Matthew 5:38-48

Matthew 5:38-48

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 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; 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. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

The Most Powerful Sermon in the World,

part 3

The Supernatural Life Described in Matthew 5

“Good morning. Once again open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5…Now we’re in Matthew chapter 5, this should be the last week. And as we’ve been studying it, Jesus shares here about what the Christian life is all about. He shows us that this Christian life is not an afterlife in any way, it is a super-ordinary supernatural life, that’s what he’s been showing us. In fact, at the very beginning of Matthew 5 in the Beatitudes, we studied that, we studied this blessed life that Jesus speaks of, that it is a supernatural life lived on earth by believers in Jesus. In verse 6 of chapter 5, he’s referred to men and women being filled. And we talked about that “filling”, that it is heaven itself, God himself, imputing and endowing a man or a woman with his very own nature, his very own righteousness. And he said, verse 6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Now that’s supernatural, filled, God working in their lives. Of course, if you haven’t gotten this, we talked a lot about this. The way you get to verse 6 is you start with verse 3, in case you’re wondering. A man that has been so filled or a woman filled with the righteousness of God is somebody that first of all is “poor in spirit”, who realizes their true spiritual condition, and there’s a poverty of spirit then. And then with that, there are those who mourn and those who are meek. When you’re broken, ‘Hey, this is the condition I’m in, man this is not good’, there’s humility and brokenness, no more pride. And that leads you to verse 6, where I realize this is my condition. I need help, I can’t fix my heart-problem. So I look to the only place I can look, I look to heaven, I look to God and I cry out, I hunger, I agonize, I thirst “God, change me, God help me”, and then in response God fills me with his righteousness, and the Spirit of God comes in me, I’m born-again. I’m a different man. It is a supernatural life, as we studied in the following verses, verses 7 to 12. It’s there then that he says “Blessed are the merciful, this compassion of God is now in me, I’m different, I have this love of God in my heart towards those around me. It’s there that I’m then pure in heart. I mean, I’m not pure in heart on my own, that’s for sure. It is God filling me that now makes me pure in heart. And then I’m a peace-maker, which isn’t in a natural man either. Of course, verses 10 to 12, I’m not a popular guy in the world’s eyes either, as we talked about persecution. But a supernatural life. And it’s a life that emits light, verses 13 to 16, the Light of God, just the glory of God. So in verse 16 with this life now, as God is in me and working through me, God is being glorified through my life, it’s supernatural. Jesus wants this for the people that are listening, the people that are around him, you and I that are here this morning, he desires that we would have this life. But so often people are, we’re into self-improvement, you know, taking the self-improvement courses and classes, trying to better myself [Ben Franklin was deeply into that, and succeeded on a physical level, and was a very wise man, on a human physical level. But it stopped right there. He could never attain to the righteous levels Jesus is talking about here, even at his very best.] Or using some sort of religious exercise, the latest deal, whatever it might be to improve myself. And that just doesn’t get you there, if you do that, you end up in the end empty, you’re no better off. So he understands that this is the heart of people, and as we’ve studied in the last weeks, he’s trying to get through the hardness of the men’s hearts. And there’s the religious deception, so he’s trying to rip that away and reveal that we are in desperate need for him, he wants to give us life. It’s only found in him. So he’s hammering away, he’s shooting away at the hearts, dealing with religious deception and so forth. Now, if anybody’s wondered, if anybody’s questioned, has listened to some of the things Jesus has said and wondered ‘Well, I’m not bad, I’m still in, I’m ok man, my heart’s not so bad. Of course, I’ve got the favor of God.’ And yet they don’t. He now says what he says. And what he says now is so unnatural. It is in no way the natural man to people that have heard this. I mean, there’s been so many commentaries written on it, and people have debated it. To many it’s bizarre that he would say these things. It is a supernatural life. It is a life that’s been greatly impacted by God. And so in case anybody’s been wondering, he now says what he says, and it should pretty much settle the issue. If it doesn’t settle it with you, and you happen to be here today, and you really don’t have the life of Christ in you, then there is some heavy-duty blindness that needs a lot of prayer, because this should just settle the matter that we need the work of God in our heart, because this is not a natural man in any way, that’s what Jesus is about to show us. I think of Richard Wurmbrand, maybe you know of him, but he founded The Voice of the Martyrs, and he speaks of knowing, you know he was in Romania, and because he was a Christian, and a minister in Romania, ended up in the Communist prisons for his Christianity. [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wurmbrand and for his most popular book, see http://www.amazon.com/Tortured-Christ-Founder-Voice-Martyrs/dp/B00177GBL2.] And he refers to being in prison and seeing the way the Christians were in prison, the Christians in Romania. You know, they were there in these harsh prisons, and the Communist prison staff would torture them and mistreat them. He speaks of times where they would actually take salt and just keep force-feeding them salt, and then wouldn’t feed them or give them water for days, and they’d be starving, and leaving them out in the cold. They were chained with fifty pounds of chains and would be abused and beaten. Well, there was a season, and as it often happens in an oppressive government, sometimes it even turns on itself, where in the prisons he was in, some pretty harsh prisons, some of the Communist torturers ended up in jail themselves. And so now these guys that were torturing the Christians are now in the same prison with these Christians. And Wurmbrand notes how he saw, you know, now this other prison staff torturing even these Communists. He watched Christians then stand in their defense. He’s a guy who was force-feeding me salt, now he’s in prison with me, and now this guy’s going to torture him, and a Christian would stand in his defense. They were given one slice of bread a week, and he shares how he saw Christians who were at the point of starvation now concerned for these Communist torturers who are now in jail, giving them that one slice of bread. There were times where they were in need of medicine, you know, they were going to maybe even die, and rather than take the medicine, you know, ‘You’ve got the flu Mr. Communist torturer, and you were force-feeding me salt, and I’ve got the flu, but I don’t want you to die because I love you, and here’s my medicine.’ You know, he saw that happen. There’s nothing natural about that. That’s a supernatural life, and it’s a true life where God has impacted a life, and that’s what we’re now going to study in these verses. Let’s say a word of prayer and we’ll look at it together. ‘Lord, as we look at these Scriptures, we just ask simply Holy Spirit you’d be upon us, and you would reveal your light and love to us. We need your light and love, Lord. And we need your grace, we just need your grace. We can’t get there Lord, we can’t get any better, we are who we are, and it’s not good apart from you, but boy your grace and your Spirit and your love, what happens is just incredible Lord. And I would ask as we look at these verses, Holy Spirit, you’d be upon us. And I do pray if there’s any man or woman present that’s maybe been with us for awhile, and yet the light hasn’t turned on yet, they haven’t realized their incredible need for you, for whatever reason, maybe there just isn’t the desire. I pray you’d at least use the verses today to begin in them a hunger and a thirst. Or maybe there’s some that are so blinded, still so prideful and arrogant, it happens so often, Lord I pray that you’d through your Word today pierce through that. But all of us, Lord, certainly what we read or are about to read is convicting. But thank you for your grace. And all the more, that super-abounding love that you have, pour it into our hearts, that your love would abound forth from our hearts. Bless this time, Holy Spirit be upon us, and upon myself now as we go through your Word, in Jesus name, amen.’

