Matthew | The Heart of Integrity and Love

All right, let's go and get started.

Good morning. Welcome to New Lock Community

Church for anybody that's visiting.

My name is Jasper and I serve as associate pastor here.

I have the honor and the privilege of preaching today.

And I found out right before I started that this actually will

be the very first sermon that Ophiro ever hears.

And so I am very proud of that. So I get that privilege.

So I'm excited to preach today. If you have our Bibles, go ahead

and turn to Matthew chapter 5. So we have been in a series over

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

the last several weeks in the book of Matthew, and we started

weeks ago in Matthew chapter 5. And in Matthew 5 through 7, we

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

see the Sermon on the Mount. And so that's where we've been

camped out for a few weeks now when we started the Sermon on

the Mount of Jesus starts with the Beatitudes in verses one

through 11. And then shortly after the

Beatitudes, he says this in verses 17 through 20.

Do not think that I've come to abolish the law or prophets.

I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

For truly, I say to you, until heaven on earth pass away, not

an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is

accomplished. Therefore, whoever relaxes one

of the least of these commandments and teaches others

to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.

But whoever does them and teaches them will be called

great in the Kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your

righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees,

you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.

Now, when Kyle preached on this, when we first hear this

statement, the reaction is what? How can, how can we do this?

Who can do this? The scribes and the Pharisees

knew the law front to back. They lived that was their whole

life was studying the law and living by it and being as

perfect as they could. And yet we're supposed to be our

our righteousness is to exceed that.

How do we do this? Jesus goes on to explain how in

verses 21 through 48, this is where we began what is known as

the antithesis section of the Sermon on the Mount.

So there are 6 statements that Jesus makes.

These are antithesis statements and each one begins with you

have heard it said, but I tell you and then he goes on.

Now, in these passages, Jesus is quoting Old Testament law, OK,

but he's not correcting the law. He's correcting

misinterpretations of the law. See, they had the law, they had

access to it. They knew it, but they were

misinterpreting it. They they had gotten it all

wrong. They were missing the point of

the law entirely. They thought that it was all

about external conformity to the law.

So for our righteousness to exceed theirs, to exceed the

scribes and the Pharisees, we need to rightly understand the

law which they had gotten wrong. Then we need to do it and teach

it as Jesus spoke. So through these statements,

these antithesis statements, Jesus isn't raising the bar for

external behavior. He's exposing the heart and

calling us to reflect on the very character of God, which he

perfectly exemplified for us. And that's what we've been

looking at over the last few weeks, how we can reflect the

character of God by obeying His law.

So today we're going to look at the last three of these

antithesis statements regarding common misconception about the

misconceptions about the Old Testament law.

Today we're going to look at oaths, retaliation, and loving

your enemies. And so we're going to start in

Matthew chapter 5, verse 33. If you have your Bibles, go

Matthew 5:33

ahead and get there. And if you're able, would you

please stand as we read God's Word this morning, Matthew

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5, starting at verse 33. Again, you have heard that it

was said to those of old, You shall not swear falsely, but

shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.

But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven,

for it is the throne of God, or by earth, for it is His

footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great

King. And do not take an oath by your

head, for which you cannot make one hair white or black.

Let what you say be simply yes or no.

Anything more than this comes from evil.

You have heard that it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth

for a tooth. But I say to you, Do not resist

the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the

right cheek, turn to him the other also.

And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have

your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go

one mile, go with him 2 miles. Give to the one who begs from

you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

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

become 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 the unjust. For if you love those who love

you, what reward do you have? Do not even 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 the word of the Lord.

Speak to God. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we have heard from Your word.

We pray now that you help us to rightly understand it.

Please illuminate our minds and soften our hearts to receive it,

and help us apply these teachings of Your Son Jesus

Christ and live them out in obedience and faith, empowered

by Your Spirit. We ask it in the name of Christ,

Amen. You may be seated.

So considering that all of these antithesis statements are meant

to show us how to reflect the character of God, today's sermon

could be summed up this way. Kingdom citizens reflect the

perfect character of the Father by speaking truthfully and

responding to evil with humble restraint and active love, even

toward their enemies. Let me say that one more time.

