The Truth Series: Part One (Who Is My Enemy)

Well, as many of you know, right now, the Jewish celebration of Rosh Hashana (Feast of Trumpets) is currently underway. It runs through tonight at sundown. And as many of you also may know, this is the first of the fall holidays that take place according to the Bible, with the Jewish nation.

Over the last decade or so, people have become a lot more in tune with and focused upon these Jewish holy days, around the world. The reason for this is that we know that all of the Jewish holy days and their feasts, were prophetic/Biblical references, timelines, to the Christ and what He would do.

Yeshua completely fulfilled all of the spring feasts (Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of First fruits and the Feast of Weeks), when He came to earth and died on the cross, rose from the grave and then ascended back to His Father and sent the blessed Holy Spirit!

Now, we are awaiting His return, to complete the 3 fall feasts (Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement] and finally, the Feast of Booths). There is much speculation that His return for His bride (the Christians) will be during Rosh Hashana, which is right now.

So, this has nothing to do with my actual message, but I just wanted to mention it to you, because we are living in the most exciting and expectant times, than any other generation that has existed before us! We should always be alert and looking for His glorious return, AMEN?!!!

OK, this past July, I gave a message entitled, “Everyone Is A Neighbor”. In this message, I spoke about the issues of division that are taking place within our nation, as has never existed at this level before. Within that message, I mentioned about the situation that took place in Luke 10, where Jesus encounters the religious law expert, who had come before Jesus in order to test Him and try to trip Him up and thus expose Him as being a fake and a heretic.

In this encounter,the religious lawyer asked Jesus what he could do to inherit eternal life. Jesus then questioned the man as to what the law said and of how he, the “religious expert”, interpreted the law. Jesus was like, “You’re the legal expert, you tell me what the law says!”

The lawyer answered, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”

To this, Jesus replied, “Right. Do this and you will live!”

So, suffering embarrassment in front of his peers and looking to save some face, the lawyer fires right back the question, “And who is my neighbor?”

And from here, Jesus goes into the parable of the Good Samaritan, right?

And of course the purpose of this parable, was to point out who, our neighbors really are.

In questioning Jesus, about who his neighbor neighbor really was, the lawyer may have been looking to find out who he really needed to stay away from and avoid all together!

You see, most of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes and all of the religious experts of that day and time, regarded Jesus as some heretical, insurrectionist and they would have called His opinion one that they didn’t want to associate with, or be in agreement with!

This religious “expert”, would have considered anyone that Jesus said to call a neighbor, quite the opposite!

And to his surprise, who did Jesus use as an example of the good neighbor?

Let me give you a hint, “it wasn’t State Farm!”

The person that Jesus used as an example of the good neighbor, the compassionate neighbor, the truly caring neighbor to the hurting Jewish man, was none other than that of a Samaritan! The very group whom the Jews declared as their enemies!

Do you think that it was a mistake that Jesus used this analogy? Jesus knew the heart of this man and read him like a book, just like Jesus knew the heart of the rich young ruler, who also came to Jesus wanting to know what he could do to inherit eternal life!!!

Two men, prominent in position and authority and money and both asking the Lord what “works”, what “deeds” they could perform, to grant to them eternal life!

And with both of them, Jesus looked into their hearts and minds and saw the darkness therein, that came from their desires for this world.

And to each of them, Jesus made them see that what they were holding onto here and what they believed to be right here, would prevent them from true eternal life.

The rich young ruler would be required to give up his riches and follow Jesus, and the religious lawyer would have to let go of his hate and pride and truly learn how to love God and his neighbor, by loving and serving the one whom he called his “ENEMY”!!

And in both cases, it would seem that their darkened hearts refused to let go of their cares for this world.

The rich young ruler just turned and walked away sad and the lawyer, by evidence of his final answer, eluded to the fact that his heart remained hard.

When Jesus asked him, “Which of these three men , do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers”, the lawyer simple answered, “The one who showed him mercy”.

If it had been the priest or the temple worker who showed the kindness and compassion to the injured man, then he would have answered Jesus by using their title.

But since it was the Samaritan, he wouldn’t mention that name, that title and only referred to him as, “the one”.

And like with the rich young ruler who went away sad, Jesus left the lawyer with a final decree, “You go and do likewise.”

In other words, “THIS ISN’T AN OPTION.....YOU MUST DO THIS ALSO!”

To the Jewish leaders and to many others of the day and time when Jesus walked this earth, works were crucial in showing one’s worth of having eternal life. The religious zealots of that time, had convinced themselves that keeping the stringent and seemingly impossible lists of laws and guidelines that came both from the Torah (the Law of Moses), as well as their own self-imposed laws through the interpretive Jewish Mishna and Talmud, made them righteous and just in the eyes of Yahweh!

