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Voddie Baucham - The Biblical Definition of Love · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: You know, the interesting thing.
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  Speaker 2: About growing up in one scenario and coming to the
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  Speaker 2: realization of another, as it relates to parenting and child hearing,
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  Speaker 2: is that there are certain things that we have experienced
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  Speaker 2: in our lives that were just normal for us, that
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  Speaker 2: we wouldn't want at all for our children.
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  Speaker 1: Amen.
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  Speaker 2: Like, for example, as a boy, I can remember vividly
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  Speaker 2: the Dirty Harry movies, you know, Clint Eastwood and the
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  Speaker 2: gun looked this big, you know, and goes around and
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  Speaker 2: shoot people up, and when he gets mad at him,
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  Speaker 2: and Charles Bronson and guys like that. There was a
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  Speaker 2: whole genre of film, the vigilante cop film, where there's
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  Speaker 2: a bad guy who does something that's horrendous and the
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  Speaker 2: rest of the film was this process of you watching
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  Speaker 2: as the vigilanti cop just plows through bad guy after
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  Speaker 2: bad guy after bad guy.
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  Speaker 1: And you wait for that moment when he will get the.
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  Speaker 2: Guy who is the baddest of the bad and by
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  Speaker 2: the end of the movie, you can't wait for this
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  Speaker 2: guy to get what's coming to him. Now, you don't
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  Speaker 2: have to admit that you've ever had that experience before.
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  Speaker 2: Some of you may never have had that experience before
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  Speaker 2: of watching one of those films and finding yourself by
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  Speaker 2: the end of the film just eager to see someone
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  Speaker 2: get what's coming to them. But is that an appropriate
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  Speaker 2: attitude to have? Today we deal with a continuation of
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  Speaker 2: what we looked at on last week. And I hope
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  Speaker 2: that as you see, as we've gone through these various antitheses,
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  Speaker 2: that you've seen that they have built upon one another,
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  Speaker 2: that there has been a relationship between all of these antitheses.
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  Speaker 2: And as we come here to the last antithesis, to
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  Speaker 2: the end of chapter six and deal with the issue
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  Speaker 2: of our enemies and our attitude and disposition toward our enemies,
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  Speaker 2: in one sense, we've come to a summation of all
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  Speaker 2: of the antitheses that have gone before. In another sense,
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  Speaker 2: we come to a summary of the second Table of
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  Speaker 2: the Law, a summary of commandments six through ten. This
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  Speaker 2: is a foreshadowing of a conversation that Jesus is going
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  Speaker 2: to have later in Matthew chapter twenty two. And some
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  Speaker 2: of our kids, in their scripture memories have been doing
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  Speaker 2: Matthew Chapter twenty two, verses thirty seven through thirty nine.
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  Speaker 2: They know exactly what's coming here, the greatest commandment, what's
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  Speaker 2: the greatest commandment, and Jesus say, is the greatest commandment
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  Speaker 2: is the love the Lord your God, with all.
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  Speaker 1: Your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
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  Speaker 2: And the second one is like it, love your neighbor
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  Speaker 2: as yourself.
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  Speaker 1: Now, it's interesting.
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  Speaker 2: There are a couple of ways that we can look
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  Speaker 2: at that statement that Jesus makes. There one way that
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  Speaker 2: we can look at it, and the way some people
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  Speaker 2: look at it is this Jesus is actually supplanting the
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  Speaker 2: Ten Commandments. He is replacing the Ten Commandments with something
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  Speaker 2: more significant, with something more loving, with a kinder, gentler
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  Speaker 2: form of religion.
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  Speaker 1: If you will.
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  Speaker 2: In fact, it's no religion at all. We've moved from
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  Speaker 2: religion to relationship. No longer is there a need for
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  Speaker 2: such outdated, arcane rules like the Ten Commandments. But there
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  Speaker 2: is another way to view this statement that Jesus makes,
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  Speaker 2: and I believe his statement in the Sermon on the
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  Speaker 2: Mount is actually a precursor to the statement he makes
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  Speaker 2: later on. Here's the way you look at it, Jesus,
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  Speaker 2: what's the greatest commandment? And you can you can hear
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  Speaker 2: the Pharisees. You know in the background, somebody's going, I
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  Speaker 2: know he's gonna say it's number one. No no, no, no, no,
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  Speaker 2: no no. He's not gonna say it's number one. He's
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  Speaker 2: gona say it's number five. Because number five, of course,
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  Speaker 2: the first one with a promise, you know, on your
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  Speaker 2: father and your mother.
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  Speaker 1: It's going to say that.
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  Speaker 2: No, no, no, no no, I believe it's gonna be number
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  Speaker 2: what's the greatest commandment, Jesus? And instead of Jesus saying
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  Speaker 2: a number, pick a number one through ten. Jesus, what's
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  Speaker 2: the greatest commandment? Jesus says, the greatest commandment is love Lord,
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  Speaker 2: your God with all your heart, soul, and might. In
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  Speaker 2: other words, the greatest commandment is one through four. The
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  Speaker 2: vertical commandments your duty toward God. By the way, the
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  Speaker 2: second one is like it, love your neighbor as yourself, which,
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  Speaker 2: by the way, is a summary of commandments five through ten. Jesus,
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  Speaker 2: what's the greatest commandment? I'm gonna have to say one
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  Speaker 2: through four, followed closely by five through ten. Jesus doesn't
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  Speaker 2: supplant in commandments. There's no need. If you remember where
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  Speaker 2: we began here with these antitheses. We understood that the
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  Speaker 2: law of God is perfect, the law of God is timeless.
