What If Christians Loved Like This? I Think You Would See Revival

Like I am constantly being attacked.

And then God kind of brought to my attention, well, how do you

treat that person instead?

And it got me to think and I said, you know what, Lord, you're

right.

Your word says I am to love my enemies.

And so I started practicing that.

And long story short, we're actually pretty decent friends today.

He actually even came to me during he was in our youth group

and he actually even came to me at youth camp and actually apologized

and I apologized to him and we reconciled and it was good.

And I think back on that and I often wonder what would happen if

I did not love him the way I should have.

In fact, we could go even further with that question.

What would happen if all Christians in America did not love

their enemy and that they were so okay with being a bare minimum

Christian?

Tonight I'd like to talk about the three corrections that Jesus

gives us about love in Matthew chapter five.

We're already there in verse number 43.

We just read that.

Jump now to verse number 44.

But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you,

do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully

use you and persecute you.

You see, the bare minimum Christianity loves those who are

easy to love.

Christlike Christianity loves even those who are difficult to love.

You see, our love has to stretch beyond our preferences.

And number one, we must correct the recipients of our love.

Love those who are pleasant to you, loving neighbors, friends, and

those who treat us well.

Well, that's good.

But Christ never intended for our love to stop there.

Love those who are unpleasant to you.

Jesus commands us to love our enemies.

Our love should not depend on whether someone deserves it or even

returns it.

You see, in all of the Bible, verse number 44 is my most disliked

verse of the Bible.

And not saying that I hate the Bible, that's what I'm trying to

get at.

But because it convicts me so much.

Because how easy is it for me to love my friends, my family, my

co workers that treat me good, that show me respect, that I deserve,

that show me admiration, that applaud me.

Easy.

And God asks us to look beyond our feelings.

And instead he says, but I say unto you, love the ones that are

hard to love.

You see, bless instead of curse.

It says right here in verse number 44, Christlike love controls

our words.

When others curse us, we should respond with blessing rather

than retaliation.

And how easy it is for us to retaliate in our own minds is how

easy it is for us to snap back at that person.

I wonder what would happen if we had Christians all across America

that stopped retaliating with their words and just started blessing

People.

Pray instead of persecuting.

Jesus instructs us to pray for those who mistreat us.

Rather than seeking their downfall, we should desire their

repentance and spiritual goodness.

Isn't that the hardest thing to do?

You see, God expects us to love the ones that treat us good.

But he says, that's good.

Good job.

I give you a thumbs up, but that's the bare minimum.

I want to see you love that person that curses you out.

I want you to love that person that makes fun of you.

I want you to love that person that bodily harmed you.

And how easier said than done.

That is.

But In Proverbs, chapter 25, verses 21 and 22, it says, if thine

Proverbs 25:21

enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he be thirsty,

give him water to drink, for thou shalt heap coals of fire upon

his head, and the Lord shall reward thee.

In Romans, chapter 12, verses 20 and 21, it says, Therefore if

Romans 12:20

thine enemy hunger, feed him.

Sounds familiar.

If he thirsts, give him drink, for in so doing, thou shalt heap

coals of fire on his head.

And here's the added part in here in the New Testament, it says,

be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

And how easier said and done than that is.

It takes little effort to love someone who loves you back.

It's easy for me to love my wife, and at the same time, it can

be hard.

We good?

Okay.

Yeah, we're good.

No one looked back over there.

But when you love someone who has wronged you, guess what you're

doing?

You're demonstrating that Christ has changed you.

If we are truly to be followers of Jesus steps, why do

we not love like he loves?

That's not saying be acceptable of sin in someone's life.

But that is to say you love that sinner and you love them enough

to tell them, hey, I see you're going down the wrong path

and I would just want to help you.

There's a difference.

You see, Number one, we have to have the correct recipients of

our love.

And number two, we have to have the correct mindset.

In verses number 45, it says that ye may be the children of your

Father, which is in heaven, for he maketh his Son to rise on

the evil and on the good.

What that means is he prolongs the days of the evildoer just as

much as he prolongs the days of the good doer.

He continues on.

It says right here and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

He takes care of the unjust just as much as he takes care of

the just.

And you say, well, bro, no, that seems backwards.

We're supposed to serve God and that's how we get his blessing.

Yes, I'm right there with you.

But God loves your enemy too.

God loves the unjust because why?

Because he died for them.

And if Christ died for them and he loves them, why should we

do anything different?

Bare minimum, Christianity loves with the expectation of receiving

something in return.

Christ, like Christianity, loves because it reflects the character

of God.

See, love with your Father's compassion, recognize his impartial

goodness.

God sends sunshine and rain upon both the just and the unjust.

His common goodness is.

Is not reserved only for those who honor him.

