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Matthew 5:43-48 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. 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; 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. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

We Are Commanded To Be Perfect!

I’m going to start at the end, and work toward the beginning today. The last verse we read is:

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your
Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Jesus tells us as His disciples to “be perfect”. Perfect? As I looked up this passage in the various commentaries, each one I looked at minimized this command of Christ, barely paying it any attention. I don’t think God will honor this.

Jesus commanded that we “be perfect” (Greek τέλειος téleios, pronounced tel’-i-os), which means “to be complete, mature, of full age”. The Pharisees only focused on doing the parts of the Law that made them look good. They focused on giving so as to receive the praise of men, holiness so as to receive the praise of men, religious ritual fidelity to receive the praise of men. But Jesus drives us back to the Source. We are to be “imitators of God our Father”. If we are born again, if we are indeed”

children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26)

If indeed …

the Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of God (Romans 8:16)

Then we are to be “perfect and complete, just as our Father in Heaven is”. This is not a new requirement by Jesus. God told Israel:

Deuteronomy 18:13 Thou shalt be PERFECT with the LORD thy God.

Here the word “perfect” is the Hebrew תָּמִים tâmîym, (pronounced taw-meem’) which means “full, whole, without blemish, perfect”. What Jesus was telling His Church and the Father was telling Israel was:

Do not be like the lost world. Love Me. Love those around you. Do not love the idols, nor worship the false gods of of this world. Nations are destroyed because of their abominable child sacrifices and horrible gods.
Love only Me. Love one another. Be perfect!

We are to DO LOVE NOT HATE. Our “Light” is not like the Pharisees or the politicians.
We DO LOVE NOT HATE.

Matthew 5:43-48 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies …

“It hath been said, ‘thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy'”. This is found no where in the scripture. Never did God tell anyone – Israel or anyone else – to “hate your enemy”. Dr. Thomas Constable in his Soniclight Commentary notes “Nowhere does the Old Testament advocate hating one’s enemies”. Even in the Mosaic Code God said:

Exodus 23:2-5 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil … 4 If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. 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 him.

Everyone has enemies. But we, dear Christians, must DO LOVE NOT HATE toward our enemies. Only in this will people come to know Christ.

The wonderful Scottish preacher Alexander Maclaren saw a man that had often visited his congregation come forward and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. Maclaren had talked to the man before, and tried to lead him to Christ to no avail. The preacher asked the man “which sermon brought you to receive Jesus Christ?” The man honestly replied. “Your sermons were helpful, but they were not what finally persuaded me to be a Christian. A few weeks ago as I was leaving church, I noticed an elderly lady with a radiant face. Because she was making her way with difficulty along the icy street, I offered to help her. As we walked along together, she looked up at me and said, ‘I wonder if you know my Savior, Jesus Christ? He is everything in the world to me. I want you to love Him, too.’ Those few words touched my heart, and when I got home, I knelt down and received the Savior.”

Dr. David Jeremiah said “Even those in the grip of sin and frailty can recognize a true believer in Jesus Christ. When they see the joy of Christ in our life, it becomes a convicting moment. There’s a sermon in the holy smiles of God’s faithful people.”

Listen up Christian! Even if no one else around you is living for Christ and doing love, you yourself need to DO LOVE NOT HATE.

Consider the life of Noah. God was going to destroy the world by flood (Genesis 6:5-7). Evil had grown too pervasive, the darkness too widespread. The Lord decided to unplug civilization and let it reset. God, however, saw Noah. The Bible says that …

Genesis 6:8-9 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

Noah looked to God. While all those around him looked to false gods and petty feelings, Noah looked up. Noah loved God. Noah needed God. Because Noah found Grace (and Grace always comes first) – He was saved by faith in His Creator – Noah was JUST and ….. wait for it … PERFECT. Noah DID LOVE. If you notice in our text that Noah is described as …

… “perfect”, the Hebrew תָּמִים tâmîym, (pronounced taw-meem’) meaning “full, whole, perfect”.

Noah lived life in God’s presence. God told Noah “build an Ark, an escape for those who will love Me”. All else will flood. The world will flood. But build the God you love an Ark! So Noah build the Ark. Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. (Genesis 6:22).

Beloved, God is not done with America. America is not totally destroyed. Build the Ark. As believers DO GOOD NOT HATE. Continue to share the love of God. Love God, love one another. Be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect”. Our God continues to love them that curse Him. Our God continues to do good to them that do bad to Him.

“{God} maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good,
and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”

God blesses the world. His sun rise and sets on both evil and good. His rain falls on both evil and good. This past week I have heard so many people moan about the rain, cursing the fact that the sun is not out. Doesn’t the Bible tell us that God said:

I will give you rain in due season (Leviticus 26:4)

God gives us good. He gives us life. He blesses us daily. And yet so many receive the blessings of God without thanking Him, without praising Him, without honoring Him. Yet God gives anyway. Jesus said:

Matthew 5:46-47 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect …

The “publicans” (τελώνης telṓnēs, pronounced tel-o’-nace) were people of rank who gathered taxes from the populace. They could be likened to the politicians of our day. These people glad handed you, patted you on the back, “loved you” as long as it was in their best interests. Their “love” was fake, self serving, meant to line their own pockets. Jesus commands us as His children and disciples to do better. To “be perfect” in our doing of love.

God’s Children Have Always Been
Called To “Be Perfect”

• Consider Abraham. When God called Abraham to His side He commanded that old believer:

Genesis 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and BE THOU PERFECT (tâmîym, (pronounced taw-meem’)).

Love God. Love your neighbor. BE PERFECT. Live in the Grace of God, trusting Him, looking to Him. He will enable me.

