Good morning. It's great to worship with you.
And for those of you who know me, my name is Sean.
And it's my joy and privilege to preach God's word to you this morning.
! Please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5, verse 43 to 48.
If you don't have a Bible, please raise your hand.
We'd love to give you a copy to use.
We are coming today to the last and climactic section
of the six contrasts that Jesus sets up
between the contemporary Jewish misapplication of the Old Testament law
and his true interpretation and fulfillment of the Old Testament law.
And so this is the sixth and final contrast that he sets up.
We're in Matthew chapter 5, verse 43 to 48.
Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.
Heavenly Father, we love you because you loved us first.
And when you command us to love our enemies,
we know that you do not command us to do something you haven't already done for us.
So, Lord, we ask for an outpouring of your love by your Spirit
into our hearts this morning
so that out of the overflow of that love,
we might love even our enemies.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
If you're able, please stand for the reading of God's word.
We stand to honor God as we read from his word.
From Matthew 5, 43 to 48.
You have heard that it was said,
you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you,
love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you
so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.
For he makes his son rise on the evil and on the good
and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if you love those who love you,
what reward do you have?
Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet only your brothers,
what more are you doing than others?
Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
You, therefore, must be perfect
as your heavenly Father is perfect.
This is God's holy and authoritative word.
Please be seated.
Who doesn't want to have only friends and no enemies?
But unfortunately, in this world, we do have enemies.
People who are hostile toward us.
People who, for one reason or another,
want to see us fail.
People who wish ill on you.
Even more sadly, sometimes,
the enemies in our own lives
are people who are close to us.
Jesus says in Matthew 10, verse 36,
and a person's enemies will be those of his own household.
How should we treat such people?
This passage flows naturally from verses 38 to 42,
in which Jesus taught us never to repay evil for evil,
but as sinful people that we are,
we always tend to limit and circumscribe God's commands,
to contain it and make it manageable.
And that's exactly what they did with this command
to not resist the evil person.
Jesus' audience was likely thinking to themselves,
sure, that of course we should love our friends and neighbors.
We shouldn't repay evil for evil to our neighbors and friends.
But surely that doesn't apply to our enemies.
They are, by definition, hostiles.
People who hate us.
People who are in conflict with us,
and contending against us.
So surely that doesn't apply to them.
But Jesus doesn't leave that loophole for us.
He commands us explicitly,
love your enemies,
like father,
like son.
So I'm gonna talk about this passage in three sections.
First, I'm gonna talk about the rule.
Secondly, I'll talk about the reward.
And third, I'll talk about the resemblance
that God calls us to.
First, let's talk about the rule that Jesus gives us.
Once again, he quotes from the Old Testament to start off.
This time, the quote comes from Leviticus 19,
verse 17 and 18.
It says,
If you examine verse 43 in light of this Old Testament passage,
against the sons of your own people,
but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
I am the Lord.
If you examine verse 43 in light of this Old Testament passage,
the first half looks good.
You shall love your neighbor.
It does leave out a phrase,
you shall love your neighbor as yourself,
but I don't think that's meant to be a significant detail,
because if you look at the Jewish scribe in Mark 12, 33,
or the Jewish lawyer in Luke 10, 27,
they both mention love your neighbor as yourself.
So I think the Jews of Jesus,
they understood that,
and here Jesus is just paraphrasing what they said.
The problem is not with the first half,
love your neighbor,
but with the second half.
They were saying,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
In Leviticus 19 that we just read,
it doesn't say hate your enemy.
So where did they get that idea,
that that was the biblical truth?
In Leviticus 19, 17 to 18,
he says,
You shall not hate your brother,
and that's the same command as,
You shall love your neighbor.
They understood that correctly,
that hate is the opposite of love.
But because the object of the command in Leviticus 19
is your brother and your neighbor,
the sons of your own people, it says,
they understood this command to apply only to their fellow Jews.
Once again, this is the natural, sinful human tendency
to be legalistic, to limit and contain God's law.
Instead of trying to understand the heart of the law,
the spirit of the law,
instead of trying to obey the law to its fullest extent,
they were legalistically obeying only the superficial letter of the law
so they could say,
Oh, I did it.
Check that box.
You can see this clearly in the community rule
of the first century Jewish sect called the Essenes.
It says there,
You should love all that God has chosen
and hate all that he has rejected.
Love all the sons of light,
each according to his law in God's design,
and hate all the sons of darkness,
each according to his guilt in God's vengeance.
Here's another example in the Halakha,
which is a collection of Jewish laws
derived from both the written and the oral laws.