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  Speaker 2: The law of God is relevant and applicable. Even though
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  Speaker 2: the law of God is insufficient for our salvation, it
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  Speaker 2: is still incredibly important. So what we have here in
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  Speaker 2: Matthew chapter five, Verses forty three and following, is really
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  Speaker 2: a summation, if you will, of the second table of
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  Speaker 2: the law our duty toward our fellow man. That's what
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  Speaker 2: Jesus is referring to here. Now you have to understand
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  Speaker 2: a couple of things. One, let me give you the
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  Speaker 2: case law backdrop. In Leviticus. We find Leviticus chapter nineteen,
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  Speaker 2: verse eighteen. You shall not take vns or bear a
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  Speaker 2: grudge against the sons of your own people, but you
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  Speaker 2: shall love your neighbor as yourself.
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  Speaker 1: I am the Lord.
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  Speaker 2: Also, for example, in Exodus twenty three, verses four through five,
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  Speaker 2: if you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray,
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  Speaker 2: you shall bring it back to him. If you see
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  Speaker 2: the donkey of one who hates you lying down under
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  Speaker 2: its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it.
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  Speaker 2: You shall rescue it with him. However, as William Hendrickson notes,
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  Speaker 2: the time of the Pharisees, there had been a reworking
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  Speaker 2: of this understanding, Hendrickson writes, you shall love your neighbor
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  Speaker 2: and hate your enemy must have been the popular way
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  Speaker 2: in which the average Israelite during the days of Christ's
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  Speaker 2: ministry summarized the Second Table of the Law and regulated
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  Speaker 2: his life with respect to friend and foe. Love your neighbor,
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  Speaker 2: hate your enemy. That must have been the way that
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  Speaker 2: they summarized the Second table. Love your neighbor, hate your enemy.
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  Speaker 2: Therefore completely shocking when Jesus gives, for example, the parable
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  Speaker 2: of the good Samaritan, the good Samaritan, the Samaritans are
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  Speaker 2: our enemies. We love our neighbors, we hate our enemies.
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  Speaker 2: Even when they began to speak about neighbors, the question
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  Speaker 2: would income who's my neighbor? How many people cannot put
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  Speaker 2: in the enemy category. So that's the backdrop, that's the
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  Speaker 2: mindset into which Jesus drops this last antithesis. Beginning in
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  Speaker 2: verse forty three of chapter five, You have heard that
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  Speaker 2: it was said you shall love your neighbor and hate
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  Speaker 2: your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies
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  Speaker 2: and pray for those who persecute you, so that you
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  Speaker 2: may be sons of your father who is in heaven.
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  Speaker 2: For he makes his son rise on the evil and
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  Speaker 2: on the good. He sends rain on the just and
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  Speaker 2: the unjust. For if you love those who love you,
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  Speaker 2: what reward do you have? Do not even the tax
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  Speaker 2: collectors do the same. And if you greet only your brother,
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  Speaker 2: what more are you doing than others? Do not even
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  Speaker 2: the gentiles do the same. You, therefore must be perfect,
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  Speaker 2: as your heavenly Father is perfect.
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  Speaker 1: Amen.
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  Speaker 2: This is a meaningful passage for those of us who
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  Speaker 2: have enemies, which would be all of us.
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  Speaker 1: Some of us just have more enemies than others. Amen.
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  Speaker 2: But what should our disposition be toward our enemies? This
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  Speaker 2: is a great debate going on, raging right now in
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  Speaker 2: our culture. For those of you who keep up with
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  Speaker 2: the news, you're aware of all of these issues that
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  Speaker 2: are going on with the Nancy Pelosi, the current leader
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  Speaker 2: of the House of Representatives, and what did she know
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  Speaker 2: and when did she know it, called the CIA a
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  Speaker 2: bunch of liars and said they lied to Congress over
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  Speaker 2: the issue.
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  Speaker 1: Of what waterboarding.
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  Speaker 2: It's find it very ironic, this whole waterboarding question, this
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  Speaker 2: whole question about whether or not it's appropriate in a
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  Speaker 2: time of battle to make your enemy think that you're
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  Speaker 2: drowning him to scare information out of him in order
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  Speaker 2: to save people's lives. And regardless of what you feel
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  Speaker 2: about waterboarding, here's what I find ironic. I find it
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  Speaker 2: ironic that the individuals who are saying, on the one hand,
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  Speaker 2: the ethic of the United States is, we don't torture
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  Speaker 2: and we do not waterboard people because it is wrong
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  Speaker 2: and it is unethical to make a man bent on
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  Speaker 2: killing you and everyone you know think that you might
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  Speaker 2: drown him in order to get information from him. However,
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  Speaker 2: if a baby is in the womb and is inconvenient,
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  Speaker 2: crush its skull. So again, regardless of how you feel
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  Speaker 2: about this issue of you know, waterboarding and torture and
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  Speaker 2: things of this nature, the irony, of course, is that
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  Speaker 2: there are people who are claiming to take the moral
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  Speaker 2: high ground on this issue who are completely and utterly
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  Speaker 2: inconsistent from a philosophical and logical perspective as it relates
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  Speaker 2: to applying the ethic of the value and worth of
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  Speaker 2: a human life and how human beings.
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  Speaker 1: Are to be treated across the board.
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  Speaker 2: But lest we get too high on our horse, you
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  Speaker 2: and I are guilty of much the same. I'll speak
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  Speaker 2: to those people who are nice to me, but I
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  Speaker 2: won't speak to the ones who don't treat me the
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  Speaker 2: way I like to be treated. I will love those
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  Speaker 2: who have earned the right to be called my neighbor,
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  Speaker 2: but I will distance myself from and mistreat those who
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  Speaker 2: have not earned that right. Double standard, to say the least,
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  Speaker 2: one of which we are all guilty.
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  Speaker 1: Amen.
