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The Book of Luke, The Sermon on the Mount – Love Your Enemies, Part – Lesson 79
In verse 46 of the 6th Chapter of Luke the Lord Jesus Christ asks this penetrating question as he completes his sermon on the Mount:
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
It is interesting to note that this couplet Lord, Lord is used elsewhere by Jesus Christ when he tells those who call on him with Lord, Lord to depart from him for he never knew them.
This question is asked near the end of this sermon of instructions to his disciples and establishes the criteria whereby a disciple may properly call Jesus Christ Lord.
And it is this.
You can honestly call Jesus Christ Lord if you are a doer of his word and that includes his word in this sermon to love your enemies.
Otherwise he is not your Lord for a Lord receives obedience from his servants and those who do not obey him call him Lord in vain and are hypocrites.
We have heard the commands of Jesus Christ as he preached his Sermon on the Mount to his disciples to love your enemies, to do good to those who hate you, to bless them that curse you and to pray for them who despitefully use you.
If you are a disciple of Christ you have been told to offer your cheek again to one who has already smitten you, to give your coat away to one who has taken your cloak and to give to every man that asks of you.
We are to do unto men that which we would have them do unto us.
We are to love our enemies and do good hoping for nothing in return from them but knowing that God will reward.
We are to look to God’s mercy and follow our Father in Heaven in being merciful to others.
We are not to judge and condemn others knowing that God will judge us in the same manner that we judge others.
We are to give as God has given to us and how we give shall be the measure in that which is given us.
All of these commands are “out of this world” commands.
They do not fit this world nor do they fit our nature.
They are commands to do that which does not fit what we naturally are, nor do they fit the kingdoms of this world.
But they are commands nevertheless, and in order to obey them and honestly call Jesus Christ “Lord” we must totally depend on God’s provision of his grace.
Jesus said to Nicodemus, Ye must be born again.
And that applies here.
Ye must be born again in order to obey these commands.
In order for a man or woman to obey these commands the supernatural act of being born of the Spirit has taken place.
They are commands which only can be kept by children of God who trust in God, who find refuge in God, who find provision in God.
They are commands which can only be kept by those who live by faith.
If you cannot obey these commands that is a indicator that you have not been born again.
To emphasize this, the Lord Jesus Christ continues with his sermon by relating a parable about blindness.
Luke 6:39-40, And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? 40The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
Here he provides a picture of a blind man leading another blind man.
It does not take much to see that they will both fall into a ditch for neither of them has sight to see.
It is preposterous for a blind man to be in a leadership role as far as guiding others around pitfalls for a blind man cannot see the pitfalls.
The proper guide or leader is a guide who can see.
But that is what the people of Israel had been doing as they had been following the blind guides of Israel, the Pharisees and the scribes.
Jesus Christ is the light of Israel and we have seen on many occasions that the Pharisees and scribes did not honor the light.
On the contrary, they actively rejected the light for in their natural state they were blind.
Perhaps you do not turn on the light as you come into some dark room.
The light is there but you do not honor the light, you do not recognize it as valuable and you choose to walk in darkness.
You may fall, you may stub your toe, and you may injure yourself by your choice.
There are people by the millions who choose to live in darkness and stay in churches that do not honor the light.
The leaders of these churches are blind and they are leading the blind of the congregation.
Whatever is preached in those churches does not honor the Word of God.
Whatever is preached is darkness for it does not honor the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is from these places that do not honor the Lord Jesus Christ that come those who say in that day:
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
The implication here is clear. Find a guide that is not blind.
And Jesus Christ makes clear that he is that guide for he says that 40The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
So to do what he has commanded, to love your enemy the disciple must be equipped for the task.
The disciple must be a humble (yielded) pupil of the greatest teacher of all, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ had just appointed twelve Apostles.
He did not choose them because they were already complete.
No, he chose them as they were and they would become what he wanted them to be by his working in them.
Most of them were men with very little education.
They were unschooled and untrained.
Now Jesus is telling them that they are to take the place of the learned scribes and Pharisees.
They are to take the place of men drilled in the law and in the tradition but men without sight, men who were blind.
In order for them to lead the blind they must see clearly and become as their teacher.
He says that the disciple will never be above or outrank his master but by yielding themselves to his training they will become like their master and be able to lead the blind.
They will not be equal to Him but they will be able to reflect his image to the world so that people instructed by them will begin to say as Acts 4:13, tells us:
13Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
The message of Christ in his sermon is clear.
For a disciple to become a leader of men and a witness for God and God’s truth, he must be yielded to Christ and Christ’s teachings.
He must follow Christ in loving his neighbor, and loving his enemies.
To be a disciple of Christ love is a necessity.
And not just love in words but love in deeds of mercy and generosity.
And coupled with love is a requirement for a spirit of humility and an understanding that you as the teacher suffer from the same infirmities as any student that you teach.
For a teacher to be received and a leader to lead there has to be self-examination and a self discipline that comes by obedience to God’s word.
This self examination under the light of the word of God will reveal to you the beam that is in your eye.
The scriptures are abounding with this instruction, that is to be ruthless with yourself and get things right with yourself before you concentrate on the small specks of others.
David knew this principle when in Psalm 51, after his sin with Bathsheba he wrote:
Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
And he concludes in verse 13 what this cleansing will bring.
13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
In many cases in the church today people are trying to do God’s work as they continue to live with beams in their eyes.
Jesus Christ relates this in this manner. |