Rabbi Maimonides writes,
With regard to a Gentile idolater,
it is forbidden to save their lives
if their lives are threatened.
For example,
if such a person fell into the sea,
one should not rescue him.
Leviticus 19.16 states,
Do not stand idly by
while your brother's blood is at stake.
This does not apply
with regard to such individuals
because they are not your brothers.
Admittedly,
this is from the latter centuries,
but this is the exact sentiment
that Jesus is addressing during his day.
Jesus is confronting this attitude
and showing us
that love your neighbor
and hate your enemy
is not a faithful interpretation
of the Old Testament teaching.
In fact,
if they looked closely,
in that very same chapter of Leviticus 19,
if you go down a few verses later,
in verse 34,
it says,
You shall treat the stranger
who sojourns with you
as the native among you,
and you shall love him as yourself.
For you were strangers
in the land of Egypt.
I am the Lord your God.
God doesn't allow us to restrict the word neighbor
only to our brothers or fellow Jews
or people who share our ethnicity
or race or whatever
because God commands the Israelites
to treat the stranger and the sojourner
like the natives, it says,
to love them as yourself.
The Old Testament,
like the New Testament,
commands us to love our enemies.
Here's another example.
Deuteronomy 22, verse 1.
It says,
You shall not see your brother's ox
or his sheep going astray
and ignore them.
You shall take them back to your brother.
This is how you should love your brother,
your neighbor,
a fellow Israelite.
But look at a similar command
in Exodus 23, verse 4.
If you meet your enemy's ox
or his donkey going astray,
you should let it go astray
as far as it can.
No, that's not what it says.
It says the exact same thing
that it said that you should do
to your brother and to your neighbor.
Bring it back to him.
The Old Testament demands
the same loving treatment
of your enemy as your brother.
Sometimes, even as Christians,
we can believe the lie
that the Old Testament is,
the Old Testament ethic is sub-Christian,
that it's barbaric,
but that cannot be true
because the God of the New Testament
is the God of the Old Testament
and he doesn't change.
Let me give you an example
from the New Testament,
the classic text about loving our enemies,
Romans 12, 17 to 21.
Repay no one evil for evil,
but give thought to do
what is honorable in the sight of all.
If possible, so far as it depends on you,
live peaceably with all.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves,
but leave it to the wrath of God.
For it is written, vengeance is mine.
I will repay, says the Lord.
To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry,
feed him.
If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
For by so doing,
you will heap burning coals on his head.
Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good.
If you could leave that up there for a little bit.
You could see two quotes there.
I think the first quote is in the previous slide.
The first quote was,
vengeance is mine.
Where is that from?
That's from the Old Testament.
Deuteronomy 32, verse 35.
What about the command?
If your enemy is hungry,
give him bread to eat.
If he is thirsty,
give him water to drink for you.
He will heap burning coals on his head.
Where does that come from?
The Old Testament.
Proverbs 25, 21 to 22.
The New Testament command to love our enemies
comes from the Old Testament.
But what does it mean to heap burning coals on his head?
Having burning coals heaped on your head
is not a good thing.
In Psalm 140, verse 9 and 10,
when David is praying to God
for deliverance from his enemies,
he prays,
ask for the head of those who surround me.
Let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them.
Let burning coals fall upon them.
Let them be cast into fire,
into miry pits,
no more to rise.
So having burning coals heaped on your head
is not a good thing.
It's a bad thing.
But that raises a question, doesn't it?
Doesn't that sound kind of vindictive
and unloving?
Didn't Jesus just tell us to love our enemies?
It would be vindictive and unloving
if this were referring to
our own personal vengeance.
But in scripture,
burning coals always represent divine judgment.
In the vision of Ezekiel,
prophet Ezekiel,
in Ezekiel chapter 10,
verses 1 to 8,
an angelic being a man in linen cloth
takes burning coals from where?
From the throne of God.
And then he scatters it upon Jerusalem
as God's judgment over this sinful city.
Burning coals are the judgments of God.
By repaying wickedness done toward us with kindness,
by refusing to take vengeance into our own hands,
we store up God's wrath upon our enemy's head.
It's like what we see in the book of Revelation.
In Revelation 5, verse 8,
we are told that the golden censer
that is at the altar of God,
it's heavenly throne room,
it's the prayers of the saints.
It's prayers of the saints
that are described metaphorically
as a golden censer.
And these saints are praying to God,
oh Lord,
how long
before you will judge
and avenge our blood
on those who dwell on the earth?
They were martyred,
so they did not take vengeance
into their own hands.