Kingdom citizens reflect the perfect character of the Father

by speaking truthfully and responding to evil with humble

restraint and act of love, even toward their enemies.

So we're going to unpack this a bit.

We're going to look at each one of these sections and these

statements provide some explanation and consider

applications. So if you're taking notes,

there's going to be some filled in the blank here as we go.

So the first way that we reflect the character of the Father is

Kingdom citizens speak with integrity.

Kingdom citizens speak with integrity.

Let's look again at verses 33 through 37 on oaths.

Again, you've heard it said to those of old, You shall not

swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.

But I say to you, do not take an oath at all, either by heaven or

by earth, or by Jerusalem, or by your head.

Let what you say simply be yes or no.

Now remember each one of these statements that we've been

studying these you have heard it said, but I tell you is based on

a misconception of the Old Testament law that Jesus is

quoting. And in this case he's

referencing Numbers chapter 30, verse 2, which says if a man

Numbers 30:2

vows A vow to the Lord or swears an oath to bind himself by a

pledge, he shall not break his word.

He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

And also Leviticus 1912 You shall not swear by to my name

falsely, and so profane the name of your God.

I am the Lord. So just like with many of the

other laws, the Pharisees had created these external loopholes

and technicalities that violated the very heart of why that law

was written in the 1st place. The Pharisees had built a system

that allowed deceptive truthfulness.

They would swear by something with no intentions of fulfilling

that oath at all, because the thing that they swore by wasn't

that binding. It wasn't that important.

One commentator said. The situation described is 1, in

which many Jews viewed swearing by heaven or earth or Jerusalem

or one's head as less binding than swearing by God, so they

didn't feel as obligated to keep their word.

However, Jesus stresses that each of these items belongs to

God in a very important way and so with his teaching Jesus

restores the laws true demand which is truth from the heart,

truth from the heart. God himself is a God of truth

and his people are called to mirror him in that Christ

himself said in John 14, six I am the way, the truth and the

life right? So we are called to be Christ

like by the renewing of our mind and being conformed to his image

and He is truth. So in regards to truth, we do

this by being a people of integrity.

We walk the walk. We don't just talk the talk.

We don't just show up on Sunday morning and put on a happy face

and pretend to be Christians, people of truth.

We live by the truth. We teach the truth.

We speak with truth in our words.

Integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or

earnestness of 1's actions. So it is the opposite of

hypocrisy. The hypocrisy on one hand and

integrity on the other. You can't be both.

So in other words, we shouldn't have to say I swear on my Mama.

We shouldn't have to do that right?

Or I swear to God those words should never come from our

mouth. The kids worship God has a pinky

problem. We shouldn't even have to pinky

swear or do scouts on or any of those things.

As Christians, our word should be our word and our character is

what makes us trustworthy. We should be a people of such

integrity that when we give our word, you can take it to the

bank when our heart is true. You don't need to add decoration

or fluff to your speech to be believed.

Simply let your yes be yes and your no be no.

Matthew Henry said Don't miss this.

I know we use a lot of quotes at times and it's easy to get lost,

but this is so good. The worse men are, the less they

are bound by oaths. The better they are, the less

there is a need for them. So as Christians we should

reflect the character of God by being a people of truth.

Our speech shouldn't be characterized by gossip,

exaggeration, manipulation, or half truths.

We shouldn't make excuses or bend the truth to our needs.

Let your yes be yes and your no be no.

Do what you say you will do. Don't commit to something and

then not do it. Now this can be a variety of

things, right? This can be as big as marriage

vows, if you think about it. When you say I do, you're simply

saying yes to all the things that that preacher has just

asked. Do you swear to?

Will you be with them through sickness and health, through

good and bad, for rich and poor? Do you do these things?

When you say I do, you're saying yes, I will do those things.

So it can be as big as that, keeping your word, or it can be

as small as just being on time for something.

If you say you're going to be somewhere at a certain time, be

there on time. This is a soapbox of mine.

If you can't tell, it's a pet peeve.

Be on time. Other people are waiting on you.

So it's that simple. Just be a person of integrity

and character that does what you commit to do.

Ephesians 415 says speaking the truth and love, we are to grow

up in every way into him who is the head into Christ.