And how backwards we get that sometimes.

By the way, that's not a ticket to live however you want to

live.

In fact, the Bible actually says God forbid with that type of

act.

It says right here, reflect, sorry, verse number 46.

For if you love them which love you, what reward have you?

What good does it do if you just love the ones that love you?

Reflect his gracious character.

As children of our Heavenly Father, our conduct should resemble

his character.

We should demonstrate kindness even toward those who oppose us.

Love without the expectation of a reward.

You see, we have these selfish motivations with our love.

Unfortunately, you say, well, brother Noah, how can you love selfishly?

It's pretty easy, actually.

Do you love yourself more than somebody else?

Do you love yourself more than God?

Do you love yourself more than God's word?

Do you love yourself more?

More than his teachings?

And if we really step back and think about that, I think we'd find

we have a whole lot more love for ourselves than we probably would

realize.

More than we realize on the surface.

You see, we should reject this selfish motivation.

If we love others only because they love us, what have we done beyond

the ordinary?

Right here in the end of 46, it says, do not even the publicans

the same.

The Jews hated the publicans.

They looked at them as they were above them.

Spiritually speaking, that's those tax collectors.

Especially if you were a Jewish tax collector, oh man, you

might as well be a Samaritan in their eyes.

You might as well be the scum of the earth.

Honestly.

And this is the point that Jesus was making.

The ones that you think are incapable of that love, they are

capable of that.

So what are you proving with your love?

That you love the ones that love you back.

That's the easy part.

I saw an interview the other day on social media and it was this

girl.

I can't recommend the video, but this girl was.

Well, she's very liberal.

And the interviewer asked her and said because she was challenging

some of this man's beliefs and things of that nature.

And he was kind of debating with her and he asked her, he says,

why do you not have a relationship with your parents anymore?

Do they not love you?

And she said, oh no, they love me.

They just don't support what I support.

And they actually wouldn't donate money to what I wanted them

to donate money to.

And it's sad how this world has twisted it that you don't have

to love the ones that even love you.

We've gone that far.

That it was easy, that the message was that, yes, you should

love those that love you.

Right, That's.

And now it's gone to the point now where it's like, no, you don't

have to love the ones that loved you.

Sad.

In fact, the whole Disney propaganda was love yourself.

How many times have I heard that in a movie lately?

You see, we have to love beyond the ordinary because even

the publicans were.

They were.

That was easy for them to do.

That wasn't even out of the ordinary.

So rise above this worldly expectation.

If we greet and care only for those within our circles.

Look at verse number seven.

And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others

do not even the publicans sow?

We have done nothing extraordinary.

God calls us to be extraordinary.

He wants us to go the extra mile.

I love right here in verse number 41 it says, and whosoever

shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him.

Twain.

You see, there was a law during that time that if a Roman

came to a Jewish person and that Roman had a bag, by law that

Roman could say, hey, carry my bags for me.

And that Jew by law would have to carry that pack one mile.

And what Jesus was saying here says, do the above and beyond.

Carry it another mile for him.

Why?

Because how much of a difference would that Roman look

at him.

And if we had some second mile Christians across America tonight,

imagine the revival we would have.

But unfortunately we are okay with doing the bare minimum.

See, Christ calls his followers to a higher Standard.

In Psalm 145, verse number nine, it says, the Lord is good to

all, and his tender mercies are over all his works.

In Philippians 2, 3, 5, it says, Let nothing be done through

strife and vainglory, but in lowliness of mind.

Let each esteem other better than themselves.

Look, not every man on his own things, but every man also on the

things of others.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

But the problem is the mind of Jesus is not in the minds of Christians

today.

A bare minimum Christian asks, what will I get out of loving this

person?

A Christlike Christian asks, how can I demonstrate the love of

my heavenly Father to this person?

I have a question for you tonight.

Is your love motivated by what others can do for you or by what

Christ has already done for you?

We get caught up in this pattern.

Sometimes we look at things and we say, well, how.

How can I benefit myself in this situation?

What's in it for me?

God, I'm willing to do this, but I.

This is kind of what I want out of it.

Is that cool?

I wonder if Christ just looks at us and says, I've already done

what you get out of it.

Number one, we have to have the correct recipient.

Number two, we have to have the correct mindset.

And number three, the correct direction.

Look now at verse number 48.

It says, Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father, which

is in heaven is perfect.

You see, bare minimum.

Christianity measures itself against other people.

Other people are the goal.

But Christ, like Christianity, looks to the heavenly Father as its

standard.

God is the actual standard in our lives.

Look beyond the earthly examples.

Stop measuring yourself by what others are doing.

It is so easy to feel more spiritual and more spiritually accomplished

than your brother down the row from you.

