Sermon on the Mount IX

Subtitle:  Fulfilling the Torah and the Prophets of God VII

Matthew 5:43-48.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 4, 2024.

Today, we will finish the Master’s look at what it means to fulfill the Law.  In a sense, this is the sixth case-study, but it is also a summary for all of the others.  It challenges us to recognize all of the ways that we have been an enemy to people, choosing a path that is of the evil one.  It challenges us to see how we have not chosen to take the path of our Father in Heaven, and to change.

This law focuses not on how someone becomes an enemy to us, but on what do we do with those who are already our enemies, and for whatever reason.

Let’s look at our passage.

The Law of Enemies (v. 43-48)

Jesus lays out the teaching of the current day on how we treat our enemies.  “Love your neighbor, and hate your enemies.”  In a sense, you only love the people that God commands.

The idea of loving your neighbor can be inferred from the Ten Commandments of Exodus 20.  Jesus said that all of the Law and the prophets can be summed up in loving God and loving your neighbor. 

Of course, a legalist would ask the question.  “Just who is my neighbor?”  Jesus answers that later (Luke 10:25-37) with the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Here, however, Jesus jumps right by our neighbor and goes to the heart of the issue, our enemy.

Leviticus 19:18 says, “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD!”

This passage does focus on neighbors being of your own nation or people.  However, there are other passages that add to this.

Take, for instance, Exodus 23:4-5.  It talks about helping your enemy, if you come upon him while he is in a difficult situation (most likely assumed to be another Israelite).  Don’t take advantage of them.  Also, Deuteronomy 23:7 tell Israel not to hate the Edomites and the Egyptians.

On top of this, the Law and the prophets signal a desire of God to bless the nations, whether through Abraham (Genesis 12) or Messiah (Isaiah 42, 49, and 60).  God cared about the nations, and Israel was His tool to reach them with the Truth.

So, how did the religious leaders come to the conclusion that we should hate our enemies?  It is a natural inference from the idea that God is going to judge the nations who have hated Him.  It would make sense that we should not love those who hate God.  Yet, God’s long delay for judging His enemies begs a lot of questions.  Why wouldn’t He just judge them and get it over with?  Did God really want Israel to hate His enemies?

I mentioned several prophetic passages earlier.  It is clear that there is some tension between a judgment of the nations and the light of Messiah going out to the nations.  Jesus is now shining the light of day upon this murky area.

Jesus tells his followers to love their enemies, which is the exact opposite of what they would have been told by the religious leaders.  We are not given any commentary on the crowd, but I have to believe that their were some audible gasps at this point.  It had to be a shock.  Perhaps, we could ask the question (like the young man in Luke 10 regarding his neighbors), “What exactly do you mean by love?”   Is Jesus telling us that we have to have fuzzy warm feelings for our enemies?  No.  The word for love here has to do with an intellectual choice that is not dependent upon the person we give it to.  It is a love of decision.

Jesus goes on to point out three particular ways to love your enemy.  The first is, “Bless those who curse you.”  This deals with the area of speech.  How do we talk about those who talk evil of us?  The second is, “Do good to those who hate you.”  This deals with the area of our actions.  What kinds of things do we do to those who hate us?  The third is, “Pray for those who spitefully use you (treat abusively) and persecute you.”  This is the area of our spiritual life.

I don’t believe that Jesus intends us to pray for their destruction.  The previous two examples clearly show a good and righteous response to the actions that are not good and righteous towards us.  This needs to be a prayer that can be categorized as loving, a choice to work for their good.

This doesn’t mean that we approve of what people do when they curse, hate, abuse and persecute others.  It doesn’t even mean that we pray for them to be happy in life.  A person who chooses to be an enemy to you is not following the Lord Jesus Christ.  They are lost.  Perhaps, that is what we should pray for them.  “Lord, help me to respond in such a way that they may turn away from being an enemy and turn towards being a brother in you!”

We need to understand that love is a weapon.  People who are doing evil are generally not prepared for someone to love them.  I guarantee you that no evil person has spent a minute training on what to do when somebody loves them.  The enemy of our souls (the devil) intends their actions to destroy your faith.  However, what do you think God intends to do by your actions back towards them?  He intends to break them free from the devil’s hold on their life.  He intends to break them free from a life of anger, contempt, fear, rage, abuse, etc.

The natural question rises at this point, “Who in their right mind would love those who curse, hate, and persecute them?”  Jesus follows up quickly with the answer why in verse 45.