So speaking the truth and love is part of our sanctification.

It's part of our maturity as Christians.

As we learn to do this, we grow in this.

The point is to be the kind of person whose word is enough be a

people of integrity. Now the second way do we reflect

the character of the Father is Kingdom citizens refuse

retaliation. We refuse retaliation.

Look at verses 38 through 42, and many of your Bibles have

these subtitles, these headers of retaliation and oaths and all

of that. You've heard that it was said,

an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil.

If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him, the other

also. And if anyone would sue you and

take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him to give to the

one who begs from you. Do not refuse the one who would

borrow from you. So again, Jesus is quoting Old

Testament law. Exodus 2124 says eye for eye,

tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 1921 says your eyes shall not pity, it shall be life

for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for

foot. I remember in the Old Testament

when we read through these books, we see three different

kinds of law. In the Old Testament there was

the moral law, which was like the 10 commandments.

Those laws are still binding on us today as Christians.

We don't do away with those because we're not Jews, we're

not part of Israel. Those moral laws stand forever.

There was also the civil law. This was the the nation of

Israel's law system. Right there courts those laws.

And then there was their ceremonial law that involved the

temple and the sacrifices and the things like that.

For the most part, we are not bound by, do not adhere to their

civil laws and ceremonial laws. That was done away with.

So I for an I was part of their civil law.

It was a judicial principle which essentially meant that the

punishment should fit the crime in court.

So eye for an eye was the thing that when you go to court,

whatever the crime was, the punishment should be equal to

that. It should fit the crime.

This is good and right because the civil authorities are God's

appointed means of justice. According to Romans 13, justice

should be executed fairly, right?

We still believe in this today. This is still a good principle,

however, in this text. The reason Jesus brings this up

is that many had adopted this principle for themselves and

their own personal life. It wasn't about the courts

anymore. They made themselves the judge,

jury, and executioner. In essence, Jesus is forbidding

personal revenge in this passage.

Proverbs 2022 says do not say I will repay evil.

Wait for the Lord and He will deliver you.

So as Christians, we are not to take justice into our own hands.

We're not to seek retaliation when wrong.

We are to leave that to God. Our part is to be humble and

forgiving and seek peace where possible.

We're called to be peacemakers. Now, there are numerous New

Testament teachings on this. When you think about what this

involves with forgiving people, right overlooking an offence.

Ephesians 432 be kind to one another, tender hearted,

forgiving one another as God and Christ forgave you.

Colossians 313 bearing with one another, and if one has

complained against another, forgiving one another as the

Lord's forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Matthew 6 that we've already covered verses 14 through 50.

Sorry we haven't gotten there yet. 14 and 15.

If you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father

will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive them,

your heavenly Father won't forgive you.

So the point of all this is that rather than seeking revenge,

Christians are to be patient, kind, forgiving, willing to

accept persecution and insult in the name of Christ.

Because when we truly understand what's known as the scandalous

grace of Christ, which we're fixing to learn all about as we

enter into Easter time, that he died on a cross, died a sinner's

death, even though he had done nothing wrong, He had never

sinned. And he did that for a bunch of

wretched, nasty, vile sinners. Us, that's not fair.

That's why it's called scandalous grace, because he

gave something that was not deserved or earned.

And so as I've mentioned, we are to emulate him in that we extend

forgiveness and grace where it's not earned, it's not deserved,

but we are trying to be Christ like in these ways.

Spurgeon said this. If any man thinks I'll of you,

don't be angry with him. You're way worse than he thinks

you are. Amen.

Right. If they only knew the half of

it. In fact, what we are seeing here

is that Christians shouldn't just do the bare minimum by not

retaliating. We are to go above and beyond by

actually doing good to those who offend us.

There are 4 examples given in this text.

The first is the slap on the right cheek.

And I'm sure some of you have heard this before but think

about this. This is easy to Passover when

you're reading your Bible. Most people are right-handed,

not all but most. I'm right-handed and so if I

were looking at you and I was going to slap you like I'm

fixing to attack you and lay hands on you and slap you, which

cheek would I hit? Your left cheek right?

Jesus says if someone slapped you on your right cheek, So what

does he mean? How how would I, how would I do

that? A backhand right.