Do good for evil, show love to those who hate you

Verses 38-42, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go a mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. You have heard that is was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 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, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Now verse 38, for the fifth time he says “You have heard that it is said.” And as we’ve noted as he continues to do that, now for the fifth time, he’s dealing with religious deception and pride. He’s ripping apart, taking away that veil that’s just blinded people. And so he says “You’ve heard it said.” Now, he says ‘You’ve heard it said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ That is something again, as before in certain instances, that was in the Law, repeatedly, that was stated in the Law a number of times. You know, my computer, as I was heading out the door to come here this morning, it fried on me at the last moment. So I had the Scripture references to read to you, and I don’t have them right now, because they are in my computer somewhere, and it smelt like smoke, and it ain’t working, so I knew I couldn’t do much about it. So I just had to come. [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_for_an_eye.] Turn to Deuteronomy 19:21, I’ll cheat, I’ll look in the margin, like you guys are. Right? Deuteronomy 19, verse 21, here’s an example. “Your eye shall not pity, life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” That was repeated in different ways, slightly different renderings, multiple times in the Old Testament. God said this is the Law. So they had heard it a lot of times, but the problem was, the religious leaders, as they often did, reinterpreted it, and they made it fit their hearts and their lives. And so the people were not understanding totally what was meant here. What was intended, God was through this seeking to restrain vengeance and sin in the nation of Israel, as a community of people, seeking to have justice upheld. So, this was a judicial statement, that in a society, in the nation of Israel, when somebody harmed somebody else, there was to be punishment for that, and the punishment meted out would be of the same kind and same measure, it would be fair. [And if you read Deuteronomy 19:15-21, you will see that in this instance this ‘eye for an eye’ punishment was to be applied to false witnesses, what we would term as the punishment code for perjury.] So if you mistreated somebody, in the nation of Israel, and had to go and stand before the magistrate, if you, because of your ugly heart, knock somebody in the mouth and knocked out their tooth, the judge and the magistrate would say ‘Here’s a pair of pliers, give it to whoever, yank out his tooth.’ That was the intention. And of course, that would restrain evil. In our society our courts have gotten really liberal, so you can do more than knock out a guys tooth, and often even skate free. It would be a motivator. You know, I have a fake tooth in the front of my mouth. I was out in California recently, family pictures going on again, and I look in those pictures every time, and I look at my blue tooth, and I’m like, ‘I don’t like that blue tooth.’ Now if I had my real tooth back, and had the option, you know, where maybe I was in a fight with somebody and getting ready to bop them in the mouth, and then I had this visual in the future, blue tooth, that would make me think, ‘I don’t want a blue tooth, so I’m not gonna hit that guy in the mouth and knock out his tooth and have a blue tooth.’ Although I didn’t loose mine because of a judge, I lost it because of a recess little deal in sixth grade [laughter]. But it would restrain you. Right? You’d think about it. ‘You know, if I poke out his eye I’m gonna loose my eye.’ That was the intent, restraint. But also it would keep you from going overboard [in the punishment], where, you know, somebody’s taken out your eye, you wouldn’t be allowed to get the best attorney’s and seek to have them loose both their eyes, both their legs and both their arms, you know, because you’re so angry at what they’ve done. It would make it fair. Yet, it was not intended to be carried out on a personal level. It was intended to be applied judicially, as a nation in their court system. But the religious leaders interpreted this personally, on a personal level. And when you take this personally, you get way out of line with it. And so what would happen would be, as the religious leaders taught, now somebody has come and harmed you, the Law, they said, insists that you go and mete out to them what they have done to you. So it’s personal. You do it yourself. Somebody comes and punches you, you go back, the Law says, and you give ‘em a good whack for what they’ve done. Personal, vengeance is the way they understood it. And it created a certain heart. Now Jesus comes and responds to that. ‘You’ve heard it said’, meaning a certain way, ‘But this is what I say to you.’ He says in verse 39, “I tell you not to resist an evil person.” In fact, “somebody slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Now, there’s no doubt, people are listening, going ‘Bizarre!, El Bizarro, you know what I mean? Somebody hits me, you’re saying to me Turn the other cheek?’ You can just see the faces and the astonishment, and people are bewildered. ‘That is strange.’ Jesus is again showing them that this is a supernatural life. When somebody’s been impacted by the love of God, it changes you. And when I hear this, now as a Christian, I understand what he’s saying. It’s not bizarre to me. Now people have read this before and gone, ‘I don’t get it, I don’t believe it, I don’t accept it.’ An example would be the former Soviet Premier Khrushchev when he went to the Roane Cathedral in Normandy France, he went through and saw all the Christian symbols and things, and so with the people he was with talking about Jesus’ teaching, and he made a statement to this effect, he said, “I agree Jesus’ teaching is great teaching, in fact with Communism there’s so many parallels between what he taught and Communism [on paper Communism looks great, in practice, it doesn’t work].” He says “But there’s one area that I do not agree with, and that is when Jesus said ‘When somebody strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the left.’” He says, “I do not agree with that. My principle is, you strike me on the right, I’m gonna come back and knock your block off”, basically is what he said. “That’s what I believe is right”, and so therefore Communism and Christianity, he says say the same thing [in some areas], but that is an area I do no agree with the teaching of Christ. [You must take what Nikita was saying in context with what he was, and that was that he was a leader of a world power, and a world power which from the time of Napoleon through 1945 has had to defend itself against world dictators that have sought to ruthlessly conquer the Russian people, and those same Russian people have had to drive back those dictators and their armies, at the cost of multiple millions of their soldiers and civilians. The ruler of a civil government of a nation within this world under Satan’s control cannot take the principles of Jesus and apply them, they’d get mauled, he must maintain his country’s defenses at all costs. We are not of this world, Jesus told us. World leaders of countries like Russia and the U.S. do not have the luxury of being able to follow Jesus’ words here. But neither are they Jesus’ personal Ambassadors for his heavenly kingdom the way we are. Nikita was right, taken in context with who he was, Premier of the Soviet Union. See http://www.unityinchrist.com/history/meaning/meaningofhistory.html, last