LessonLesson

Doug Lovgren

“Love Your Enemies”

THE SERMON ON THE KINGDOM

“Love your enemies”

Rules for the Rules for the RoadRoad1. The kingdom of God is all about living by the

principles of the AGE TO COME which are so contradictory to what the world teaches you.

2. As we study keep in mind that these are the words of Jesus.

3. These things are really to be done. This life is really to be lived.

4. There is no way to live this life on your own power.

5. The Sermon on the Mount describes the way of the Cross

6. The Beatitudes are at the beginning for a BIG

reason. They are the key to everything else. .

Rules for the Rules for the RoadRoad1. Understand that this is a sermon on the Kingdom.

2. The kingdom of God is all about living by the principles of the AGE TO COME which are so contradictory to what the world teaches you.

3. As we study keep in mind that these are the words of Jesus.

4. These things are really to be done. This life is really to be lived.

5. There is no way to live this life on your own power.

6. The Sermon on the Mount describes the way of the Cross

7. The Beatitudes are at the beginning for a BIG

reason. They are the key to everything else. .

Understand that this is a sermon on the Kingdom.

A. The Beatitudes are eight crucial statements sandwiched between statements about the kingdom.

B. The theme statement of the sermon has to do with being in the kingdom: “unless your righteousness…you will never enter the kingdom.”

C. The most crucial teaching on prayer in the sermon calls us to pray for the kingdom to come

D. The conclusion a long section on spiritual living is summed up with the statement “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness”

E. The sermon ends with Jesus showing how serious he is about living this life and he says: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

• Matthew 5:43-48;

• 43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Love

• Agape: complete love, unconditional regardless of circumstances.

A. This type of Love for enemies.

• Philia: brotherly love, friendship, family.

• Eros: intimately, romance.

• Storge: fondness thru familiarity.

• Matthew 5:43-48

• 43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

• Luke 6:27-36;

• 27"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies,

• do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you,

• pray for those who mistreat you. ..

• 31Do to others as you would have them do to you…

• 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

• Romans 12:17-21

• Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. 20On the contrary:

• "If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

• if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

• In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

• 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Beatitudes are a ladder

Progress upward

Matthew 5:3-12;

V10. Those who are persecuted

V9. Peacemakers

V8. Pure in Heart

V7. Merciful

V6. Hunger for Righteousness

V5. Meek

V4. Mourn

V3. Poor in Spirit

Go be reconciled

Don’t say ‘you fool’

Don’t be angry

Don’t murder

Matthew 5:21-24;

Get rid of the

causes

Don’t even

lust

Don’t commit adultery

Matthew 5:27-30;

See divorce

as adultery

Don’t

divorce

When divorce

Give certificate

Matthew 5:31-32;

Let your ‘yes’

be yes.

Don’t swear (use oaths) at all

Don’t swear falsely

Matthew 5:33-37;

Turn other cheek

Give cloak

Go second mile

Give to one who asks

Don’t resist an evil person

Limit vengeance to eye for eye And tooth for tooth

Matthew 5:38-42;

What is the trend in Jesus’ teaching?

Isaiah 2:1-6 ;This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: 2In the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as chief among the mountains;it will be raised above the hills,and all nations will stream to it. 3Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.“ The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

Isaiah 9:6-7; 6 For to us a child is born,        to us a son is given,        and the government will be on his shoulders.        And he will be called        Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,        Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  7 Of the increase of his government and peace        there will be no end.        He will reign on David's throne        and over his kingdom,        establishing and upholding it        with justice and righteousness        from that time on and forever.        The zeal of the LORD Almighty        will accomplish this.

Isaiah 11:1-4; 1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;        from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.  2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—        the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,        the Spirit of counsel and of power,        the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD  3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.        He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,        or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4but with righteousness he will judge the needy,with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

Isaiah 11:5-7;

5Righteousness will be his beltand faithfulness the sash around his waist. 6The wolf will live with the lamb,the leopard will lie down with the goat,the calf and the lion and the yearling together;and a little child will lead them. 7The cow will feed with the bear,their young will lie down together,and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

Love your neighbor

Hate your enemy

What is the trend in Jesus’ teaching?

So what do we expect him to say?

Love your neighbor Hate your enemy

Matthew 5:43-48 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'

•But I tell you: Love your enemies•and pray for those who persecute you,

45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Look at God’s example

Be perfect as God is perfect.

