Sunday, June 5, 2011

Love your enemies

Luke 6: 27-36 22.5.2011

Love your Enemies

Good morning everyone. It´s wonderful to see all of you here this morning. We thank God for everyone of you.

As most of you know…..at Calvary Chapel Wiesbaden….. We teach through the Bible verse by verse…… We are studying the Gospel….the Good news as recorded by Luke……

Turn to Luke chapter 6 ……….

Jesus is teaching the people……. He had chosen the 12 apostles…….. He heals everyone who comes to Him…… and now He teaches them…….. Luke gives us only part of His sermon…….It is an important sermon because it's a sermon about salvation……. . It is a very simple and very straightforward sermon………. This sermon draws a simple contrast…… It is a contrast between those people who are blessed and those people who are cursed..... everybody everywhere who has ever lived either falls into the category of being blessed or being cursed……….

Everybody relates to God in one of two ways……. you're either blessed by God or cursed by God……. There is only one true and living God ….. and that is the God revealed on the pages of Scripture….. There is no other God….. there are no other gods…… And all men relate to the true and living God one way or another…… They are blessed by Him or they are cursed by Him…… They are in His Kingdom, or out of His Kingdom….. They are His children or the children of Satan…. They are in the kingdom of light or they're in the kingdom of darkness. ….They are citizens of heaven or of hell….. And that's how it is…… Everybody in the human race fits into one of the two categories……

And that's how Jesus begins His sermon by pointing clearly to the blessed and the cursed……. The word "blessed" is in verse 20, 21 and 22 and the cursed are referred to with "woes," woe meaning curse in verses 24, 25 and 26. And Jesus……… like any good evangelist, creates a contrast……… There are the people who are saved……. the people who are blessed, ……. and the people who are lost…… the people who are cursed…… the people who belong to God…… and those who belong to Satan…… those that have been transformed and regenerated and those that have not…….. those headed to heaven, those headed to hell…….

That is not complex, that is simple, that is the message of every prophet of old……. the message of Jesus, the message of John the Baptist, the message of the Apostles and the message of every true evangelist since then up to this very present hour…… The simple contrast is clear to us throughout all of biblical history and it is crystal clear to us in this sermon which Jesus preached…….

Verse 20 tells us that He was talking to disciples…… That's a broad generic word for learner, student…… There were lots of people following Him, not just the Twelve Apostles, don't confuse the disciples here with the Apostles…….. the Apostles were disciples but they are set apart from the disciples as Apostles…… Disciple means student, learner…… Apostle means messenger, sent one…….. The apostles are there……. The rest of those following Jesus and learning Jesus' teaching to one degree or another, being students of Jesus are in the broad category of disciples……. Some real some….not……

Jesus speaks to this broad category of people and says you're either blessed or cursed……. You're either in the Kingdom of God or outside the Kingdom of God……..

That's the way it was with the crowd that was following Jesus…….. They were at all points on the spectrum from being disciples........ some true disciples ….. some false disciples ….

Now how are we to understand who's who? How are we to understand who is blessed and who is cursed? The first way we understand is how they view themselves…… You can tell who has been redeemed by how they view themselves……. And that's what we learn in verses 20 to 26…… The blessed….. those who are in the Kingdom…… view themselves as poor, hungry, weeping and alienated……. And that is to say that they have a view of themselves that sees their true spiritual condition as one of sin…… That's their bankruptcy….. They see themselves as spiritually bankrupt, empty, beggars, hungering for a righteousness they don't have and can't earn. …… And there is in them a sadness, a weeping, a sorrow, a brokenness and a sense of being alienated and ostracized……..

So the first way you can tell a Christian is by how he views himself….. And inevitably he views himself as a desperate, empty, hopeless, helpless...fill in the blank...sinner…….. That's how true believers view themselves…… That is not how religious people view themselves…… That's not how the Jews viewed themselves. ….That's not how the Pharisees and Sadducees viewed themselves…….. They were selfrighteous and proud…. certain that God was proud of them……

If you don't view yourself as a helpless sinner…… helpless who can't save himself or herself…… who is absolutely bankrupt …… doing nothing to earn salvation...... if you don't see yourself in that desperation, crying out for mercy from God…… then you must see yourself as having some religious achievement….. having some moral good works by which you can gain some favor with God…….

That's the way religious people see themselves…… They have a system of self righteousness…. .

