Love Your Enemies

Good morning. It's great to worship with you.

And for those of you who know me, my name is Sean.

And it's my joy and privilege to preach God's word to you this morning.

! Please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5, verse 43 to 48.

Matthew 5:43–48

If you don't have a Bible, please raise your hand.

We'd love to give you a copy to use.

We are coming today to the last and climactic section

of the six contrasts that Jesus sets up

between the contemporary Jewish misapplication of the Old Testament law

and his true interpretation and fulfillment of the Old Testament law.

And so this is the sixth and final contrast that he sets up.

We're in Matthew chapter 5, verse 43 to 48.

Matthew 5:43–48

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.

Heavenly Father, we love you because you loved us first.

And when you command us to love our enemies,

we know that you do not command us to do something you haven't already done for us.

So, Lord, we ask for an outpouring of your love by your Spirit

into our hearts this morning

so that out of the overflow of that love,

we might love even our enemies.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

If you're able, please stand for the reading of God's word.

We stand to honor God as we read from his word.

From Matthew 5, 43 to 48.

You have heard that it was said,

you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

But I say to you,

love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you

so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.

For he makes his son rise on the evil and on the good

and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

For if you love those who love you,

what reward do you have?

Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

And if you greet only your brothers,

what more are you doing than others?

Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

You, therefore, must be perfect

as your heavenly Father is perfect.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

Please be seated.

Who doesn't want to have only friends and no enemies?

But unfortunately, in this world, we do have enemies.

People who are hostile toward us.

People who, for one reason or another,

want to see us fail.

People who wish ill on you.

Even more sadly, sometimes,

the enemies in our own lives

are people who are close to us.

Jesus says in Matthew 10, verse 36,

Matthew 10:36

and a person's enemies will be those of his own household.

How should we treat such people?

This passage flows naturally from verses 38 to 42,

in which Jesus taught us never to repay evil for evil,

but as sinful people that we are,

we always tend to limit and circumscribe God's commands,

to contain it and make it manageable.

And that's exactly what they did with this command

to not resist the evil person.

Jesus' audience was likely thinking to themselves,

sure, that of course we should love our friends and neighbors.

We shouldn't repay evil for evil to our neighbors and friends.

But surely that doesn't apply to our enemies.

They are, by definition, hostiles.

People who hate us.

People who are in conflict with us,

and contending against us.

So surely that doesn't apply to them.

But Jesus doesn't leave that loophole for us.

He commands us explicitly,

love your enemies,

like father,

like son.

So I'm gonna talk about this passage in three sections.

First, I'm gonna talk about the rule.

Secondly, I'll talk about the reward.

And third, I'll talk about the resemblance

that God calls us to.

First, let's talk about the rule that Jesus gives us.

Once again, he quotes from the Old Testament to start off.

This time, the quote comes from Leviticus 19,

Leviticus 19:17

verse 17 and 18.

It says,

If you examine verse 43 in light of this Old Testament passage,

against the sons of your own people,

but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

I am the Lord.

If you examine verse 43 in light of this Old Testament passage,

the first half looks good.

You shall love your neighbor.

It does leave out a phrase,

you shall love your neighbor as yourself,

but I don't think that's meant to be a significant detail,

because if you look at the Jewish scribe in Mark 12, 33,

or the Jewish lawyer in Luke 10, 27,

they both mention love your neighbor as yourself.

So I think the Jews of Jesus,

they understood that,

and here Jesus is just paraphrasing what they said.

The problem is not with the first half,

love your neighbor,

but with the second half.

They were saying,

You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

In Leviticus 19 that we just read,

it doesn't say hate your enemy.

So where did they get that idea,

that that was the biblical truth?

In Leviticus 19, 17 to 18,

he says,

You shall not hate your brother,

and that's the same command as,

You shall love your neighbor.

They understood that correctly,

that hate is the opposite of love.

But because the object of the command in Leviticus 19

is your brother and your neighbor,

the sons of your own people, it says,

they understood this command to apply only to their fellow Jews.