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  Speaker 2: So, now that we've established that we're all evil ranked, nasty,
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  Speaker 2: sinners with double standards toward people that we like and
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  Speaker 2: we don't like, how about some healing this morning, Amen.
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  Speaker 2: Several things we need to understand about this Love for
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  Speaker 2: our enemies, which is what this is all about, is
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  Speaker 2: defined by God's love, not the Greco Roman myth of
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  Speaker 2: romantic love. That's one of the reasons we have a
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  Speaker 2: difficult time with this, because we've bought the lie. We
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  Speaker 2: believe the Greco Roman myth of romantic love. We believe
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  Speaker 2: love is an overwhelming, uncontrollable, sensual force. That's how we
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  Speaker 2: define love. It's an overwhelming force, it's an uncontrollable force.
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  Speaker 2: It's a sensual force. This thing is bigger than both
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  Speaker 2: of us. I mean, that's what we think about love.
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  Speaker 2: And so when you see love your enemies, we believe
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  Speaker 2: what we're being called to is some sort of sappy
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  Speaker 2: sentimentalism toward people who, in some instances hate our guts.
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  Speaker 2: And the reason this is difficult for us to understand
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  Speaker 2: is because here's our attitude toward love. Here's how we
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  Speaker 2: define the word love. Elizabeth Barrett Browning helps us at
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  Speaker 2: this point, How do I love THEE? Let me count
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  Speaker 2: the way. I love THEE to the depth and breadth
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  Speaker 2: and height my soul can reach when feeling out of
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  Speaker 2: sight for the end of being and ideal grace. I
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  Speaker 2: love THEE to the level of everyday's most quiet need,
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  Speaker 2: by sun and candlelight. I love THEE freely as men
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  Speaker 2: strive for right. I love THEE purely as they turn
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  Speaker 2: from praise. I love THEE with a passion put to
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  Speaker 2: use in my old griefs and with my childhood's faith.
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  Speaker 2: I love THEE with a love I seem to lose
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  Speaker 2: with my lost saints. I love THEE with the breath,
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  Speaker 2: smiles tears of all my life. And if God choose,
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  Speaker 2: I shall but love THEE better after death. WHOA Now,
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  Speaker 2: If that's the way we define love sentimentalism, If we
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  Speaker 2: define love as this overwhelming uncontrollable emotion. It makes no
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  Speaker 2: sense whatsoever that we should feel towards someone who hates
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  Speaker 2: us the way Elizabeth Barrett Browning feels toward the love
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  Speaker 2: of her life about whom she speaks.
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  Speaker 1: In this poem.
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  Speaker 2: But is that what's meant by love? Do we define
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  Speaker 2: the love that we're to show and the love that
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  Speaker 2: we're to demonstrate toward our enemies by the picture that
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  Speaker 2: is painted for us by poets carried along by this
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  Speaker 2: Greco Roman myth of romantic love? Or is there another
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  Speaker 2: way to understand love? And I would argue that there
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  Speaker 2: is another way to understand love, based upon what we
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  Speaker 2: see in the teaching of Jesus that we've already looked
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  Speaker 2: at in Matthew chapter twenty two, love the Lord your
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  Speaker 2: God with all your heart, with all your soul, and
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  Speaker 2: all your mind and strength, and the passage that he
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  Speaker 2: is actually quoting from, which is found in Deuteronomy.
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  Speaker 1: And so we have.
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  Speaker 2: The Greek version of this Hebrew passage in the Shemah,
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  Speaker 2: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and
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  Speaker 2: all your soul and all your might. Well, when you
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  Speaker 2: exegeat these words, it's interesting that Jesus adds to the
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  Speaker 2: dimension of the mind when he talks about it in
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  Speaker 2: the New Testament. But when you exegeat these words in
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  Speaker 2: the Hebrew, you basically get this. And here's the definition
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  Speaker 2: that helps me understand the word as it's used in
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  Speaker 2: the Old Testament and the New Testament, the word it's
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  Speaker 2: used in the Bible, that biblical love is an act
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  Speaker 2: of the will accompanied by emotion that leads to action
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  Speaker 2: on behalf of its object. We say that again, Biblical
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  Speaker 2: love is an act of the will accompanied by emotion
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  Speaker 2: that leads to action on behalf of its object. And
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  Speaker 2: again we've talked about this before, but it bears repeating here.
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  Speaker 2: We've been duped into believing that love is something that
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  Speaker 2: it is not. From a biblical perspective. Biblical love is
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  Speaker 2: first and foremost and act of the will. By the way,
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  Speaker 2: the ultimate picture of this love, if you're wondering, is
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  Speaker 2: Jesus in the garden of Gathseimone.
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  Speaker 1: If there is.
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  Speaker 2: Any other way, let this bitter cup pass from me,
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  Speaker 2: this bitter cup of God's wrath. And yet he comes
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  Speaker 2: to that moment where he says, nevertheless, not my will,
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  Speaker 2: but yours be done. The love that Jesus demonstrates in
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  Speaker 2: the Garden of Gathseimone is first and foremost and act
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  Speaker 2: of the will. He chooses to love his bride the church.
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  Speaker 2: It is accompanied by emotion, emotion so intense that he
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  Speaker 2: sweat drops of blood, and it leads to action on
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  Speaker 2: behalf of its object. Love manifests itself in outward action
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  Speaker 2: toward its object. That's what we're speaking of here. The
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  Speaker 2: love that we owe to our enemies is not this
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  Speaker 2: sappy sentimentalism. But the love that we owe to our
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  Speaker 2: enemies is the love that we see demonstrated by God
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  Speaker 2: himself in Christ. An act of the will accompanied by
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  Speaker 2: emotion that leads to action on behalf of its object.