• Consider Joshua. When that great old warrior Joshua prepared the leave Israel, he encouraged them saying:

Joshua 24:14 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity (PERFECTLY) – (tâmîym, (pronounced taw-meem’)) and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

• Consider David. When King David was saved by God, He sang a beautiful song of salvation to the Lord. He sang:

2 Samuel 22:2-3, 32-33 … The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; 3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my Savior; thou savest me from violence. … 32 For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God? 33 God is my strength and power: and He maketh my way PERFECT. (tâmîym, (pronounced taw-meem’)).

• Consider your calling. We come to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Receiving of His Grace, His abundant love, we are called to love as God loves. We are to DO LOVE NOT HATE. We are to do good to all. One day while Jesus was teaching the crowds a Pharisee asked Him:

Matthew 22:38 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

Jesus replied without hesitation:

Matthew 22:38-40 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The entire Law is summed up in these two principles. Love the God of Scripture with all that you have. All your heart – your emotions. All your soul – all that is you. All you mind – all of your intellect. Let God have all of you. Do all in love for Him, for He has done all in love for you. Then the second principle is love thy neighbor as thyself.

Jesus quoted this same principle in another place. The Bible says:

Luke 10:25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

Jesus answered a question with a question. Knowing that this man was a Lawyer He asked “What is written in the Law? What have you read there? (Luke 10:26)”. The man answered:

Luke 10:27 … Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.

Jesus told the Lawyer, “Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live” (Luke 10:28). But the Lawyer – knowing the Law of God but like so many never doing the Law sought a loophole. He asked Jesus:

“Well then, Who is my neighbor?”

Jesus replied using a type of person often hated by the Jews of His day. Jesus used a Samaritan. Jesus said:

Luke 10:30-36 … A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?

The Lawyer answered – “He that showeth mercy on the man in need”. And Jesus said:

“GO, and DO thou likewise!” (Luke 10:37)

The Law is fulfilled by love. We are told this throughout Scripture. The Apostle Paul stated:

Romans 13:8-10 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

and again,

Galatians 5:13-14 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

Love is the fulfillment of the Law. Love – to love God with all you have, to love your neighbor – whoever is near you – this fulfills the Law of God. This is what James the stepbrother of Christ called “the Royal Law”:

James 2:8-9 If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: 9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

God despises racism. God despises sexism. God despises elitism. Would you be perfect before God. Come to Christ as both Lord and Savior. Acknowledge you are a sinner in need of salvation. Call upon His name, believing He died for your sins. The Scripture declares that Christ came for sinners:

Matthew 9:12-13 … They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. 13 But go ye and learn what [that] meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

God will have mercy on all who will seek Him. Jesus Christ will save all that come to Him – bowing the knee to Him as both Lord and Christ. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your hearts that God has raised Him from the death, you shall be saved (Romans 10:9-10). God will have mercy on you. God reaches out to all people in Christ. All can be saved who receive Him as He is.

And once He saves us we are called as His Children to imitate the love of God. To love God with all we have. To love our neighbor as ourselves. To be merciful as our Father in Heaven is merciful. Oh Beloved, if you do not follow Christ, you cannot be the Light you are called to be. And you may not be saved!

We Are Called To DO Love, Not FEEL Love

Matthew 5:43-45, 48 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. 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; 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. .. 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

In our world today humanity views love as a mere emotion. People fall “in love” and people fall “out of love”, like it’s a swimming pool or a mud puddle. The ancients had four different words for love:

Storge – the love that RELATIVES have toward each other
Philios – the love that FRIENDS have toward each other
Eros – the love that LOVERS have toward each other

These three loves are defined by human emotion. Jesus doesn’t use any of these emotional words to describe the love that He calls us to. When Jesus says:

LOVE your enemies

He is not telling us to have warm and fuzzy feelings toward those who do us wrong. The word that Jesus uses is the fourth type of love – the highest standard of love. Jesus calls His disciples to ἀγαπάω agapaō (noun form Agape) which means to do what is best regardless as to feeling. Jesus emphasizes this. God does not enjoy it when an unbeliever takes His name in vain. God does not clap His hands with glee when a person commits adultery, or murders someone, or steals. God did not love what the Pharisees were doing in the name of “religion”. The Lord does not appreciate how many of His local Churches have compromised with darkness, calling good “evil” and evil “good” (Isaiah 5:20). And yet God is merciful. God does good to those who do bad to Him. In like manner, we who are His Children are to do good to those who do bad to us.

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; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven…

God never tells us to justify the sin of others. God never tells us to compromise with sin. We are to love God first and foremost, emotionally as well as practically. But when it comes to our neighbor we are called to DO GOOD to those who DO BAD to us. Don’t respond with hatred. But even if you cannot control your emotions, do the godly thing. Pray for the lost. Do good for the bad. Be the Light that God has called you to be. Jesus Christ died so that all might live. Let us share Christ with others. Let us live in love, in AGAPE. As one commentary at gotquestions.org put it:

“Love that fulfills the law is agape love. This love is not based on emotions, but an act of the will. It is self-sacrificing, deliberate, active love. To love someone with God’s love is to promote that person’s best interests—to actively work not to harm but to bring good to that person. This love is directed not only toward fellow believers but to all people, even our enemies. Regardless of our emotional response to another person, agape love will act for his or her good, regardless of the cost. That is the kind of love Scripture speaks of when it says to love your neighbor as yourself. That kind of love is the fulfillment of the law.”

God expected this type of love from His followers in the Old Testament, and expects it of us even today. DO LOVE. Love God with all you have, both emotionally and practically. And DO GOOD to those who do bad to you. Remember our Lord’s example. Imitate Jesus. Imitate God your Father, if He is indeed your Father. DO GOOD.

May God touch your hearts and minds with His Word! Amen, and Amen.