Sacrificial Love Luke 6:27-36

Faith Bible Church iconFaith Bible Church

1 view

May 7, 2023 Sunday Service Faith Bible Church - Sacramento, CA Message "Sacrificial Love" Luke 6:27-36

0 comments

00:02
>>[music playing in the background of the video.] Well, we're glad to have you with us today.
00:13
We come together to worship our Lord and we're just thankful that we live in a country that we have the freedom to do such.
00:22
And it's a blessing to meet together with you. It's always an encouragement to me. I hope it's an encouragement to you.
00:28
We are to encourage one another in the Lord. And remember the things that we have.
00:34
And I'll give you some announcements that we have. Following the service this morning we have the
00:41
Lord's Supper where we celebrate the Lord's death, burial, and resurrection.
00:47
And also we have a prayer meeting tonight at 6 p .m. If you've not been to that you might enjoy that.
00:56
We have a time of prayer. And then we usually have a time of talking, right?
01:04
Following. So, we catch up on what everybody is doing. We don't call it gossiping though.
01:09
We just are catching up on what everybody is doing. But we pray for the
01:15
Church, and we pray for our country. And we just thank the Lord that we have that privilege to do so.
01:21
And remember Saturday, May the 13th that the biblical counseling course continues.
01:28
And set that aside and come out. And if you have any questions about that you can ask
01:35
Pastor, or you can look on our website and see that. And remember our Ladies' Bible Study at 10 in the morning on Saturday the 20th.
01:45
So, remember those items. Continue to pray for Richard.
01:52
He's home, but he's feeling weak. His son who is a truck driver came home
01:58
Monday and was visiting, but he has a grandson and has a lady that is kind of looking after him now and then.
02:05
So, remember him and uphold him. And we think about our shut -ins even at this time.
02:11
And we think of Venera. And we think also of Jimmy who would like to be here and can't be.
02:19
And we remember them and uphold them in prayer. So, let's go to the
02:24
Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father we come to You this morning thanking You for the blessings that You give us.
02:31
We thank You that You've allowed us to live in a country where we have freedom to worship
02:36
You. And we thank You Heavenly Father for the blessings that You have given to us even as a country.
02:43
We do uphold our leaders, our President, our Governors, and those in the
02:48
Senate, in the House. Lord we uphold each of these individuals before You.
02:53
And we ask Heavenly Father that they might seek counsel from You in all the decisions that they make.
03:00
We would pray that You would help us, Lord, to constantly uphold them in prayer before You. We pray for Pastor today as he brings
03:09
Your Word. Again, we would just pray for liberty as he delivers the things that You've laid on his heart for us.
03:16
We pray that it might be a blessing for us as we get into the Word. And we pray that we might apply it to our own hearts, the things that we will learn today.
03:26
And as we sing, and as we praise You, and we give testimony to what You have done in our life through our songs,
03:32
Lord, we would pray that it might be a blessing to each one that is here. And we will thank
03:38
You for it. We think of our Shaddai's that we've just talked about for Jimmy, for Venera, and for Richard today.
03:47
We just uphold them before You. Pray that You would strengthen them and encourage their hearts today.
03:53
We thank You for those that have come out to worship You. We pray that this day might be, when we leave say, it's been good to be in the house of the
04:02
Lord. And we'll thank You and pray in Jesus' name, amen. One last thing
04:08
I forgot to say, we've got our new Voice magazine, it's on the back, it's a free magazine. We belong, we're not in a denomination, but we belong for fellowship to an organization called
04:19
ISCA International. They publish a magazine that comes out about every three months.
04:26
And a lot of good articles, biblical articles in there that you'll enjoy. So, feel free to pick one and take it home.
04:32
Let all that I am praise the Lord with my whole heart I praise His holy name. May I never forget the good things
04:38
He has done for me. It is by God's grace that we are blessed by Him. Let's stand and sing to our
04:45
Heavenly Father. I hear the Savior say,
04:52
Thy strength in weakness fall, Weakness fought and brave.
05:07
Jesus made it all, Sin hath left the people.
05:39
Jesus, to His side go,
06:03
So that our peace may be strength.
06:39
Jesus, the self -servant,
06:45
Strive with hearts distressed.
07:00
Peaceful, kind, Cheer and love senders
07:11
To His breast. This morning's scripture reading is from Matthew, Matthew chapter 5.