They did not resist the ones who are evil.
They paid the ultimate price
and were killed for their faith in Jesus Christ.
So they love their enemies
and they're crying out for vengeance
because that was not right.
That was wrong.
And they're crying out
and these prayers,
that's the golden censer
later in Revelation 8,
an angel takes the golden censer
and then,
which is the prayers of the saints,
and then he puts the fire from the altar,
aka the burning coals,
into that censer
and then he spreads it,
which then becomes
the seventh seal
of God's judgment.
When we refuse
to avenge ourselves,
we leave it to the wrath of God
and God's justice
will indeed
have its way.
Does this mean then
that when we
repay our enemies'
evil with kindness,
that we should do so
gleefully?
Ah, you think
I'm being nice to you.
I'm just heaping
burning coals
upon your head.
No, of course not.
That's the wrong attitude
because we're supposed
to love our enemies.
That's the command.
Our refusal
to avenge ourselves
should be an expression
of love for them.
Proverbs 24, 17 to 18
warns about that precisely.
Do not rejoice
when your enemy falls
and let not your heart
be glad
when he stumbles.
Lest the Lord
see it
and be displeased
and turn away
his anger from him.
Our attitude
instead should mirror
God's attitude
towards sinners.
In Romans 2,
verse 4 to 5,
it says that God
has forbearance
and patience
and kindness
toward evildoers
and that that kindness
is meant to lead us
to repentance.
But in the immediately
following verse,
it says that,
but if they do not repent,
if they are impenitent
and hard,
then they are storing up
wrath for themselves
on the day of wrath
when God's righteous judgment
will be revealed.
Similarly then,
we love our enemies
with kindness
and forbearance
and patience
in hopes that we might,
by our kindness,
lead them to repentance.
repentance.
But if they refuse
to repent in the end,
you can be assured
that there will be justice,
that burning coals
have been being heaped up.
In fact,
I would argue,
though this might seem
counterintuitive
to some of us,
that a robust faith
in divine vengeance
is necessary
in order for us
to love our enemies
and not avenge ourselves.
This is how we make sense
of parts of scripture
like the conquest of Canaan
when God orders
the destruction
of the wicked nations
as well as
the imprecatory psalms,
the imprecatory psalms
where the psalmist
invoke curses
of God's judgment
upon the enemies of God.
These are never intended
to be personal vengeance,
but prayers
for divine vengeance.
Let me give you
an example
of an imprecatory psalm.
Psalm 139,
19 to 22.
David prays,
Oh,
that you would slay
the wicked,
O God.
O men of blood,
depart from me.
They speak against you
with malicious intent.
Your enemies
take your name in vain.
Do I not hate
those who hate you,
O Lord?
And do I not loathe
those who rise up
against you?
I hate them
with complete hatred.
I count them
my enemies.
David says
he hates
his enemies,
these enemies.
Doesn't that contradict
Jesus' teaching?
I don't think it does
because
of a couple reasons.
First,
it's clear from the context
that these are not
his personal enemies.
They are enemies
of the Lord God.
They speak against God.
They take God's name
in vain.
The hatred
that David feels
is not a sinful
personal spite
or hatred
toward his personal enemy
but a righteous anger
in response to sinners
who rebel against God.
Righteous indignation
toward the enemies of God.
He is not motivated
by a personal vendetta.
He's consumed instead
like Jesus
when he drove
the money changers
out of the temple.
He's consumed
by the zeal
for the glory of God.
In fact,
David is so certain
of his integrity
when he prays this
that later on
in that same psalm
he asks God,
come search me.
Search me
and know my heart.
See if there's
any grievous way in me.
And second,
David is not taking
vengeance
into his own hands
in this situation.
He is simply
praying for God's justice.
Prayer for God's justice
and love for our enemies
are not mutually exclusive.
Yes,
we should love our enemies.
And we should pray
for those who persecute us.
We should do good to them.
But when injustice
cannot be righted,
when injustice
is not righted,
it is morally imperative
for us
to pray for God's justice
for the sake
of the vindication
of God's name,
not for our sake.
If you think about it,
whenever we pray,
Marantha,
whenever we pray,
come Lord Jesus,
justice,
we're actually praying
for the judgment
of the wicked
because Jesus promises
that when he returns
that he will bring justice
and avenge
the righteous.
We are longing
for God's justice
and vindication
whenever we cry,
how long,
oh Lord?
if we have a hard time
stomaching that kind of
cry for divine vengeance,
it's probably because
we don't take sin
as seriously
as God takes sin.