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  Speaker 2: Sometimes there will be a lot more will than emotion. Amen,
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  Speaker 2: But it is an act of the will accompanied by
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  Speaker 2: emotion that leads to action on behalf of its object.
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  Speaker 2: Look with me, if you will at the text again.
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  Speaker 2: You shall love your You've heard it said that you
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  Speaker 2: shall love your neighbor and hate your enemies. But I
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  Speaker 2: say to you, love your enemies and pray for.
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  Speaker 1: Those who persecute you.
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  Speaker 2: In other words, Jesus adds action here, love your enemies
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  Speaker 2: and pray for those who persecute you. So he's not
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  Speaker 2: just talking about sentimentality here, nor is he just talking
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  Speaker 2: about action here. There's a package deal. Love your enemies,
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  Speaker 2: pray for those who persecute you. By the way, is
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  Speaker 2: this new. It's not new at all. We've heard this before.
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  Speaker 2: Turn with me to the left. We just read it
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  Speaker 2: in our Old Testament reading just a few weeks ago.
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  Speaker 2: Actually it's been a couple of months now. But in
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  Speaker 2: Jeremiah chapter twenty nine and Jeremiah Chapter twenty nine, Jeremiah
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  Speaker 2: sends this letter and reminds God's people that they are
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  Speaker 2: going into exile and Babylon, and that they're being sent
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  Speaker 2: into exile.
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  Speaker 1: In Babylon by God himself.
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  Speaker 2: The boot of the oppressor is on your neck, and
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  Speaker 2: God is the one who put it there. Now, look
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  Speaker 2: at what he says in light of this, says, this
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  Speaker 2: is what God did. Look at verse four. Thus says
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  Speaker 2: the Lord of Host to God of Israel, to all
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  Speaker 2: the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem
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  Speaker 2: to Babylon, build houses and live in them, plant gardens
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  Speaker 2: and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters.
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  Speaker 2: Take wives who your sons, and give your daughters in marriage,
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  Speaker 2: that they may bear sons and daughters and multiply there,
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  Speaker 2: and do not decrease, but seek the welfare of the
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  Speaker 2: city where I have sent you into exile, and pray
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  Speaker 2: to the Lord on its behalf. I'm sending you into exis.
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  Speaker 2: You're going to be a slave in Babylon. They will
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  Speaker 2: burn your cities down, burn your homes down. They will rape, pillage,
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  Speaker 2: and plunder. And when you are in exile as a
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  Speaker 2: slave or less than that in Babylon, serve the King
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  Speaker 2: of Babylon and live. We read in chapter twenty seven,
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  Speaker 2: and here he says, seek the welfare of this place
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  Speaker 2: that I'm sending you to, and pray for its welfare. So, no,
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  Speaker 2: Jesus is not bringing something that's foreign to the God
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  Speaker 2: of the left side of the Bible. And again oftentimes
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  Speaker 2: we think that, you know, Jesus is the kinder, gentler
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  Speaker 2: version of God. The God of the Old Testament is
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  Speaker 2: a god of love and mercy as well. So this
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  Speaker 2: is not a new concept. This is not a new idea.
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  Speaker 2: Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. Again,
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  Speaker 2: not sappy sentimentalism. He doesn't say, like what they do
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  Speaker 2: to you. Oh, I am so pleased with the oppression
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  Speaker 2: that you've brought upon me. What is now please but
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  Speaker 2: oppress me the more. No, that's not the attitude here.
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  Speaker 2: And again it doesn't make sense yet, but just hang
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  Speaker 2: in there. We'll get there. Secondly, not only is love
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  Speaker 2: for our enemies defined by God's love as opposed to
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  Speaker 2: this grecor Roman myth, but love for our enemies is
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  Speaker 2: motivated by obedience to God. We see that in verse
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  Speaker 2: forty four. I say to you, love your enemies. There's
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  Speaker 2: a command there. It didn't say you ought to then
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  Speaker 2: say try to. He says love your enemies, doesn't even
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  Speaker 2: say you have to feel like it necessarily love your enemies.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: Love for our enemies is motivated by obedience to God.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Love your enemies we talked about.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: We talk about this a lot in submission, that our
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: submission to authority is born out of our obedience to God.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: And we often say, if we wait, regardless of what
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: situation that we find ourselves in, whether it's a wife
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: struggling with submission to a husband, or its child struggling
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: with submission to their parents, or it's a citizen struggling
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: with submission to the authority over that citizen. If we
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: wait for the individual to be worthy of submission, will
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: never submit. Amen, ma'am, your husband will never be worthy
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: of your submission. Son, daughter, your parents will never be
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: worthy of your submission. Citizens, your government will never be
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: worthy of your submission. But we offer it because we
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: are commended to do so. Your enemy is not worthy
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: of your love. They have done things to you that
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: have hurt you, that have angered you, that have injured you.
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: God is not saying that people who do this don't
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: deserve to be punished.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: We've already looked at that vengeance.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: His mind said the Lord, I will repay, And in fact,
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: here is the beauty.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: It is only those of us who.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: Believe in a God of love and a literal hell
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: that can ever get here.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: Well, what do you mean?
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: Listen, people who do not believe in a God of
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: love and do not believe in a literal hell have
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: no choice but the hold on the grudges and take
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: out vengeance, because it's the only way that wrongs can
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: be made right. But if you believe in a God
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: who says vengeance is mine, I will repay, And even
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: if you don't see it in the here and the now,
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: I'm the God who says all evil and wickedness will
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: be punished in an ultimate sense, in a literal place
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: called hell. Sometimes it is only then that you and
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: I can hold our peace, close our mouths and wait
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: for God to do what we wish we could do
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: with our own hands. It's because we believe in a
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: God who will exact such vengeance, and because we believe
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: in a God of love who owed that same vengeance
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: to us. You see these individuals who walk around and
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: you know, and say that they don't like our God.
