does it really matter? You see, we get so offended because it's our pride. It's our own hearts that are the issue.

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Jesus is saying, make sure your attachment is to God. Not yourself, not your pride, not your money, not your stuff. Make sure you put Him first. This teaching of Jesus is radical. It's not for the light-hearted. This is some serious stuff. And again, this is what separates the real Christians from the churchgoers. Which one are you? Are you willing to be obedient to Jesus even in the midst of these commands that He gives? You can't pick and choose.

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Which part of Jesus you want. I like the cross part. I like the heaven part. I just don't like the rest. Well, sorry, you don't get to make that choice. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who spitefully use you. Turn the other cheek. Give to those who ask. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Well, finally, not finally, number three, we see Jesus.

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That we're to love more than the world does. There in verse 32 through 34. Verse 32 says,

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He gives a few examples here. If you do this, what credit is it to you? Because even sinners, even unrepentant, unregenerated, unbelievers behave the same way. Again, the overall principle is to be like God. And he says, look, if you behave like the world, what credit is that to you? The valuable thing is to behave like God.

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This word for credit that he uses over and over again is interesting because it's the word charis in the Greek, which is the word for grace. Undeserved favor and kindness. What grace is that? He asks. If you love those who love you, what kind of grace is that? Well, that's not grace at all. If you do good to those who do good to you, what kind of grace is that? That's not grace at all.

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If you lend to those who you can get back from, what kind of grace is that? That's not grace at all. Grace is what God has extended towards us. And if God only loved perfect people, you and I would never know the concept of grace. If he only did good to perfect people or good people, then you and I would never understand. We'd never know what grace is. But

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We know what God's grace is. We know what grace is all about because we are not good and we didn't love God and yet He loved us and did good to us. That's how we know what grace is because we didn't deserve it and He loved us and did good to us. We know of the grace of God because we are so undeserving of His love and His goodness toward us. God's grace is unlike...

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Unlike anyone else. Would you agree? How about something audible? Would you agree? God's grace is unlike anybody else. He relates to us like nobody else does. Now here's what Jesus says. So have that same kind of grace towards others. What credit is it to you if you only love people who love you? Or you only do good to those who are good to you? Or you only lend to those who can pay you back? That's not grace. That's not what we've learned from God.

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Follow the example that God has given to you. Follow what you have received from the Lord and now pass that on. Because even sinful, unregenerate, pagan, ungodly people love others who love them back. You can see examples of that all over. Unbelievers, ungodly people, they love those who love them. As long as we both love each other, we're fine. Hey, you stop loving me, the deal's off. They love them who love them.

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Even terrible scumbags do good to people who do good to them. You do good to me, I'll do good to you. We're good. But you do me wrong. You get on my bad side. Oh, forget it. It's off. Even dirty crooks lend and hope to receive back and charge interest. The world does that. Anybody can do that. There's nothing special about that. You can't say, hey, look at me. I love those who love me. I'm as gracious as God.

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No way. Everybody does that. He says even sinners do that. What credit is that to you? What kind of grace is that? Consider the way you treat people who hate you and insult you. That's where the rubber meets the road. That's what we're really talking about here. And as you consider how you treat people who hate you and insult you, are you any different than the world? Do you behave differently than the unbelievers around you

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regarding the people who hate you, who insult you, who falsely accuse you, who mistreat you, who threaten you? Do you behave like the people around you? So in the workplace, when you're mistreated, do you behave like all your other co-workers who are mistreated? In the home, when you're mistreated, when you're hated, when you're spoken ill of or whatever's happening,

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Do you behave like everybody else in the home who are unbelievers and when they're mistreated, are you just the same? It's just like as if you were an unbeliever. They're in your neighborhood. Do you behave like your neighbor who is mistreated when you're mistreated? When you're insulted? When people revile you and threaten you? How do you behave? What grace is it

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To only do good and love and lend with those who are good and loving, and it could pay you back. Is there a big... Think about it again, right? God's grace, incomparable to anybody else. Is there a big difference between the grace that you show and the grace that the people around you show? Because if you're passing on the grace of God, there's going to be a big difference. It's not going to be the same. It's not going to be even close.

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And which one are you called to be like? The world or God? You're called to be like God. To show the grace that he has shown to you. I like what one of the Calvary pastors up in Northern California said. He says, if you act just like them, only reciprocating good for good and evil for evil, always demanding your rights, how will they ever know that Jesus died for their wrongs?

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If you're always insisting and demanding for your rights, how will they know that Jesus died for their wrongs? Behaving this way, loving like God loves, is what gives us the opportunity to demonstrate for them the love of God, the gospel message, but also many times to communicate to them the gospel message. If you only love those who love you, what kind of grace is that?