A.F. Kirkpatrick,
a theologian,
writes on his book,
The Book of Psalms,
men have need
to beware
lest in pity
for the sinner
they condone the sin
or relax
the struggle
against evil.
In Matthew 23,
even Jesus
pronounces woes
on the Pharisees
and the scribes.
There is a time
and place
for the imprecatory
psalms,
but you better
search your heart
because many people
sin in this regard
instead of obeying
God's command
to love our enemies.
How then should we
treat our personal enemies?
People who wish ill
on us
and harm upon us
see how David
treats his personal enemies
which is very different
from the earlier psalm
we looked at in 139.
In Psalm 35,
verse 11 to 16,
he writes that
his enemies
rose up
as malicious witnesses
!
against him,
false witnesses
trying to frame him
and corner him.
They repaid him
evil for good.
They rejoiced
at his stumbling.
They mocked him
and tore at him
without ceasing.
That's how his enemies
treated him.
But,
he says in the same psalm,
when they were sick,
I fasted
and prayed for them.
I went about
as though I grieved
for my friend
or my brother.
That's how we should
treat our personal enemies.
maybe there's a co-worker
or a peer at school
who tends to discredit you,
is always
maybe taking,
stealing credit from you,
engaged in this
one-upmanship
against you,
delighting in your failures
and rejoicing
in his triumphs over you.
Instead of
harboring this selfish ambition
and rivalry
and trying to sabotage them,
love your enemies
by helping them,
by seeking their success,
by praying for them.
Maybe you have
a manipulative boss
who guilt trips you,
pushes you around,
all to advance
his own personal agenda.
Makes you do
all the hard work,
but when it's time
to take credit,
he takes the project
for himself.
Instead of repaying him
evil for evil
by putting in
minimal effort
and undermining your boss
at every turn
by second-guessing
every decision he makes
and then gossiping
about him behind his back,
do your work,
love your enemies,
do your work
with diligence
and wish for your boss' success.
love your friends.
Maybe you have a friend
who betrayed your confidence,
but you resolve,
instead of lashing out,
you resolve to give that friend
the benefit of the doubt
and to continue to speak well
of that friend.
Maybe you've been ghosted
or abandoned
by a loved one.
Maybe you were neglected
by a family member.
Maybe you had a spouse
or a boyfriend
or girlfriend
who was unfaithful to you.
Love your enemies.
You choose to forgive them
and love them
nonetheless.
Love your enemies.
Pray for those
who persecute you.
Prayer is a wonderful
antidote
to personal hatred.
it's really hard
to keep hating someone
that you're praying for.
So pray for your enemies.
While Jesus was being crucified
by wicked men,
Jesus prayed for them
in Luke 23, 34.
Father,
forgive them
for they know not
what they do.
Likewise,
Stephen,
when he was being stoned
to death
by evildoers,
prayed in Acts 7,
verse 60,
Lord,
do not hold this sin
against them.
How can they be
so magnanimous
toward their enemies?
It's because they knew
that they know not
what they do.
They knew
that they were blinded
by Satan,
the ruler of this world,
the spirit that is now
at work in the sons
of disobedience.
So instead of being
vindictive,
they were compassionate
and merciful
toward sinners.
I remember being
particularly affected,
impacted by a testimony
of a pastor
from Rwanda
named Antoine
Ruta Isire.
I heard him
for the first time
at a missions conference.
He grew up
during the Rwandan
genocide in 1994
in one year,
or actually even
less than one year,
in a period
of 100 days.
Rwandan genocide
claimed a million lives.
A million people
killed in 100 days.
As a Tutsi,
Ruta Isire
grew up hating
the Hutus.
The Hutus
had killed
Ruta Isire's father.
Hutus had gotten
Ruta Isire
kicked out of school
when he was 15.
Hutus had made him
lose his teaching job
when he was 25.
Later in his life,
Ruta Isire
finally decided
to open the Bible
that someone
had given to him
that had been
collecting dust
on his shelf,
and God
opened the eyes
of his heart
by his spirit,
and he met Jesus.
He said he
read through
the entire Bible
three times
in six months,
and then he said
to God,
Lord, here I am.
Use me.
He became a pastor.
He started preaching
regularly,
but he still
hated Hutus.
And then one day
he came to this passage
where Jesus prays,
Father,
forgive them
for they know
not what they do.
Ruta Isire
felt convicted
by the Holy Spirit.
He knew God
was telling him,
you need to forgive
the Hutus.
And he was
so resistant
to the idea,
he said that he
yelled out loud
to God,
no!
