Sermon Transcript - 11 Feb 2007 - Loving Others

The Characteristics of Christ: Loving Others

by Manuel M, for PBC 2007/02/11 Sunday

References

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, London, SCM Press, 2001, pg 90-102
Arthur W Pink, The Law and Love, http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Sermon/sermon_19.htm
Arthur W Pink, The Law and Love-Continued, http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Sermon/sermon_20.htm
Arthur W Pink, The Law and Love-Concluded, http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Sermon/sermon_19.htm
Bible excerpts courtesy of http://www.biblegateway.com
Word definitions courtesy of http://www.dictionary.com

Experiencing God - A brief summary

Before Christmas last year, we spent many Sundays talking about 'Experiencing God'. The purpose of those talks was to remind us of who God is, and to teach us of the ways in which God has allowed us to experience Him. We learned that we can experience God through prayers; through the church; through our circumstances; through the bible.

God makes this possible because He is pursuing a love relationship with us. The use of the words 'pursuing' and 'love' are appropriate: God vigorously pursues us to restore us back to the relationship He originally intended for us. And that relationship for which we were designed and intended is a relationship of love with God.

Jesus is the embodiment of God's love for us. Jesus' death on the cross is the costly, but necessary price God paid to make our reconciliation with Him possible.

When we submit ourselves to God through Jesus Christ, our old life dies, and we receive life that is no longer subject to God's judgment. Instead it is a life that is reconciled with God. A new life.

The New Life - Called to follow Jesus

A new life. How then are we to live this new life? Paul says in Galatians 2:20 that the redeemed person declares: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

How are we to live? We are to live 'by faith in the Son of God', who is Jesus. Jesus is now the captain of our ship. And Jesus tells those who are His: "Follow me!" To follow Jesus means to conform to Him. Or as Paul writes to the Ephesians 5:1-2, we are to imitate Him by living "... a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

So to live this new life properly, we are to imitate the life of sacrificial love for God that Jesus lived.

It is a most extraordinary life, but also a fully human life. The bible records that Jesus was born and lived til the age of 33 years or so; it records that He was born into a family; He learned the profession of a carpenter; His experiences included genuine joys, pain, love and friendship; He was no stranger to hunger and cold and exhaustion; He celebrated and enjoyed food and wine; and He knew what it was like to lose a friend. He cried real tears.

You see God gave the world not only a Saviour, but a Shepherd too. A shepherd who in every way lived as a man like any other man, tempted as we are tempted, except that he did not sin (Hebrews 4:14-15).

Isn't it funny that we explain away our imperfections as part of being 'merely human'. But in Jesus we see the perfection of being 'fully human', as God intended.

Focusing on the characteristics of Christ

The next few weeks here at Punchbowl we are going to examine the bible to learn more about the character of Jesus and to ask "Is my life imitating Christ?"

This talk is about how Jesus loved others. If Jesus is the perfection of a life as God intended, what does perfect 'loving others' look like?

Focus: Loving our enemies

I want to focus specifically on 'loving our enemies'.

I suspect like me, you find loving your enemies the hardest version of 'loving others'. It's easier, isn't it, to love those who are lovable; those who love us back. But loving our enemies is much harder. We look to Jesus and ask, what does perfect 'loving our enemies' look like?

I hope to do three things in this talk: first, from our selected passage, share what Jesus taught about loving our enemies; second, show how He lived out this teaching; and third, pass on a challenge for us all to respond.

Bible Reading: Matthew 5:43-48 (New International Version Bible)

43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Not merely the Beatitudes

This passage is found at the end of the sermon on the mount.

For most of us the 'sermon on the mount' is synonymous with the 'Beatitudes'. However, the sermon covered so much more than the beatitudes. In fact the sermon on the mount is covered from chapter 5 - 7, and what we recognize as the 'Beatitudes' is found only in Chapter 5:3-12.

Jesus in His Early Ministry

Jesus gave the sermon on the mount early on in His ministry. In the preceding chapter, chapter 4, we read about the temptation of Jesus in the desert after He was baptized by John the Baptist; then his leaving Nazareth to preach for the first time; then the calling of the first disciples Simon Peter and his brother Andrew; James and John the sons of Zebedee.