Once again, this is the natural, sinful human tendency

to be legalistic, to limit and contain God's law.

Instead of trying to understand the heart of the law,

the spirit of the law,

instead of trying to obey the law to its fullest extent,

they were legalistically obeying only the superficial letter of the law

so they could say,

Oh, I did it.

Check that box.

You can see this clearly in the community rule

of the first century Jewish sect called the Essenes.

It says there,

You should love all that God has chosen

and hate all that he has rejected.

Love all the sons of light,

each according to his law in God's design,

and hate all the sons of darkness,

each according to his guilt in God's vengeance.

Here's another example in the Halakha,

which is a collection of Jewish laws

derived from both the written and the oral laws.

Rabbi Maimonides writes,

With regard to a Gentile idolater,

it is forbidden to save their lives

if their lives are threatened.

For example,

if such a person fell into the sea,

one should not rescue him.

Leviticus 19.16 states,

Do not stand idly by

while your brother's blood is at stake.

This does not apply

with regard to such individuals

because they are not your brothers.

Admittedly,

this is from the latter centuries,

but this is the exact sentiment

that Jesus is addressing during his day.

Jesus is confronting this attitude

and showing us

that love your neighbor

and hate your enemy

is not a faithful interpretation

of the Old Testament teaching.

In fact,

if they looked closely,

in that very same chapter of Leviticus 19,

if you go down a few verses later,

in verse 34,

it says,

You shall treat the stranger

who sojourns with you

as the native among you,

and you shall love him as yourself.

For you were strangers

in the land of Egypt.

I am the Lord your God.

God doesn't allow us to restrict the word neighbor

only to our brothers or fellow Jews

or people who share our ethnicity

or race or whatever

because God commands the Israelites

to treat the stranger and the sojourner

like the natives, it says,

to love them as yourself.

The Old Testament,

like the New Testament,

commands us to love our enemies.

Here's another example.

Deuteronomy 22, verse 1.

Deuteronomy 22:1

It says,

You shall not see your brother's ox

or his sheep going astray

and ignore them.

You shall take them back to your brother.

This is how you should love your brother,

your neighbor,

a fellow Israelite.

But look at a similar command

in Exodus 23, verse 4.

Exodus 23:4

If you meet your enemy's ox

or his donkey going astray,

you should let it go astray

as far as it can.

No, that's not what it says.

It says the exact same thing

that it said that you should do

to your brother and to your neighbor.

Bring it back to him.

The Old Testament demands

the same loving treatment

of your enemy as your brother.

Sometimes, even as Christians,

we can believe the lie

that the Old Testament is,

the Old Testament ethic is sub-Christian,

that it's barbaric,

but that cannot be true

because the God of the New Testament

is the God of the Old Testament

and he doesn't change.

Let me give you an example

from the New Testament,

the classic text about loving our enemies,

Romans 12, 17 to 21.

Repay no one evil for evil,

but give thought to do

what is honorable in the sight of all.

If possible, so far as it depends on you,

live peaceably with all.

Beloved, never avenge yourselves,

but leave it to the wrath of God.

For it is written, vengeance is mine.

I will repay, says the Lord.

To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry,

feed him.

If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

For by so doing,

you will heap burning coals on his head.

Do not be overcome by evil,

but overcome evil with good.

If you could leave that up there for a little bit.

You could see two quotes there.

I think the first quote is in the previous slide.

The first quote was,

vengeance is mine.

Where is that from?

That's from the Old Testament.

Deuteronomy 32, verse 35.

Deuteronomy 32:35

What about the command?

If your enemy is hungry,

give him bread to eat.

If he is thirsty,

give him water to drink for you.

He will heap burning coals on his head.

Where does that come from?

The Old Testament.

Proverbs 25, 21 to 22.

The New Testament command to love our enemies

comes from the Old Testament.

But what does it mean to heap burning coals on his head?

Having burning coals heaped on your head

is not a good thing.

In Psalm 140, verse 9 and 10,

Psalms 140:9

when David is praying to God

for deliverance from his enemies,

he prays,

ask for the head of those who surround me.