And that's the way it breaks down. Those people who are true disciples of Christ…… true followers of Christ are known by how they view themselves…… Sinners saved by grace……Spiritually poor and unworthy….. And we saw that last time……

They are not self-righteous, they see themselves as wicked sinners……. They do not believe that anything they do can make a contribution to their salvation…….. And so they see themselves as having no hope but to cry out for mercy, cry out for grace, cry out for forgiveness and plead with God to save them though they don't deserve it…….. They are the truly repentant……. they are the humble, they are the poor, the hungry, the sad, the alienated, saved by grace……. That's how they view themselves…… And anybody who doesn't view themselves like that isn't in the Kingdom........ They are religious…..hypocrites…..pretenders….. They're satisfied with their religion…… They're happy with their religion……

Tragic…… if you don't see yourself as a lost sinner totally depraved and helpless, you're not going to come to the gospel……

But the second thing that identifies a true Christian is the way you look at and think about other people...... You can tell whether a person is a true disciple of Christ……. Jesus says …….. by how they view other people……..

Let´s turn to Luke 6: 27-37…..as we continue our study….

Luke 6: 27- 36 NLT

27 “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. 30 Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. 31 Do to others as you would like them to do to you.

32 “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! 33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! 34 And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.

35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.

Luke 6: 27- 36 Neues Leben

27 Doch wenn ihr bereit seid, wirklich zu hören, dann sage ich euch: Liebt eure Feinde. Tut denen Gutes, die euch hassen.

28 Betet für das Glück derer, die euch verfluchen. Betet für die, die euch verletzen.

29 Wenn jemand dich auf die eine Wange schlägt, dann halte ihm auch die andere hin. Wenn jemand deinen Mantel will, biete ihm auch dein Hemd an.

30 Wer dich bittet, dem gib, was du hast; und wenn dir etwas weggenommen wird, versuche nicht, es wiederzubekommen.

31 Behandle andere so, wie du von ihnen behandelt werden möchtest.

32 Glaubt ihr, ihr hättet dafür Anerkennung verdient, dass ihr die liebt, die euch auch lieben? Das tun sogar die Sünder!

33 Und wenn ihr nur denen Gutes erweist, die euch Gutes tun, was ist daran so anerkennenswert? Selbst Sünder verhalten sich so!

34 Oder wenn ihr nur denen Geld leiht, die es euch zurückzahlen können, was ist daran außergewöhnlich? Selbst Sünder leihen ihresgleichen Geld in der Hoffnung, die volle Summe zurückzuerhalten.

35 Liebt eure Feinde! Erweist ihnen Gutes! Leiht ihnen Geld! Und macht euch keine Sorgen, weil sie es euch vielleicht nicht wiedergeben werden. Dann wird euer Lohn im Himmel groß sein und ihr handelt wirklich wie Kinder des Allerhöchsten, denn er erweist auch den Undankbaren und den Bösen Gutes.

36 Ihr sollt gütig sein, wie euer Vater gütig ist.

Look at verse 27and 28…… “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.

Here is the second test for a true disciple……..

1…… how he views himself…….

2….. how he views others……..

it's clear to whom Jesus is referring because verse 27 begins with these words, "But I say to you who... hear." That's a very important statement……

There's a contrast being made here……. There's a contrast being made between people who have the ability to hear the voice of God and respond…… and people who don't hear….and don´t obey…….

1 Corinthians 2:14 says, "The natural man does not the things of God……. to him they are foolishness." There is a clear distinction between sinners who are referred to in Luke 6….. verses 32, 33 and 34, and sons of God……, referred to in verse 35…….. There is a dramatic difference one is not a true disciple….. has never been born again….. the one who has never been saved has no capacity to hear and obey divine truth……

In verse 27……the Lord narrows His audience here and says, "I'm talking to you who can get it……. I'm talking to you who have spiritual understanding…... The true believer poor, hungry, sad, unpopular........I'm talking to you who are rejected….. I'm talking to you who are persecuted…….. you're going to be known by your love of your enemies. …….This is your Godly character shining through…..."

Your relationship to other people is to be characterized by love........ No true disciple is going to cut himself off from the world…….. He's not going to retaliate……. There are some who think maybe the just and righteous thing to do is to retaliate against your persecutors……. What Jesus says in verse 27 with that astonishing economy of words with which He always spoke is simply this, "Love your enemies...love your enemies."

Why? Because that's not normal…….. And that will be a demonstration that you're not normal because they don't do that……. People outside the kingdom don't love their enemies…… They basically hate their enemies……

Hating enemies……That's the world……. That's the way sinners are…… Not a true disciple….. True disciples love their enemies, that's not normal. ……..

