Love of GOD overcomes

GOD`S LOVE OVERCOMES PRESENTED BY STEVEN SCHILLER AUG 14 2022

INTRODUCTION

One of the more challenging commands given by Jesus is to love your enemies...

Given in His sermon on the mount - Mt 5:43-44

Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Mat 5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

Again in His sermon on the plain - Lk 6:27-28,35

Luk 6:26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

Luk 6:27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,

Luk 6:28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

Luk 6:35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

Yet when taken to heart and applied properly, loving your enemies can..

Bless and transform your own life

Truly make this world a better place

Let's examine Jesus' command to love your enemies more closely by first asking...

WHO IS YOUR ENEMY?

ANYONE WHO CURSES YOU...

Who speaks ill about you or to you - Mt 5:44; Lk 6:28

Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Luk 6:28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

Like Shimei did to David - 2Sa 16:5-8,13

2Sa 16:5 And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came.

2Sa 16:6 And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.

2Sa 16:7 And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:

2Sa 16:8 The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.

2Sa 16:13 And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill's side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust.

ANYONE WHO HATES YOU...

Who for some reason despises you - Mt 5:44; Lk 6:27

Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Luk 6:27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,

For either racial, political, religious, or personal reasons - e.g., Jn 15:18-19

Joh 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

Joh 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

ANYONE WHO SPITEFULLY USES YOU...

Who abuses, treats despitefully, falsely accuses you - Mt 5:44; Lk 6:28

Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Luk 6:28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

To mistreat you in any way, like they did Jesus - Mt 27:27-30

Mat 27:27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.

Mat 27:28 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.

Mat 27:29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!

Mat 27:30 And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.

ANYONE WHO PERSECUTES YOU...

Who prosecutes and pursues with repeated acts of enmity (WordStudy) - Mt 5:44

Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Like Saul of Tarsus (Paul) did the Christians - Ac 8:3; 9:1-2; 22:4; 26:9-11; Ga 1:13

Act 8:3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

Act 9:1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

Act 9:2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

Act 22:4 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

Act 26:9 I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

Act 26:10 Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.

Act 26:11 And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.

Gal 1:13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:

Our enemy can be a family member, neighbor, co-worker, fellow-citizen, or government representative (local or foreign). In other words, just about anyone who does not like us. Now let's ask...

WHY LOVE YOUR ENEMY?

TO BE LIKE GOD...

To be sons of our Father in heaven - Mt 5:45,48

Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Mat 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Who is kind to evil and unthankful men - Lk 6:35-36; Ro 5:8,10; Col 1:21

Luk 6:36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

om 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Col 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

TO BE UNLIKE SINNERS...

Who love those who love them - Mt 5:46-47; Lk 6:32-33

Mat 5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

Mat 5:47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

Mat 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect

Mat 6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Which is human nature, but we are to be partakers of divine nature - 2Pe 1:4; Ep 5:1-2

2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Eph 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

TO OVERCOME EVIL...

Not letting evil overcome you - Ro 12:20-21

Rom 12:20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

Rom 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

"I will never let another man ruin my life by making me hate him." - George Washington Carver

"Those who hate you don't win unless you hate them - and then you destroy yourself." - Richard Nixon

Overcoming evil by doing good - Ro 12:20-21

Rom 12:20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

Rom 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?" - Abraham Lincoln

"Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend." - Martin L. King, Jr.

[The ultimate goal should be to transform our enemies into brethren Romans 10:1

Rom 10:1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

Is that not what God did with us? So let us now ask...]

HOW TO LOVE YOUR ENEMY?

BY BLESSING THEM...

As commanded by Jesus, Paul, and Peter - Mt 5:44; Ro 12:14; 1Pe 3:9

Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Rom 12:14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

1Pe 3:9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

The word "bless" here means to "speak well of" or "speak well to" - Barnes

BY DOING GOOD TO THEM...

As taught in both Covenants - Exo 23:4-5; Mt 5:44; Lk 6:27; Ga 6:10

Exo 23:4 If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

Exo 23:5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.

Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Luk 6:27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,

Gal 6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Which has the potential of transforming our enemies - Pro 25:21-22; 2Ki 6:22-23

Pro 25:21 If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:

Pro 25:22 For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.

2Ki 6:22 And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.

2Ki 6:23 And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

BY PRAYING FOR THEM...

As Jesus taught - Mt 5:44; Lk 6:28

Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Luk 6:28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

As Jesus and His disciples exemplified - Lk 23:34; Ac 7:60; Ro 10:1

Luk 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

Act 7:60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Rom 10:1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

WITH ACTIVE GOOD WILL...

Which is the meaning of the word "love" (Gr., agape)

Beautifully defined by Paul - 1Co 13:4-8

1Co 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

1Co 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

1Co 13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

1Co 13:7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

1Co 13:8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

(imagine treating enemies like this!)

CONCLUSION

We are not commanded to love our enemies with affection in our hearts...

Experienced in families (Gr., storge)

Expressed among friends (Gr., phileo)

Especially with brethren (Gr., philadelphia)

We are commanded to love our enemies with an act of the will...

Displaying active good will toward them (Gr., agape)

Blessing them, doing to good them, praying for them

However, where agape love is consistently shown it is not unusual for phileo love to gradually develop. Even if not, we still have the duty and privilege to be "sons of the Most High"...

For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. - Tit 3:3-7

Tit 3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

Tit 3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,

Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Tit 3:6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

Tit 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

HEAR

BELIEVE

REPENT

CONFESS

BE BAPTIZED

LIVE FAITHFULLY