07:29
Matthew chapter 5, verse 43 -48. If you'd like to follow along with me or just listen, that would be fine.
07:38
Matthew 5, 43 -48. You have heard that it was said,
07:45
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you,
07:53
Do good to those who hate you, And pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
08:01
That you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good,
08:08
And sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?
08:17
Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only,
08:23
What do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?
08:29
Therefore, you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. May God bless the hearing of His word.
08:37
Well, let's joyfully sing to our Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father. It's the only emblem of suffering and shame.
09:23
Our sinners were slain. So despised by the world.
10:55
It is done. Please turn with me to Luke chapter 6.
12:41
Luke chapter 6, verses 27 to 36.
12:51
But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.
12:58
Bless those who curse you and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also.
13:07
And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from him who takes away your goods, do not ask them back.
13:19
And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?
13:27
For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?
13:36
For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you?
13:44
For even sinners lend to sinners who receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return.
13:54
And your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.
14:03
Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. This is the word of the
14:09
Lord. Let us pray. Father, we're thankful that through Jesus Christ, who died for our sin on the cross, by believing in Him, we can be not only forgiven, but also adopted as your sons and daughters.
14:26
Thank you that that's our new identity in Christ. And in that identity, we get to love the way that your
14:33
Son preaches. Help us every day to love like that.
14:39
In Jesus' name. Amen. Now, love is actually quite popular in our culture.
14:49
It's not a concept in which pastors feel anxious about.
14:55
They want to do sermon series on love. They want to preach about love as much as possible.
15:02
But what's important to know is, who defines love? The love that we see in the passage this morning is not the love that the world wants to hear about.
15:19
Love, contrary to what the world believes, is not approving everything the other person wants.
15:28
Right? Love can disagree. Love also is not forcing what you think is best on others.
15:39
Even if it is really good. Also, love is not utilitarian.
15:50
Utilitarian means there is an end goal in mind.
15:57
Utilitarianism is this idea that you do something for the sake of the goal.
16:06
So, a phrase something like, the ends justify the means. Well, it turned out alright, so I guess it was love.
16:17
For example, phrases like, hey, if you serve others, one day they will serve you.
16:29
Or even this concept of karma. You do good to another person, and the belief system is something good will happen to you.
16:38
The universe or some deities will reward you back. That's utilitarianism.
16:47
That's not love. Because in the end, you're not actually serving the other person for their own sake.
16:55
You're serving them that you may be served back. It's a form of self -exaltation.
17:02
But love is self -giving. Love is sacrificial.
17:11
And contrary to what others believe, love is not easy. Love is unnatural.
17:18
The type of love that Jesus preaches in this passage is extremely difficult.
17:28
Which means love is not something you do as long as it's comfortable for you. As long as it's convenient for you.
17:36
As long as it fits your schedule. As long as it meets the budget. That's not love.
17:47
This morning, the main point of this passage is that we selflessly and sacrificially love our enemies as our heavenly father does because we are his children.
18:02
We selflessly and sacrificially love our enemies as our heavenly father does because we are his children.
18:09
First, we selflessly love our enemies, focusing on God's best for them despite the difficulties and cost.
18:21
We selflessly love our enemies, focusing on God's best for them despite the difficulties and cost.
18:30
Now after the preamble of the principles that characterize Jesus' disciples, the followers of Jesus, what are they supposed to be like?
18:39
Jesus reveals what sets his disciples apart from the world, from everyone else.
18:48
The love for their enemies. Verses 27 through 28 are specific commands for Jesus' disciples regarding their attitude and action toward their enemies.
19:04
First, it starts with love your enemies. Love, as we will later learn, is actually other -centered.
19:13
Love is self -giving. What's extraordinary about this command is not the verb, it's the object of the verb, the object of love.
19:28
According to Jesus, that's our enemies. Jesus commands his followers to prioritize the interests and well -being of those who hate them.
19:42
Those who want them to fail. Those who speak badly about you.
19:52
Those who ignore you. And the next three subsequent commands specify the first command, love your enemies.
20:02
Do good to those who hate you. Lest we think love is just a passive emotional experience that's just internal.
20:11
Just an internal attitude that we check off a box. Oh, you know,
20:19
I did not curse out my nasty, nasty atheist neighbor.