Matt 4:23 encapsulates His ministry at this time:

" 23Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people." People were starting to hear about him, and crowds from faraway towns in Syria, Galilee, the Decapolis (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decapolis), Jerusalem, Judea and Jordan, met him wherever he went.

Sermon on the mount - for all peoples

We can see that the crowds with Him were from different cultural, even religious background. They came with different expectations: some came seeking healing, others came for the spectacle. Jesus' own disciples came expecting the kind of revolution they hoped would overthrow the yokes of Rome or of the Jewish leadership.

Before Jesus raised his voice to speak the sermon, all of them would have settled with merely seeing the miraculous. They would not have given a second thought to what this teacher had to say.

But after the sermon, all present - whether disciple or spectator - were left in no doubt that this Man was no ordinary teacher or healer. Matthew 7:28-29 records their reaction thus:

" 28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law."

Though they would have struggled to accept it at the time, they were that day, confronted by the reality of the Word of God made flesh, who came not merely to heal, but to save. Not merely to meet their immediate physical needs, but their most important need - the need for God.

It is important to point out again that the crowds that day were from all over, so we can see that the sermon on the mount was for all peoples, regardless of their spiritual journeys.

Jesus engaged in refuting errors

In this chapter, chapter 5 - Jesus is engaged in two things:

firstly, Jesus is refuting serious errors of the scribes and pharisees and the people themselves in their interpretation of the law and secondly, Jesus is presenting the high requirements of the Law. This was necessary because over time the teachers and pharisees had diluted the demands of the law to make it more palatable, more do-able for their followers and themselves.

The dilution of the law of love to their neighbours

One of the laws that was diluted was regarding how they were to treat each other. The Jews in the crowd would have known that God commanded in Leviticus 19:18 in the Old Testament to love their neighbours as they love themselves:

" 'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD."

Jesus would later confirm in Matthew 22:36-40 that yes, all the commandments and all the teachings of the prophets are fulfilled in firstly loving God without reservation, then loving our neighbour as ourselves. (see also Gal 5:14).

But the common interpretation of these two greatest commandments became distortions of their intended meaning. The divine standards on loving God and loving others were lowered; their scope narrowed.

The high requirements of the law

So Jesus refuted the errors by teaching about the high requirements of the law.

In Matthew 5:21-48, Jesus taught:

First - that judgment is not merely reserved for the murderer, but also for those who think of, and speak to their brothers in contempt (v21-26);
Second - that the command against adultery included lustful thoughts and intents of the heart (v27-32);
Third - that all unnecessary oaths of whatever kind breaks the command not to take God's name in vain (v33-37);
Fourth - that they had corrupted the rule of "an eye for an eye" by paying violence with violence (v38-42);
Finally - that the command to love their neighbour as they love themselves included the command to love their enemies (v43-48).

Exceeding the righteousness of the Pharisees

I'm sure as we look at this list we recognize that we have also accepted these distortions. Our society is built on laws that judges a man based only on his actions, not on his thoughts. And this is right because we can't read each other's thoughts.

But the law of God judges the heart, knowing full well that "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he," (Proverbs 23:7). A person's thoughts defines who he or she is. And so the law of God has higher requirements.

This is what Jesus was emphasizing in Matthew 5:20:

"For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus is saying that unless we meet the undiluted demands of the law, unless our holiness exceeds the diluted righteousness of the pharisees, unless we love our enemies as much as we love our neighbour and ourselves, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.

Loving Our Enemies as Jesus loved His Enemies

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," (v43-44)

God doesn't command hate for enemies

Let me repeat this because it must be understood clearly - Jesus here is not setting up a more spiritual and merciful law than the one given to Moses. This is a common mistake. He is not softening a hard and tough law that previously said 'hate your enemies', instead He is correcting the error that said so.

Jesus is not undermining the authority and the standards of the Father, but upholding it.

How do we know this?

The fact is you can search the old testament, and not find God commanding His people to hate their enemies. But you will find many verses that require them to love their enemies such as Exo 23:4-5, Prov 25:21, I Sam 24:7, II Kings 6:22 (show these on the projector):

Exodus 23:4-5 4 "If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him. 5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it. Prov 25:21 21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.