paragraph to see who Khrushchev was. He was one of the heroes of the battle of Stalingrad, the culmination of the Soviet Union’s efforts to stop 200 crack German divisions which had invaded Russia almost to the point of entering Moscow. We’d be speaking German right now in the U.S. had it not been for the valiant sacrifice of 5 million Soviet troops and 10 million Soviet civilians during the first two years of WWII. Let’s not disparage ex-Premier Khrushchev. The Russians as a people have had to have the attitude he exemplifies, outside of true Christianity, it’s a dog-eat-dog world we live in, genuinely survival of the fittest. We have been called to a higher standard, and that standard for Christians and Messianic Jewish believers in Yeshua has been established by Jesus in this very Sermon on the Mount. If Premier Khrushchev had been called by God, accepted Jesus as his Savior, he would be living by the same standards Jesus is explaining here. We have to put statements like these in their proper historic context of when, where and who spoke them.] And so when he says this, this is so unusual. But he’s referring to a heart, he’s referring to a supernatural life, he’s referring to somebody whose been so impacted by the love of God that they would do this. Just imagine, I’m standing here, and you’re standing in front of me, or somebody you know, and maybe because of this message somebody will feel like this, but I’m a Christian, and you’re just ticked off by who I am and you come and you whack me one. My face is all red, but what I do, is I don’t come back with insult and anger. In fact, the tear in my eye is maybe more so seen in a compassionate way as a tear for you. But I just slowly, if you hit my on my right cheek, I slowly turn to you the left, and I look at you with a certain look. Very powerful. In fact, in Romans chapter 12, Paul said the same sort of principle, “Overcome evil with good.” And when you do so, when your enemy comes at you, and you come back with good, it’s as if you’re heaping coals of fire upon his head. And I’ve always interpreted that, and it’s interpreted in different ways, ‘But they’re overcome with shame, conviction, their heart is melted, their heart is moved.’ And it is very powerful for a man or woman to do this. It’s this, “I love you so much, that yeah you’ve hurt me, and yeah you’re brutal with me, but I have the love of God, and God loves you, and I wished you knew Jesus Christ, so yeah that hurt, but I’m not gonna come back and hurt you, because I want you to come to Christ. I want you to know the love of God, I care for you.” Turn to Matthew chapter 26, verse 67. Verse 67, and then we’re going to turn to Isaiah 50, verse 6. Remember, this is Jesus. Matthew 26, verse 67, “Then they spat in his face and beat him, and others struck him with the palm of their hands.” That word “struck” there is the word rapiso, in the Greek, it’s the same Greek word that we have here in verse 39. Now turn to Isaiah 50, verse 6. We have Jesus there, spat in the face, being beaten, being struck, and then Isaiah the prophet saying before how he responded. Isaiah 50 verse 6, “I gave my back to those who struck me and my cheeks to those who plucked out the beard. I did not hide my face from shame and spitting.” You know, I read that and I think of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, we see, we understand Jesus, the soldiers, they beat him, they slapped him, of course they took the scourge to him. Isaiah says that the heart of God looking forward to Jesus, the way he was, he says ‘I gave my back to them, I did not hide my face from them, but I just let them do it because I loved them, and I was dying for the sin of the world.’ In Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, you remember that one point where they’re just beating the daylights out of Jesus, and he’s down on the ground and he stands up again and he offered them, just as the Scriptures said, he offered them his back, and he didn’t hide his face. And so Jesus himself, I mean, that’s what this Christian life is about, is Christ in me, the old man is gone, the new is come, and it’s the Christlike life in me. So Jesus says ‘This is me, I tell you man, don’t resist an evil person, they come at you, they knock you on the right cheek, give to them the left cheek. Now in the time of Christ, in this time it would be considered a disgrace, especially what they would do, if you wanted to disgrace somebody, about the worst way you could do it, is you would take the back of your hand and you would slap them across the face, that was a real statement of disgrace and shame on you. So much so that the Mishna later, they even put in the Mishna, you know, the rabbinical teachings there, that when that happens, somebody could be punished significantly for that. I mean, you’re shaming somebody so much that…so there’s that sense in here, especially of religious persecution. Although the word, the Greek word that is used here refers to the palm of the hand, not the back of the hand. But there’s a sense of persecution. And that’s important. When we listen to what Jesus is saying here, and we look at our lives, there’s always that balance. There are times in my life, in fact there are times in the Scriptures we see this, we see Jesus reacting that way. But later in the Book of Acts we’ll see Paul a number of times where he is mistreated, where he’ll actually stand for his rights. The one time before Festus, and these Jews want Paul delivered to them so that they could just kill him, and Paul just doesn’t stand there and go with that, Paul says “I appeal to Caesar.” There’s another time where he’s just been abused and they just want to put him away, and he says ‘No, no, no, no, you bring the people here, I am a Roman citizen, and the people abused me, you have them brought to me and then escort me out to them under Roman protective guard.’ There are a number of times he stands in truth and in righteousness. [And in legal situations it is within a Christians Biblical rights to defend themselves, in the legal sense. There are some excellent legal defense organizations set up in the United States. See http://www.unityinchrist.com/Christian%20Legal%20Defense%20Organizations.htm.] So, what Jesus is saying here, he’s addressing the heart. And I don’t discard wisdom, and I don’t get bizarre, but it’s the heart, it’s the attitude of the heart. And I, with the heart of Christ, am no longer concerned about myself, I’m concerned about you. But there may be times where I’ll stand for my rights, and I’ll certainly stand for others. You know in my home, if a thief comes in or a robber, you know I don’t look at this verse and go ‘Oh well, I’ll just let him walk over us and abuse us.’ No, I’d probably get my sons pellet gun and I’ll go to town, I’ll protect our family. If somebody comes and kidnaps my son, I don’t go ‘Here’s my daughter, take two’, I don’t do that, I stand and I will defend. Yet my heart, in many instances, when somebody comes at me, because I love them, and because of the dynamic that was going on, you may abuse me, but I’m going to come back like in the prison cell [with Wurmbrand in Romania], ‘Man, you were torturing me before because I’m a Christian, but here’s my medicine, here’s my slice of bread, you need it.’ That’s what he’s referring to here. [Comment: I remember hearing this story when I was a teenager, of a friend’s grandmother, a wealthy lady who lived in Portsmouth NH. A thief was breaking into her home. She gently confronted him and asked him if he wanted dinner. She fed him a meal and he went on his way. But in the early 20^th century things were a bit different. If such a situation arises, show wisdom.]