Love your enemies Pray for them

Love your neighbor Hate your enemy

Love your enemies

Pray for them

Do good to them

Do to them as you would

have done to you.

Lend to them without expecting anything back.

Love your neighbor Hate your enemy

Matthew 5 plus Luke 6

Love your enemies

Pray for enemies

Love your neighbor Hate your enemy

From Luke 6:27-36;27"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ..31Do to others as you would have them do to you… 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Don’t be angry with your brother

Don’t say “you fool”

Seek reconciliation

Don’t lust

Don’t divorce

Don’t swear at all

Don’t resist the evil person (with evil means)

Give cloak

Go second mile

Give to one who asks

Love your enemy

Don’t be angry with your brother

Don’t say “you fool”

Seek reconciliation

Don’t lust

Don’t divorce

Don’t swear at all

Don’t resist the evil person (with evil means)

Give cloak

Go second mile

Give to one who asks

Love your enemy Which is the mostCounter-intuitive? They

All are!

Don’t be angry with your brother

Don’t say “you fool”

Seek reconciliation

Don’t lust

Don’t divorce

Don’t swear at all

Don’t resist the evil person (with evil means)

Give cloak

Go second mile

Give to one who asks

Love your enemyWhich do you have

the hardest time wanting to do?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Cost of Discipleship

Here, for the first time in the Sermon on the Mount, we meet the word which sums up the whole of its message, the word "love." Love is defined in uncompromising terms as the love of our enemies. Had Jesus only told us to love our brethren, we might have misunderstood what he meant my love, but now he leaves us no doubt whatever as to its meaning.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Cost of Discipleship

• The enemy was no mere abstraction for the disciples. They knew him only too well. They came across him every day. There were those who curse them for undermining the faith and transgressing the law. There were those who hated them for leaving all they had for Jesus' sake. There were those who insulted and derided them for their weakness and humility. There were those who persecuted them as prospective dangerous revolutionaries and sought to destroy them. Some of their enemies were numbered among the champions of the popular religion, who resented the exclusive claim of Jesus. These last enjoyed considerable power and reputation.

perrison -- extraordinary

to auto – the same (the normal)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Cost of Discipleship

• How then do the disciples differ from the heathen? What does it really mean to be a Christian? Here we meet the word which controls the whole chapter, and sums up all we have heard so far.

• What makes the Christian different from other men is the "peculiar," the perrison, the "extraordinary," the "unusual," that which is not "a matter of course."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Cost of Discipleship

• This is the quality whereby the better righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees it is "the more," the "beyond-all-that." The natural is the to auto (one and the same) for heathen and Christian, the distinctive quality of the Christian life begins with the perrison…

• The perrison never merges into the to auto. That was the fatal mistake of the false Protestant ethic which diluted Christian love into patriotism, loyalty to friends and industrious … Not in such terms as these does Jesus speak. For him the hallmark of the Christian is the "extraordinary." The Christian cannot live at the world level, because he must always remember the perrison.

Early Christian Writersc. 150 to 310 AD

Comments on these verses

Justin Martyr (c. 160) ---We who formerly murdered one another now refrain from making war even upon our enemies…We used to be filled with war, mutual slaughter, and every kind of wickedness. However, now all of us have, throughout the whole earth, changed our warlike weapons. We have changed our swords into plowshares, and our spears into farming implements.

Tertullian (c.210) Is it lawful to make an occupation of the sword, when the Lord proclaims that he who uses the sword will perish by the sword? Will the son of peace take part in the battle when it does not become him even to sue at law?

Hippolytus (c. 200 A.D.) A soldier of the civil authority must be taught not to kill men and to refuse to do so if he is commanded, and to refuse to take an oath. If he is unwilling to comply, he must be rejected for baptism. A military commander or civic magistrate who wears the purple must resign or be rejected. If an applicant or a believer seeks to become a soldier, he must be rejected, for he has despised God." (Apostolic Tradition 16:17-19)

ORIGEN (c. 248) For they [Jews] were permitted to take up arms in defense of the members of their families and to slay their enemies. Yet, Christ nowhere teaches that it is right for His own disciples to offer violence to anyone, no matter how wicked. For He did not consider it to be in accord with His laws to allow the killing of any individual whomever. For His laws were derived from a divine source.

Practical:

1.Take 20-30 minutes during one of your quiet times this week and write down your thoughts from this lesson today.

2.Share it with the person in your life spiritually.

3.Doug thoughts.

ResponseResponse

Tony NewsomTony Newsom

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