Old testament use of 'neighbour'

You can also search the old testament and find many verses where the word 'neighbour' is clearly not limited to family, nor with the people over the fence, but instead describe anyone whom they may come into contact:

Exo 11:2 "Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold."
Here the 'neighbour' refers to the Egyptians among whom Israel were slaves.

And in the same chapter in Leviticus where God commanded His people to love their neighbour as themselves, this passage in Leviticus 19:33-34 showing this love is not limited to the native Jew.

Leviticus 19:33-34 " 'When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. 34 The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God."
And in the original Hebrew for Exodus 18:16, we see that even Moses uses the word 'neighbour' to describe an opponent in a lawsuit:

Exodus 18:16 (New American Standard Bible) 16"When they have a dispute, it comes to me (Moses), and I judge between a man and his neighbor and make known the statutes of God and His laws."

The pharisees not only did wrong in the sight of God for limiting who their neighbor was, but also for the wicked inference that they are to 'hate their enemy". In fact by prohibiting the bearing of a grudge, the spirit of the law in Leviticus 19:18 prohibits any ill-feeling against any enemy.

Therefore the command to love their neighbours, properly understood, commanded them to love all mankind.

Treating our enemies - Love them

When Jesus talks about loving our 'enemy' then, we are to understand that our love must not distinguish between them and our 'neighbor'.

He rounds up how we are to treat our enemies this way:

In v38-42 he teaches what we're not to do to our enemies - we are not to pay back violence for violence; we are not to resist evil. Jesus said that if we are struck on the right cheek, we are to offer the left also. And so on.

Then in v43-48 he teaches what we are to do to our enemies - we are to love them as we love ourselves and pray for those who persecute us. We are to treat them as we would our brother or sister. If out of love for family we are willing to sacrifice our property, our honor and our life - we must be prepared to do the same for those who persecute us or intentionally harm us.

We are to love our enemies as we love ourselves. This means that we are to be as diligent and be delighted in meeting their spiritual and eternal needs as we are with ours.

Treating our enemies - Pray for them

And then we are to pray for them. This is a supremely difficult demand, especially for those who understand what praying for our enemies really means. It means that through the medium of prayer we go to our enemy, stand by his side, and plead for him to God.

We take their distress, their hate against us, their poverty; we take their guilt and rebellion against God; we take all these upon ourselves - and plead for them to God.

Loving our Enemies as modeled by Christ

So what does such a love look like? At this point we cast our eyes upon Jesus. The kind of love Jesus teaches about is the same love he did not refuse to give on the cross for us, who were once His enemies. this unique, universal, redeeming sacrifice, we can only bow our head in shame as we see what it took Jesus to fulfill the high requirement of the law of God:

(Based on Isaiah 53)

He took on our infirmities; He carried our sorrows; and we did not see that He was stricken and afflicted because of our load on His shoulders.
He was pierced because of our transgressions; crushed because of our sin and rebellion;
He stood before the Father, shielding us, and taking on our punishment so that we may have PEACE.
And by His wounds, we are finally healed.

Loving our enemies

That is what loving our enemies looks like. So let me ask you this - who here is capable of such a love?

Who here is capable of loving their enemies to the point where you would take on their guilt against God, a guilt which condemns them not merely to physical death but eternal death, and intercede for them? This is what this love demands.

Who among us, realizing that for our own sinfulness we have punishment enough, would take on the punishment intended for our enemy so that they may have peace with God? This is what this love demands.

Who among us would die for an enemy, and at the same time pray 'Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing'? (Luke 23:34). This is what this love demands.

Picturing ourselves at the mount

When we are finally confronted with such challenging questions, we are ready to see the design behind this commandment to love our enemy.

You and I sit with the disciples and the crowds that listened to Jesus on the mountainside that day. We may see ourselves in the circle of disciples close to Him; or we may be standing or sitting in the circle further out, together with the curious onlookers.

None of us know at this stage in His ministry who this Jesus is - what his mission is, and what he can teach us.