I will not!
And for the next
two weeks,
he was in a crisis
of faith.
He knew he could
not go on
with his faith
in the Lord Jesus
unless he forgave.
He recalls,
quote,
I made a list
of specific people
that I hated
with cause,
but the Lord
told me
I had no cause
because Jesus
forgave the good
and evil people
upon his crucifixion.
I wept
as I forgave
those I hated.
the most painful
experience
is to forgive,
but I have now
become a reconciler.
After that point,
Ruta Isire
went to prisons,
preached the gospel
to many Hutus
and led them
to the Lord,
expressed the forgiveness
that they can find
in Jesus Christ.
who is it
that you are
having a hard time
forgiving today?
This is the rule
of Christ.
Love your enemies.
Jesus knows
that this is
a hard command
and he's very
gracious to us.
He gives us
not one,
but two motivations
to help us
to do this.
The first motivation
is our heavenly reward.
It's my second point,
the reward.
It says in verses
46 and 47,
for if you love
those who love you,
what reward
do you have?
Do not even
the tax collectors
do the same.
And if you greet
only your brothers,
what more are you
doing than others?
Do not even
the Gentiles
do the same.
The basic,
ordinary,
natural,
human decency,
Jesus says,
is not enough.
You must do
more than that.
Christians must do
more than what
others are doing.
Our righteousness,
as Jesus said
earlier in chapter 5,
verse 20,
must exceed that
of the scribes
and Pharisees.
Only then can we
expect heavenly reward.
Matthew speaks
of rewards
more frequently
than any other
New Testament author.
earlier in verse 12
of the same chapter,
Jesus said,
rejoice and be glad
when people
persecute you
and see all kinds
of false things,
evil against you
because of me.
Rejoice and be glad
for great is your
reward in heaven
for in the same way
they persecuted
the prophets
who were before you.
In chapter 6,
which Ed will
preach on
in a couple weeks,
Jesus speaks
repeatedly
about the importance
of practicing
our righteousness
in secret
rather than for show.
He says that
if we are seen
doing our good works
and admired
and praised
by people as a result,
then he says
you will have no reward
from your father
in heaven
because you already
received your reward
here on earth
by men.
This is helpful
for understanding
our passage.
Why is there no reward
for loving those
who love us?
because when you
love people
who love you back,
you already
get your reward.
You pat your back
and they pat your back.
You give them a massage,
they give you a massage.
You greet them
and they greet you.
You give them,
oh, you're so great,
you're amazing.
Oh, they tell you
you're so great,
you're amazing.
You got all your rewards.
Luke makes this explicit
in a parallel passage,
chapter 6,
verse 32 to 36.
If you love those
who love you,
what benefit is that to you?
For even sinners
love those who love them
and if you lend to those,
skim forward,
if you lend to those
from whom you expect
to receive,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend
to sinners
to get back the same.
But love your enemies
and do good
and lend expecting
nothing in return
and your reward
will be great.
The reason why
love for enemies
is rewarded
by our father in heaven
is because there's
no reward
for loving our enemies
here on earth.
You get nothing
back in return.
If we are looking
for rewards
here and now,
we will never
love our enemies.
I mean,
think about it
for a moment.
Is there,
can you think of
anything more
unrewarding
than loving your enemies?
you don't get
the satisfaction
of vengeance.
You don't get
the satisfaction
of justice.
You just
swallow your pride
and say,
oh, hey.
Hey there, enemy.
And then they just
glare at you
and give you
the cold shoulder
and walk away.
Okay.
you help them.
Oh,
fine,
I hope you help
them out
and then
you get nothing
back
and you're in need
and then they
don't do anything
for you.
Who wants
to keep doing
that?
Christians do
because
we are not
looking for
an earthly
reward
but a heavenly
one.
Our heavenly
father never
reneeds
on his
promises.
If he promises
a reward,
he will surely
give it.
And he promises
us,
Jesus says
in Matthew 10
42,
that not even
a cup of
cold water
that we give
to one of his
followers
will go
unrewarded.
If that's
how a cup
of cold water
to one of the
disciples of Jesus
gets rewarded,
then how about
a cup of
cold water
for an
enemy?
Hebrews 6
10 says,
for God
is not
unjust
so as to
overlook
your work
and the
love that
you have
shown.
God will
not
overlook
the love
that you
show to
your enemies
because God
sees and
he's not
unjust.
He will
reward you.
Sometimes
I think as
Christians we
can be a
little bit
sheepish about
seeking heavenly
reward.
we ask,
isn't it
sinful and
selfish of
us to
pursue heavenly
reward for
ourselves?