This was a common Jewish insult. It wasn't necessarily a physical

attack like you're fixing a fight.

It was an insult. So many of you've seen the old

movies, right? It back in the day with the

Knights in shining armor. They would take off a glove and

you know, and that would start the fight.

Then they would go duel or joust or whatever.

This is what's happening here. It's an insult.

It's a put down. It's a challenge to someone.

So Jesus is saying when you are insulted in this way, don't

return the insult with another insult.

In fact, turn the other cheek rather than returning the

insult. Say thank you Sarah, may I have

another? That should be our response.

As Christians, we are to be loving and peacemakers.

Don't worry about being insulted.

It's just words or a slap. Then you see the tunic in the

cloak thing. Now this is like a shirt and a

coat, and it's referencing here that someone would take you to

court over this. So Jesus is saying don't just

give him your shirt, give him your shirt and your jacket.

Give him more than what he's asking for.

Be willing to relinquish your personal rights when wronged in

order to make peace, because blessed are the peacemakers.

Then you see the example of going 2 miles instead of 1.

Now this is another interesting one because back then they were

under Roman rule. And when the Roman military

would move from one town to the other, they would have a lot of

gear and equipment to take with them.

So as their soldiers are going down the road, maybe he's got

his, his rucksack and his AR15 and his Glock 9 mil and all

those things he's carrying, right?

And he can't carry it all 'cause it's so heavy.

So they would see a citizen and say, hey, pick something up and

help us carry this. So Jesus is saying, don't just

go what's required of you by going one mile.

Go above and beyond. Go 2 miles with him.

Do more than what he's asking, even though you might have been

in the middle of doing something and he's taking advantage of

you. Go the extra mile with him.

This is where we get that expression.

Go the second mile with someone or go the extra mile.

And then we see another example of a beggar.

It says to give to the one who begs for you, even if it's

undeserved, even if you know they don't need it.

In other words, Christians should not be people eager to

repay every insult or injury or just do the bare minimum.

That kind of attitude is born out of anger, which Kyle just

preached on recently, or worse, self righteousness.

Who do they think they are to offend me in this way?

So let me say though, in this section on retaliation, there is

a very important distinction that must be made.

This passage is talking about personal ethics, OK?

This is not talking about the role of the civil magistrate or

the government. The punishment should still fit

the crime and we entrust the God ordained governing authorities

to execute justice. Romans 13 says that the state

does not bear the sword in vain. That's what they're there for.

This also does not negate legitimate self self-defense.

It also doesn't negate the duty to restrain evil.

In this passage, Jesus forbids personal vengeance is revenge

that he's after, not justice itself.

He's not prohibiting all resistance to evil in every

sense of the word. No, he's not doing that.

Scripture consistently affirms the legitimacy legitimacy of

self-defense, the responsibility of governing authorities to

punish evil, and even the duty to protect others from harm.

Defending your family is not a sin.

It would be a sin to allow those under your care to be harmed

when you could have done something to prevent it.

You are more obligated to them than you are to that stranger

who would do them harm. Stopping evil can actually be an

act of love to prevent further harm and evil from escalating.

So a great example here. Obviously things are coming to

our mind when we think of like an attack right?

But with the beggar, it says give to the one who begs from

you. It would be unloving to enable

alcohol or drug abuse in someone who's asking money of you, or

even just poor stewardship. If someone has not learned a

thing about managing finances and continue to come for you to

you for money, it's not loving to just feed that habit and

enable them. Rather, maybe what we should do

is offer to get them help somewhere, offer to coach them

in finances, offer to help them get in a rehab, help them find a

job. Yes, do good, but don't enable

the sin. We are not to be their biggest

cheerleader. Whatever their choice, sin might

be right? That's not what this passage is

saying. Like I'm glad that that's the

sin you chose. Good for you.

Who am I to judge? No, that's not what we do.

We never condone sin. 2nd Thessalonians 310 says if

anyone's not willing to work, let him not eat.

So again, someone might be lazy. Maybe they just won't work.

It's not good for us to continue to support that habit.

Not that we can't help them. Not that if you give to that

person, God's going to hate you for that.