And like I mentioned to you in the last few weeks, that same mindset has begun growing in the hearts and minds of many, “Christians” today.

A study done in the past few months, here in the United States, showed that some 52% of the “Christians” of this nation believe that they will make it to heaven, based upon good works being done by themselves.

Less than half of the Christians now believe that salvation comes through faith alone and not works.

Along with this, a huge portion of those surveyed, whose church organization’s official doctrine says eternal salvation comes only from embracing Jesus Christ as savior “believe that a person can qualify for Heaven by being or doing good.”

So, basically, everyone who is morally good and does good works, deserves heaven and will get in, right?!

BUT, the religious leaders and the zealots of Jesus’ day, just like those today who have bought into this false doctrinal stance, have ignored the very words of God Himself, on the matter of our salvation!

Isaiah 64:6,

Isaiah 64:6 NIV

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

God said in Hosea 6:6,

Hosea 6:6 ESV

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Ephesians 2:8-9,

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Titus 3:5,

Titus 3:5 ESV

he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

Romans 11:6,

Romans 11:6 ESV

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Romans 3:27-28,

Romans 3:27–28 ESV

Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

John 14:6,

John 14:6 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

You see, over and over again, God has made it clear, as well as Jesus, Himself...........the only way into the eternal kingdom of God, is through faith and belief in Jesus the Christ.....period!

There is nothing that we can do, other than justification through our faith in Jesus and His perfect shed blood, that will EVER make us righteous in the eye of God!

And the legalists of Jesus’ day had taken the Law and the Holy scriptures, and they had found legal loopholes that they operated out of, that “justified”, in their eyes, who they would call a “neighbor” vs an “enemy”.

In Leviticus 19:18 we read,

Leviticus 19:18 ESV

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

And so, the religious zealots took this passages to mean, that only the “sons of your own people”, a Jewish person, should be treated as a neighbor. Outsiders were the enemy!

They ignored that earlier in the same chapter, the Lord God had commanded that they were to leave some of their gleanings during the harvest on the ground, so that the poor and the “sojourner”, the foreigner, might have food to eat as well!

The ignored other laws that God had given towards an enemy, like, Exodus 23:4-5, which stated, “If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.”

By Jesus’ day and time, the Jewish leaders believed that they were actually honoring God, by hating and ostracizing the non-Jewish. Writings like those of the Qumran sect that said, “ "Love the brother; hate the outsider”, were the mindset of these men!

And then of course, there were the Psalms of extreme judgement, what we now call the “imprecatory psalms” which were used in defense of hatred towards an enemy.

In these Psalms, you will find the writer asking for God’s perfect judgement to come upon his enemies. The Psalmist is asking for God to completely wipe these “enemies” off the face of the earth!

Psalms like Psalm 59, where David writes, “Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me;deliver me from those who work evil and save me from bloodthirsty men; consume them in wrath, consume them till they are no more.”

This was the nature of the imprecatory Psalms, judgement against one’s enemies. This sounds right to many people, then and today. That is, until you understand what is being said behind the scenes.

In Psalm 139:19-24, David writes this to God,

Psalm 139:19–24 NLT

O God, if only you would destroy the wicked! Get out of my life, you murderers! They blaspheme you; your enemies misuse your name. O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you? Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Here, you begin to understand what these psalms are all about. The enemies in these psalms, are wicked, evil people. The writer is not writing and saying that he hates them, period, end of story.

What is being said, is that these people would be loved, if they would repent and turn to God, but as it is, they are wicked and hate God and do not fear Him and so the psalmist states that since they have made themselves an enemy to God, they are now his enemy and he prays for God’s just judgement to be poured out on all who hate God and will not relent and turn to Him!

The psalmist loves what God loves and hates what God hates. God loves His creation, but He hates sin and rebellion.

These “enemies” that the psalmist mentions, deserve God’s love, but if they do not repent and turn to God, then, by their own volition and choice, they deserve His righteous judgement!

So, the religious hypocrites in Jesus’ day, used all of this as grounds for declaring who would be considered a neighbor or an enemy of theirs!

And did Jesus concede and say, “Well, you really got me and My Father on a legal technicality there boys!”

NO!!!! Jesus was very clear about how we are to deal with those called our enemies.

Turn with me in your Bible to Matthew 5:43-48,

Matthew 5:43–48 ESV

“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 sun 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 the radical love of the Father and of His kingdom. LOVE YOUR ENEMY!

If you notice what Jesus said, when He started this passage, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”

The part of that phrase, “hate your enemy” was never mentioned in the Law in Leviticus, or anywhere else. Men, out of the hardness of their hearts, had added that part on and Jesus eradicated it!

