Matthew 5:43-48 Laws part 6

Matthew 5:43-48
“Laws Written on Flesh Instead of Stone”
The Laws
part 6

What Is True Love?
Forgive Them Father

This completes Jesus' teachings on the law. One must realize, that Jesus never ever changed any laws GOD handed down to Moses. All HE did, was clarify the true meaning behind those laws.  It was religious leaders, kings, and scribes who twisted the laws to accommodate their own human faults, and evil desires. Nothing of GOD is unjust, nor is HE a respecter of persons. By that I mean, GOD is not a GOD WHO's behavior toward people is influenced by their social status. He is the same today, yesterday, and forever.

Introduction to today’s study

1. God is the same today, yesterday, and forever, He never changes (Malachi 3:6) (Hebrews 13:8)

1. We all agree that Jesus and God are the same, two-thirds of the Holy Trinity (John 10:30-33)

2. Remember that Christ is fulfilling the Law not abolishing it (Matthew 5:17-18 )

3. Take all teachings of Christ in light of His other teachings, God does not contradict Himself

4. This is the last time, in this Sermon, Jesus will correct the Pharisees for being wrong on the Law (Mark 7:5-8)

5. Ultimately, this lesson speaks of the #1 commandment, “Love”, (1John 4:7-11) (Matthew 22:37-40)

2. (Matt 5:43) "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.'

1. Now we know that the law said, "Love your neighbor." (Leviticus 19:18)

2. But where does it say to hate your enemies?

1. This is what the Pharisee's were teaching the people.

2. As the Children of Israel were passing through the land of Moab, Balak the king of Moab hired Balaam to put a curse on them. When he was unable to do so, Balaam advised the king to lure the people into idolatry.

3. Later God commanded in Deuteronomy (23:3-6) for the Israelites to Shun peace with them

1. This is the closest we come to a commandment to hate your enemies

4. David said in (Psalm 139:21-22) “He hated those who rose up against God”

1. a. However, this is not a command but a statement by David in a song he wrote to God

5. In other Psalms of David known as the imprecatory Psalms, (Psalm that call for curses to be invoked upon either certain individuals or groups of peoples, like nations) David prayed for evil things to happen to his enemies (Psalm 58:6-7) (Psalm 69:23-27) are examples

1. But these were judicial prayers for justice as in (Matthew chapter 23)

1. Christ denounces the Scribes and Pharisees and pronounces judgment upon them

2. Both those Psalm were judicial, not for individual vengeance

3. David was not saying, “Defend me Lord”, but rather he was asking God, “Defend Your name O’ Lord from those who would blaspheme it.” He was speaking against evil itself.

1. David's attitude toward Saul was love for Saul, but hatred for his evil intents Saul had upon his life

2. David's enemies - are those opposed to God, so he speaks of them as general not individually

3. Christ’ denunciation of the Pharisees in (Matthew 23), is another judicial pronouncement of judgment

6. The Pharisees in their teaching took this one step further, they taught that your neighbor was a Jew, and you were to love them, but you were to hate anyone who was not a Jew. They referred to the Gentiles as Gentile dogs. 

7. We must be careful that we do not misinterpret what Jesus is saying and draw false conclusions

1. Jesus is not saying that we should not hate sin. It was His love for people that caused His hatred of sin, for He could see what sin was doing to them that were engaged in it

2. Sin made Jesus angry

1. The man with the withered hand in the synagogue in Caesarea, Jesus looked at the Pharisees with anger

2. The denouncement of the Pharisees in (Matthew 23)

3. This denouncement was not for their saying insulting things to Him

4. It was because they hindered those who sought His kingdom. (Matthew 23:13)

8. We love the sinner, but we don't like what they are doing in opposition to God

1. In (Psalm 139:21) David did not say, "I not hate those that hate me”, but “those that hate Thee."

2. It comes back again to this ugliness that we call self

3. Pharisees taught that you should love your neighbors and hate your enemies

1. Neighbor

1. They said your neighbor was a Jew, so you should love your neighbor, it was your duty

2. They corrupted Exodus 19:18to say “Hate your enemies”, When Hate was not God's point

3. So, They taught only Jews were your neighbors, because they were all brothers under Jacob

4. That’s why Jesus taught the parable of the “Good Samaritan”, he loved from the heart, not duty

2. Enemies

1. However they said the Gentiles were dogs and not Jews

2. You must hate them, because it is you duty as a Jew to hate all who were not Jews

3. They ignored the OT commands to show kindness and love toward strangers

3. Pharisee's ignored certain passages in their teachings like

1. Concerning a man who hates you and his donkey (Exodus 23:4-5)

2. Concerning a stranger in your midst (Exodus 23:9)

4. They made it individually that you were to hate anyone that was your enemy.

5. Not that you should hate evil itself as David spoke of

4. So, now you can see how they became such a racist society

5. God told them to separate themselves from the other cultures, not to hate the people caught up in them

1. As Christ will say, we should love our enemies and show true compassion to them, they bare sick

1. Jesus said I have come to heal the sick not the healthy (Matthew 9:11-12)

3. (Matt 5:44-45) “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 rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

