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…Have you noticed, just living in our fallen world means that there are people
who will use us, hurt us and __hate__ us. These are __not__
people far away, but usually those who we bump into on a regular basis.
Such ones will oppose us and treat us like enemies.
…Last week we examined the Lord’s words calling us to surrender our __rights__ and
to evidence this by never paying back evil with evil. Nonretaliation,
just like our Lord Jesus, is what we are commanded. This is a negative.
Now Jesus gives His sixth and last illustration and it is __positive__.
It is not enough for us to not avenge wrong, we must go further and __love__
our enemies. This is __not__ the love that you have for your
friends, rather it is to love as God.
TWO QUESTIONS HELPING US TO UNDERSTAND HOW IT IS WE ARE TO LOVE
OUR ENEMIES.
I.
How Did The Pharisees
Ever Get The Idea They Were To Hate Their Enemies?
A. God’s
Word had taught them to “Love your neighbor,” (Lev 19:18)
…Yet, they had distorted and flagrantly perverted this by omitting the words,
“__as__ yourself.”
B. Furthermore,
another distortion occurred in their thinking…they held that “not only is the
law in itself true, but its
__opposite__
is also true.”
…So if we are to “love our neighbors, then we should also __hate__ our
enemies.”
…It was thought to be their right and
__duty__
to hate others. “Dogs”
…You can see how the definition of __neighbor__ was one of the talking
points of the
day.
(Lk
10:29)
C. Perhaps
a couple of biblical truths may have confused them on this important
topic:
1.
God’s directive
to
__wipe__
out the Canaanites living in the land. (Joshua)
2.
Also the imprecatory Psalms where the Lord is petitioned to
__smash__ the godless. These seem to teach the __hatred__
of the Gentiles. Psalm 69:23-25…these were never for the individual.
II. How
Does Jesus Contrast The Real Meaning Of The Law With The Twisted Error Of His
Day? (vv44-48)
A. He
tells us that we are to
__love__
our enemies. (v44) We are to Agape them. This is the
love of
__God__…shed
abroad in our hearts. It is not in us by birth, only by
__new__
birth.
1.
We are to love those
who are
__difficult__.
This is personal, it does not refer to enemies on the battlefield.
2.
The Test that
reveals your love: do you
__pray__
for them? Prayer will
__soften__
your heart and call God to work in your enemies’ heart.
…Our prayer should be: that God’s
__grace__
may bring our enemies to see their sins and their wrong and to repent and thus
to obtain God’s forgiveness.
B. When
we love our enemies, we resemble our Heavenly Father. (v.45) God
__loves__
His enemies…
1.
In the old
world, “sons” means
__likeness__.
2.
Our God
graciously
__gives__
even to His enemies: He shows
__mercy__
and patience…
…God’s __sun__ is given to both good and evil ones…
…God’s rainfall falls upon both the righteous and the wicked…
C. When
we love like this, it shows that our love is
__not__
controlled by the offending person, but by our own
__will__
and by our commitment to the Father’s ways. It is an act of the
will to treat our enemy with
__kindness__
as if they were our friend. Kindness to all.
D.
We are called to a
__higher__
standard than the godless of our world. (vv46-48)
1.
Our world loves
those who
__love__
them. What’s that? It is nothing!
2.
We are to be
__extraordinary__
because our Father Who is working in us is extraordinary.
E. We
are to
__bear__
the resemblance of our heavenly Father. Do it!!!
1.
Remember that
love and
__like__
are very different. Liking someone involves our
__emotions__
where this love involves an act of the will with no thought of our feelings.
…You do not need to __like__ your enemy, but we must love them.
It means that we will treat them like we __like__ them. The
Good Samaritan…Luke 10:30-37
2.
Remember the
example of our Lord while being nailed to the cross, “Father forgive…
LESSONS FOR OUR LIVES:
1. God is
working through others to knock off some of the rough edges in your life and
mine.
2. God is
working to make me even more dependent on Him.
3. God is
reminding me through difficult people that this is not Heaven.
4. God is
bringing glory to Himself when I respond like Christ to those who are difficult.
5. God may
be allowing this difficult person to insult us as a final act before they would
come to know Christ.
6. God uses
difficult people that I too can forgive like the Lord.
7. If you
are not saved, maybe today would be the day you would have God calling you to
repentance and faith in the Lord.
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