He will bless that. But let's think of real ways to

do good and help them. So these verses shouldn't be

taken as a command toward pacifism or to become a doormat

for people that you're just supposed to do whatever people

want you to do, right? Whatever they ask of you,

whatever they do to you, you're just supposed to take it laying

down, right? No, not at all.

But we should be willing to suffer insult or even

persecution for the sake of Christ if that's what's required

of us. We also have a responsibility,

as I've mentioned, to provide safety for our families and

prevent harm toward others and encourage good stewardship.

Now at this point, you might be thinking to yourself, this is

too hard. I can't do this.

If someone slaps me, they're going to catch these hands,

right? We might be thinking that we

think that we're incapable of extending that kind of grace

towards someone, especially people who don't deserve it.

But remember, he who is forgiven much loves much.

What greater insult has there ever been in the history of

humanity than the cross of Christ?

Truly, that was a punishment undeserved, and yet Jesus bore

it willingly for our sakes. When we did not deserve such

grace and forgiveness, we deserved God's wrath.

If ever anyone deserved retaliation or revenge or

punishment, it was us. But yet He forgives us.

So who are we to withhold forgiveness from others, even if

they don't deserve it? How dare we do that when we have

been recipients of such Amazing Grace and forgiveness?

How could we withhold that from others?

This is exactly what the parable of the unforgiving Debtor is

about, which we're going to see in Matthew 18 eventually.

I don't know how long that'll take, but the point is clear.

Do not seek revenge or retaliation.

Instead, humble your heart and make peace where possible.

Again, Matthew Henry says this. If any were to say I'm just a

man, I'm merely human. Flesh and blood can't pass by

such an insult. Let him remember that flesh and

blood shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.

So the third way that we reflect the character of the Father is

Kingdom. Citizens love their enemies.

They love their enemies. Let's look at verses 43 through

47 again. 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 to rise on

the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the

unjust. For if you love those who love

you, what reward do you have? Do not even tax collectors do

the same? And if you greet only your

brothers, what more are you doing than others?

Do not even Gentiles do the same?

So this goes hand in hand with what we just read on

retaliation, but it's a slightly different again here Jesus is

expounding on an Old Testament law, but this one's interesting.

He says you've heard it said you shall love your neighbor.

Pretty simple, right? We've heard that.

Where's that at? Let's see Leviticus 1918.

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons

of your own people, but shall love your neighbor as yourself.

I am the Lord, so loving our neighbor is pretty clear, right?

But what about you shall hate your enemy?

He said. You have heard it said.

You shall love your neighbor. You shall hate your enemy.

Where's that one at? Where's that verse?

Where's that come from? It doesn't.

It's not in there. That's not in the Old Testament

law. That's not a command at all.

In fact, what had happened was just like they took these civil

judicial laws and started to apply them personally when it

came to revenge. They took verses like Psalm 5,

four through 5 that says, for you are not a God who delights

in wickedness, evil may not dwell with you.

The boastful shall not stand before your eyes.

You hate all evil doers. They took verses like that about

God and thought, well then I need to do that too, that that

applies to me too. I have to hate evil doers and

evil doers, or anyone that's not like me.

The scribes and Pharisees had taken this to mean that they

should hate their enemies, which would be anyone unlike them, not

in their camp of people. So they restricted love to their

neighbors, their fellow countrymen, those like them.

A great example. They hated the Gentiles,

despised them. Jesus points out that even the

tax collectors and the Gentiles do this.

The very thing you're doing, your enemies do even they can do

that much. Jesus then flips the script on

him and he commands a God like love, which extends even to

enemies. He explains with an example.

The Father sends sunshine and rain to the evil and good to the

just and the unjust. Now this reflects what is known

as God's common grace, His blessings that extend to all

people, no matter whether a Christian or not.

This is not the same thing as saving grace, but it is real

kindness toward the undeserving. So we all, believers and

unbelievers, Christians, non Christians alike, wake up every

day to God's common grace. Just think about this.

We breathe His oxygen into our lungs.

We get up out of bed and walk because He gave us that ability

to do so. We feel His sunshine on our

face. We see the smile of newborn

babies. We smell fresh flowers.

We actually get to taste food. Have you ever thought about

that? God did not have to make us with

taste buds. He could have just made it where

everything tasted the same and it's just fuel.