If you remember, Jesus said several verses earlier in this same message in Matthew 5, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”, He was alluding to this abuse of the commands and the laws of God.

Jesus said that God causes His sun to shine on the evil and the good and His rain to fall on the just and the unjust. In other words, God’s grace and mercy is even given even to those who hate Him and rebel continually against Him.

The point to this is that if God shows His great love and mercy and grace to evil and wicked people, then who are we to think that we can show anything less to them?!

And if we are to show God’s perfect “agape” love to those we like and deem our friends, our “neighbors”, as well as those who hate us and mistreat us, “our ENEMIES”, then what conclusion can be drawn here?

Basically, according to Jesus, in the kingdom of God your enemy and your neighbor, can be and basically are, one and the same. Instead of looking for and trying to determine if someone is a neighbor or an enemy, Jesus made it simple: “TREAT THEM ALL THE SAME!”

Now please understand, I am referring to earthly enemies here, and not our real, one true enemy.

Let me just real quickly state, that in this life, you really have 3 enemies.

The devil himself, who is an enemy against God and thus, is our natural enemy! He is a liar, he is our accuser before God, he is a thief and a murderer and his intent, according to John 10:10, is to “steal and kill and destroy” you and I and our relationship with the Lord. And the vehicle that devil uses to carry this out, is our second enemy.

The world. The devil is called the god of this world, because the things of this world, its desires and pleasures and wickedness, are his tools to allure us from God.

When we become acquainted with and friends with this world and we become friends with and enjoying this world’s pleasures, then, according to James 4:4, we become “enemies” of God!

And ultimately, we are our own worst enemy!

Here is the thing. The devil is a very powerful adversary and he’s very good at lying and deception, but make no mistake about it, the devil CANNOT make you and I choose to rebel against God and sin..........we do that ourselves.

For this reason, Paul warns us in Ephesians 6 to put on the full armor of God, so that we can withstand the attacks of the enemy, because we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Paul tells us in II Corinthians that the weapons of warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds, as we take every thought captive to obey Christ.

You and I make the decision to rebel and sin; no one makes us do it!

If the enemy has crept in and has a stronghold in your life and you are now sinning, then you need to do like Jesus mentioned.

If your eye is causing to you sin, rip it out, if your hand is causing you to sin, cut it off!

In other words, whatever area of your life is given over to sin, you need to do some spiritual warfare and amputate that part of you and repent and turn back to God!

It’s like a photo that I saw, which was of a surgeon’s tent from the Civil War. Outside of the tent were numerous boot and legs, from that had been taken off of the wounded soldiers.

Those amputated limbs lying there were proof that warring had taken place.

My question to many of us today is, “is there proof of spiritual warfare in your life, evident by the things of your sinful life that you have amputated, cut off and thrown down, versus letting them destroy you?!”

So, that all being said, in the natural, physical sense, we must LOVE and FORGIVE everyone and treat them like a neighbor. if you see someone as an enemy in your life, pray for them, love on them and do good to them. The Bible commands us, “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.”

Look, we live in a society that thrives on adversity and vengeance and retribution! We are culturally brought up to love this. Our movies, our comic books, our cartoons, our novels, predominantly, depict the enemy always getting eradicated by the good guy. No one wants to see the good guys at the end, bandaging the wounds of the evil guy and making him a meal and sharing with him, saying, “I love you and I am here for you!”

We are brought up to love vengeance and retribution! It’s marketable, it sells and people eat it up. Being kind and loving and showing mercy is not the hot flavor of the entertainment world! People don’t pay to watch “Clean Harry” movies, they go to watch “Dirty Harry” movies and someone paying the enemy back for their wrong! The world’s way is, “Make your enemy pay for everything they have done to you and then some!”

BUT, Jesus’ way was, “Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.”

We are so quick to jump down one another’s throats, for the least little thing. Why are we not so quick to show love and compassion and forgiveness?!

I mentioned Wednesday evening, that many Christians, rather than defend their faith in Jesus, through love and actions and sound teaching, they simply brow beat people up with a barrage of Bible verses! No real explanation, just an, assault of scripture!

This is why many people think Christians are just legalistic, harsh people to be around!

Jesus could have done this to the woman at the well in John 4. She was, after all, a Samaritan and an enemy of the Jewish nation. What did Jesus do though? He showed her compassion and changed her life and the lives of her entire village!

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote;

“Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all his disciples deserted him. On the cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes.”

As one person wrote, “I will destroy my enemies by converting them to friends.”

Share of woman whose father in law was an unsaved, hateful, horrible person to be around and of how she changed being enemies into an occasion for salvation!

If time permits mention of how Facebook and social media has become a war zone for people to accept “friend” and “remove” friends based upon how they treat us!