Let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them.

Let burning coals fall upon them.

Let them be cast into fire,

into miry pits,

no more to rise.

So having burning coals heaped on your head

is not a good thing.

It's a bad thing.

But that raises a question, doesn't it?

Doesn't that sound kind of vindictive

and unloving?

Didn't Jesus just tell us to love our enemies?

It would be vindictive and unloving

if this were referring to

our own personal vengeance.

But in scripture,

burning coals always represent divine judgment.

In the vision of Ezekiel,

prophet Ezekiel,

in Ezekiel chapter 10,

Ezekiel 10:1–8

verses 1 to 8,

an angelic being a man in linen cloth

takes burning coals from where?

From the throne of God.

And then he scatters it upon Jerusalem

as God's judgment over this sinful city.

Burning coals are the judgments of God.

By repaying wickedness done toward us with kindness,

by refusing to take vengeance into our own hands,

we store up God's wrath upon our enemy's head.

It's like what we see in the book of Revelation.

In Revelation 5, verse 8,

Revelation 5:8

we are told that the golden censer

that is at the altar of God,

it's heavenly throne room,

it's the prayers of the saints.

It's prayers of the saints

that are described metaphorically

as a golden censer.

And these saints are praying to God,

oh Lord,

how long

before you will judge

and avenge our blood

on those who dwell on the earth?

They were martyred,

so they did not take vengeance

into their own hands.

They did not resist the ones who are evil.

They paid the ultimate price

and were killed for their faith in Jesus Christ.

So they love their enemies

and they're crying out for vengeance

because that was not right.

That was wrong.

And they're crying out

and these prayers,

that's the golden censer

later in Revelation 8,

an angel takes the golden censer

and then,

which is the prayers of the saints,

and then he puts the fire from the altar,

aka the burning coals,

into that censer

and then he spreads it,

which then becomes

the seventh seal

of God's judgment.

When we refuse

to avenge ourselves,

we leave it to the wrath of God

and God's justice

will indeed

have its way.

Does this mean then

that when we

repay our enemies'

evil with kindness,

that we should do so

gleefully?

Ah, you think

I'm being nice to you.

I'm just heaping

burning coals

upon your head.

No, of course not.

That's the wrong attitude

because we're supposed

to love our enemies.

That's the command.

Our refusal

to avenge ourselves

should be an expression

of love for them.

Proverbs 24, 17 to 18

warns about that precisely.

Do not rejoice

when your enemy falls

and let not your heart

be glad

when he stumbles.

Lest the Lord

see it

and be displeased

and turn away

his anger from him.

Our attitude

instead should mirror

God's attitude

towards sinners.

In Romans 2,

Romans 2:4–5

verse 4 to 5,

it says that God

has forbearance

and patience

and kindness

toward evildoers

and that that kindness

is meant to lead us

to repentance.

But in the immediately

following verse,

it says that,

but if they do not repent,

if they are impenitent

and hard,

then they are storing up

wrath for themselves

on the day of wrath

when God's righteous judgment

will be revealed.

Similarly then,

we love our enemies

with kindness

and forbearance

and patience

in hopes that we might,

by our kindness,

lead them to repentance.

repentance.

But if they refuse

to repent in the end,

you can be assured

that there will be justice,

that burning coals

have been being heaped up.

In fact,

I would argue,

though this might seem

counterintuitive

to some of us,

that a robust faith

in divine vengeance

is necessary

in order for us

to love our enemies

and not avenge ourselves.

This is how we make sense

of parts of scripture

like the conquest of Canaan

when God orders

the destruction

of the wicked nations

as well as

the imprecatory psalms,

the imprecatory psalms

where the psalmist

invoke curses

of God's judgment

upon the enemies of God.

These are never intended

to be personal vengeance,

but prayers

for divine vengeance.

Let me give you

an example

of an imprecatory psalm.

Psalm 139,

19 to 22.

David prays,

Oh,

that you would slay

the wicked,

O God.

O men of blood,

depart from me.

