Love Your Enemies & Repent of Your Heart (Luke 6)

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.

“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:27-36)

Some of the most famous words in history! How many lives have been transformed by these passages? How many were drawn to Christ because of them?

The theme of this sermon is the difference between a godly life and a sinful one. Notice He talks little of obvious godly rules, like, Tithe and Don’t steal, but instead He focuses on the heart and actions that directly come out of it like hate, envy, and bitterness.

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (6:27-28) – this is a hard command to simply follow if your heart’s in the wrong place. Thankfully, we can find our example in God Himself, who is constantly and daily blessing those who hate Him: “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45, similar context)

If we distill the passage from Luke, here are the marks of a godly, Holy Spirit filled life:

1. You will love your enemies, returning good for evil
2. You will be humble: “To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either” (6:29)
3. You will be generous, even to a fault (6:30)
4. You will do good (6:35)
5. You will not judge others or condemn
6. “You will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil” (6:35)
7. You will have hope despite present circumstances and even in persecution (from slightly earlier, in 6:20-23)
8. You will be like Jesus

Contrast this with Paul’s list of “works of the flesh” in Galatians 5: “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these” (19-21). Many of these arise from a sinful heart devoid of any real love.

These "heart" sins are sometimes easier to ignore because they're not as measurable by the people around us. If we had a different sin problem, like watching pornography, we have the possibility of being caught and led to repentance. But sins like jealousy, anger, and enmity can be hidden so well that even we don't realize how much we suffer from them.

Jesus taught that it is what comes out of the heart that defiles a person (Matthew 15:10-20). Proverbs says, "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flows the springs of life" (Prov. 4:23). If we claim to be Christians and love God we should be passionately committed to reviewing our heart and repenting any sins like these we find. We should be passionately committed to a different way of life, a godly way of life, full of "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Gal. 5:22-23), the "fruit of the Spirit".

I wish my life looked more like Jesus’ sermon. Thankfully, I have the hope and peace in Christ that the more I submit to Him the more it will.

False Prophets (Ezekiel 13)

There is a lot wrong with Israel in Ezekiel’s time, enough for God to allow Israel to be invaded and conquered by the Assyrians. In the preceding chapters of Ezekiel God says:

“An end has come; the end has come; it has awakened against you…Now I will soon pour out my wrath upon you, and spend my anger against you, and judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations” (Eze. 7:6, 8)

“The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice” (Eze. 9:9).

“…I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols” (Eze. 6:9)

The first time God appears to Ezekiel he says this:

“Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendents also are impudent and stubborn…” (Eze. 2:3-4)

From these few quotes we see that Israel is full of injustice, abominations, idols, rebellion, impudence, and stubbornness. These are not positive qualities.

In chapter thirteen God condemns false prophets, mocking those who say, “ ‘Declares the LORD,’ when the LORD has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word” (Eze. 13:6). These self-proclaimed prophets “follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!” (13:3). They “have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel” (Eze. 13:4), when they should have been like sentinels, waiting for the word of the Lord.

When it comes to false prophets, Israel’s real problem is that they listen to them. That's always the problem with any lie: somebody believes it. God says, “You have profaned me among my people…by your lying to my people, who listen to lies” (Eze. 13:19). Only a fool believes a lie, and false prophecies turn us into fools.

Here are some things that I learned about false prophets from reading this chapter:

1) False prophecy hurts faith. It appears that such stunted logic (men creating prophecy and then being surprised when it is not fulfilled) is what leads to a popular proverb at this time, mentioned in the previous chapter: “The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing” (Eze. 12:22). What an arrogant saying! What a faithless saying! But it is something we often fall into, we often think, “Where is God?” “Where are His promises?”

2) False prophecy misleads God’s people. One of God’s biggest accusations in this chapter is that “they have misled my people, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash…There will be a deluge of rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a stormy wind break out. And when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the coating with which you smeared it?’” (Eze. 13:10, 11-12).

At the end of the chapter God talks specifically about how it misleads people: “Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and you have encouraged the wicked, that he should not turn from his evil way to save his life” (Eze. 13:22). False prophecy can make a righteous man feel guilty and a sinner feel righteous.

3) False prophets are popular. And they get there by sugar-coating (or white-washing) things. False prophets don’t get popular because they are declaring the word of the Lord – in fact, looking at all the prophets it would seem that successfully delivering the word of the Lord didn’t make you a popular guy. False prophets are popular because they are saying what people want to hear. As Paul says in the New Testament, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Tim. 4:3-4). This was written at a different time in history, but the concept rings true then, in Ezekiel, and now. The reason some churches are so big today is because the preaching is only about wealth and prosperity and how God wants to bless you – and, admittedly, it is an enticing message. It’s much easier to listen to that “invitation” than Christ’s sobering words: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

4) False prophets are disobedient to God. Maybe this one’s obvious, but in making their prophecies they are dishonoring the living God by putting words in His mouth. Let me (fittingly), let God speak on this one: “Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD. My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations” (Eze. 13:8-9).