Now even in Israel In Jesus day……. it wasn't normal….. And you can't get more religious than they were…… in their system, listen to this, It was it was a sin to love your enemy……. So when Jesus steps in front of the crowd in this Sermon ……He's got Pharisees there and scribes there……. they followed Him everywhere, He's got priests and rabbis and local synagogue rulers and the populous and He says, "Love your enemies,"……

that to the Jews is a statement that is immoral, it is ungodly to say that……. It's not right…… That's offensive to them because they tied their spiritual virtue to their hatred…….

it would be like saying to a Jew in Jerusalem…….. "Love the Palestinian suicide bomber." ……. Or, "What you need to do is love your hostile Arab neighbors."

Well, the Jews of Jesus' day had a direction in which most of their hatred was going……..it was very, very clear, it went toward the Romans….. They didn't like the Roman rule……. they didn't like it for a lot of reasons…… They didn't like it politically because the Romans had taken away their self-rule…… And then they had appointed the despicable Herodian rulers ……

They hated the Romans because the Romans were idolatrous Gentile pagans……. When they came in with their poles on which they had the image of Caesar……. graven images because they worshiped Caesar as a god ….. .

There was a group of Jews connected with the Zealots called the Sicari who were the terrorists……..They were back stabbers……I told you about them…They were the Jewish terrorists who went around stabbing Romans in the back…… The Jews hated The Romans and they thought they hated them with holy hatred……

They also had developed a hatred for people who violated the law and traditions…… And they thought that that was a righteous thing to do….. I suppose they're not unlike some people today who think their responsibility is to hate abortionists…… or to hate people in a cult…… or hate Muslims…… or to hate people who pervert sex….. or do acts of terrorism……

It's as crucial message for us as it was for them…… Because hate has become a virtue for us…..

not a religious virtue but sort of a noble idea of justice and virtue….. We get confused……instead of hating only sin……. we start to hate sinners….. especially our enemies…. Those who hate us and want us dead……

But here Jesus steps in and says…… "Love your enemies."

This is unacceptable to the religious …… But then again, everything He said was,……. that's why He only had to preach one sermon in His hometown of Nazareth, they tried to throw Him off a cliff……

Now I want to give you several points as we work our way through verses 27 to 36, but the whole section is about Kingdom love, okay?

Now we're going to get to the point here……

This is about Supernatural Kingdom love …. true disciples of Christ are known by how they view themselves……sinners saved by grace…. and how they view others ….. with love…….

And this section unfolds for us, first of all, with four commands.

The commands of Kingdom love……

Verse 27 and 28 which I read to you has four simple commands.

The first one, love your enemies.

That's cultivating a merciful affection…… Asking God to have mercy on them….. That's how we feel about them….. Love your enemies,

We would like to think that Christians are known by their love……. in the ancient world Jews were known by their hate....... Why did the jews believe they shoud hate gentiles? Well ……

In the Old Testament when Israel was the theocracy and the tool of God…… there were times when God used Israel as that judge…… He also used Assyria as a judge…… He used Egypt as a judge.. …He used Persia as a judge on other occasions…… But God could determine to use human agencies, governments, nations as judges. …… God judged and condemned sin……. and they thought that they had some personal right to act as the judge of everybody……. even executioner if need be……. which they did in the case of Jesus…….

They would also go back to the imprecatory Psalms …….. Psalms that call an imprecation or a judgment upon somebody….. The psalmist in Psalm 59 is calling for God to judge the enemies……. Remember The psalmist…….. didn't do the judgment….. he simply said, "God, these are dishonoring to Your name….. these are dishonoring to Your glory….. these are blasphemous enemies and they are worthy of judgment……. O God, vindicate Yourself and judge them."

The Pharisees again had felt that this somehow had been delegated to them ……. But very clearly Deuteronomy 32:35 says,

"Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord."…….

When it comes time for that, I will do it, not you. ……. Those were all matters of divine action…. not human liberty.

the Jews had put the prerogatives that belonged only to God into operation in their own personal relationships…..

And, of course, that was another way in which they had skewed the Judaism of the Old Testament.

This was never Old Testament law…… Turn to …..

Exodus 23: 4 and 5 NLT

4 “If you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey that has strayed away, take it back to its owner. 5 If you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has collapsed under its load, do not walk by. Instead, stop and help.

Exodus 23: 4 and 5 Neues Leben

4 Wenn ihr das Rind oder den Esel eures Feindes umherirren seht, dann bringt ihm sein Tier zurück.

5 Wenn ihr seht, dass der Esel eures Feindes unter seiner schweren Last zusammengebrochen ist, lasst ihn nicht mit dem Tier allein, sondern helft dem Tier mit ihm zusammen wieder auf.

