A loving response is proof of being like Christ
Matthew 5:43-47
Our theme is, without a doubt, is a very challenging thing to do in these bodies living in this world, where evil is now called good and good is called evil.
However, we must strive to make God’s will of becoming like Christ in this life a reality so that sinners would be saved
How we respond to people who are not kind to us is an indicator of our Christlikeness.
The world is watching how we respond to evil, if we respond like the world then they conclude that Christianity is not real, the people who go to church are just like the people who do not.
Jesus taught his disciples the “The Beatitudes” of being like Christ, the sermon on the mountain some called the greatest sermon ever preached because it deals specifically with what a Christian is to be like.
It's not just a name to be used lightly, but a lifestyle, of showing people Jesus in our life.
Jesus says many times in this sermon, “But I say unto you, that you resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other also." (Matt. 5:39)
No, don’t think Jesus is teaching pacifism, but he is teaching we are not to respond like the world.
We are to be different; we can’t live according to this world or our flesh.
And I strongly believe that we have to prove our faith in God through living for God through our words and actions
A loving response is proof of being like Christ
Jesus shares this with his disciples because they were charged with evangelizing the world through making Christ known.
In order to make Christ known we have to show them the change Christ has made in our lives.
We have to be equipped with the Word and Spirit of God to respond like Jesus responded to the hurt and pain in life.
To be like Christ is not to respond to conflict, out of your flesh and pride
Jesus, says you have heard, love your neighbors and hate your enemies, 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
The more we do this the more power we receive to be more like Christ
I want to be more like Jesus, and I know that happens when I love those who don’t love me!
Jesus showed us how to do this, while he was unjustly arrested by Roman soldiers stripped his clothes off, they spit in his face and slapped him across his head, and he never said a mumbling word.
On the cross hanging between two thieves, He prayed Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
However, we must strive to make God’s will of becoming like Christ in this life a reality so that sinners would be saved
How we respond to people who are not kind to us is an indicator of our Christlikeness.
The world is watching how we respond to evil, if we respond like the world then they conclude that Christianity is not real, the people who go to church are just like the people who do not.
Jesus taught his disciples the “The Beatitudes” of being like Christ, the sermon on the mountain some called the greatest sermon ever preached because it deals specifically with what a Christian is to be like.
It's not just a name to be used lightly, but a lifestyle, of showing people Jesus in our life.
Jesus says many times in this sermon, “But I say unto you, that you resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other also." (Matt. 5:39)
No, don’t think Jesus is teaching pacifism, but he is teaching we are not to respond like the world.
We are to be different; we can’t live according to this world or our flesh.
And I strongly believe that we have to prove our faith in God through living for God through our words and actions
A loving response is proof of being like Christ
- Don’t listen to church talk that’s not Bible talk- vs. 43
- Love people out of God’s love not human love- vs. 44
- Loving all people is evidence of being like Christ- vs.45
- Being like Christ is to be different from the world- vs. 46-47
Jesus shares this with his disciples because they were charged with evangelizing the world through making Christ known.
In order to make Christ known we have to show them the change Christ has made in our lives.
We have to be equipped with the Word and Spirit of God to respond like Jesus responded to the hurt and pain in life.
- Don’t listen to church talk that’s not Bible talk- vs. 43.
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.”
- Don’t believe everything people tell you.
- False teaching is subtle and can cause us to not be like Christ but like the world.
- I John 4:1, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”
- Passed down traditions can be dangerous and not of God, causing us not to be like Christ but like our ancestors.
- The Bible never says hate your enemy, this was a popular saying during Jesus’ time by hateful people, who claimed God said it.
- We can’t respond like Christ, hating people because of race, sexuality and politics etc.
- Love people out of God’s love, not human love- vs. 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.”
- Loving your enemy is hard to do with human’s love
- The love that makes us like Christ is agape, divine, unconditional love.
- Love that sees no color.
- Love that keeps no record of wrong.
- Love that forgives.
- It requires God’s love to be like Christ and to respond like Jesus responded.
- Being like Christ is loving your enemies, blessing them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you.
- This is what being like Jesus looks like
- Loving all people is evidence of being like Christ-vs 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.”
- Jesus says the proof of being saved is loving people
- That ye may be children of your Father
- Loving all people proves that you are becoming like Christ
- God doesn’t change his love based on our behavior.
- We treat people differently based on how they treat us, that’s not being like Christ.
- We justify our ungodly response to people by saying I am going to love you from a distance, or I love you, but I don’t like your ways. Many of us will say openly, I don’t like him or her.
- He makes his sun to rise on the evil and good.
- He sends rain on the just and unjust.
- Being like Christ is to be different from the world- vs. 46-47
“For if you love them which love you what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so?"
- The world has its code of ethics, which is shoot them before they shoot you. If you don’t like me, then I don’t like you.
- When God saves us, we are no longer the same
- Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
- We have taken off the old man and put on the new man, we are no longer carnal and worldly but now spiritual
- To be like Christ is to be at odds with the world
To be like Christ is not to respond to conflict, out of your flesh and pride
Jesus, says you have heard, love your neighbors and hate your enemies, 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
The more we do this the more power we receive to be more like Christ
I want to be more like Jesus, and I know that happens when I love those who don’t love me!
Jesus showed us how to do this, while he was unjustly arrested by Roman soldiers stripped his clothes off, they spit in his face and slapped him across his head, and he never said a mumbling word.
On the cross hanging between two thieves, He prayed Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