Every person ought to ask the question, “Who is my Father, and what is He like?”  Jesus points us to God who is firstly our Creator, and for those who have responded by faith, a spiritual Father.  This new birth is necessary to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  This picture of a child beginning to look like its father is important.  If you want to be a child of God, then you need to pay attention to what He is like. 

The image of God is more about spiritual things then it is about our physical appearance.  We automatically have the status of an imager of God by simply being human, natural birth.  However, status is not enough.  The activity of my life needs to be a portrayal of the Father.  This may sound extremely abstract, but look at the examples that Jesus gives following this.  “[He] makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”  God gives sunshine and rain to everyone.  Yes, God can affect the weather and send droughts.  However, don’t miss the fact that God generally gives these things to all peoples.  Even with these particular judgments, God gives far more grace to the wicked than they deserve. 

This can cause those who are trying to be righteous to have a crisis of faith.  We may begin to doubt the goodness of God.  “Why does He bless those who curse Him?”  And, it may even cause us to doubt His very existence.  “What good is it to serve God, if the wicked are blessed too?”  Of course, these are very short-sighted questions.  What good is it if a person never has drought, nor an empty belly, but they go into eternity and are found lacking by the Judge?  Why am I having a crisis of faith because God is being kind and showing goodness?

To love your enemy is not to say that what they do is good.  To love your enemy does not justify them in what they are doing.  It could be said that it increases their guilt, if they don’t cease their enemy-ways.  Yes, God will judge all people, and He will judge all the nations at once in what is called the Last Days.  If God is good, then why does He delay judgment?  It is because He is not willing that any should perish.  To love your enemy is to recognize that they will be judged and found guilty.  Yet, God doesn’t want them to perish.  God desires them to have a change of heart, repent, and enter His Kingdom like little children.

Romans 2:4 says, “…the goodness of God leads you to repentance.” They may never repent, but God’s goodness gives them a chance.  If we choose to go into eternity over the top of all of God’s goodness, then He will judge you.  But, always remember this.  He doesn’t want you to be His enemy.

This becomes a heart check in which we all fail.  We do not naturally want this for our enemies.  We are not this compassionate and selfless, but God is; Jesus is.  Yet, don’t be discouraged.  This is what it means to follow Jesus.  Our flesh fights it, but the Spirit of God helps us to overcome.  Lord, change our hearts with each trial and decision that we face.  Let us become more like you!

In verse 46 Jesus gives some if-statements that challenge the kind of love that we might have for others.  He uses the verb form of agape for love here.  It is the idea of choosing to love, as opposed to a love that is more based in the heart (i.e., familial love, brotherly love, or romantic love).  If you only choose to love those who chose to love you, then how are you different than the world?  Tax collectors and Gentiles tend do this with those who choose to love them.  Notice that God chooses to love His enemies (i.e., act for their benefit).  Their life is still limited.  They will face judgment.  But, He is good to them while they live.

In fact, one of the greatest good things that God has done is design the universe with a principle of cause-and-effect.  Even when people dismiss the word of God, and refuse to listen to His followers, cause and effect meets them at every poor choice that they make.  Their evil acts themselves draw them into evil consequences that naturally follow their actions, words, and inner life.  Through consequences, God is calling them back away from the ledge that they are intent on plunging off.  This reality, along with His goodness, is a powerful part of everyone’s life.  There is a goodness to consequences that we may not yet even understand fully.

Jesus asks his followers to leave judgment in the hands of the only One who can do so perfectly.  We can trust God to do the right thing.  In fact, our hunger for justice and setting things right often leads to all kinds of evil things that we do.  You risk losing your own soul when you rise up to be an enemy to your enemies, when you hate them.  Besides, we really stink at getting justice for ourselves.  We carry the bloody flag against everyone else, but do not recognize that this is a conflict of interest.  It would be like having you play in the Super Bowl, but also be the only one who is the referee in the game.  There is too much at stake to expect that you will always make a righteous call.  So, why not leave it to God?  Why not work to make your enemy your brother instead?  Why not save yourself from a lifetime of hate, contempt, rage, death, and then a fearful judgment from God?

Finally, Jesus lays down a statement that is very fearful on its face.  “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”  I’m sure there were some gasps on that one as well.

This phrase is interesting because it is in the future tense.  Therefore, Jesus is stating that you (plural) will be perfect in the future.  There is an encouragement of assurance in this.  He who has begun a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. 

However, the Hebrews also used the second person future as a way of giving a command to someone about something ahead.  This nuance adds another dimension to the statement.  There is no question that God will do His part in this.  However, this sermon has had several places of warning throughout it.  We might hear these wonderful words, but not persevere in following the Messiah.  We might grow weary, lose faith, and walk away.  Thus, this is also a command to be perfect.