Shouldn't we
be more
altruistic?
Shouldn't we
do good deeds
not for some
reward but
out of our
gratitude and
obedience toward
God?
Well, of
course, if
there were
such a thing
as a
Christian who
has no
love for
God
whatsoever
but he
just obeys
these commands
just thinking
about that
heavenly reward
like, oh, I
don't want
anything to do
with God but
oh man, I
want that.
Well, yeah, that
would obviously
be wrong.
But here's
the key.
Such a
Christian does
not exist
because only
those who
love God
truly obey
him from
the heart.
Love for
God and
obedience to
God cannot
be severed
from each
other and
many passages
of scripture
teach this.
Jesus says in
John 14, 15,
if you love
me, you
will keep
my commandments.
And why do
we love
God?
We love, it
says in 1 John
4, 19, because
he first loved
us.
It always
starts with
God, doesn't
it?
Philippians 2, 13
says it is
God who
works in you
both to
will and to
work for his
good pleasure.
Without God
himself empowering
us by his
spirit, we
cannot ever
hope to love
our enemies.
We cannot
obey that
command and
do his
works.
Paul says
in 1 Corinthians
15, verse
10, I
worked harder
than any
of them,
though it
was not
I, but
the grace
of God
that is
with me.
All that
to say,
only a
Christian who
sincerely loves
God and
desires to
please him
will forego
earthly rewards
in pursuit of
heavenly rewards.
So don't be
bashful about
driving hard
for those
heavenly rewards.
That is
how God
wants us
to think,
to keep
a heavenly
perspective.
God offers
us these
heavenly rewards
to encourage
us, and
there's no
selfishness to
be motivated
by them.
Let me ask
you a
question.
I think,
are we hosting
the Olympics
next?
Yeah, so
if you ever
watch the
Olympics,
I love
watching the
track and
field events,
the sprints
especially,
or the,
you know,
not the
marathon,
it's just
too long,
you can't
watch it
for that
long.
But when
you watch
the Olympics
and you
see a
runner
cross the
finish line
first,
and then
you see the
runner just
collapse on
the floor
with just
overwhelmed
with emotion,
their chest
heaving,
and they're
just kicking
their hands
and their
faces,
and they're
crying,
and why are
they so
overcome with
emotion?
Because they
lived for
how many
years of
their life
with nothing
but that
moment as
their goal?
That's what
they lived
for.
That's what
they sacrificed
for.
That's what
they gave up
their life
for.
That's what
they had in
mind when
they gave
up all
the good
delicious
things that
other people
eat that
they cannot
eat.
That's what
they were
thinking about
when they
went through
all those
grueling
exercises with
blood,
sweat,
and tears.
That's what
they were
driving for.
And how
many of us
look at
that and
then think
to ourselves,
oh,
how selfish.
I can't
believe he
just won a
gold medal
just so he
could be a
gold medalist.
That's so
selfish.
Who thinks
that way?
None of us
think that
way.
Because there's
something good
about
persevering
and running
toward a
gold like
that.
Is there
idolatry
there?
Yeah,
probably,
but I'm
just,
don't worry
about it.
Yeah,
just stick
with the
point that
I'm trying
to make.
Yeah.
And
ultimately,
the gold
medal for
that man
redounds the
glory of his
country too,
doesn't it?
do you
know that,
do you not
know that in
a race all
the runners
run but only
one receives
the prize?
So run that
you may obtain
it.
1 Corinthians
9,
24 to 25.
Every athlete
exercises self-control
in all things.
They do it to
receive a
perishable
wreath,
but we
an
imperishable
wreath.
God will
not overlook
your love
for your
enemies.
You will
be rewarded
for it.
And that
reward will
ultimately
redound to
the glory
of God
the Father.
It will
be no
selfish
thing.
That's the
first motivation,
heavenly rewards.
And here's the
second motivation,
resemblance to
our heavenly
Father.
It says in
verse 45,
love your
enemies and
pray for those
who persecute
you so that
you may be
sons of your
Father who
is 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.
This does
not mean
that the
condition of
our sonship
is our
good works,
our love
for our
enemies.
It doesn't
say that we
become children
of God by
loving our
enemies.
Galatians 3,
26 is
clear.
It says,
for in
Christ Jesus,
you are all
sons of
God through
faith.
We are
saved by
grace through
faith alone.
Christians are
saved and
adopted as
sons by
grace and
through faith
alone, not
by our
good works,
not by
loving our
enemies.