They speak against you

with malicious intent.

Your enemies

take your name in vain.

Do I not hate

those who hate you,

O Lord?

And do I not loathe

those who rise up

against you?

I hate them

with complete hatred.

I count them

my enemies.

David says

he hates

his enemies,

these enemies.

Doesn't that contradict

Jesus' teaching?

I don't think it does

because

of a couple reasons.

First,

it's clear from the context

that these are not

his personal enemies.

They are enemies

of the Lord God.

They speak against God.

They take God's name

in vain.

The hatred

that David feels

is not a sinful

personal spite

or hatred

toward his personal enemy

but a righteous anger

in response to sinners

who rebel against God.

Righteous indignation

toward the enemies of God.

He is not motivated

by a personal vendetta.

He's consumed instead

like Jesus

when he drove

the money changers

out of the temple.

He's consumed

by the zeal

for the glory of God.

In fact,

David is so certain

of his integrity

when he prays this

that later on

in that same psalm

he asks God,

come search me.

Search me

and know my heart.

See if there's

any grievous way in me.

And second,

David is not taking

vengeance

into his own hands

in this situation.

He is simply

praying for God's justice.

Prayer for God's justice

and love for our enemies

are not mutually exclusive.

Yes,

we should love our enemies.

And we should pray

for those who persecute us.

We should do good to them.

But when injustice

cannot be righted,

when injustice

is not righted,

it is morally imperative

for us

to pray for God's justice

for the sake

of the vindication

of God's name,

not for our sake.

If you think about it,

whenever we pray,

Marantha,

whenever we pray,

come Lord Jesus,

justice,

we're actually praying

for the judgment

of the wicked

because Jesus promises

that when he returns

that he will bring justice

and avenge

the righteous.

We are longing

for God's justice

and vindication

whenever we cry,

how long,

oh Lord?

if we have a hard time

stomaching that kind of

cry for divine vengeance,

it's probably because

we don't take sin

as seriously

as God takes sin.

A.F. Kirkpatrick,

a theologian,

writes on his book,

The Book of Psalms,

men have need

to beware

lest in pity

for the sinner

they condone the sin

or relax

the struggle

against evil.

In Matthew 23,

even Jesus

pronounces woes

on the Pharisees

and the scribes.

There is a time

and place

for the imprecatory

psalms,

but you better

search your heart

because many people

sin in this regard

instead of obeying

God's command

to love our enemies.

How then should we

treat our personal enemies?

People who wish ill

on us

and harm upon us

see how David

treats his personal enemies

which is very different

from the earlier psalm

we looked at in 139.

In Psalm 35,

Psalms 35:11–16

verse 11 to 16,

he writes that

his enemies

rose up

as malicious witnesses

!

against him,

false witnesses

trying to frame him

and corner him.

They repaid him

evil for good.

They rejoiced

at his stumbling.

They mocked him

and tore at him

without ceasing.

That's how his enemies

treated him.

But,

he says in the same psalm,

when they were sick,

I fasted

and prayed for them.

I went about

as though I grieved

for my friend

or my brother.

That's how we should

treat our personal enemies.

maybe there's a co-worker

or a peer at school

who tends to discredit you,

is always

maybe taking,

stealing credit from you,

engaged in this

one-upmanship

against you,

delighting in your failures

and rejoicing

in his triumphs over you.

Instead of

harboring this selfish ambition

and rivalry

and trying to sabotage them,

love your enemies

by helping them,

by seeking their success,

by praying for them.

Maybe you have

a manipulative boss

who guilt trips you,

pushes you around,

all to advance

his own personal agenda.

Makes you do

all the hard work,

but when it's time

to take credit,

he takes the project

for himself.

Instead of repaying him

evil for evil

by putting in

minimal effort

and undermining your boss

at every turn

by second-guessing

every decision he makes

and then gossiping

about him behind his back,

do your work,

love your enemies,

do your work

with diligence

and wish for your boss' success.

love your friends.