20:25
Love my enemy? Check. Jesus' command directly affects our actions.
20:38
Do good. It is an external act for the very benefit of those who hate you.
20:49
Hatred is a strong word, and we know that. Hatred means a deep, passionate desire to destroy.
20:57
Someone who wants you dead. And what does Jesus say? Do good to them.
21:06
Do specific actions that would improve the livelihood of those who want you dead.
21:13
That's why it's hard. And the next two commands involve
21:19
God. Verses 28 through 29. Bless those who curse you and pray for those who spitefully use you.
21:30
Or some translations have revile you. Revile. Speak badly. Verse 28 shows us that in order to fully love, we must involve
21:40
God. First, there is a reversal in our response to those who curse.
21:47
To those who condemn you. To those who want you to see you in hell. Instead of cursing back, which would be our most natural response,
21:59
Jesus' command is that we would bless them. In our nature, in our flesh, if we bring up our enemies at all before God, it is for him to curse.
22:17
God, please remove them from our lives. God, please deal with them. However, we're commanded to call upon God's favor to them.
22:31
Our desire when we love our enemies is that our enemies would experience
22:36
God's blessing. Not only that, we are to pray for them.
22:43
We are to bring their need and their well -being before our
22:49
Heavenly Father on their behalf. That's the prayer. Love is selfless and other -centered.
23:01
And love points Godward. Truly loving our enemies means seeking and desiring
23:11
God's best for them. It's not seeking and desiring what you think is good for them.
23:19
It's actually surrendering to what
23:24
God's best for them. Our best for them is not good enough. It's about God's best for them.
23:31
What would God want them to have? What would God want them to go through?
23:40
And in order to clearly show how these commands are so hard, it's difficult,
23:48
Jesus gives us a few illustrations here. After all, it is so easy to justify doing the bare minimum or even lie to ourselves that we're truly loving our enemies when we truly are not.
24:03
The first two examples show us loving our enemy means we forfeit our personal right to vengeance.
24:13
To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.
24:24
To be slapped once and then offering the other cheek means to not slap back.
24:33
It means you forfeit your right to vengeance.
24:41
Normally, if someone is slapped, the automatic natural response is to slap back.
24:48
Jesus says no. Turn the other cheek. And offering your shirt after your outer garment is taken shows the similar concept.
25:03
Love can be painful. Love is costly.
25:12
These verses show the complete selfless nature of love.
25:20
To truly love means to not pursue your personal vengeance or your personal agenda.
25:27
You might have had a personal agenda for keeping your tunic, your shirt.
25:34
Not anymore. One thing to note, this does not mean to become a personal doormat.
25:42
It does not mean you continually get abused, continually get oppressed.
25:51
In fact, the most loving thing to do for the abuser is to stop him from sinning against God by abusing you through the means that God has provided.
26:08
The law enforcement, the church, your family. That's what other -centered means.
26:18
Even loving your abuser. Don't let them continue to harm you because every instance is a sin against God.
26:31
Find a way for the abuser to stop. And in the case, the prayer for that enemy who continually hurts you, the best blessing for them might be that they end up in prison for a long time to ponder what they have done so that they may get to experience the loving presence of God.
27:07
But what's important here from turning the other cheek and giving out your clothing is that personal vengeance is not in the picture.
27:16
Even if you report an oppressor to the police, it is not out of your desire to see him in pain, because that would be personal vengeance, but your desire for his soul to be right with God, no matter how long it could take and wherever he may end up.
27:35
The loving response focuses not on self, but on God and others, even when it is painful and costly.
27:47
The last illustration points to the costliness of loving your enemies. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from him who takes away your goods, do not ask them back.
27:58
This shows that love is not transactional. It is not love if you give expecting something in return.
28:07
That's a business transaction, not love. If anyone expects you to do something for them because they showed, quote -unquote, love to you by doing you a favor, that was not out of love.
28:26
The moment they bring up what they've done on your behalf to ask you to do something or demand you to do something, that's not love.
28:37
That's a business transaction. Comprehensively, Jesus summarizes his principle of love in verse 31.
28:48
And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. This is often called the golden rule.
28:57
Note that love is not, as I've mentioned, utilitarian.
29:03
You're not doing good deeds for the benefit of yourself, right?
29:12
So that, okay, I'm doing something good. Maybe next time you'll do something good back.