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: They don't believe in our God, they don't believe in
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: our Jesus, they don't believe in our gospel. How could
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: a loving God to do something so terrible as to
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: send people to hell. Here's what's amazing. Those individuals see
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: atrocities with their eyes and they get angry and they
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: want vengeance. Wait a minute, Wait a minute. Are you
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: saying to me that there is a sense of justice
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: that abides in you, that says the action that you
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: just witnessed deserves vengeance, and that you even wish that
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: you could be the one to meet out that vengeance.
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: But you refuse to believe in God, because he's the
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: ultimate expression of that. You can't get there from here.
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: We love our enemies, and we're motivated by obedience to God,
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: trusting obedience to God. Let me say this too.
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: When you hold on to your anger towards.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: People and refuse to obey God and have a disposition
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: of love toward them, you're basically saying, God, I don't
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: trust you to make this right.
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: I really don't.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: I believe it would be much more appropriate for this
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: person to feel the sting of me averting my eyes
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: from them, of me not speaking to them, or of
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: me saying nasty, hurtful things to them or about them.
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: I believe that's a much more appropriate consequence for this
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: individual than to let you deal with them. That's what
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: we're saying when we refuse to obey in this regard God,
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: Your vengeance is just not sufficient. Letting me show you
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: how it's done. I've said this before and I'll say
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: it again. There's some of us in this room, right here,
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: right now, and our lives are being controlled by people
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: who died a long time ago. They're controlling us from
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: the grave. Why because we refuse to let go of
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: what they did, and we hold on to it. And
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: again it has been said, and I don't know who
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: said this first, but holding on to that kind of
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: unforgiveness is like you drinking poison hoping they die. There's
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: some of you in your life is controlled by people
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: who live a thousand miles away. And their birthday comes
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: and you don't call them, I show them. Christmas comes,
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: you send everybody else something. You don't send them something.
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: I show them. You know what's so horrible about that?
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: In some instances, they're not even worried about you. They're
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: occupying space in your mind because you're thinking about ways
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: to hurt them, and it never dawned on them that
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: you should have sent them something in the first place.
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: Oh Bey God, recommend it to love our enemies, or
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: command it to again, not sappy sentimentality, not to be
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: walked on by our enemies. But our disposition toward them
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: is to be one of love, because we're commanded to. Thirdly,
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: love for our enemies is evidence of our sonship. Love
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: for our enemies is evidence of our sonship. Look at
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: what we find here in our passage, so that verse
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: forty five, you may be sons of your father who
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: is in heaven, for he makes his son rise on
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: the evil and on the good, and sends rain on
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: the just and the unjust. Look at the last verse,
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: verse forty eight. You therefore must be perfect as your
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: heavenly father is perfect. The love that you show toward
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: your enemies is actually evidence of your sonship.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: It's evidence that you belong to God.
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: Now again, we've covered this theological ground before, but recognize
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: when we see some like this, we know the doctrine
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: of salvation. We know that Jesus is not saying here,
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: if you want to be a Christian, then you do this,
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: and then through doing this you can be a Christian.
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: That's not what he's saying here, And our understanding of
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: the Gospel makes it clear that that's not what he's saying.
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: So when he says so that you may be sons
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: of your Father, what he's referring to here is so
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: that you may demonstrate, so that you may.
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: Act like so that it may.
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: Be shown that you are sons of your father. That's
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: the only way we get there. By the way, here's
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: another reality. We can only do this as a byproduct
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: of a regenerated life. I'm not gonna do this as
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: an unconverted man. You can't do this as an unconverted man,
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: as an unconverted woman. You're not gonna do it. It's
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: not difficult to do. It's impossible to do even as
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: an individual who's been born again, who's been transformed by
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: the same power that raised Christ from the dead. The
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: only way this happens is that it's appropriated in me
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: by God on the high, so that when it happens,
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: I don't stand up and say, oh, look at how long.
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: Suffering I am. No, no, no, no no.
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: When I love my enemies, when I find myself actually
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: loving my enemies, you.
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: Know what that out to leave me to do. It
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: ought to lead me.
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: To fall on my face and say, God, thank you
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: for showing me that piece of evidence that says you
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: own me. Because I ain't do that one Everything in
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: me wants to go dirty harry on that person. So
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: any response other than that that was from you. Ever
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: been in a situation like that? You ever been in
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: a situation where there's an individual and you know you're
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: gonna see this individual.
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: And they just wronged you.
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: I mean, there's there's no no they wronged you. None
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: of this Well you know, there's always two sides to
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: the story. No, they would say they wronged you. Their
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: side would be the same as your side in this story.
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: They just wronged you. There's nothing in question. And you're
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: gonna see this person, and all of a sudden, you
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: run through in your mind. Don't act like you don't
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: do this. You run through in your mind what you're
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: going to do, what you're gonna say. And there are
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: these these movie clips that run through your mind. You
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: know that that that just you know, a lot of
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: them involve you speaking your mind and slapping them and
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: walking out, you know, or you know a lot of
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: them involve them. You know, you say these words and
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: then they just crumble in a puddle of tears, and
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: you know, and all of a sudden, and all of
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: a sudden, you have the opportunity to be in the
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: presence of that person, and you open your mouth and
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: the love of Christ comes out, and a minute you
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: look into their eyes. You don't want to destroy them.