We are commanded to love everyone…..even our enemies…..Turn to Job 31……

Job 31: 29- 33 NLT

29 “Have I ever rejoiced when disaster struck my enemies, or become excited when harm came their way? 30 No, I have never sinned by cursing anyone or by asking for revenge. 31 “My servants have never said, ‘He let others go hungry.’ 32 I have never turned away a stranger but have opened my doors to everyone. 33 “Have I tried to hide my sins like other people do, concealing my guilt in my heart?

Job 31: 29- 33 Neues Leben

29 Habe ich mich je über das Unglück meines Feindes gefreut und schadenfroh gejubelt, wenn ihm etwas Böses zustieß? 30 Nein, nie habe ich es meinem Mund erlaubt, sich so zu versündigen oder ihm mit einem Fluch den Untergang zu wünschen. 31 War es meinen Knechten vielleicht nicht möglich zu sagen: `Mit seinen Fleischvorräten hat er jeden satt gemacht.´? 32 Nein, keinen Fremden habe ich draußen übernachten lassen, meine Türen waren immer weit offen für den Wanderer! 33 Habe ich etwa versucht, wie es die menschliche Art ist, meine Sünden zu verstecken oder meine Schuld zu verheimlichen,

I am expected to love and help my enemies…… I am commanded to pray for them……I am commanded to warn them…….

All I can say to that man is……. "God will curse you if you reject Him."

I can't speak that curse into his life…….

God will judge you if you turn your back on him……. I can't bring that judgment on him……

A believers words are not magic……. It´s very popular to talk like that in Christian circles…..oh brother…. Be care ful….. don´t say your sick…..you´ll get sick…. Etc……

Proverbs 25:21 is another, I think, clear indication of the Old Testament standard……. "If your enemy is hungry," Proverbs 25:21, "give him food to eat….. If he's thirsty, give him water to drink…… For you'll heap burning coals on his head and the Lord will reward you."…… In other words, show love to your enemy….. show good will….. benevolence to your enemy……. This is what the Old Testament taught. …..

in fact, there was a very clear indication of what the Old Testament taught in Leviticus 19:18………. "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Love your neighbor……. But that became an escape hatch....... Ah, your neighbor……. And then the big question, the big question in Jewish theology was...who is my neighbor?

If you're a Pharisee, your neighbor was a Pharisee and nobody else…….

In Luke 10 Jesus told a story about who your neighbor is……. and it's the story of the Good Samaritan…….. that great story………… of loving an enemy…..

a Levite passes by...this is a man who had the religious responsibility as a leader of the nation…….. he won't help……… A priest passes by…….. he won't help….. because they hated anybody outside their little clique…… Hypocrites….the very people who were commanded to teach and lead…….

But the Samaritan came by who was the outcast of outcasts…….. the most despised of all …… the half-breed traitor to Judaism……. He does what nobody else will do……

Jesus essentially is saying....... your neighbor is whoever is laying in the street and needs your help……. That's your neighbor…… Whoever comes across your path…… that's your neighbor…… without racial or religious distinction……. Even your enemy is your neighbor……..

But they didn't interpret the Old Testament that way…… Jesus then has to reassert the truth….. everything Jesus said was contrary to how they thought…….. contrary to how people think today....... love your enemies?

Love your enemies….That's the attitude you have toward them………

In verse 35 it says, "If you do this, if you love your enemies and do good to them and lend to them and expect nothing in return, your reward will be great and more than that, you will be sons of the Most High." The point being, they will recognize that this is not human and it will become clear that this identifies you as having a preternatural, or a supernatural love. So the attitude, how you feel about them? You love them.

Secondly…..we love them and we do good to those who hate us…… That's what we do…… We do good, kalos….. that's real good….. not a superficial good…..bless you be blessed…..

You do what is good…… and what is ultimately good is what is redeeming……. what has lasting goodness….. You do for them what can lead to their eternal salvation……

So the strategy then is....... what do I need to do to my enemy in order to gain an entrance and an openness for the gospel?

1….. How do I feel? I love my enemy.

2……. How do I act? I find every means possible to do good….. to show that I can overcome his evil with good…….. I act in his life with goodness…….

3……How do I speak? Verse 28, "Bless those who curse you." What does it mean to bless?

It is to speak goodness into their life….. to speak blessing into their life even if they curse you…….

Not in some magic words way…… but with prayer and true desire for their good…..

Jesus puts this in the form of a command ………. He wants them to know they can follow the impulse of the new creation to love……… and not fall victim to the brainwashing of the religious system they've been in…… It isn't right to hate people…….. you've got to start all over again…… you must love that enemy……… so that you literally overpower his evil with your goodness.......