What does
it mean
then that we
should love
our enemies
so that we
may be sons
of our
Father who
is in
heaven?
The
expression
son of
something is
a Hebrew
idiom that
doesn't always
refer to
literal paternity.
For example,
when Psalm
89 verse 22
refers to
the wicked,
it calls
the wicked
a son of
wickedness.
Wickedness
doesn't have
children.
This is a
metaphor.
Proverbs 31
verse 5
describes those
who are
afflicted
literally as
sons of
affliction.
Deuteronomy
3.18
describes
courageous men
as sons
of valor.
So when
Jesus says,
so that you
may be sons
of your
Father who
is in
heaven,
he's not
talking about
your status,
but about
your resemblance.
The
followers of
Christ are
already adopted
children of
God,
but when we
love our
enemies and
do good to
those who
hate us,
we act
like God.
We behave
like God.
For he
makes his
sun rise
on the
evil and
on the
good and
sends rain
on the
just and
on the
unjust.
Verse 48
clinches this
interpretation.
You
therefore
must be
perfect as
your heavenly
Father is
perfect.
Again,
it's not
about status,
it's about
your resemblance.
We ought
to act
like God,
not so that
we can
become sons
of God,
but because
we are
sons of
God.
Like
Father,
like
Son.
We all
expect children
to resemble
their parents,
don't we?
I remember
seeing a
doctored
photo on
the internet
of a
family with
a gorgeous
couple,
like they
looked like
models,
the father
and mom,
and then
they had
like three
or four
children,
and they
were so
ugly.
Yeah.
It was
an advertisement
for plastic
surgery with
the tagline
that read,
the only
thing you'll
ever have to
worry about
is having
to explain
it to
the kids.
We
expect a
handsome
couple to
have
handsome
kids,
don't we?
I mean,
look at my
kids.
Just kidding.
I know
it's from
the Hannah
side,
everybody
tells me.
Yeah.
We expect
intelligent
people,
an intelligent
couple to
have intelligent
kids,
don't we?
likewise,
as those
who have
been united
with Jesus
Christ,
God's only
son,
by faith,
we share
in his
sonship.
That's why
he calls
us sons,
because we're
in Jesus
Christ.
Therefore,
it is fitting
that we
resemble our
heavenly
father who
blesses even
his enemies
by making
his son
rise on the
evil and on
the good and
sends rain on
the just and
the unjust.
Did you notice
that possessive
pronoun,
his?
It highlights
God's benevolence.
It doesn't say
God makes the
son rise.
It says God
makes his
son rise on
the evil and
on the good.
We humans
live like,
live as the
entitled people,
like we like,
as if we're
entitled to this
rising son,
oh,
that's our
son.
Every day we
count on it.
But God
says,
no,
that is my
son.
Every time it
comes up,
it's an expression
of my grace
toward you.
My grace,
mercy,
and blessing
to you.
We take it
for granted,
but the son
that keeps us
warm and makes
the crops grow
and infuses
our skins
with vitamin
D is his
son.
And God
makes it rise
on the evil
people and on
good people.
He doesn't
have to do
that,
yet he does
that.
God
sovereignly
and providentially
makes the
sun rise
every single
morning,
even on the
very people
who rebel
against him
and besmirch
his name.
In the same
way,
he makes the
rain come
down,
makes the
crops grow
to cool the
hot summer
days,
fills the
land with
water for
us to drink.
The rain
doesn't come
of its own
accord.
Yeah,
sure,
evaporation,
condensation,
but who
upholds the
universe by
the word of
his power?
Who upholds
and maintains
the laws of
nature?
It's the
creator,
the Lord
God.
He sends
rain to
us.
It says
in Acts
17,
25,
God himself
gives us,
all mankind,
life and
breath and
everything
else.
It says
that in
him we
live and
move and
have our
being.
Every single
moment that
we live,
we are alive
because God
sustains us and
gives us
breath.
Every day
we receive a
thousand undeserved
gifts of God's
grace and yet
so often
we fixate
on the one
or two things
that we don't
have that we
wish we had.
And then we
grumble against
God.
We resent
him.
Instead,
if we knew
the reality,
if we knew
the true
state of
things,
every single
one of us
would abound
in thanksgiving
and worship
and praise
every waking
moment of
our lives.
God.
He reminds me of God.
Oh, that group of people at Trinity Cambridge Church,
they must be sons of God, children of God.
God loves those who rebel against him and hate him.
His enemies, that's his common grace
that God extends to all of humanity.
But incredibly, for us, his chosen people,
God extends much more than common grace.