If somebody sues you

Verse 40, “If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.” He then goes on, talks about finances. If somebody sues you and comes at you that way, in a way that’s harsh and unjust, and they take away your tunic, give to them your cloak also. Now the Law said you could keep one in certain instances, you could go for one, but you couldn’t take the other. In fact, in Exodus, on the basis of humane grounds, if you got in a situation where somebody had your cloak, they could only have it for the day, they have to return it at night. And God said in compassion in Exodus for the poor and needy, you can only have that for the day, you have to give it back so that man doesn’t lie there in the cold without his covering at night, give back his cloak, you have it just for the day. So the Law made it very clear that there was protection, you couldn’t be stripped naked by somebody and just left there in the cold. So, people would stand on the Law in that case. But Jesus is saying, this evil person comes at you, and now you have this supernatural life, this heart of God, they come at you and they want to take advantage of you financially, hey man, be gracious and don’t worry so much about what you’re going to sacrifice and what you’re going to go without or what you’re going to suffer, man be gracious. Now when I read this, I think of alimony and court battles that go on with divorce. Boy, they’re brutal, aren’t they. Guys and gals, they were once married, and now they’re like the worst enemies on the planet, battling it out, for every penny, you know, right down to the toothbrush, whose gonna get that, just brutal. But I know of instances where I think of this principle, and I know of instances where people have been like that, you know, a Christian man, before a non-Christian, married to a non-Christian, and for whatever reason the marriage ended, and now he’s a Christian, she’s a non-Christian. And they find themselves later now in court, and there’s the sense that she’s just trying to take advantage of the court system, trying to get a little bit more money, he’s got a decent job, she wants to get as much as she can get from him. And I know of instances where Christian men have turned to this, and in their heart, in love for that person, not like the world, gonna battle it out, just rips and shreds in the court, but rather in court saying to the judge ‘You know, let her have whatever she wants, I’m not gonna fight over that.’ I know even of instances where a man has said to the judge ‘I’ll give her even more, I’ll give her even more’, for this very reason, because I’m concerned for her, I’m not going to be divided over physical things, I’m not going to let that keep me from expressing love to somebody, I’m not going to get in the flesh, ‘I love you, I care for you, so if you want, take it, I don’t care, I don’t care.’ That’s not natural. There’s nothing natural about that. That’s not being a doormat, when it’s done in love, when it’s done in love and concern for someone else.