Maybe you have a friend

who betrayed your confidence,

but you resolve,

instead of lashing out,

you resolve to give that friend

the benefit of the doubt

and to continue to speak well

of that friend.

Maybe you've been ghosted

or abandoned

by a loved one.

Maybe you were neglected

by a family member.

Maybe you had a spouse

or a boyfriend

or girlfriend

who was unfaithful to you.

Love your enemies.

You choose to forgive them

and love them

nonetheless.

Love your enemies.

Pray for those

who persecute you.

Prayer is a wonderful

antidote

to personal hatred.

it's really hard

to keep hating someone

that you're praying for.

So pray for your enemies.

While Jesus was being crucified

by wicked men,

Jesus prayed for them

in Luke 23, 34.

Father,

forgive them

for they know not

what they do.

Likewise,

Stephen,

when he was being stoned

to death

by evildoers,

prayed in Acts 7,

Acts 7:60

verse 60,

Lord,

do not hold this sin

against them.

How can they be

so magnanimous

toward their enemies?

It's because they knew

that they know not

what they do.

They knew

that they were blinded

by Satan,

the ruler of this world,

the spirit that is now

at work in the sons

of disobedience.

So instead of being

vindictive,

they were compassionate

and merciful

toward sinners.

I remember being

particularly affected,

impacted by a testimony

of a pastor

from Rwanda

named Antoine

Ruta Isire.

I heard him

for the first time

at a missions conference.

He grew up

during the Rwandan

genocide in 1994

in one year,

or actually even

less than one year,

in a period

of 100 days.

Rwandan genocide

claimed a million lives.

A million people

killed in 100 days.

As a Tutsi,

Ruta Isire

grew up hating

the Hutus.

The Hutus

had killed

Ruta Isire's father.

Hutus had gotten

Ruta Isire

kicked out of school

when he was 15.

Hutus had made him

lose his teaching job

when he was 25.

Later in his life,

Ruta Isire

finally decided

to open the Bible

that someone

had given to him

that had been

collecting dust

on his shelf,

and God

opened the eyes

of his heart

by his spirit,

and he met Jesus.

He said he

read through

the entire Bible

three times

in six months,

and then he said

to God,

Lord, here I am.

Use me.

He became a pastor.

He started preaching

regularly,

but he still

hated Hutus.

And then one day

he came to this passage

where Jesus prays,

Father,

forgive them

for they know

not what they do.

Ruta Isire

felt convicted

by the Holy Spirit.

He knew God

was telling him,

you need to forgive

the Hutus.

And he was

so resistant

to the idea,

he said that he

yelled out loud

to God,

no!

I will not!

And for the next

two weeks,

he was in a crisis

of faith.

He knew he could

not go on

with his faith

in the Lord Jesus

unless he forgave.

He recalls,

quote,

I made a list

of specific people

that I hated

with cause,

but the Lord

told me

I had no cause

because Jesus

forgave the good

and evil people

upon his crucifixion.

I wept

as I forgave

those I hated.

the most painful

experience

is to forgive,

but I have now

become a reconciler.

After that point,

Ruta Isire

went to prisons,

preached the gospel

to many Hutus

and led them

to the Lord,

expressed the forgiveness

that they can find

in Jesus Christ.

who is it

that you are

having a hard time

forgiving today?

This is the rule

of Christ.

Love your enemies.

Jesus knows

that this is

a hard command

and he's very

gracious to us.

He gives us

not one,

but two motivations

to help us

to do this.

The first motivation

is our heavenly reward.

It's my second point,

the reward.

It says in verses

46 and 47,

for if you love

those who love you,

what reward

do you have?

Do not even

the tax collectors

do the same.

And if you greet

only your brothers,

what more are you

doing than others?

Do not even

the Gentiles

do the same.

The basic,

ordinary,

natural,

human decency,

Jesus says,

is not enough.

You must do

more than that.

Christians must do

more than what

others are doing.

Our righteousness,

as Jesus said

earlier in chapter 5,

verse 20,

must exceed that

of the scribes

and Pharisees.

Only then can we

expect heavenly reward.

