True Love

Introduction

Someone has composed the following list of "Cards You'll Never See at Hallmark": "Looking back over the years that we've been together, I can't help but wonder....What was I thinking?!" "I've always wanted to have someone to hold, someone to love....After having met you, I've changed my mind." "As the days go by, I think of how lucky I am....that you're not here to ruin it for me." "As you grow older, Mom, I think of all the gifts you've given me.....Like the need for therapy." "I'm so miserable without you....It's almost like you're here." "You are such a good friend that if we were on a sinking ship and there was only one life jacket....I'd miss you tons and think of you often."

This morning we’ll see a contrast between what the Pharisees taught and what Christ taught. Many accused Christ of being against the Law of Moses – however, he came to fulfill that law. The Pharisees had perverted that Law. What Christ teaches is always in contrast to the world – its stark and different.

Matthew 5:43–48 KJV

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 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; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

1. The Inaccurate Teaching

Matthew 5:43 KJV

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

** What made the teachings of the Pharisees so effective was that it was always mingled with a bit of truth. Satan always deceives us using some of the truth.

A. The Correct Part

Thou shalt love thy neighbor is from

Leviticus 19:18 KJV

18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

This first part is correct and this is God’s will. We still need to follow this today.

Christ even taught t his part in

Matthew 19:19 KJV

19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

He even used the parable of the Samaritan to illustrate t his.

Also look at

James 2:8 KJV

8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

B. The Corrupt Part

However, the Pharisees had added their own edits.

The Restriction of Neighbor

They were limiting and restricting the definition of neighbor.

They limited it to close relatives, friends, or those of their own party or group.

However in Leviticus, the meaning is broad – close friend, acquaintance, adversary in court and enemy in combat.

Look in Ex. 11:2 – neighbor is the Egyptians.

Exodus 11:2 KJV

2 Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.

Of course Jesus taught that their neighbor included the despised Samaritans.

We are to love our fellow man as ourselves.

The Lying to the People

Hate thine enemy. Nowhere is this in Scripture.

The Rabbinic Jews invented it. Of course this hatred continues today.

Here we see marks of false teachers – they pander to the corrupt desires of those who hear; they change the word.

We tend to do this today - take one portion of Scripture we like and develop whole attitudes and teachings based on what isn’t explicit. There were good Israelites (Pharisees) and bad Israelites (tax collectors). It became easy to categorize certain groups, call them evil, and them treat them out of hatred.

Sound familiar?

Hendrickson says, “in such an atmosphere it was impossible for hatred to starve. It had plenty to feed on.”

2. The Corrected Teaching

44-47

Love your enemies – this is the exact opposite of what the Pharisees taught!

A. The Proper Response

Matthew 5:44 KJV

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;

Now maybe loving your enemies can be a bit hard to define but again Christ gives us some great illustrations on how to do this.

Bless Them In our Words

Bless them that curse you.

This involves speaking – speak well not evil. Don’t attack your enemy with your tongue.

We’re not condoning evil actions – but we aren’t giving evil for evil.

It’s not just withholding evil - it’s an earnest desire for their good!

Do Good to Them In our Actions

Do good to them that hate you.

Christ is talking about our actions.

Exodus 23:4–5 (KJV)

4 If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

5 If thou see the donkey of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.

Romans 12:20 KJV

20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

We are to help and assist those that hate us.

Pray for Them

Some people we come in contact with will just hate us – and then they will want to persecute us.

Evil men will attack good men. A Christian being persecuted is nothing new – I didn’t do anything – you’re upright, you’re godly, you’re a Christian!

We are to pray for them! Sometimes really, that is about all we can do. It will help with frustrations and heated discussion. Ask God for mercy on them – ask God to open their eyes.

Persecutors are the most difficult enemy to love.

B. The Purpose of our Love

Here we see a couple purposes in our love in vv. 45-47

To Resemble God

Matthew 5:45 KJV

45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

This is not how someone becomes a child of God – but it is the evidence of that relationship.

We are to be like children of God – to be God-like. To be a child of God means to love.

The Spirit of Christ is our uniform and love is our badge.

The evidence of this love is that God gives His enemies sunshine, rain, families, etc. God gives blessings to the whole human race and it is not limited by the moral standards people accept.

You are to resemble God, if you claim sonship, and show love to everyone equally.

Now let’s look at the other purpose in showing love to our enemies:

To Receive a Proper Reward

Matthew 5:46–47 KJV

46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

For tells us here of a consequence - if here implies a hypothetical case - to love those who love one is nothing wonderful. What reward is there for that?

It’s how the world lives anyway. Jesus here singles out tax collectors - these were close to the least respected and least loved people around. Jewish tax collectors collected taxes for the Romans! These were ‘wicked’ people to the average Jew.

But even they, tax collectors, show love to those who show them love!

He then gives a further example of ‘saluting’ one another - this means to say ‘peace’ or in fact a prayer. This had a strong sense of warmth, goodwill, and welcome.

It is not enough for us to do the same good that unbelievers do.

If you live like the world, don’t expect Divine rewards. We should have more noble character and conduct. We should live more righteously than the world.

There’s no reward for living and acting like the world. Do we treat our enemies better than the world does? Do we live holier?

It is a disgrace to God when we justify our conduct the same way the world does. We see here an implied reward for a different sort of conduct

So we saw an inaccurate teaching, that Jesus has now corrected, finally let’s see

3. A Commanded Teaching

Matthew 5:48 KJV

48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Well now here is a challenging statement!

A. The Meaning of Perfect

This is absolutely a command from Jesus - a command that will require Divine help.

The full meaning is a perfection of virtue or character – perfect in integrity.

God doesn’t give us a goal that mere imperfect man can meet.

Don’t lower this standard. This is God’s standard.

You ought to have high goals and high standards.

You need spiritual reliance on God’s grace to achieve this perfection.

B. The Example of Perfection

Well He is perfect – see the requirement above is describe by the character of God.

If you lessen the requirement you lessen the character of God.

It is the absolute standard of the Heavenly Father.

God is our role model

God is perfect – we should act like him – use him as our standard.

CONCLUSION

What Jesus has done here has given all of us something real to strive for.

No matter how far along the path of Christian service we are, there is still something to aim for.