Of course, the flesh of every human who has ever lived protests such a statement.  How can God expect us to be perfect?  First, let me point out that the Greek word for “perfect” here does not mean to never mess up.  It is actually a term that is used in building, growing, planning, etc.  A building has many stages to it, but we call the last stage the finish work.  When the house is ready, it is perfect, finished, completed.  It is what we intended it to be.  You are a child spiritually, but children grow up and become adults.  You shall be perfect, complete, finished.  God essentially guarantees it.  Yet, you must have faith in Him, in Jesus, and persevere in this fight against our flesh by the Spirit.

When we say a baby is perfect, we mean that it is exactly what it should be for the stage it is in.  However, if the baby never grew, we would quickly become concerned and not think of it as perfect.  Quit thinking of this like a legalist, and begin thinking of it in terms of the love of God.  As you die to your righteousness, come alive to His righteousness, and rely upon His Spirit to help you learn to love your enemies, then you will be a perfect baby Christian learning to walk, then run, and finally fly.  It is our relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit that makes our life perfect, even when there are dumb choices, and sin that we need to repent of.

In this life, Christians are not instantly zapped and made into the image of God.  Ephesians 4 12-13 pictures us growing up into the measure and the stature and the fullness of Christ.  This may feel hopeless at times, but should not co-labor with the Holy Spirit in hopelessness.  God is on your side.  How can you lose?  And how can you lose even when you fall down from time to time?  Jesus is the author (it was his idea) and the finisher (he will complete you) of our faith.  Guess when you will be done becoming like Jesus?  At the resurrection, God will accomplish the coupe de grâce (I mean that in an artistic way and not a military way).  Can we just take a deep breath right now and rest in the truth that we shall be like Him?  Yes, there is plenty of hard things to go through down here, and there is plenty of things that we may suffer.  However, we do these things with our LORD!  There is a certain glory that we have to go to war against our flesh, and against the devil’s work on this planet.  We were made to destroy the works of the devil with the help of Jesus!  We start by destroying the works of the devil in our own heart and mind by the help of His Holy Spirit.  Let’s go to work with Jesus this week!

Law of Enemies audio

A Father and His Son

June 21, 2015-John 5:19-23

Today we are celebrating Father’s Day and so we are taking a break from the Gospel of Luke this week.  Much work goes into the raising of a child and much work goes into keeping them raised.  However, one thing is very clear.  A child will become an adult regardless of the intention of the parents (short of tragedy).  Many parents lack intentionality in the raising of their kids and coast on the sheer momentum of physical and intellectual growth.  Yet, God calls us to something much greater than creating a random, accidental generation.  Rather, we are to stamp an image upon the lives of our children that is good and points them to their heavenly Father.

Now my dad was a DIY kind of guy.  He was a musician, avid outdoorsman, and he loved family.  These things have definitely left their imprint upon me.  Of course, there are negative things that can leave imprints in the lives of kids as well.  It is important for young people to recognize that the imprint of bad qualities in our parents do not have to be bad in us.  A child who grows up in a home where love is never expressed can be imprinted passionately towards demonstrating love.  Thus kids make choices as they grow up and those choices are just as much a part of the imprint as the actions of the parents.

In today’s passage Jesus gives us insight into the interaction between him and God the Father.  The leaders of Israel were angry that Jesus kept comparing himself to God.  They called this blasphemy and sought to kill him.  Yet, Jesus responds with the truth that it is only natural for a son to be like his father.

A Son Cannot Help But Be Like His Father

The underlying message of these 5 verses is that instead of being blasphemy it is only natural for a son to be like his father.  In this context Jesus is talking about himself as being the Son of God.  Thus he will demonstrate the same qualities, nature, and activity as his heavenly Father.  Although the passage is only about Jesus and the Father, we also know from other passages that the Father is working to make the disciples of Jesus to be like Jesus.  In Ephesians 4 the apostle Paul describes why God has given leaders to the Church.  “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine…”   Notice that the work is “till” we come to the full measure of Christ.  He does not mean physical height here, but rather, character height.  We are being made over into the image of Jesus who was a perfect representation of the Father in heaven.  Thus we will use this passage to remind ourselves as earthly fathers how we ought to be.