29:21
You're not showing love to people who hate you so that you may win them over. There's no promise of that.
29:27
People who hate you might still hate you after you love them. There's no guarantee. Jesus' summary statement on love is purely other -focused and God -driven.
29:40
It is for the benefit of the other person with no strings attached according to God's will.
29:52
That's love. And for Christians, everything we think, we say, and we do for others, including our enemies, must be defined by how
30:09
God defines love. A deep desire and pursuit for God's best for the other person.
30:21
Not my best. My best could look very much different from God's best.
30:30
My best might look like I want to save this relationship and I'm not going to tell them they're sinning.
30:37
But that's not God's best. If they're sinning, even though it hurts to say it, even though it might hurt the relationship,
30:45
I have to gently and lovingly say that they're sinning against God. That's God's best.
30:53
God's best is often harder than my best. When our family curses at us, do we curse back?
31:08
When your co -worker mocks you for your faith, does her salvation make it to your daily prayer list?
31:19
When that guy who keeps on asking for favor comes back, do you sigh and roll your eyes?
31:27
Or do you willingly help out without asking? Is this the last time?
31:36
But he's never helped me out. But he doesn't even say thank you. That's the point.
31:45
Love is not transactional. You're not doing for that thank you. You're not doing it for the repayment.
31:55
That's the nature of love. It's self -giving. Now, the question is, if we end right here, it is a hard demand.
32:12
It might sound good after hearing it. But in practice, you can't go on like this without hearing the why.
32:25
Why do we sacrificially love those who hate us? You got to know the why.
32:33
Because you can't love like this because it sounds good. Because shortly, it's not going to sound good.
32:44
We sacrificially love our enemies because of our identity as children of God.
32:51
We sacrificially love our enemies because of our identity as children of God.
32:57
From verses 32 through 34, Jesus illustrates the non -transactional, selfless nature of love through negative examples, which parallel the illustrations that we saw earlier from verses 27 to 30.
33:14
But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
33:21
The first statement is overarching, and it's comprehensive. If your love is only given to those who love you back, then it is not special.
33:33
It is not unique to just Christians. In fact, Jesus rhetorically asks,
33:39
Right? After all, that's how sinners love. You don't have to be specifically Christian to love like that.
33:47
That's natural. Credit here means favor. Don't be expecting
33:53
God's favorable response from you, to you, if you love people just the way the world does.
34:01
What makes you any different? Even non -Christians do that. In the end, it's transactional if we love like that.
34:11
You love them because they love you back. And really, the end recipient of that love is you.
34:19
It's like a boomerang. It came back to you. Now, the next two verses follow the same format as verse 32, and it actually details what true love is not.
34:33
It goes into the specifics. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?
34:43
For even sinners do the same. As mentioned above, love is not just an internal passive experience, but it wholly covers every part of one's life.
34:58
Again, Jesus emphasizes how love cannot expect something in return.
35:05
If you serve someone who will serve you back, then is that love or a business barter?
35:14
Right? I'll tutor your kid if you fix my car for me. Is that love?
35:25
And verse 34 parallels the example from verse 30. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you?
35:36
For even sinners lend to sinners who to receive as much back.
35:42
Loaning to those who will loan back to you is not love. That's a love that costs nothing.
35:52
That's cheap love. Instead, Jesus commends his disciples, verse 35, but love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return.
36:05
The type of love that Jesus' disciples show is not quid pro quo.
36:13
True love is not, if I scratch your back, will you scratch mine? Love does not expect anything in return.
36:22
Love is not entitled. Love is costly.
36:30
Love is risky. Love is sacrificial. Love only considers the other person's well -being before God.
36:45
Now, why can we love like this? First, and your reward will be great.
36:54
The implication here is that when you love sacrificially and selflessly, ultimately,
37:00
God will be the one repaying. You may not get the repayment, or any payment for that matter, on this side of heaven, but God will reward.
37:16
God is watching. Again, there cannot be true love without God in this picture.
37:25
True love always involves God. We can truly love when our hearts echo
37:33
God's heart, when our views reflect His views, when our will aligns with His will.
37:44
Sure, if you love as Jesus commands, you will lose a lot.
37:50
You may lose your friends, family, and finances, but there is not a moment that God will miss.