But He gave us taste buds and you get to eat things like

steak. How amazing is that?

God is so good. These are common graces that all

people get, right? We get laughter and we get

tears. He gave us dogs, not cats,

they're from Satan, but he gave us dogs.

We could go on and on and on and on about the blessings of God

that he pours out on everybody. No matter you're standing before

most Christian, non Christian, we all experience this.

These are common graces. And so if God shows common grace

to everyone, even his enemies, we are to do the same.

We are to reflect his character. We should show common grace

toward all people, even our enemies.

Proverbs 2521 through 22 says if your enemy is hungry, give him

bread to eat. If he is thirsty, give him water

to drink, for you will heap a burning coals on his head and

the Lord will reward you. Aha, it's not just do good

things to my enemies in so doing I'm heaping burning coals on his

head. Now if we can all get on board

with that right, the person that insults us or attacks us like

put some coals on your head. See Paul sums up the all this

teaching on retaliation and loving enemies well in Romans

12/14 through 21. Let me read you this real quick.

He actually quotes both the proverbs I've just told you and

sums all this up. He says bless those who

persecute you, bless and do not curse them.

Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with the weeping with

harmony with one another. Don't be haughty associated with

a lowly. Never be wise in your own sight,

OK, Repay no one evil, evil for evil, but give thought to 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 doing

so, you keep burning coals on his head.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Did you catch that? There's a kicker in there.

We actually overcome evil with good.

This is not a defensive tactic. This is an offensive tactic.

We're on the offense. We are overcoming evil through

doing the good to the evil doer. We're not retreating.

We're advancing in this fight by doing this.

The point is not to allow evil or help it grow.

The point is to overcome it with good.

But in true Jesus fashion, just like so many other things in

scripture, we do it the exact opposite.

The way that our flesh in the world would think we would do

this right, we naturally would think we need to smite our

enemies. But no, Christ calls us to do

the opposite, to love them. Now this raises a question, an

important question. How do I do this?

How do I love my enemies? We saw the examples of give him

food and give him water, but how do I actually do this in my

day-to-day life? In James Baird's book King of

Kings, he says the first divine duty of every creature is to

accept reality. Hence, if we acted as though

friends and enemies were the same thing, we would fail in

that first duty. That's not realistic.

OK, yes, we're called the love of our enemies, but that doesn't

mean they're our friends, right? They are our enemy.

We would disconnect from God's world if we treated them the

same and thought of them the same.

So enemies are real things, but Jesus tells us to love them.

But that actually makes Jesus's command harder, not easier.

If we're not to treat our enemies as our friends, then how

do we treat them? How do we love them?

Love means to will the good for someone.

Whoever our enemies may be, big or small, we must use our power

to give them good things. In most situations, we can find

simple ways to fulfill this command.

When someone insults us, we don't insult them back.

When they slap us, we turn the other cheek, right?

But let's suppose for a second that a serial killer breaks into

your home with a gun and tries to murder your family.

What does willing the good for them look like?

In that scenario, you don't have many options.

The best good you can give them is the good of stopping them

from committing this terrible sin.

This is an extreme example, but it draws out an important

principle. When our enemies aim to do evil

things to others, the best way to love them is to stop them.

So again, loving your enemies does not mean enabling sin, or

applauding it, or cheering it on as their biggest cheerleader.

It doesn't mean advocating for sin or ignoring injustice.

In some cases, loving enemies may mean opposing their evil and

preventing them from harming others or themselves.

Examples of this? Calling the authorities when

necessary. Say you see an abuse victim.

Call the cops. Intervene to stop harm to

others. Set righteous boundaries with

sinful friends or family. That's OK to do.

Share the gospel with those living in sin.

These are ways you can do good to prevent further evil in sin

and harm. You see, true love seeks the

good of others, including restraining them from doing

greater evil. And so you reflect your Father

not by who you love, but how you love, especially those who

oppose you. Practically, we can pray for our

enemies, we can refuse hatred and bitterness and revenge, and

we can actively seek to do good toward them however we can, so

far as it depends on us. With that, we conclude the

antithesis section of the Sermon on the Mount, and we get to

verse 48. Look at chapter 5, verse 48

again. You therefore must be perfect,

as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Oh, OK, just perfect. Sure, we can do that, right?