Matthew speaks

of rewards

more frequently

than any other

New Testament author.

earlier in verse 12

of the same chapter,

Jesus said,

rejoice and be glad

when people

persecute you

and see all kinds

of false things,

evil against you

because of me.

Rejoice and be glad

for great is your

reward in heaven

for in the same way

they persecuted

the prophets

who were before you.

In chapter 6,

which Ed will

preach on

in a couple weeks,

Jesus speaks

repeatedly

about the importance

of practicing

our righteousness

in secret

rather than for show.

He says that

if we are seen

doing our good works

and admired

and praised

by people as a result,

then he says

you will have no reward

from your father

in heaven

because you already

received your reward

here on earth

by men.

This is helpful

for understanding

our passage.

Why is there no reward

for loving those

who love us?

because when you

love people

who love you back,

you already

get your reward.

You pat your back

and they pat your back.

You give them a massage,

they give you a massage.

You greet them

and they greet you.

You give them,

oh, you're so great,

you're amazing.

Oh, they tell you

you're so great,

you're amazing.

You got all your rewards.

Luke makes this explicit

in a parallel passage,

chapter 6,

verse 32 to 36.

If you love those

who love you,

what benefit is that to you?

For even sinners

love those who love them

and if you lend to those,

skim forward,

if you lend to those

from whom you expect

to receive,

what credit is that to you?

Even sinners lend

to sinners

to get back the same.

But love your enemies

and do good

and lend expecting

nothing in return

and your reward

will be great.

The reason why

love for enemies

is rewarded

by our father in heaven

is because there's

no reward

for loving our enemies

here on earth.

You get nothing

back in return.

If we are looking

for rewards

here and now,

we will never

love our enemies.

I mean,

think about it

for a moment.

Is there,

can you think of

anything more

unrewarding

than loving your enemies?

you don't get

the satisfaction

of vengeance.

You don't get

the satisfaction

of justice.

You just

swallow your pride

and say,

oh, hey.

Hey there, enemy.

And then they just

glare at you

and give you

the cold shoulder

and walk away.

Okay.

you help them.

Oh,

fine,

I hope you help

them out

and then

you get nothing

back

and you're in need

and then they

don't do anything

for you.

Who wants

to keep doing

that?

Christians do

because

we are not

looking for

an earthly

reward

but a heavenly

one.

Our heavenly

father never

reneeds

on his

promises.

If he promises

a reward,

he will surely

give it.

And he promises

us,

Jesus says

in Matthew 10

42,

that not even

a cup of

cold water

that we give

to one of his

followers

will go

unrewarded.

If that's

how a cup

of cold water

to one of the

disciples of Jesus

gets rewarded,

then how about

a cup of

cold water

for an

enemy?

Hebrews 6

10 says,

for God

is not

unjust

so as to

overlook

your work

and the

love that

you have

shown.

God will

not

overlook

the love

that you

show to

your enemies

because God

sees and

he's not

unjust.

He will

reward you.

Sometimes

I think as

Christians we

can be a

little bit

sheepish about

seeking heavenly

reward.

we ask,

isn't it

sinful and

selfish of

us to

pursue heavenly

reward for

ourselves?

Shouldn't we

be more

altruistic?

Shouldn't we

do good deeds

not for some

reward but

out of our

gratitude and

obedience toward

God?

God?

Well, of

course, if

there were

such a thing

as a

Christian who

has no

love for

God

whatsoever

but he

just obeys

these commands

just thinking

about that

heavenly reward

like, oh, I

don't want

anything to do

with God but

oh man, I

want that.

Well, yeah, that

would obviously

be wrong.

But here's

the key.

Such a

Christian does

not exist

because only

those who

love God

truly obey

him from

the heart.

Love for

God and

obedience to

God cannot

be severed

from each

other and

many passages

of scripture

teach this.

Jesus says in

John 14, 15,

if you love

me, you

will keep

my commandments.

And why do

we love

God?

We love, it

says in 1 John

4, 19, because

he first loved

us.

