1. The Sermon on the Mount (Part 12) Matthew 5:43-48

2. REVIEW Jesus has been defining for us REAL RIGHTEOUSNESS. He has made it clear that REAL RIGHTEOUSNESS is MORE than outward actions, it is a matter of the heart. He has brought REAL RIGHTEOUSNESS to light in the heart-issues of anger (21-26) sexual sin (27-32) honesty and integrity (33-37) retaliation and resentment (39-42).

3. REAL LOVE As we come this morning to the close of this section of the Sermon on the Mount we are going to find Jesus speaking about a subject that the world spends a great deal talking about In fact, it’s a subject that the world sings about, writes about and makes movies about. But in light of our Lord’s teaching we find it is a subject that that world (and even many believers) know NOTHING about!

4. (Mat 5:43-48 NKJV) "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' {44} "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, {45} "that you may be sons of your Father 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. {46} "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? {47} "And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others?

5. Do not even the tax collectors do so? {48} "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. KEY OBSERVATION: The Pharisees taught that we are to love our neighbor but hate your enemy. KEY INSIGHT: Nowhere did the Law teach hatred for one’s enemies. Passages like Exodus 23:4-5 indicate just the opposite! (Exo 23:4-5 KJV) If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. {5} If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.

6. KEY OBSERVATION: To love only your neighbor is consistent with FALSE RIGHTEOUSNESS and FALSE RELIGION. But it is in total contradiction to REAL RIGHTEOUSNESS. In verse 34 Jesus tells His followers that REAL RIGHTEOUSNESS and REAL LOVE means that you love your ENEMY! KEY OBSERVATION: Jesus very clearly defines for us who this person it is! It is the person who wants to see your doom (curse), those who detest you (hate), those who slander you (despitefully use you) and go out of their way to persecute you.

7. Got one of those in your life? KEY APPLICATION: When we meet such a person we simply say, “I just don’t FEEL any love for this person…. I just CAN’T love him/her.” THREE CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS: 1. Jesus does NOT make this an option. 2. He does NOT ask us to FALL in love with our enemy. 3. He COMMANDS His followers to love this person! KEY OBSERVATION: Jesus NEVER asked us to love our enemies in the same way as we love our nearest and our dearest.

8. In the case of our nearest and our dearest we can’t help loving them. We speak of falling in love because it’s something that is unsought. It is something which is born of the emotions of the heart. But in the case of our enemies, love is not only something of the heart, it is also something of the will. NOTE IT WELL: Jesus can COMMAND us to this kind of love because THIS love, REAL LOVE, is NOT just a feeling.

9. KEY POINT: Jesus can COMMAND us to this kind of love because THIS love, REAL LOVE, is NOT just a feeling. CRITICAL INSIGHT: In dealing with our enemies, love is not merely a matter of the heart, it is also a matter of the will. It is not something which we cannot help; it is something which we have to will ourselves into doing. KEY INSIGHT: As a matter of fact, this love that Jesus commands us to is actually a victory over that which comes instinctively to the natural man. In many cases this love must go in absolute contradiction to our emotions.

10. SUMMARY: Thus Jesus has defined for us Christian love and in so doing we find that it is as an act of the will, and not simply an emotion. KEY INSIGHT: When we think about it, Jesus has the RIGHT to command us to love our enemies BECAUSE He loved us when WE were His ENEMIES. (Rom 5:10 KJV) For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. KEY QUESTION: Does this kind of love then mean that we must allow people to do whatever they want, even if it is wrong? Example: My mother

11. (Heb 12:6 NKJV) For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” (Heb 12:6 NLT) For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes those he accepts as his children." KEY APPLICATION: No one would say that a parent really loves his child if he lets the child do as he likes. If we have REAL LOVE for a person, it will sometimes mean that we punish him, that we restrain him, that we discipline him. KEY INSIGHT: These are acts of REAL LOVE because by correction and discipline we are protecting that person from harming himself.

12. CRUCIAL: We do not punish in order to satisfy our desire for revenge, but in order to make him a better man. All Christian discipline must be aimed, not at vengeance, but at cure. KEY QUESTION: How does this love WORK? How do we demonstrate this kind of love to those who want to see our doom (curse), those who detest us (hate), those who slander us (despitefully use us) and go out of their way to persecute us?

13. LOVE AT WORK (Mat 5:44 KJV) 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; KEY OBSERVATION: In verse 44 Jesus tells us THREE WAYS that we are to demonstrate REAL LOVE: BLESS THEM DO GOOD TO THEM PRAY FOR THEM

14. BLESS THEM = Comes from the word that gives us our English word “Eulogy.” A “Eulogy” is when people get up at a funeral and “speak well” of the deceased. (Ever been at a funeral when someone gets up and calls the dead person a creep and a loser?) KEY OBSERVATION: We are commanded to speak well of them, to praise them, to pronounce a blessing upon them! DO GOOD TO THEM = To do well or act honestly. This is RADICAL – DO well to those who detest you!

15. PRAY FOR THEM – This is definitely a WWJD thing. (Luke 23:33-34 NKJV) And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him…. {34} THEN Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." And they divided His garments and cast lots. KEY INSIGHT: When we pray for our enemies, we find it easier to love them. It takes the “poison” out of our attitudes because time in the presence of God CHANGES our hearts.

16. SUMMARY 1.) We have seen WHO it is that we are to love: Not just our friends but those who want to see our doom, those who detest us, those who slander us and go out of their way to persecute us. 2.) We have seen that we are COMMANDED to love them with a love that is more than emotional, a love that is an act of the will. 3.) We have seen HOW it is that we are to love: BLESS THEM DO GOOD TO THEM PRAY FOR THEM

17. 4.) Now we will see WHY we are to love. (Mat 5:45-48 NKJV)"that you may be sons of your Father 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. {46} "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? {47} "And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? {48} "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

18. KEY OBSERVATION: Jesus gives to His followers several important reasons why He commands us to this kind of love. 1.) Verse 45 - This love proves that we are sons of the Father. The Father loves His enemies and seeks to make them His children, and we should assist Him! 2.) 2.) Verse 45 - It is Godlike. The Father shares His good things with those who oppose Him. KEY OBSERVATION: Verse 45 suggests that our love creates a climate of blessings that makes it easy to win our enemies and make them our friends. Love is like the sunshine and rain that the Father sends so graciously.

19. 3.) It is a testimony to others. “What do ye more than others?” is a good question. KEY INSIGHT: God expects us to live on a much higher plane than the lost people of the world who return good for good and evil for evil. As Christians, we must return good for evil as an investment of love. 4.) Verse 48 - It’s a mark of maturity. The word perfect does not mean sinlessly perfect. It means completeness, and maturity, as the sons of God.

20. LOVE DIVINE QUOTE: William Barclay We must note that this commandment is possible only for a Christian. Only the grace of Jesus Christ can enable a man to have this unconquerable benevolence and this invincible goodwill in his personal relationships with other people. It is only when Christ lives in our hearts that bitterness will die and this love spring to life. It is often said that this world would be perfect if only people would live according to the principles of the Sermon on the Mount;

21. but the plain fact is that no one can even begin to live according to these principles without the help of Jesus Christ. We need Christ to enable us to obey Christ's command.