In verse 19 Jesus points out the activity of God the Father.  Jesus has seen the activity of the Father and is now doing the same thing.  Notice how the activity of a Father imprints itself upon a child.  Now Jesus is a perfect Son and thus he perfectly acts like the Father.  But let’s focus on the father side.  If my activity is going to leave an imprint upon my child then I should take care what that activity is.  Even the lack of activity can leave an imprint in the same way that we recognize failing to plan is planning to fail.  Children of this world may intend to avoid becoming like their fathers for good or for bad and a father can’t control it.  Yet, a father can fill his life with activity that will impact the child for good regardless of what he chooses.  Jesus is the perfect son who only does what he sees his father do and only speaks what he hears his father say (John 12:49).  We wouldn’t expect kids to be a perfect copy of their earthly fathers.  But that is not where God intends it to go.  God intends for us to see this natural tendency and to use it to point our children to their heavenly father.  He is the one that we all need to see and become like.  Thus God has sent His perfect Son to help us imperfect prodigals and lead us back to right relationship.  So fathers, your activity will either point your kids to their heavenly father or it will point only to yourself.  When you fill your life with the activity of God, you will point them to something greater than yourself and imprint them for good rather than for bad.

In verse 20 Jesus points out the love that the Father has for him.  The Father has shown the Son things because He loves Him.  The intentionality of the father is important in a kid’s life and is best when it flows out of a heart of love.  If you love your kid then you will not just be active.  But that activity will be done in such a way as to intentionally involve them in our activities and point them to God.  This is not easy.  It always takes longer to do something if you involve someone you are trying to teach.  However, the child needs this from their parents.

Next Jesus points out in verse 21 that he has received power to do certain things from the father.  In this case it is the power to give life and raise up the dead.  No earthly parent can give such power to their children.  However, a father can empower his child.  You give a child the tools they need to accomplish to accomplish a particular purpose.  Thus if we are partnering with God to accomplish His purpose in their life- to make them like Jesus- then we will take time to give them the tools required to accomplish that.  How can a child become like Jesus?  What tools do they need?  First we can give our kids the information that they need to come to know God.  We can give them instruction and yet even something as simple as teaching them to read enables them to read and discover God’s Word for themselves.  Teaching them how to communicate rather than running away from difficulty is important.  Teaching them discipline and control of their emotions and decisions is also important.  Other tools that children need are the coping skills of perseverance and the ability to selflessly love another.  These kind of things will go a long way to empowering a young person to know God for themselves and to become like Jesus.  Too often young people go into life with only a few tools and many of them may be warped and twisted.  Praise God that Jesus will help even those who lack the tools to come to know him and be like him, if they are hungry for Truth.

In verse 22, we see that even though God is the righteous judge of all mankind by right of Creation, He has delegated this to the Son.  All judgment will be done through Jesus Christ.  This ability to delegate can be very challenging for a father.  Sometimes we refrain or take back such delegations because of fear of failure.  At age appropriate times, it is important to delegate household chores to kids.  It teaches them to find their place within the home and work with others.  It helps them to have some skin in the game.  Plus it teaches them how to accept the things that God has delegated to us through Jesus.  Now, not all kids are going to grow up and work alongside their father like Jesus did.  However, a father can teach a kid how to work with others.  Ultimately your child needs to grow up and become a fellow worker with you and coming alongside the heavenly father.  It is we who are helping Him in His business.  His work is to point people to Jesus as the answer for their sin and judgment.  Jesus delegated this task to his disciples when he ascended to heaven.  He said, “Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all the commands I gave you.”  Matthew 28:19-20.  This risk of putting the salvation of others in the hands of humans may seem unadvised to us.  Yet, God is not absent.  He works in us and through us by His Spirit to aid us in bringing others to relationship with Him.  Thus fathers should ask for the Holy Spirit’s help in accomplishing this task that has been delegated to them.

Lastly, it is the honor of the son to become like his father.  On this earth a child grows up and eventually takes the place of their parents on earth because of death.  Of course, our heavenly father never dies.  So this is not about replacement.  Yet, we see that God wants us to share in the honor that is already His.  He invites us to come work alongside Him, all the while, we are becoming like Him.  Ultimately we will share in His glory.  1 John 3:2-3 says, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.  We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.  And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him, purifies himself, just as He is pure.”  All believers will stand side by side and experience the joy of recognizing that we are like our Father.  As good as this feeling can be with an earthly father, we must make the connection with God the Father.  He is sharing His glory with us by making us to look like Him.  Thus the apostle John reminds us that if we have this hope in us we will purify ourselves.  Fathers, take time to clean up your life.  Sometimes we even need to prune off good things so that we can be more fruitful in God’s work.  When you live for the honor of God, you will enable your child to understand what it means to live honorably.  So don’t give up hope and by all means don’t let failure cause you to quit.  It is God Himself who pledges to help you.  Blessings!

Father and son audio