38:01
There is not a loss which God won't repay. All the backstabbings, all the insults, all the public humiliations that you endured for Christ's sake in order to love your enemies,
38:20
God can make it right. God can repay. He's fully capable, and He hasn't missed a single moment of it.
38:33
Second, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the unthankful and evil.
38:42
The second reason for the sacrificial and rather costly love is that we would show our identity as sons and daughters of God.
38:58
When we show love to the least deserved and most dangerous, our enemies, it's because that's who we are.
39:12
It hits at the core of who we are. Now, here, the doctrine of sonship needs to be explained.
39:21
In ancient time, or even 100 years ago, I guess even currently in Amish countries, sons grew up to do what their fathers did, and daughters grew up to do what their mothers do.
39:35
For example, if your dad is a baker, the son became a baker.
39:41
You became a baker. If your mom was a milkmaid, you became a milkmaid.
39:49
Sons do what their fathers did, and daughters do what their mothers did.
39:56
Now, what Jesus is saying here is that if you painstakingly love your enemies, even though you don't get anything back, you might even suffer harm and pain, you're actually living your true identity as a child of God, right?
40:18
That is why he commands us, therefore be merciful just as your father also is merciful.
40:25
Showing love to the unthankful, showing love to the undeserving, evil people, is precisely what the
40:38
Heavenly Father does every day, and showing mercy to those who did not earn mercy.
40:49
That's what God does. That's who he is. Mercy is one of God's central characteristics.
41:05
In the Old Testament, God actually discloses that his name is Merciful and Gracious.
41:12
The Lord, the Lord, Merciful and Gracious. The term mercy in the
41:23
Hebrew language has the same three consonantal letters as mother's womb.
41:37
The type of mercy and compassion that God has towards sinners is the type of compassion that a mother has for her child.
41:51
And as we are approaching Mother's Day, we may even think of our own mother's compassion if we were blessed to have such an experience.
42:08
Generally, mothers tend to be more tenderly, loving, and gentle toward her kid.
42:22
When a kid cries, when my kid cries because he doesn't want to go to bed,
42:31
I can listen to that for many minutes because I know in the end he needs to go to bed.
42:40
But when my kid cries, my wife, the mom, cannot stand a second of it.
42:48
She starts crying. That's the compassion that we think of when we see
42:56
God's mercy. It's from deep within, other -centered, caring that of a mother, and that's the mercy that we show to others because we're
43:15
God's children. Therefore, if you are
43:23
Christians and you show compassion to those who hate you, that's who you are.
43:33
You're just doing what you would do because that's who you are.
43:39
You're reflecting whose family you truly belong to. For sons and daughters of God, through Christ, mercy and love flow in your veins.
43:54
Compassion and sacrifice are your family business. That's what you're tasked to do because that's who you are.
44:05
And, of course, the best example of loving his enemies despite the cost and sacrifice for the benefit of others is shown by the unique Son of God, Jesus Christ himself.
44:25
The best representation of God the Father's mercy for his children, for sinners, his love is his true
44:39
Son, Jesus Christ on the cross. He died for his enemies.
44:46
He faced the wrath of God so that he could save those who oppose him, so that he could save those who mock him, so that he could save those who betrayed him, so that he could save those who abandoned him.
45:06
Jesus didn't just give tunics away, but rather he gave his own life away.
45:12
He gave all he had in order to love and show mercy.
45:19
And that's why, through Jesus' merciful and loving sacrifice, you get to be
45:31
God's children by believing in what Jesus had done for you. You join his family.
45:40
And looking at what Jesus has done, his merciful and loving death on the cross for those who can never pay him back, we can selflessly and sacrificially give to whomever, no matter what the cost is, to love them even though it will cause pain.
46:16
Because that's what you do if you belong to the family of Christ.
46:24
That's who you are. Let us pray. Father, we're thankful that you are so good, that you're so merciful and loving, that you would save sinners like us who did not deserve it, who can't ever repay back, and who continue to harm and cause pain.
46:47
Yet you love us. You gave your son for us. Jesus gave himself for us.
46:54
That is the abundant grace and mercy and love that we can't ever understand.
47:00
But, Father, help us to see your son in order for us to love even though it gets hard, in order to love even though it costs a lot, in order to love even though we'll get hurt.
47:16
Help us to be, help us to live as your sons and daughters today.