Go the extra mile

And then he says in verse 41, “Whoever compels you to go a mile, go with him two.” ‘Turn the other cheek, be gracious, and then he says “Go the extra mile”. Right? Now you read that, if you don’t know some of the history, you don’t completely understand all that’s there. But the history is this, a Roman soldier, you could be in this particular time a Jew, and a Roman soldier, if he came up to you and just kind of tapped you with his spear, and he compelled you and said “I want you to carry my luggage [it was usually the mail the soldier was carrying, official Roman mail], according to the Roman government and the way it was in the society at the time, if a soldier said that to you, you would have to pick up his luggage, and you would have to take it a thousand paces, which was a mile in that Roman culture. You may be busy, you know, like Simon the Cyrene, here comes Jesus with the cross, and that’s a picture of that. Jesus is coming with the cross, this man’s just standing there in the crowd, maybe he’s even busy, he’s got somewhere to go, but a soldier came up to him and compelled him, that’s the word “compelled him”, ‘you pick up that cross’, and he had to, according to the Roman law, pick up that cross. So, whoever compels you. Now, of course, especially the Jews, the Jews, they despised the Roman government. You’ve got these nationalistic Jews [called Zealots, who were nationalistic to the point of military insurrection, what we might call today freedom fighters], this radical Jew. If you came up to him as a soldier and tapped on this radical Jew, or religious Pharisee and said pick up my load, he’d have to do it. But oh, he’d do it in such a way, dragging it across the ground, and maybe sneeze on it a few times. I mean, he’d do it, but with such attitude. [somebody sneezed loudly in the audience, laughter] Little sound effect, that helps. But he’s referring to a life, a life of love. And now you’re a Christian [or at their time, a genuine Messianic Jewish believer in Yeshua in the 1^st century], you know, you’re a Jewish man that’s come to Christ, and the soldier comes up to you, and you think, ‘Ah hey, here’s an opportunity for witnessing now. I mean, I was busy, I was heading to work, but I’ve got to do this anyway.’ So you pick up his luggage [the mail], and rather than going a thousand paces, you take it right to his doorstep, doesn’t matter how far. And you’re using the opportunity, you’re loving him, being kind, you’re polishing it, treating it really well, ‘Anything else I can do for you Sir?’ But using the opportunity, because of your love, you want to witness to him, you want to reach out to him, you want to be a blessing to him. So, again, The Passion of the Christ, I like the way Mel Gibson depicted that, he’s compelled to do that, he picks up the cross, and then there’s this heart-change, and it’s very possible that he did become born-again through all of that in history. And you see it depicted, as you remember, he’s upset, picks this thing up, but then along the path his heart is melted for Jesus, Yeshua. And now as the second half goes, he’s got his arm around Jesus, he’s helping Jesus, he’s holding the cross. And that’s the heart of what Jesus was saying here. Somebody compels you, take it, and work hard at it, and use it as an opportunity to show him that you love him and you want to do things that are helpful to him. Well, go the extra mile.