It always

starts with

God, doesn't

it?

Philippians 2, 13

says it is

God who

works in you

both to

will and to

work for his

good pleasure.

Without God

himself empowering

us by his

spirit, we

cannot ever

hope to love

our enemies.

We cannot

obey that

command and

do his

works.

Paul says

in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 15:10

15, verse

10, I

worked harder

than any

of them,

though it

was not

I, but

the grace

of God

that is

with me.

All that

to say,

only a

Christian who

sincerely loves

God and

desires to

please him

will forego

earthly rewards

in pursuit of

heavenly rewards.

So don't be

bashful about

driving hard

for those

heavenly rewards.

That is

how God

wants us

to think,

to keep

a heavenly

perspective.

God offers

us these

heavenly rewards

to encourage

us, and

there's no

selfishness to

be motivated

by them.

Let me ask

you a

question.

I think,

are we hosting

the Olympics

next?

Yeah, so

if you ever

watch the

Olympics,

I love

watching the

track and

field events,

the sprints

especially,

or the,

you know,

not the

marathon,

it's just

too long,

you can't

watch it

for that

long.

But when

you watch

the Olympics

and you

see a

runner

cross the

finish line

first,

and then

you see the

runner just

collapse on

the floor

with just

overwhelmed

with emotion,

their chest

heaving,

and they're

just kicking

their hands

and their

faces,

and they're

crying,

and why are

they so

overcome with

emotion?

Because they

lived for

how many

years of

their life

with nothing

but that

moment as

their goal?

That's what

they lived

for.

That's what

they sacrificed

for.

That's what

they gave up

their life

for.

That's what

they had in

mind when

they gave

up all

the good

delicious

things that

other people

eat that

they cannot

eat.

That's what

they were

thinking about

when they

went through

all those

grueling

exercises with

blood,

sweat,

and tears.

That's what

they were

driving for.

And how

many of us

look at

that and

then think

to ourselves,

oh,

how selfish.

I can't

believe he

just won a

gold medal

just so he

could be a

gold medalist.

That's so

selfish.

Who thinks

that way?

None of us

think that

way.

Because there's

something good

about

persevering

and running

toward a

gold like

that.

Is there

idolatry

there?

Yeah,

probably,

but I'm

just,

don't worry

about it.

Yeah,

just stick

with the

point that

I'm trying

to make.

Yeah.

And

ultimately,

the gold

medal for

that man

redounds the

glory of his

country too,

doesn't it?

do you

know that,

do you not

know that in

a race all

the runners

run but only

one receives

the prize?

So run that

you may obtain

it.

1 Corinthians

9,

24 to 25.

Every athlete

exercises self-control

in all things.

They do it to

receive a

perishable

wreath,

but we

an

imperishable

wreath.

God will

not overlook

your love

for your

enemies.

You will

be rewarded

for it.

And that

reward will

ultimately

redound to

the glory

of God

the Father.

It will

be no

selfish

thing.

That's the

first motivation,

heavenly rewards.

And here's the

second motivation,

resemblance to

our heavenly

Father.

It says in

verse 45,

love your

enemies and

pray for those

who persecute

you so that

you may be

sons of your

Father who

is in

heaven.

For he

makes his

sun rise

on the

evil and

on the

good and

sends rain

on the

just and

on the

unjust.

This does

not mean

that the

condition of

our sonship

is our

good works,

our love

for our

enemies.

It doesn't

say that we

become children

of God by

loving our

enemies.

Galatians 3,

26 is

clear.

It says,

for in

Christ Jesus,

you are all

sons of

God through

faith.

We are

saved by

grace through

faith alone.

Christians are

saved and

adopted as

sons by

grace and

through faith

alone, not

by our

good works,

not by

loving our

enemies.

What does

it mean

then that we

should love

our enemies

so that we

may be sons

of our

Father who

is in

heaven?

The

expression

son of

something is

a Hebrew

idiom that

doesn't always

refer to

literal paternity.