1. Christ is expanding upon the lesson He taught us in verses 39-42 (from last week's lesson)

1. Don't seek vengeance, it belongs to God

1. Vengeance is mine says GOD (Deuteronomy 32:35) (Romans 12:19) (Hebrews 10:30)

2. Don't resist an evil person

1. Jesus never resisted when HE was persecuted

3. Instead, react by manifesting aggressive love

1. Bless them for it’s like pouring hot coals upon their heads (Proverbs 25:22)

2. Volumes of commentaries have been written to explain what Christ means in these next few statements

1. There are four different types of love in the Greek language

1. “Storge” Affection a family member shows another family member, brother-sister, mom-son, etc

2. “Phileo”Brotherly love a friend has for another is where we get the word “Brotherly”

3. “Eros”Intimate love between a husband and a wife, we get our word “Erotica” from this

4. “Agape”Non binding sacrificial love for others, (John 3:16), this is the type Jesus speaks of here

3. Jesus illustrates "love your enemies” in a way that would have rocked any decent Jews mind set

1. If you are cursed – bless,

1. They may speak evil of us

2. But in response we are to speak kindly of them

2. Do good to those that hate you

1. They may either ignore us or do evil things to us

2. Yet we are to treat them kindly in either case

3. Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,

1. Notice, we are to pray FOR them, not just about them

2. I.e., pray for their well-being, salvation, etc

4. With great wisdom from God, Solomon preached the same thing (Proverbs 25:21-22)

4. We are to be examples of children of God

1. If we act like the rest of the world how can we make a positive influence on it

2. If we act like the rest of the world, then maybe we are no different than those in it

1. If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

2. That is what God wants from a Christian, convicting proof

5. God’s love for all mankind it shown in the way he gives us all the sustenance of life to live

1. He makes sun to rise on the evil and the good

2. He sends the rain on the just and unjust

3. "But God shows His Love toward us all."

4. "If when we were enemies of God, Had HE not loved a sinful, rebellious, hating world, where would we be?

6. This kind of love is what God wants us to show each ot

4.  (Matt 5:46-47) 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?

1. Jesus is saying that loving those that love you does not distinguish you from the world. Worldly people do that

1. What the world does not do is to love their enemies

2. They do not bless those that curse them

3. They do not pray for those that persecute them

2. While on the cross, Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

1. Learning from the Lesson Christ taught Stephen prayed, "Lord lay not this sin to their charge", while they stoned Him (Act 7:60)

2. Some believe it was this testimony that helped soften Saul, Jesus said to him in (Act 26:14-15)

3. Christian does what others cannot do

1. He goes beyond natural man at his best and highest

2. "Except your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees."

4. Our actions and responses should be a witness to others of the fact that we are Christians

1. A witness for Jesus is not something that you do, it is something that you are

2. People are far more apt to be convinced of Christianity by the way they observe it manifested in your life, than by some clever argument, or apologetic that you give to them.

5. In Jesus' day, tax-collectors were despised by the Jews

1. they made themselves rich by collecting taxes

2. They collected at usery prices from fellow-men for the Roman government

3. And yet, these tax-collectors would

4. Love those who loved them

5. Greet cordially those who greeted them

6. We are no different if our love is limited to our "brethren" or "friends"!

7. Paul tells us that we should all practice the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26)

5. (Matt 5:48) Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

1. The Koine Greek (Common Greek) word used for “Perfect” here is “Teleios”,

1. Reaching a destination after a long trip would have been described as finally being perfect

2. In Ancient or Classical Greek it was used to describe child reaching adulthood, they were perfect

3. It comes from the need to describe the completion of a task or reaching a given limit

2. Here Christ is telling us that we should strive for to show the world how a true Christian should be

1. As a Christian we strive to go beyond what a natural man would think of doing

1. Natural man obeys the laws and no more

2. We go the extra mile, because a Christian is concerned with the spiritual law

2. As Christians we hunger and thirst for righteousness, because we want to be closer to our Father

3. It is the attitude inside we worry about, where is our heart because we know that is what God sees

3. The purpose of the higher than normal standards is to drive us to Christ

1. 1. He wants you to depend upon Him for everything. He told His disciples, "Without Me, you can do nothing."

1. He does not want you depending in the weakness of your reformed flesh

1. They that are in the flesh cannot please God

2. Without faith, it is impossible to please God, for he that comes to God must believe that He is God, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him

2. The purpose to salvation coming only by grace through faith is to eliminate all boasting of the flesh

1. No place for us to glory in man, the works of man, but only in the finished work of redemption by Jesus Christ

2. And when before the throne, I stand in Him complete, Jesus died to save my soul, my lips shall still repeat.

4. In this sermon Jesus is telling us, Christianity is a matter of the heart, so to achieve perfection we must

1. Begin with the ‘Beatitudes”, as in be-atitudes, not be-do-itudes

2. Pharisees had been putting emphasis upon what they were doing, their physical state Jesus was redirecting their attention to their inner thought life, their spiritual state

3. Pharisee were always judging and condemning others while justifying themselves

4. Jesus was always using them as examples of what you should not be

5. In His defense before Felix Paul states what He strives for (Acts 24:16)

6. If we really want to be "sons of our Father in heaven", "perfect just as our Father in heaven is perfect"

1. It is imperative that we are influenced more by the life and teachings of Christ, than by the attitudes and examples of the "tax-collectors"!

2. We must be filled with the Spirit until all can see Christ living in us

3. Paul tells us to examine ourselves, because when we  judge ourselves we will not be judged by God."

4. To close out this study, Paul’s words to the Romans sum it up best;

Bearing Others’ Burdens

We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.

(Romans 15:1-7)