A hush falls over us all as we realize he is about to speak. The spectators among us are a little annoyed at this interruption to the spectacle of miracles and healing, but we sit down anyway to listen - we suppose that the man has at least won the right to speak after all that.

Then he begins to teach.

We slowly realize two things: first, that this man speaks differently from all the other teachers of the law and the pharisees. He speaks with authority. Second, his teaching is harder to take because He teaches about the high demand of the righteousness of God.

We listen carefully as He teaches "...unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven" (v20). Then we ponder this: "But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment"(v22), Then we hear: "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

What is the effect?

What is the effect on us now as we listen? Let's really confront this question.

As you hear Him, who spoke as no one else has ever spoken - indeed with the authority of God Incarnate; the Lawgiver interpreting and enforcing the demands of His holy, just, and spiritual Law; as you honestly measure yourself against such pure and noble and Godly requirements - what is your reaction?

Will you not look away in shame to see how far short you come up against such a standard, to see that weighed against such a scale you are found wanting? If you were honest with yourself, would you say anything less that as the Law has now been made clear, you and I have been condemned at every point, that before it you must confess you are guilty, completely without hope, a lost sinner?

And then Jesus commands us what is impossible for us to do: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"

Now we know that our instinct is to resent those who hate and injure us. Our sense of justice cries out that it is only fair! It is an impossible command for us, for as the Paul attests in Romans 8:7, our instinct, our fallen, sinful mind "... is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so."

"Be Perfect..."

And finally Jesus ends this part of His sermon with this: "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.' (v48)

God's standard is perfection. It was God's standard before the Fall of Adam and Eve, and it is His standard still. Even though we have lost our power to comply, God has not lost the right to require what is due Him.

And why have we lost the power to comply? Because our heart is corrupt and sinful. And that doesn't excuse us - in fact the condition of our heart is the very thing that makes us thoroughly guilty before God.

Here on this mountainside our eyes are finally opened to our condition before God. Jesus has shattered and slain our self-hope, our self-righteousness. We are utterly undone.

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Heb 4:12)

A New heart; a New Life

We realize that if the heart of a sinful man is so corrupt that he can not love his enemies, then he is in dire need of a new heart. And if being perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect is beyond his reach, then he is in dire need of being born again.

Like Paul we now cry, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Rom 7:24) Who indeed?

In the sermon of the mount we see a design. The design is for us to realize that there is nothing within that saves us, and compel us to look outside for our salvation. Who will rescue us from this body of death? Paul answers:

"Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Rom 7:25)

This same Jesus who shattered our self-hope and self-righteousness with the sermon on the mount is the same Christ through whom the impossible was made possible: "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8)

Jesus demonstrated the perfect love for enemy by dying for us who are His enemies. By choosing to die on the cross Jesus calls us His friends, because as He said to His disciples during the last supper "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13)

As we finally perceive the design in the sermon on the mount, we realize this truth: Loving our enemies then is only possible as we love God first. It is God that makes obedience to this commandment possible.

Application & Challenge

Undivided Love

If you are a Christian, I hope that our first reaction is overflowing gratitude to God for treating us not as we deserved.

Second, I hope that you learned that loving others is beyond our ability to do on our own strength. Like everything else in a Christ-redeemed life you are dependent on God accomplishing His love through you. You are merely called to obey as you love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

Thirdly, I hope that you are excited to act out this love to others, not because of any reward to yourself, but because you are keen to see lives returned to God as yours was.

Finally, I pray that we be vigilant against any teaching that lowers the standard of God in our life.

Come Home

If you are not yet a Christian, my prayer is that the desire for God has been woken up inside you. That you look at the high standard of love God demands, and realize that he demands this love not only from you, but for you who by your nature have chosen to be His enemy. God is saying you must be given this high standard of love.

I pray that you look at the sermon on the mount and realize that God loves you too much to let you continue to believe you are alone in the world; that you must try to live this life on your own, by your own imperfect rules; but your own human strength.

Yes, the God we speak about is perfectly righteous, and He demands today the same standard of righteousness as He always did. But this God is also your Father, who through Jesus Christ, does not condemn you as His enemy. He calls you instead His beloved, His prodigal son. If today you hear his voice do not harden your hearts (Heb 3:15). Come home.