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: In fact, you pity them. He doesn't know God, she
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: doesn't know God. And I'm more concerned that they feel
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: something that they're incapable of feeling that I am the
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: fact that what they did to me as an expression
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: of the reality that they don't know God. There are
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: some of you in this room, and you've sat in
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: a courtroom. You've been wronged by a person, or you've
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: been violated by a person, and you sat in a
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: courtroom and you thought that when the gabble went down
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: and the judge said whatever, that you would be vindicated.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: But it didn't do that for you. It didn't do
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: that for you at all. They get a.
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: Fine that's bigger than what you wanted them to get,
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: they get a sentence that's longer than what you wanted
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: them to get. And you can't leave and celebrate why,
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: because that's not how God's kids handle things. Our love
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: toward our enemies is actually evidence of our sonship. Finally,
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: love for our enemies is an outgrowth and an expression
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: of God's love for his enemies. It's an outgrowth and
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: it's an expression of God's love for his enemies. Look
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: at what we find. Look at it again, he says,
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: For he makes his son rise on the evil and
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: on the good his reins. He sends reins on the
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: righteous and the unjust. God does this. God does this.
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: In fact, we get mad sometimes because God does this,
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: don't we.
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, the hurricane comes, and when the hurricane comes,
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: here's what we would like.
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: We just come before God and we say, Okay, God,
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: is it too much to ask that when the hurricane comes,
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: you blow down the wicked people's houses, but you don't
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: blow down the godly people's houses. Is that too much
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: to ask? Or how about this one in our current circumstances?
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: How about this one?
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: God?
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: How about as stocks crash, only the ungodly companies go
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: belly up and the godly company survive. Only the wicked
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: people lose their life savings, but the godly people don't
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: lose their life savings. But it doesn't work like that.
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: His sun shines on the evil and the good, His
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: ring falls on the just and the unju us. God
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: sends his mercy on the wicked every day, and yet
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: Schriptier says He's angry with the wicked every day. There
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: is enemies. Listen if you will Romans Chapter five and
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: verse ten. For if while we were enemies, we were
• 39:31
  Speaker 2: reconciled to God by the death of his son, much
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: by His life? Newsflash. When God saved you, he saved
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: his enemy. How dare you not love yours? Colossians one
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: twenty one. And you who once were alienated, hostile in mind,
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: and doing evil deeds, that's you the enemy of God
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: before your conversion James four four, You adulterous people. Do
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: you not know that friendship with the world is enmity
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: with God. Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: the world makes himself an.
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: Enemy of God.
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: And yet God is merciful toward his enemies. Our love
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: toward our enemies is an outgrowth of this. It's an
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: expression of this. I want to read you one last
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: thing before we apply this couple of times. Turn with me,
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: if you will, to the book of Jonah. He's Amos's
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: next door Jonah Micah. We know the story. God says
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: to Jonah, go to Nineveh and preach forty days. Tell
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: them forty days, and I'm gonna wipe them out. Jonah
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: didn't want to go to Nineveh and preach. Why because
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: the Ninavites are enemies, not just enemies. But Jonah's been
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: listening to the other prophets of his time and knows
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: that God is going to raise up a mighty people
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: to punish Israel. Jonah puts two and two together. Wait
• 41:43
  Speaker 2: a minute, if God shows mercy on Nineveh, they may
• 41:47
  Speaker 2: come get us. Jonah doesn't want to go preach in NINEVH.
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: So Jonah gets swallowed up. Jonah goes to Nineveh. Jonah preachers,
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: God is merciful and Jonah is angry. Look at Jonah
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: Chapter four, beginning of verse five. Jonah went out of
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: the city and sat to the east of the city
• 42:07
  Speaker 2: and made a booth for himself. There he sat under
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: it in the shade till he should see what would
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: come of the city. Now, the Lord God appointed a
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: might be a shade over his head to save him
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: the plant. But when dawn came up the next day,
• 42:32
  Speaker 2: God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that
• 42:35
  Speaker 2: it withered. When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: east wind, and the sun beat down on the head
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: that he might die, and said, it is better for
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: me to die than to live. But God said to Jonah,
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: do you do well to be angry for the plant?
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: And he said, yes, I do well to be angry,
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: angry enough to die. And the Lord said, you pity
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: the plant for which you did not labor, nor did
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: you make it grow, which came into being in a
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: night and perished in a night. And should not I
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: pity Nineveh, that great city in which there are more
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: know the right hand from their left, and also much cattle.
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: What an incredible statement, Jonah, you have pity on this plant,
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: but there are one hundred and twenty thousand babies in Nineveh,
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: and you don't even have pity on them. He even
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: mentions the cattle. God has pity on the cattle. Jonah
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: has pity on none of them. What's the rebuke here
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: for Jonah? He's got an inappropriate attitude toward his enemies.
• 44:05
  Speaker 2: And ultimately, God says, listen, there's only one person in
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: the world who doesn't deserve enemies.
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: And that's me. I'm God, You're not.
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: I'm having mercy on people who are my enemies, and
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: you can't let yours go. I had mercy on the plant.
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: I had mercy on you, Jonah, do you actually think
• 44:41
  Speaker 2: that you deserve my mercy? And then off a dozen?
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: And I guess that's the question for all of us
• 44:48
  Speaker 2: as it relates to our enemies. Do you actually believe
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: that you deserve the mercy of God? And they don't?
• 44:56
  Speaker 2: Think about that for a moment. Think about what you
• 44:58
  Speaker 2: would have to say to God in order to justify
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: God not being merciful to your enemy, or you not
• 45:04
  Speaker 2: loving your enemy the way God commands you too. You
• 45:07
  Speaker 2: would have to fix your mouth to say to God, God,
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: do you not see that they are not as worthy
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: as I am?
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: Of mercy of love? Do you not see that? God?