Give to them who ask to borrow of you

And he says in verse 42, “Give to him who asks of you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.” You know, freely you have been given to you, so freely give. Right? Give freely. “Give to him who asks of you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.” Give freely, you’ve been so blessed. Again, don’t hold onto your possessions, whatever you’ve been given, just by God and received by God, don’t hold onto it, freely give it away. Especially in showing the love and heart of God. You know, the average man, the natural man, you have things that are given to you, you have obtained them, you know, you’ve worked hard, you’ve got these possessions, and there’s somebody in need, the average person wants to ignore that need. Especially somebody who hasn’t been very nice to you. But in the context here, you’ve got somebody sitting across your desk, somebody calling at your house, or you’ve been told of a need, a person that has just not been kind to you, been pretty brutal and unfair, and they have a need. The heart of God, this supernatural life moves you and you want to go and help. I think of the story of the Revolutionary War, this man named Peter Miller, and he walked sixty miles to go talk to General Washington. A guy in the community had been put in jail, he had been accused of being a traitor, so he was in jail. Well Peter Miller goes before Washington, he says ‘Hey, listen…’ and kind of intercedes, begs and essentially prays ‘Please, General George Washington, let this man out.’ And General George Washington responds and says ‘Your friend, I can’t do that for your friend.’ And Peter Miller responded, ‘My friend? The guy is not my friend. The guy you’ve got in jail, I have never had anybody in all my life treat me so brutally.’ And Peter Miller is a pastor. ‘He has been so harsh with the people in our church, but I’m asking you to let him go.’ And General George Washington evidently heard that and said, ‘Well, now I see it a little differently’, and he released the guy. But he went sixty miles, to save his worst enemy, seeking to get him out of jail [they were about to hang him], being good to him. And that’s the heart of what’s there in verse 42, and of course financially, just giving, giving to a need and being kind. Now, everything balances out. But don’t discard wisdom. I see a homeless guy come up and wants a dollar, I don’t necessarily give him a dollar, often I don’t. If I have the opportunity, I’ll maybe give him some food. But in many instances, giving financially to somebody in need, you’re actually hurting them, and you’re not helping them at all. You’re encouraging a destructive lifestyle. So a religious Pharisee comes to this verse, they pass that guy, they give out that dollar, they feel good, ‘I gave out my dollar today, I’ve fulfilled this verse.’ Jesus says ‘No way, not even close.’ Real love says ‘Man, hey listen, you’re a homeless man, you’re an alcoholic, and I’m not going to give you money because I know where you’re going to go with the money. ‘Come on, come to our church, let’s sit down, let me help you.’ That’s the heart that he’s talking about. [Pastor Jim Cymbala told of somebody that went on a mission of mercy on a cold winters day with some of the church’s members down into a section called “the Salt Mines” in New York City where all the male and female prostitutes lived in squalor out in the cold, handing out blankets and inviting them all to come back to the Brooklyn Tabernacle for a hot meal.] There are times people come to this church that are in the community in need, asking for money, and we don’t necessarily go ‘Oh, verse 42, Matthew chapter 5, here’s the money.’ We hold people accountable for their own good. Ok, this particular man has gone to seventeen different churches, and now he’s coming to our church, and we do a little research. We don’t give you money, you’re irresponsible, there’s something wrong in your life. We’re not just going to enable you to go around and do that. We’re going to hold you accountable, you need go get a job, you’re lazy. [Paul said, about believers in the church, “If a man won’t work, he won’t eat”, meaning, ‘Don’t feed someone who is not willing to work.’] That’s what you need today, not a dollar. I remember one time, guy coming to the church, and we had been gracious a little bit, he had been asking for help, somebody went over to give him some food and a little bit of help, and, it was actually me, I have the visual, I remember. [laughter] See, I don’t have my notes, man, without my notes…So I was standing there, and I’m talking to him, just asking him a few questions, and he confesses, there’s a living room behind him, and he’s got this big old color TV on, nice furniture, and he says ‘You know, I bought all this furniture and TV, and I have no money, I need some food, and I need a little help’, and I’m like ‘I really don’t want to give you this food right now, this is not right.’ And so we don’t do it in that situation. But yet there’s a heart, where I’ve got the love of God in me, and you may be brutal with me, and I may get a call, and I find that there’s this awful neighbor that’s just been so gross. There’s a story in, Ken Hews, I use this in Luke chapter 6, speaks of a minister and his wife, missionaries, they’re now on furlough, they come to the States, got a nice condo set up and she’s so excited, it’s been hard on her, a long stretch on the missions field, serving, and needs some rest, just looking for some sweet time with God and rest and renewal. And don’t you know, they move into this townhouse and right next door, after they move in, this family moves in that’s just like the nightmare family. You know, they play the heavy-metal rock music incredibly loud at night, they have these wild parties, there are instances of people coming and urinating on their lawn. They even went after one wild party and they painted their beautiful deck out back, their deck, bright florescent orange. And she’s, you know, wanting retreat, and got the last thing that she wants. But then there’s the heart of Christ. And she could get into the flesh, she could call the authorities, she could seek some legal solution. But what was put on her heart was to love them, and she was broken for them anyway, they’re not Christians. So she decided one day, she’d bake them some cookies. Another time she brought over some coffee for the mom, you know, and just started to love them. And Ken Hews shares that later when that family moved away, this particular missionary wife actually was sad they moved away. You know, she just fell in love with them as she just started to do good to them and love them in even a deeper way. So, you’re listening, right? We’re considering the Word of God. And heart-check, my own life, your own heart, the love of God, is it in there? Are you a person that walks in the Spirit, do you know the Spirit? Have you been filled with the righteousness of God?

“Love those who hate you, pray for them who spitefully use you and persecute you”