So easy.

And we compare ourselves with those who demonstrate less love than

we do.

At least in our eyes, you see.

Start measuring yourself by God's standards.

You say, well, brother, no.

What is God's standard perfection and how far we are from

that?

So why does the Bible require us to be that?

Well, this word pertinent here, it also means complete.

We'll get into that here in a moment.

Jesus does not command us to love as much as our neighbors, friends,

or fellow church members.

He points us to our Father in heaven and says, that's how much

you love.

When the disciples asked Jesus, hey, Jesus, how often should

I.

Should I be forgiving my brother?

And Jesus says, well, 70 times 7.

And then of course, we know that number was not what Christ was

getting at, but what he was saying to it says all the time.

And I would go as far to venture, say, those people you're

supposed to love that you do not want to love.

You're supposed to love them all the time.

Have a completeness to your love.

You need to labor towards some spiritual maturity in your life.

Pursue that completeness in your love.

The word perfect that we just described, it carries the idea of

completeness.

Jesus calls for a love that is not restricted to a favored few,

but extends even to the enemies.

We should practice this.

We should never become content with how little we can do for Christ.

Isn't that funny?

We get so content with not how much I do for Christ, but how little

I do.

And if we searched our hearts tonight, I think we'd find the littleness

of what we've done for God.

We should continue, try to grow in obedience, compassion, forgiveness

and Christlikeness.

You say, Noah, what are you getting at?

The direction that we should be pursuing God.

It's knowing our personal Savior more.

It's following his steps more.

It's knowing him more.

And it's through His Word.

That should be our goal, our ultimate goal.

That's how you love your enemy.

You see, in Leviticus 19:2, it says, Speak unto all the congregation

Leviticus 19:2

of the children of Israel and say unto them, ye shall be holy,

for I, the Lord your God am holy.

In Ephesians, chapter 5, verses 1 and 2.

Ephesians 5:1

Be ye therefore, followers of God as dear children and walk in

love as Christ also hath loved us and have given himself for us

an offering and a sacrifice to God for.

For a sweet smelling savor.

You see, the Christian life is not about doing just enough to appear

righteous to our neighbor.

No, it's about becoming more like the one who saved us.

We will not achieve sinless perfection in our life.

I'm sorry, you just never will this side of heaven.

But that should never become an excuse for spiritual complacency.

And how often we use that.

Well, I'm human.

I'm not perfect.

And I make mistakes and.

Yes, you do.

We all do.

Some more than others.

And I'm pointing at myself.

But we shouldn't be okay with that.

The Bible says the just man falleth seven times and riseth again.

Are you satisfied with being a better Christian than somebody else?

Or are you actively striving to become more like Jesus Christ?

We should love beyond the bare minimum.

Throughout Matthew 5, Jesus repeatedly challenges the thinking

of those who believed that outward obedience was sufficient.

He reveals that God is concerned not merely with our actions,

but with the conditions of our hearts.

When we reach verses 43 and 48, Christ makes it clear that his

followers are called to something greater than ordinary human

affection.

We must have the correct recipients love beyond those who

love us.

The correct mindset Love without expecting anything in return

and correct direction.

Love according to the example of our Heavenly father.

In Micah 6:8 it says, he hath showed thee, O man, what is good

Micah 6:8

and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to

love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God.

First John 4:11 says, Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also

1 John 4:11

to love one another.

Christ did not demonstrate a bare minimum love toward us when

we were sinners.

He loved us.

There was a time in my life where I was God's enemy.

There was a time in my life I had no business coming anywhere near

God the Father.

I had no business touching any part of his goodness.

I had no business being a part of his family.

But God loved me so much that he sent his only begotten Son to

die on the cross for my sin.

Why?

Because he loves you.

And if God loves you that much, then we owe it to God.

Not the bare minimum, but that extraordinary love that goes beyond

understanding of what the lost person would realize.

Why do we love only those who love us?

Why do we show kindness only when there is something to gain?

Why do we measure our love by the standard of his world, of this

world, rather than the example of our Heavenly Father?

If Christ had loved us with the same bare minimum love that we

show, where would we be today?

Christ has called us to something greater.

Not merely to love our neighbors, but to love our enemies.

Not merely to love when it is convenient, but to love when it is

costly.

Not merely to love as the world loves, but to love as our Heavenly

Father loves.

As our musicians, get ready.

I have a verse of invitation here in just a moment.

I wonder what would happen if we had a revival of Love across America.

I wonder what would happen if we had a revival of Love in the state

of Texas.

I wonder what would happen if we had a revival of Love in Haslet.

I wonder what would happen if we had a revival of Love in Heritage

Baptist Church.

I wonder what would happen if we had a revival of Love in my life.