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Again, this separates the Christian from the churchgoer. Will you hear? Will you be obedient to what Jesus has said? These are hard things. These are difficult truths. But again, this is what's best for you as well as for them. So show the grace that He has shown to you. And we see that found in the fourth point as well.

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which is represent God and be rewarded there in verse 35 and 36. He says, He wraps up this idea of loving your enemies with a look at God. He tells us why here.

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He says, love your enemies, do good, lend, and hope for nothing in return. Why? Your reward will be great. There's great reward for those who practice these things. Specifically looking at eternity, there's great reward here, but great reward in eternity for you. But he also says, and you will be sons of the Most High. That is, you will be representing God. Right?

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You will be behaving, you will be portraying God to the people around you. He says, for he is kind to the unthankful and evil. Think about that. God is kind to those who are unthankful and evil. God is kind to people who are evil. Are you kind to people who are evil? He says, you behave this way. This is the way that God is. Be his child. Represent him.

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demonstrate His character, His nature, His concern for people. Here Jesus makes it clear. Other people are not the standard for how far to take these concepts. So you don't look at Pastor George and say, well, he only loved his enemy up to this point, so I'll just stop there. Other people are not the standard. He doesn't say, love your enemy, do good, lend, because that's what Pastor Sisko did.

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He says no because God is kind to the unthankful and evil. Because this is the way that he is. This is the way that he is towards you. This is the way that he is towards everybody. He's the standard. He's the measurement and he's the reason. And if you do it, he says your reward will be great. And you'll be his children. This is how his kids behave. And if your goal is to be like God, this is the way that you will behave. If you love like this, you'll be like God.

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The word Christian that we use to identify ourselves literally means Christ-like or little Christ. You'll be his child. You'll be Christ-like if you love those who don't love you and you do good to those who hate you and you bless those who curse you and you pray for those who spitefully use you because God is kind to the unthankful and evil.

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As I was meditating on these things this week, I was thinking about, you know that kind of typical cartoon where the person's walking around and they've got the dark rain cloud on top of them, right? Everywhere they go. God could actually do that, right? He'd be like, hey, you're evil. You're not thankful for the sun today. So dark cloud and rain for you. Not for everybody else, but just for you. God could do that.

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But in Matthew chapter 5, verse 45, as Jesus is teaching the same truths, He says, This is how you ought to be towards your enemies, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He makes His Son rise on the evil and the good. He sends rain on the just and the unjust. Think about that. The Son rose this morning, not just for the good people who went to church, but for all of humanity. He's kind. He's kind.

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To those who are unthankful and evil. He does good to them. Now if you really want to challenge your heart in this, consider some of the villains of history. Think of the worst person that you can think of. Maybe it's your neighbor, maybe it's Hitler, you know, who knows. But you think, the sun rose for them today. God allowed them to experience good things. He was kind to them. How could He be kind to them? Because He's gracious and merciful. You see, we need to be careful.

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Sometimes in looking at this passage, we kind of explain it away and then we move on and forget about it. But we need to really be challenged by these things. God's the standard for how far to take these concepts because He's kind to those who are evil. Therefore be merciful just as your Father also is merciful. He's the standard. He's the model. How He loves you, how He loves me, how He extends and shows mercy.

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That's how we're to be. That's how we're to behave. That's what he calls us to do. Because that's how he is. Warren Wiersbe says, the important thing is not that we are vindicated before our enemies. That's important to us, right? That's like, hey, it's the principle. I got to make things right. He says, that's not the important thing. But that we become more like God in our character. Is that your goal? You ready to be more like God? Well, here's what you got to do. Love your enemies.

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Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. And pray for those who spitefully use you. Heavenly Father, as we consider these things, God, we recognize that we cannot follow your example in our strength. It's not natural to us. It's impossible for us. But God, we invite you to work in our hearts in such a way, Lord, that we would be able to love as you love.

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And Lord, not just to love one another as you've commanded us to, not just to love our family as you've commanded and called us to, but Lord, to love our enemies. Those who mistreat us, those who abuse us, those who falsely accuse us, those who hate us. Help us, God. Give us love for them. Lord, that we would have opportunity to demonstrate, to model for them, that they could see with their own eyes how much you love them.

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Lord, as we respond in the way that you call us to. And so God, challenge our hearts. Help us to be faithful to your word. Where we fall short, God, forgive us. Help us to turn to you and allow you to continue the work that you began in us. Because your word says you'll be faithful to complete it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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