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: Do you not see that when you came to me,
• 45:24
  Speaker 2: I was lovable and I deserved the grace that you
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: showered upon me? Do you not see God that it
• 45:30
  Speaker 2: would have been foolish for you not to save me
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: seeing how great I am? And yet these individuals have
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: none of those qualities that I had. Therefore they are
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: not Do you see how ridiculous that sounds?
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: Who do you think you are? Yeah?
• 45:57
  Speaker 2: But you don't know what they did to me? No,
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: I don't, but I bet it's not worse than what
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: they did to the guy who said, Father, forgive them,
• 46:08
  Speaker 2: for they do not know what they are doing. Yeah,
• 46:16
  Speaker 2: well that was Jesus. That's God in the flesh on
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: the cross as he's being crucified. Really, how about you
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: turned to the right with me and look at one
• 46:24
  Speaker 2: more passage scripture. Turn to the book of Acts, Acts,
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: chapter eight, since Jesus is so far above us chapter seven. Actually, sorry,
• 46:56
  Speaker 2: chapter seven, Acts, chapter seven, beginning of verse fifty four. Now,
• 47:05
  Speaker 2: when they heard these things, they were enraged. This is
• 47:08
  Speaker 2: after Stephen's sermons, and they ground their teeth at him.
• 47:12
  Speaker 2: But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven
• 47:16
  Speaker 2: and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at
• 47:19
  Speaker 2: the right hand of God. And he said, behold, I
• 47:22
  Speaker 2: see the heavens opened, and the son of Man standing
• 47:25
  Speaker 2: at the right hand of God. But they cried out
• 47:27
  Speaker 2: with a loud voice, and stopped their ears and rushed
• 47:31
  Speaker 2: together at him. Then they cast him out of the
• 47:36
  Speaker 2: city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their
• 47:41
  Speaker 2: garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
• 47:44
  Speaker 2: And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, Lord
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: Jesus received my spirit, and falling to his knees, He
• 47:50
  Speaker 2: cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold
• 47:53
  Speaker 2: this sin against them.
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: And when he had said this, he died. Was he
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: divine too?
• 48:09
  Speaker 2: No, he wasn't. He was a weak, frail, flesh and
• 48:16
  Speaker 2: blood man, just like you and me. And he looked
• 48:20
  Speaker 2: into the face of people who were in the process
• 48:24
  Speaker 2: of killing him, and he demonstrated Christian love.
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: What did you say they were doing to you? Again?
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: What did you say you had against them? Again? I'm sorry?
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: What was that wrong that you could not get beyond?
• 49:02
  Speaker 2: Remember the love that we show our enemies, it's defined
• 49:06
  Speaker 2: by God's love, not this sappy Greco Roman myth. Love
• 49:12
  Speaker 2: we show our enemies is motivated by obedience to God.
• 49:15
  Speaker 2: It's evidence of our sonship. It's an outgrowth and even
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: an expression of the love that our God has for
• 49:25
  Speaker 2: his enemies, which by the way, includes you.
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: And me.
• 49:40
  Speaker 2: So what does this mean? A couple of things. First,
• 49:45
  Speaker 2: let me tell you again what it doesn't mean. It
• 49:48
  Speaker 2: doesn't mean sappy sentimentality. And Stephen prays for these brothers.
• 49:55
  Speaker 2: Stephen is not saying, oh, look he has a stone
• 49:59
  Speaker 2: in his head hand.
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: How my heart is drawn toward him? Right now?
• 50:06
  Speaker 2: That's not what Stephen is saying in this moment. It's
• 50:11
  Speaker 2: not sappy sentimentality.
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: It's not.
• 50:19
  Speaker 2: Here's the other thing. It does not mean that we
• 50:23
  Speaker 2: simply allow wrongs against ourselves. We saw that last week.
• 50:31
  Speaker 2: It doesn't mean that. It doesn't mean that we're somehow
• 50:35
  Speaker 2: more godly if we don't stand up when we need to.
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: But what does it look like. Here's what it looks like.
• 50:49
  Speaker 2: Here's what it looks like. Let me give you a
• 50:52
  Speaker 2: battlefield example. There's so many battlefield examples as it relates,
• 50:58
  Speaker 2: especially to the battle that we're fighting today. And one
• 51:01
  Speaker 2: of the interesting thing about the battles that we're fighting
• 51:03
  Speaker 2: today is that we see a worldview.
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: Battle going on.
• 51:07
  Speaker 2: We see people, on the one hand, who, no matter
• 51:10
  Speaker 2: how far we fall in as a culture, we still
• 51:13
  Speaker 2: are very much informed by a Christian ethic, very much
• 51:18
  Speaker 2: informed by a Christian ethic, and a lot of the
• 51:20
  Speaker 2: traditions that we have and military traditions and things of
• 51:23
  Speaker 2: that nature, are very much informed by a Christian ethic.
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: And we are fighting against a foe who is very
• 51:29
  Speaker 2: much not only informed by, but motivated by and drenched
• 51:33
  Speaker 2: in an Islamic ethic. Here's one of the differences. There
• 51:45
  Speaker 2: is a fierce battle, and the battle is over. When
• 51:49
  Speaker 2: the battle is over, our medics go bring in our wounded.
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: And theirs.
• 52:03
  Speaker 2: And mend them and care for them and treat them
• 52:09
  Speaker 2: with dignity and respect men whose guns were trained on
• 52:17
  Speaker 2: them just hours earlier.
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: What sense does that make?
• 52:26
  Speaker 2: None unless you are remotely familiar with this sixth antithesis.
• 52:38
  Speaker 2: Love your enemies. That's the difference between people who say
• 52:44
  Speaker 2: we need to go over there and turn that place
• 52:46
  Speaker 2: into a parking lot. Least need to knew them all.