What do you do to the people who are going to kill you ……thinking they're serving God?

You speak good into their life…..You ask for God´s mercy and blessing….. Just like Moses did when the Israelites sinned with the Golden Calf…… Exodus chpts 32-34

What is that? That's the gospel…… You speak that which brings about their ultimate good…….You tell them the Good News……. It doesn't mean there's no place for warning, how can you speak goodness into their life if they don't understand their sin and judgment?

Paul loved his enemies……His love for his enemies was not natural……

It wasn't part of conventional religion ……. conventional religion is a reflection of the natural…… the demonic…….. The love that the Apostle Paul had, the love that true Christians have and have always had….. is not explained on any natural level……

Paul loved his enemies…..

Just go back and read 2 Corinthians for yourself and see the litany of things he endured……

Five times at a synagogue the Jews whipped him with 39 lashes….. And he suffered that because he loved them enough to continue to speak the gospel…… There is absent in this any sense of self-interest, self-protection…….

JESUS says, "Your christian attitude toward others involves

1…. how you feel

2….. how you act

3….. how you speak

and finally…..how you pray........

4…..how you pray."

The end of verse 28, "Pray for those who mistreat you."

What should be our prayer? Well we could say "God, we want You to reveal Christ and establish the glorious Kingdom and bring evil to an end. We want You to destroy the enemies of the truth….. We want You to silence the false prophets……. LORD…….. there's this person who hates you…… hates the gospel…… and doesn't like me …… Lord…… I want you to save that person." That's the prayer…… That's what Jesus did……. Jesus didn't act as judge on the cross…… hanging on the cross He said, "Father...what?...forgive them."

That was The prayer….. forgive them, they don't know what they're doing……..

"Forgive them." This is praying for those in the midst of being mistreated….. Those are the commands of love…..

True Christians are known by two things, how they hate sin mostly in themselves……. and how they love others…….

In this text for today……. Jesus is separating out the true disciples ….. from those who are not…… beginning in verse 29….. Jesus shows them what

true love looks like…..

v29….. turn the other cheek….. don´t pay them back….. let them be mean….. let them steal from you….

v30….. give to anyone who asks…. Lend….don´t ask for the money back…..

v31……. Really follow the commandments…… from your heart…… Do to others as you would like them to do to you.

Then in v32-34 he shows the way the world acts……

32 “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! 33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! 34 And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.

Luke6: 32-34 Neues Leben

32 Glaubt ihr, ihr hättet dafür Anerkennung verdient, dass ihr die liebt, die euch auch lieben? Das tun sogar die Sünder!

33 Und wenn ihr nur denen Gutes erweist, die euch Gutes tun, was ist daran so anerkennenswert? Selbst Sünder verhalten sich so!

34 Oder wenn ihr nur denen Geld leiht, die es euch zurückzahlen können, was ist daran außergewöhnlich? Selbst Sünder leihen ihresgleichen Geld in der Hoffnung, die volle Summe zurückzuerhalten.

Jesus says…… don´t be like that…… be like me…….. Be like your father in Heaven…..look at v 35…..

v35….. “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.

Luke 6: 35,36 Neues Leben

35 Liebt eure Feinde! Erweist ihnen Gutes! Leiht ihnen Geld! Und macht euch keine Sorgen, weil sie es euch vielleicht nicht wiedergeben werden. Dann wird euer Lohn im Himmel groß sein und ihr handelt wirklich wie Kinder des Allerhöchsten, denn er erweist auch den Undankbaren und den Bösen Gutes.

36 Ihr sollt gütig sein, wie euer Vater gütig ist.

CLOSE

Romans 12: 17- 21 NLT

17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,“I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.

20 Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” 21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Romans 12: 17- 21 Neues Leben

17 Vergeltet anderen Menschen nicht Böses mit Bösem, sondern bemüht euch allen gegenüber um das Gute.

18 Tragt euren Teil dazu bei, mit anderen in Frieden zu leben, so weit es möglich ist!

19 Liebe Freunde, rächt euch niemals selbst, sondern überlasst die Rache dem Zorn Gottes. Denn es steht geschrieben: »Ich allein will Rache nehmen; ich will das Unrecht vergelten«,6 spricht der Herr.

20 Handelt stattdessen so, wie es in der Schrift heißt: »Wenn dein Feind hungrig ist, gib ihm zu essen. Wenn er durstig ist, gib ihm zu trinken, und er wird beschämt darüber sein, was er dir angetan hat.«7

21 Lass dich nicht vom Bösen überwinden, sondern überwinde das Böse durch das Gute!