For example,

when Psalm

Psalms 89:22

89 verse 22

refers to

the wicked,

it calls

the wicked

a son of

wickedness.

Wickedness

doesn't have

children.

This is a

metaphor.

Proverbs 31

Proverbs 31:5

verse 5

describes those

who are

afflicted

literally as

sons of

affliction.

Deuteronomy

3.18

describes

courageous men

as sons

of valor.

So when

Jesus says,

so that you

may be sons

of your

Father who

is in

heaven,

he's not

talking about

your status,

but about

your resemblance.

The

followers of

Christ are

already adopted

children of

God,

but when we

love our

enemies and

do good to

those who

hate us,

we act

like God.

We behave

like God.

For he

makes his

sun rise

on the

evil and

on the

good and

sends rain

on the

just and

on the

unjust.

Verse 48

clinches this

interpretation.

You

therefore

must be

perfect as

your heavenly

Father is

perfect.

Again,

it's not

about status,

it's about

your resemblance.

We ought

to act

like God,

not so that

we can

become sons

of God,

but because

we are

sons of

God.

Like

Father,

like

Son.

We all

expect children

to resemble

their parents,

don't we?

I remember

seeing a

doctored

photo on

the internet

of a

family with

a gorgeous

couple,

like they

looked like

models,

the father

and mom,

and then

they had

like three

or four

children,

and they

were so

ugly.

Yeah.

It was

an advertisement

for plastic

surgery with

the tagline

that read,

the only

thing you'll

ever have to

worry about

is having

to explain

it to

the kids.

We

expect a

handsome

couple to

have

handsome

kids,

don't we?

I mean,

look at my

kids.

Just kidding.

I know

it's from

the Hannah

side,

everybody

tells me.

Yeah.

We expect

intelligent

people,

an intelligent

couple to

have intelligent

kids,

don't we?

likewise,

as those

who have

been united

with Jesus

Christ,

God's only

son,

by faith,

we share

in his

sonship.

That's why

he calls

us sons,

because we're

in Jesus

Christ.

Therefore,

it is fitting

that we

resemble our

heavenly

father who

blesses even

his enemies

by making

his son

rise on the

evil and on

the good and

sends rain on

the just and

the unjust.

Did you notice

that possessive

pronoun,

his?

It highlights

God's benevolence.

It doesn't say

God makes the

son rise.

It says God

makes his

son rise on

the evil and

on the good.

We humans

live like,

live as the

entitled people,

like we like,

as if we're

entitled to this

rising son,

oh,

that's our

son.

Every day we

count on it.

But God

says,

no,

that is my

son.

Every time it

comes up,

it's an expression

of my grace

toward you.

My grace,

mercy,

and blessing

to you.

We take it

for granted,

but the son

that keeps us

warm and makes

the crops grow

and infuses

our skins

with vitamin

D is his

son.

And God

makes it rise

on the evil

people and on

good people.

He doesn't

have to do

that,

yet he does

that.

God

sovereignly

and providentially

makes the

sun rise

every single

morning,

even on the

very people

who rebel

against him

and besmirch

his name.

In the same

way,

he makes the

rain come

down,

makes the

crops grow

to cool the

hot summer

days,

fills the

land with

water for

us to drink.

The rain

doesn't come

of its own

accord.

Yeah,

sure,

evaporation,

condensation,

but who

upholds the

universe by

the word of

his power?

Who upholds

and maintains

the laws of

nature?

It's the

creator,

the Lord

God.

He sends

rain to

us.

It says

in Acts

17,

25,

God himself

gives us,

all mankind,

life and

breath and

everything

else.

It says

that in

him we

live and

move and

have our

being.

Every single

moment that

we live,

we are alive

because God

sustains us and

gives us

breath.

Every day

we receive a

thousand undeserved

gifts of God's

grace and yet

so often

we fixate

on the one

or two things

that we don't

have that we

wish we had.

And then we

grumble against

God.

We resent

him.

Instead,

if we knew

the reality,

if we knew

the true

state of

things,

every single

one of us

would abound

in thanksgiving

and worship

and praise