• 52:53
  Speaker 2: I can hear the Lord talking to Jonah sitting outside
• 52:57
  Speaker 2: and ene it, really you want a nuke Afghan stand?
• 53:00
  Speaker 2: Do you know how many babies live there? How many helpless,
• 53:04
  Speaker 2: defenseless people who have absolutely nothing to do with what's
• 53:09
  Speaker 2: going on? Is that really what you want? Just wipe
• 53:12
  Speaker 2: out the whole place? Is it really?
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah?
• 53:22
  Speaker 2: Well God has done that in the past, he sure has.
• 53:27
  Speaker 2: But we're talking about you. Here's another way that expresses itself.
• 53:41
  Speaker 2: Every last one of us in this room have people
• 53:45
  Speaker 2: and our own families who hate our guts almost as
• 53:52
  Speaker 2: much as we hate theirs. You can't say amen, You
• 53:55
  Speaker 2: ought to say out that's all of us, all of us.
• 53:59
  Speaker 2: We have people in our families that they despise us,
• 54:04
  Speaker 2: and we despise them right back. Love your enemies. Why
• 54:14
  Speaker 2: can't you say happy birthday to people on their birthday?
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: Huh?
• 54:21
  Speaker 2: Why can't you send people a card at their anniversary?
• 54:28
  Speaker 2: Why can't you offer condolence when there's a loss. Why
• 54:34
  Speaker 2: can't you do that? Yes, but you don't understand what
• 54:38
  Speaker 2: they did to me. No, I don't, and I really
• 54:40
  Speaker 2: don't care. Because if Stephen can fall to his knees
• 54:46
  Speaker 2: the moment before he dies, you can send a birthday card,
• 54:56
  Speaker 2: you can pick up the phone and say you know
• 54:58
  Speaker 2: what I heard about your loss. And I just wanted
• 55:01
  Speaker 2: to tell you I'm sorry and I'm praying for you.
• 55:22
  Speaker 2: And that's all of us, me included. We stand up
• 55:26
  Speaker 2: here and we tell you week after week after week
• 55:31
  Speaker 2: that preaching is oftentimes a relief when it comes to
• 55:37
  Speaker 2: passages like this, it's a relief. And today was a relief.
• 55:40
  Speaker 2: It really was. It really was a relief to preach this.
• 55:45
  Speaker 2: Why Because I just couldn't wait to just unleash this
• 55:47
  Speaker 2: on you, because you guys just deserve it so much. No,
• 55:50
  Speaker 2: I just wanted to share in the beating God's been
• 55:54
  Speaker 2: whipping me all week long. I just looked forward to
• 55:59
  Speaker 2: it being spread out a little bit.
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: Amen.
• 56:05
  Speaker 2: I have enemies just like you, and I would say
• 56:11
  Speaker 2: that I don't always respond appropriately to my enemies, but
• 56:15
  Speaker 2: that would be overstating.
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: My disposition.
• 56:21
  Speaker 2: It would be wrong to say I don't always respond
• 56:23
  Speaker 2: this way to my enemies. I usually don't respond this
• 56:26
  Speaker 2: way to my enemies. That's worse than I don't always.
• 56:33
  Speaker 2: I usually don't when people wrong me. This is this
• 56:39
  Speaker 2: is not kind of knee jerk reaction for me. This
• 56:46
  Speaker 2: usually has to come about after a process of me
• 56:50
  Speaker 2: recognizing these truths again and reminding myself of these truths again,
• 56:55
  Speaker 2: and then we got to come with brokenness and repentance
• 56:59
  Speaker 2: and all this stuff. This stuff, that's why I'm so
• 57:03
  Speaker 2: just happy and overjoyed in those moments where it happens right.
• 57:10
  Speaker 2: And that's why I'm also very quick during those moments
• 57:13
  Speaker 2: when it happens right to say Lord, thank you for
• 57:16
  Speaker 2: that evidence of sonship, because that wasn't my normal disposition.
• 57:24
  Speaker 2: That was not dirty, Harry, that resides inside me. That's
• 57:35
  Speaker 2: how we do this. And here's a final one. There
• 57:40
  Speaker 2: may even be people around you today whom you consider
• 57:45
  Speaker 2: an enemy. And I'm not just talking about other members
• 57:51
  Speaker 2: of this church, sir, I'm talking about your wife right
• 57:55
  Speaker 2: next to you, ma'am. I'm talking about your husband right
• 57:58
  Speaker 2: next to you, the one that you were saying nasty
• 58:01
  Speaker 2: things to just a couple of hours ago. M You know,
• 58:08
  Speaker 2: the one that you know, the one that some days
• 58:11
  Speaker 2: you fight with all the way up into the church
• 58:14
  Speaker 2: parking a lot and then y'all stop so nobody sees. You.
• 58:20
  Speaker 2: Don't ask me how I know that happens. Sometimes I
• 58:26
  Speaker 2: read a lot. Okay, Love your enemy.
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: Love your enemy.
• 58:39
  Speaker 2: Sometimes there are people within our household who are acting
• 58:43
  Speaker 2: like our enemies.
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: Love your enemies, within, without, near, far.
• 58:52
  Speaker 2: Love your enemies, and remember that it is him who
• 58:57
  Speaker 2: works in us, both to will and to do.
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: It's a good pleasure.
• 59:04
  Speaker 2: Love your enemies like Christ loved his enemies, because the
• 59:11
  Speaker 2: beautiful thing that Jesus demonstrates is this. When you love
• 59:16
  Speaker 2: your enemies, sometimes you have the incredible privilege of seeing
• 59:21
  Speaker 2: an enemy become a friend. That's what he did with us,
• 59:30
  Speaker 2: and he can do it in our lives and through
• 59:32
  Speaker 2: us with others. Let's pray