He gives us his special grace,
saving grace.
He does that by giving his only son, Jesus Christ, to us.
If we are honest with ourselves,
I think we would all admit that this kind of teaching
can be quite discouraging on one level.
I mean, which of us can claim to have obeyed God's commands
and love our enemies perfectly?
I was really encouraged by this excerpt from the Martin Lloyd-Jones sermon.
He's the studies in the Sermon on the Mount.
I know we have a group of people in our church
who are on their own going through this book that I recommend.
Nat, can you raise your hand?
Yeah, if you guys want to participate in the study,
we'll talk to Nat.
D. Martin Lloyd-Jones is one of my own personal heroes of the faith.
And so, sometimes when I think of guys like him,
I think, oh man, of course,
when I feel really bad about myself sometimes,
that's the accusation that I hear from the enemy.
He's like, well, yeah, D. Martin Lloyd-Jones
would never do the stuff you do.
I mean, D. Martin Lloyd-Jones would never struggle
with the stuff you do as a pastor.
That's the kind of stuff that I hear in my own head.
And then I read this, and I was so encouraged,
because he says this is discouraging.
He says, is there anything known to us
that is more discouraging than the Sermon on the Mount?
Take this passage from verse 17
to the end of this fifth chapter.
These detailed illustrations given by our Lord
as to how we are to live.
Is there anything more discouraging?
We feel that the Ten Commandments,
the ordinary moral standards of decency,
are difficult enough.
But look at these statements
about not even looking with lust,
about going the second mile
and throwing in the cloak together with the coat,
and so on.
There is nothing more discouraging
than the Sermon on the Mount.
It seems to throw us right out
and to damn our every effort
before we have started.
It seems utterly impossible.
But at the same time,
do we know of anything more encouraging
than the Sermon on the Mount?
Do we know of anything
that pays us a greater compliment?
The very fact that we are commanded
to do these things
carries with it an implicit assertion
that it is possible.
In our own strength,
no, it isn't.
It's impossible.
Christ in us,
it is possible.
And isn't it an amazing compliment
that God,
the creator of the cosmos,
calls us His children.
Says, hey, you're my kids.
So do this.
Follow my example.
Be like me.
We read from Romans 5, 8 to 10 earlier
in the assurance of pardon.
God shows His love for us,
His special people,
His chosen people in this,
that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
Since therefore we have now been justified
by His blood,
much more shall we be saved by Him
from the wrath of God.
For if while we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God
by the death of His Son,
much more now that we are reconciled
shall we be saved by His life.
Jesus died on the cross
to pay the penalty for our sins,
not because we were sincerely
reforming our ways
and starting to put our life together.
Isn't that often our standard?
For our enemies?
I need to see some real remorse, you know.
I gotta see you start making some changes.
God didn't do that.
Jesus didn't do that for us.
We were sinners.
While we were still sinners,
Jesus died to reconcile us to the Father.
He says that He did this,
while we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God
by the death of His Son.
Jesus didn't die for us
to reconcile us to the Father
while we were raising the white flag
and seeking terms of truth with God.
No, we were pounding against Him,
marching against Him,
rebelling against Him,
resisting Him at every turn
by living for ourselves
and living for us
to satisfy our own pride.
That's why it's not wrong,
as the song,
How Deep the Father's Love,
says.
It was our mocking voice
that calls out among the scoffers
who are at Jesus' crucifixion.
It's our sin that held Jesus there
on the cross
until it was accomplished.
We did that.
We were His enemies.
And yet while we were still His enemies,
Jesus died for us.
I'm so grateful for this truth
because I know myself,
and if God had not loved me first
when I was still His enemy,
I would never love Him.
It's because Jesus loved me well
while I was still an enemy of God
that now I am a son.
Reconciled to the Father.
A participant at the table of the Lord.
A member of the family of God,
the household of God.
So do you know,
let me ask you,
do you know the love
of the Father
who makes His Son shine
on the good and the evil?
Do you know the love of the Son
who died for the sake of His enemies?
Then and only then,
we can love our enemies
like Father,
like Son.
Let's pray.
Father, thank You for loving us
while we were still Your enemies.
Jesus,
thank You for dying for us
while we were still Your enemies.
And oh, we are so grateful
that we are no longer Your enemies,
but that You have adopted us
as Your sons and daughters,
united to Jesus Christ, Your Son.
Oh God,
we can never hope
to repay You for that.
And You don't expect us to.
We simply love You in return.
We worship You.
We submit to You.
Help us
with the love You have given us
to love the enemies
in our own lives.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.