This statement provides a really great bookend to this section

when we pair it with what we saw in chapter 5, verse 20.

That said, unless your righteousness exceeds that of

the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not see the Kingdom of

heaven. So your righteousness has to

exceed the scribes and Pharisees.

You got to be perfect like your Father's perfect.

Those are great bookends to everything we've been reading

the last few weeks. Again, it sounds impossible,

right? Who can be perfect, right?

I can just hear the thoughts. I'm not Jesus, bro.

I can't do that. I'm not Jesus.

Or as some modern T-shirts say, them half holy half hood, right,

Right. I love Jesus, but I cuss a

little. Like I know you guys have seen

these things. No, you're not Jesus.

You're not. But you are called to imitate

him. You are called the walk in

Christ, likeness in a grow and conformity to Him day by day.

He doesn't call us the half holiness half hood.

He calls us to be perfect as our Father is perfect.

The through these teachings, Jesus has shown us what perfect

righteousness looks like. Each of these commands requires

us to go above and beyond what the law requires, and this flies

in the face of what our flesh wants to do.

It's never been about outward conformity to a list of do's and

don'ts. That's not the point.

It's always been about the heart of a true believer.

It's about our character. Our old self is passing away and

our new self is being reborn day by day.

And through this process of progressive sanctification, we

are being conformed to the image of Christ more and more.

We are learning to love as He loved.

We are learning to imitate him, the one who loved a wretched

Sinner like me and like you, when we did not deserve it.

And so in these verses, Jesus isn't calling us to a checklist

again. He's calling us to character,

his character, the very character of God himself.

That being the case, when we read these things, this standard

that he has set exposes us. We fall short of this.

We don't do this perfectly. We are weak sinners incapable of

doing any good works on our own. We cannot do this perfectly.

We will fail. We already have probably this

morning on the way here. And so after realizing that we

fall short of this, this standard also drives us to

Christ. That's why Jesus actually doing

these things perfectly was such a big deal.

He didn't abolish the law, He accomplished it.

He fulfilled it. He did it, every part of it

perfectly. He lived in perfect obedience to

the Father and offered Himself as a sacrifice so that we could

have that righteousness imputed on to us.

This is why we put our faith in Him, not our ability to do these

things. We bring all our failures, all

of this, all of our sin, all of our shortcomings to the foot of

the cross, and we ask God to forgive us and help us grow and

learn in this. Then this standard is formed in

us by the Spirit. As believers, we have the Spirit

of God living within us, a helper that enables us to live

like this, to do the things Christ is calling us to do.

It's only through His power that we can truly extend this kind of

Christ like love and grace toward others.

It's only a work of the Holy Spirit in us.

We cannot do this on our own. It's unnatural to our flesh to

do this. And so all three of these things

we've read about these sections or these antithesis statements

today deal with the heart, not just behavior.

Oaths deal with truthfulness of the heart.

Retaliation deals with humility of the heart, and loving your

enemies deals with the compassion of your heart.

Likewise, all three reject self-centered living.

For Christians, there should be no manipulating truth, no

defending your ego, no limiting love.

The just a select few and all three reflect the Father.

God is truth, so we speak truth. God is patient, so we are

patient. We don't retaliate, we extend

forgiveness and mercy. God is love.

We show love to all people. So brothers and sisters in here

today, Christians, if you've placed your faith in Christ, the

standard set for us by Christ himself is a very high bar.

With man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are

possible. So I encourage you to meditate

on these words throughout this week.

Go back and read this and think about what we've read today.

I want you to consider how you speak.

Think about your character. Are you trustworthy?

Would people consider you to be a trustworthy person?

Are your words big in people's ears?

Are you a man or woman of integrity?

Does your word mean anything? Think about that.

I'm sure that I've know I've heard of something.

That's all you really got in life, right?

Is your word and your character. Does your word mean a thing to

people? When you commit to something?

When you say you'll do something, do they believe you?

Another thing to consider, do you retaliate when wronged?

Are you patient, kind, and loving?

Are you willing to overlook an offense or do you bear a grudge?