Verse, 43-48, he says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless them who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for them who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun to 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 have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Now that statement ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy’ is not in the Law. You cannot go back and find that. That’s what was being taught, and it’s the sixth time he says that. No doubt, it said clearly in the Old Testament, ‘You shall love your neighbor’, that was there. ‘Love even the foreigner that’s come in, that’s living in your community, love your neighbor.’ But in no instance did it ever say “Hate your enemy”, although this is the natural law of man. I can understand it being taught, it’s taught in the world today. It’s an understanding. It’s just the way it is. Right? Evidently they maybe used the Scriptures, like when God had the Israelites go into the Promised Land, he had them destroy those who lived in that land, the land of Canaan as they came in. And so, they used that and interpreted that. David at times, as he’s writing in the Psalms, he’s really struggling with his enemies, and he writes certain things. Although he never names them individually, so he’s using it corporately, as the enemies of God. So they took things like that evidently and came up with this principle, ‘Love your neighbor, but hate, despise your enemy.’ But Jesus says, ‘I say to you, love your enemies, love ‘em. Bless those who curse you, bless them.’ [Comment: With what Jesus is bringing out here, and throughout verses 38-48, some Christian denominations have interpreted these to mean it is wrong to join the military, because it’s impossible to fight and kill an enemy without hating them. I find this logic to be true, when you really meditate on it. The Sabbatarian Churches of God, strong followers of the Sermon on the Mount are for the most part conscientious objectors, and their members do not join the military. I have to respect them for that. Although I also know of Christians who have been soldiers, airmen and sailors, and been real Christians. Let your Christian conscience guide you in such matters. You may join the military to fight for what you genuinely think is a war you believe to be “righteous” in God’s eyes, and yet may end up finding yourself bound to the military in a war that you know is unrighteous---or a war that you thought was a righteous cause, but is now being fought by unrighteous standards. Use wisdom before making such choices.] There’s another story of a great man, General Robert E. Lee, standing there before the President or someone like that, and there’s mention of this particular commanding officer, and when he’s brought up in conversation, Robert E. Lee just said wonderful things about him. Well, another soldier, officer standing there, turned to Robert E. Lee and said ‘That guy is like your worst enemy, I mean, he’s brutal with you.’ And Robert E. Lee responded “You know I was asked about my opinion of him, not his opinion of me.” And so he just blessed in what he said about him. [There is a DVD that just came out by New Liberty Videos titled “WARRIORS OF HONOR, THE FAITH AND LEGACIES OF ROBERT E. LEE AND STONEWALL JACKSON” “This documentary is willing to speak plainly about the Christian faith of Jackson and Lee. It is a beautiful and accurate account of two great Southern leaders and of a war that forever changed our country.” Steve Wilkins, Author, Historian. This DVD is being offered by AFA on http://store.afa.net (type “Warriors of Honor” in their quick-search block and hit enter). True Christianity was alive in these two men, as well as with many that served under them, as well as it was on the side of the North. Being the history buff I am, I have viewed Shaara’s “God’s and Generals” and “Ghettysburg”, and came to sense some of the things brought out in this fine DVD. And it is evident, the South has progressed down the moral toboggan slide at a far slower pace than the industrially rich North. This is due in part to the South being the genuine Bible Belt of the nation. And this has nothing to do with the issue of slavery that many have been taught was the central issue that the Civil War started over (it really started over the issue of States Rights vs. strong central government).] I like that, I really like that, to just be guarded about what you say about somebody else. And if you can say anything, say something kind. He says, “Love your enemies, love your enemies, bless those who curse you.” You got somebody saying some terrible things against about you at work, you’ve got a relative speaking about you behind your back, you’ve got an old acquaintance or a neighbor that’s just spreading rumors about you, whatever, “bless those who curse you, bless them.” Be kind, love ‘em. It’ll blow their minds. It is a powerful, powerful thing to do, it melts the heart, it convicts the conscience. Do good to those who hate you, they come at you and want to be awful with you, you instead do good, do good to those who hate you, “and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” You know, John Huss, so many examples of this, and of course the following example of Christ. This man during the time of the Reformation, teaching the Word of God, having some of Tyndale’s notes, translation, teaching the Word of God, there in the medieval time, time of the Roman Church, authorities from the Roman Catholic Church take John Huss because he’s teaching the Word of God, and he’s interpreting Biblically the Word of God, and they denounce him and have him convicted of whatever the crime was, sentenced to be burnt at the stake, which they did in that time. But the story goes, and there’s so many like this, John Huss, what did he do when he heard that? The story is, he fell on his knees, and just as Jesus prayed, he said, “Lord forgive my enemies, forgive them, and work in their hearts”, he just started to pray for them. I can’t think of a worse way that I could go than being burnt at the stake. You know, I think about drowning, that could be pretty bad, getting hit by a car, getting eaten by a shark could be pretty brutal, but burning at the stake. There can’t be anything more painful than burning at the stake. And John Huss fell to his knees and started to pray for those who sentenced him and for his enemies. And that’s what Jesus did. That’s what Stephen the first martyr did (cf. Acts 6-7, esp. Acts 7:60). He just turned around and prayed “God forgive them.” Jesus on the cross, “Father, forgive them.” That is not natural, that is a supernatural life, it is not a religious deal. It is not you and I trying to be good people, coming to church, and doing the good deeds, and being kind. You know, there’s some family that I have, and when we come around the dinner table, they have a little prayer, and I do it with them, but they have this little prayer that you pray, one of these little, I don’t know, kind of prayers, but I try to pray with my heart, but it’s like ‘we want to be kind and good, dah, dah, dah, it’s this little thing you repeat. It’s not trying to be that, it’s honestly you’ve got the love of God in you, ‘and you’re gonna burn me at the stake, ah man, I just pray for you, you have such poison in your heart, Oh Lord, work in that guy’s heart that he’d see the poison, it’s so dark, and my heart breaks for him, for him.’ He says pray for them who spitefully use you and persecute you. You know, the cool thing about doing that, I know many of you know this, but if you pray for your enemies, they won’t be your enemy for long, at least in your heart. If you’re struggling, people have been really harsh with you, people have done things, I’ve had this happen man, letters written about me, phone calls made about me, and it’s been very hurtful, ah that hurts to hear that, but then I decided, you know, I’m gonna just pray and pray for them. When I drive by their house in the neighborhood I pray, ‘God bless them, just bless them, God, there’s bitterness, heal them of their bitterness, and soften their hearts.’ And I just pray for them, and I tell you, when you do that, boy, they’re not your enemy in the sense that you just love ‘em, you’re concerned for them. ‘Do this, that you may be sons of your Father which is in heaven,’ You’re going to be God-like, Christ-like, ‘for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust.’ He’s kind to all, he doesn’t, you know in our town, it isn’t like it rains just on the Christian households, it isn’t like we’ve got the green lawns and the nice yards, and then the people that own the porn shops and bars or whatever, and you go over there, and it’s dry, no rain. He doesn’t do that. He just shows kindness to all, to draw people, he so much wants people to come to him in salvation. So he’s kind, he’s patient, he’s longsuffering. He says ‘When you’re this way, when you bless when you’re cursed, when you do good when you’re hated, when you pray for those who are persecuting you and using you spitefully, you’re being just like God, just like God. In fact, don’t forget, he was just like that with you, just like that with you when you were in your old life, your old ways, heart against God, doing your own deal, living pretty ugly. He was pretty kind to you. You know, it rained in your yard, and you were taken care of. So don’t forget that. “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” If you just do what these other guys are doing, what’s the difference? “And if you greet your brother only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors so?” You should be better than them, that’s what he’s saying. You should do better. You have been infused with the love of God, the righteousness of God, so you should not be like the tax collectors, the Gentiles, the pagans, the people that just live like everybody else. And if you’re only kind to the people in the church, if you’re only giving the hug to the brother that walks through the door, or the handshake, and yet you ignore your neighbors and the ungodly. You know, I have been reading a book recently, and it was given to me, and I don’t completely agree with the book, but you know, it ministered to me. And there were actually some things in the book which I was pretty concerned about, but yet a point came through, and I’m thankful for reading the book, as the man talks about different things he did, and the things he did I don’t agree with, I think there’s not balance with Scripture. But as I was reading it, I saw how he was treating the lost, trying to build a bridge, and trying to reach out, which I totally agree with. But at times I feel he was compromising the Word of God in doing it. But as I read it, you know, he’s speaking about one of these deals he did, a homosexual friend, a man that had been used to actually lead him to Christ. He ran into him years later and found out that the man was homosexual and was hiding it, and now was living a real perverted life. And then he went on to try to reach out to this man, and that’s’ where I think there was some compromise in how he went about it. But, clearly I saw in his heart his concern for his lost homosexual friend, who had yet led him to Christ, but was in a pretty lousy state at that moment. I was reading it, and I was thinking about myself, and you know it’s easy to, I hear about what happened at Newton High, just bugs me, they take the classes in the High School and they counsel them for the day, and maybe you’ve heard this, and instead of having class they have homosexual activists come in and they have eight sessions all day long for the kids. No school class, just classes, sessions on homosexuality. Christian family comes in to videotape it, and they don’t let them in. Wouldn’t let a parent, a parent of one of the children, wouldn’t even let a parent videotape what was going on. And I just get ticked when I hear that. Just bugs me! And there’s a temptation then to look in that activist’s eyes in a different way, rahr!, you know? But then I read this, and it says ‘Do good to them, love ‘em, be kind to them, pray for ‘em, have your heart break for ‘em.’ And that’s the heart, man. That’s what he’s saying, and that’s what I want in me, is to love them. Stand for truth, don’t throw aside wisdom, there’s the law, there’s judicial issues, but yet love, and love.

