Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Intro:
AG:
TS: This is the 6th and final contrast Jesus makes between the righteousness of man and the righteous standard of God.
This time, He calls into sharp contrast the subject of love.
What a high point on which to end!
The Bible says that God is love.
It is the love of God which motivated Him to send Jesus to die in our place on the cross.
It is His love we see in the most profound way when Jesus is hanging on the cross.
He is being mocked and scorned.
After all of the indignity and abuse, He looks to heaven and cries out, “Father, forgive them!”
In that moment, He had every right to demand justice.
He could have summoned legions of angels to deliver Him and execute His wrath on Jerusalem.
RS:
You have Heard
“"You have heard that it was said, ' YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.'
This part was true.
Loving their neighbor was part of the Law of God.
Caring for others and serving them has always been part of God’s plan.
This command is often repeated in the NT.
In fact, Jesus called it the 2nd greatest commandment of all time!
In the OT, God had spelled out several practical ways in which they were to show their love of their neighbor
Returning a lost animal to its owner.
Even keeping it and tending to its needs while searching for the owner.
Help a neighbor’s whose animal was in danger.
If the ox fell in a pit or ditch, they were to assist the neighbor.
Remember, “neighbor” was a broad term, and not really limited to just a fellow Israelite.
Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan as recorded in Luke 10 to illustrate this point.
The Samaritan was a good neighbor because he helped the man who had been mugged.
Stopped and took notice
Tending his wounds and carried to an inn
Paid for time to recuperate.
HOWEVER: God never told them to hate their enemy!
That was the addition of man.
God’s standard was far different.
Human wisdom teaches us to love our friends and hate our enemies.
The Rabbinic tradition had perverted the righteous standard of God.
Though the fully knew the law: “to love your neighbor as yourself”
They omitted “as yourself”
Their pride wouldn’t let them elevate others to their own level.
They also excluded non Jewish people from the category of “neighbor”
In fact, they were even more exclusive.
A neighbor was probably just people who were like them:
Scribes and Pharisees
The went further and had added: hate your enemy
Gentiles fell into this category
A saying of the Pharisees when like this,
“If a Jew sees a Gentile fallen into the sea, let him by no moans lift him out, for it is written, “Thou shalt not rise up against the blood of thy neighbor’ but this man is not thy neighbor.”
- Pharisees
This divides people into the two categories of Us and Them
In human thinking, it relieves us of the call to love them and treat them well.
There has been much misery and suffering brought upon others by drawing a dividing line which God never drew
Jesus challenged this stinking thinking when HE pointed out:
I Say
Love Your Enemies
The Scribes and Pharisees probably thought Jesus was a lunatic or terribly incompetent.
Jesus was re-affirming what God had already taught them.
We are to love EVERYONE
Love here is a special Greek word with far more weight than our word.
It may involve feeling, but it always involves action.
It is an unconditional commitment to the other.
Jesus washed His disciples feet and then said, ‘
John MacArthur said this,
“The question is never who to love— we are love everyone— the question is how to love helpfully.”
-John MacArthur
Pray for Your Persecutors
Religious persecution has led to some of the worst atrocities in history.
Just look at what Hitler did to Jewish people in WW2.
Recently, another mass grave was discovered where over 1,000 had been shot and thrown into a common grave.
Their faith made them stand out and they became easy targets.
The world often responds by persecuting those who stand for God.
Dear friends, it isn’t a question of IF we will face persecution, but WHEN.
In light of this, Jesus says to pray for our persecutors!
“Prayer is the forerunner of mercy.”
—Charles Spurgeon
There is no doubt that this isn’t a natural reaction!
It is supernatural!
It is God’s love being demonstrated through us.
Pray that they will learn of God’s forgiveness and mercy.
Pray that God will convert them.
Demonstrate Your Kinship
Loving our enemies and praying for our persecutors reveal our connection to God.
He has adopted us as sons and daughters.
His Spirit has anointed us and fills us.
He is at work transforming us and making us more like Christ.
When we respond to enemies and persecutors, it displays that we have inherited His nature!
Our love for others demonstrates that we are God’s children
God demonstrates His love by doing good to all people.
Sunshine on evil and good
Rain on just and unjust
God has a general love for all and provides a good world in which to live.
We live out that love by demonstrating the same compassion to all
There really is no such thing as friend and foe
All people need the Lord.
Outdo Others
This isn’t anything special!
Even godless people love those who love them, at least they claim to do so.
We should do more and be more open to others.
This is closely tied to something we mentioned last week
All humans deserve respect
All humans deserve to be treated kindly and with dignity
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