Do you go above and beyond for those who ask of you, Do you

love your enemies? Do you pray for those who

persecute you? Do you love them enough to

oppose their sin, share the gospel with them and truly will

their good by pointing them to Christ?

We think about that, right? Do I love my enemies enough to

actually share the gospel with them?

Maybe through God's Word today you've been convicted of your

failure in these areas. I know how I have.

This was a very convicting passage to read this week.

I encourage you to flee to Christ, repent of that.

Take it to Him, ask his forgiveness and ask for his help

and cultivating godly character, and then go forth with the

Spirit of God in you and reflect the character of of God to those

around you, as we've seen in this passage today.

However, if you're in this place and you're not a believer, if

you have never truly put your faith in Christ, you've never

trusted Him. As I've mentioned, this standard

is very high and it's impossible in our own strength.

It's only by the Spirit of God that we can even attempt to do

this and we will fall short. For believers, we have the grace

from God and forgiveness as we seek to be conformed to His

image daily. We know that our righteousness

is not found in ourselves, but it's found in Christ and His

ability to do this perfectly. Our righteousness is found in

Him because of His perfect obedience and then sacrifice on

our behalf. We now have that righteousness

credited to us even though we don't do this perfectly.

But if you've never put your faith in Christ, I'm sorry to

tell you, you fall short of God's standard and you will be

held accountable. You will be judged.

As I've mentioned, this isn't about do's and don'ts.

It's about a heart change. God's Word tells us that only He

can take a heart of stone and turn it into a heart of flesh.

So maybe you've heard this today and you realize I fail at these

things. I'm no good at this.

Maybe you're a liar and your word means nothing.

Maybe you're vengeful. Maybe you hate everyone that's

not like you. If so, you need a heart change.

You need Christ to powerfully transform you.

You need to be reborn into a new creation.

And it is impossible for a heart of stone to show this kind of

compassion for others, especially your enemies.

So Christ bids you to come to Him today to repent of your sin

and believe in Him, to put your faith in His perfect

righteousness, not your own, and then that heart of stone will

turn into a heart of flesh and you can begin to grow in Christ

likeness. It's only by doing this, as

Jesus says in verse 45 of our text, that we can become sons of

our Father who is in heaven. So I invite you to come to Him

today if you've never put your faith in Him.

Kingdom citizens don't just avoid sin, they reflect their

Father. They walk in integrity and love

because they belong to Him. Amen.

Let's pray. Father God, we pray to you this

morning and and confess our failure at this where we

understand that we are not always truthful, that our words

sometimes are misleading. We're all liars in a sense,

Lord. We have sought retaliation and

revenge against those who have wronged us and we don't love our

enemies. And so God, we come to you

confessing the sin today and pray that you'll forgive us and

that you will help us see through texts like this your

character or help us to flee to the foot of the cross and to beg

for help in this. And we pray that you would

cultivate this type of character in each one of us to help us be

obedient to your law. Help us to understand that this

is not about do's and don'ts. It's not about just external

conformity, but it's about the heart of us.

It's about our character. Lord, help us to be Christians

who truly love you and love others.

God, we cannot do this on our own.

So we pray for your help in this.

And I'll pray that anyone here today who has not placed their

faith in you would be convicted, that they would lay down the

walls and the barriers and they would trust you and put their

faith in you. Today, Lord, we pray all these

things, not just out of selfishness, We pray them for

your glory that your name can be proclaimed and that your name

would be lifted high. I want to invite you all at this

point to just take time to reflect on this passage and what

we've heard today. Spend some time with the Lord in

prayer. I confess your sin.

Ask for help in these things. Just spend some time with the

Lord and I'll pray to end us, end us and our response time

here in just a moment. So spend just a moment with the

Lord. Father, again, we pray for You

to forgive us where we failed on these things.

Pray God that today would be a turning point, that You would,

through Your Holy Spirit, start to cultivate this character in

US and help us to love everyone around us, even our enemies.

Help us to honor You God, through our conduct and our

speech. Help us to reflect your

character. Only You can make us this kind

of people, and we ask that you do that today.

Lord, we praise you and we thank you for the grace of Christ,

that even when we fail at these things, He loves us.

We ask all this in His name, Amen.