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”

Therefore, verse 48, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” If you haven’t got the point, he’s basically saying, “Be perfect, be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Paul uses that same Greek word many times, and when he uses it, it’s actually translated as “mature”. And the real thrust of that word is “be mature”. It isn’t necessarily “be sinless”, I mean, I can never be sinless. And so there are people that will come up with this doctrine, that when you get saved you should be perfect, and that you can reach a point of perfection [in this present physical life of yours]. You know, if you can, man, I don’t know about it, because I ain’t even close, that’s for sure. But there is a striving for the standard of God in my heart, and there is a desire, a longing to be more like Christ, so there is a maturing. No doubt, the standard is, the ultimate standard of my life should be perfection, in the sense of the heart of God, the character of God, the integrity of God, the truth of God, be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. Well, as we’ve noted, supernatural life. It’s the Christian life, it’s not a religious experience, it’s not a religious trip or deal, it is a supernatural life, it’s a life of love and compassion, and that’s how “perfect” really comes through. I know that I’m maturing, I know that this perfection is in me when love is abounding in me, super-abounding in me. You come, strike me on the cheek, I give you my other cheek, because I love you. You want to sue me and take me to court, be brutal with me, man, I’m broken-hearted for you, but take the stuff, it’s not important to me. You compel me and force me to do something, man, I’ll love you, man. I’ll serve you, I’ll wash your feet. You have a need, and yet you’ve never been kind to me, man, I’m not gonna say ‘I got yah, payback time.’ I’m gonna come and help you in your need. I’m going to love you and pray for you and bless you, and do good to you. And you will see in me, this is not a religious trip. God has got a hold of my life, and the love of God has been shed abroad in my heart. Let’s close in prayer…[transcript of an expository sermon on Matthew 5:38-48 given somewhere in New England]