This one especially terrifies me. It’s never good to put words into someone else’s mouth, it will inevitably come back to reach you, and when it does, it will be painful. It’s a person’s honor that you are attacking when you put words into their mouth. Now, no matter how angry or vengeful your friend or whoever might be, imagine doing this to God. As the writer of Hebrews says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31).

5) False prophets are snares, dragging people to hell with them. Apparently there was a specific kind of woman prophet that God is addressing in the second half of this chapter, to whom he says: “Woe to the women who sew magic bans upon all wrists, and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in the hunt for souls! Will you hunt down souls belonging to my people and keep your own souls alive?” (Eze. 13:18). I don’t know specifically what these women were doing, but apparently it was manipulative and misleading. God also says that these women “have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death souls who should not die and keep alive souls who should not live” (Eze. 13:19).

Thankfully, God is ever-watching and guarding of His people – even then, in a time of punishment. And of course, even now. There are other spots in the Bible where God condemns false prophets, but in this chapter He declares:

“Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD. My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.” (Eze. 13:8-9)

And at the end of this chapter God says something that, if I’m reading it correctly, is kind of funny to me (God always gets the last laugh):

“…therefore you shall no more see false visions nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. And you shall know that I am the LORD.” (Eze. 13:23)

I’m not sure if these false prophets were seeing visions – and if they were, it would have been from demons and not God – but if they were the type that like to act super-spiritual, the type that likes to act like they have a deep connection to the supernatural – in other words, they faked things a little for their reputation – then this is especially funny. God is going to put an end even to their fake visions. And that’s funny, because God ultimately has power over the lies we are told, and He promises to deliver His children out of such things.

I’ll close these thoughts with two things Jesus said that are especially refreshing after this semi-depressing and frustrating topic. It is in Him that we can find an ever-faithful prophet, an ever-faithful witness, who won’t lie or make up things and tack on a “Declares the Lord”. He is Truth incarnate:

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7)

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

Jesus is Powerful (Mark 5)

Read it here.

I've had a lot of trouble connecting with God lately, especially when reading the Bible. I haven't picked it up very often and when I have it's been hard to get something out of what I'm reading. So I recently started Mark, a book that - in the past - I haven't been that interested in. That's sound logic, right? I'm having a hard time getting interested in what I'm reading so I go to a book that I don't find interesting...

Thankfully, God has been showing me that Mark is anything but boring. When I sat down to read chapter 5, I decided that once I was done I was going to write down one quality of Jesus the chapter revealed. That way I could chew on something and put a little thought into what I just read.

I didn't think the answer would be as clear as it was, but this chapter clearly demonstrates that Jesus is powerful.

The chapter starts with Jesus and a crazy guy. This guy is like Frankenstein's monster, the whole village is afraid of him - they try to chain him up but he just breaks free. This man is crazy, demon-possessed and all day and all night he lives "among the tombs" and where he cuts "himself with stones" (5:5).

As soon as the man sees Jesus he runs up and falls down before Him. "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me." (5:7). The guy everybody is afraid of is afraid of Jesus.

Jesus talks to the demon, and it turns out there is more than one: "My name is Legion, for we are many" (5:9). Then, in one of the bizarrest images in the New Testament, Jesus sends the demons into a herd of pigs, which all run "down the steep bank into the sea" (5:13).

Next we see Jesus on the other side of the lake, and he is going to a man's house to heal his sick daughter. A great crowd is with him, and one woman believes that if she can touch Jesus' garment, she will be healed. She touches it, and "immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease" (5:29).

Then it turns out the man's daughter is not sick, but dead. Jesus continues to the house, where He says, "Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping" (5:39). People laugh at Him (5:40). What a bizarre reaction: not just because it's Jesus and they know His rep for healing people but because their child is dead. What kind of mourning are they in that they have time to laugh at Jesus? Anyways, Jesus forgives them and goes in and with two words He raises the child from the dead. The girl gets up "immediately".

In every story people are afraid (5:15), in fear (5:33), and overcome with amazement (5: 42).

Stories like this are important, because sometimes we over-familiarize Jesus and think of Him as just "one of the guys" and everybody's buddy. Jesus does love us, and because of His death and resurrection we can know Him intimately, but that doesn't mean we should forget who He is:

"For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through him and for him" (Colossians 1:16)

You are my God (Poem)

Let me preface this: I don't really write poems. It's just difficult for me and I don't feel comfortable doing it, but in a recent Spirit-filled moment I penned a few lines. I was just trying to pour some of my heart out onto the paper, so for me, this was exciting. For my readers, I apologize in advance. But here goes:

O God, You are my God

And I will not serve another.

O God, in You I put my trust,

I will not serve another.

I will not bow down before a piece of wood

Or a carved image,

Or an idea,

Or a man,

I will not place my hope in the future,

Or progress,

Or an idea,

Or a man.

I will look to the only One who can and

will save me from death:

And to Him I write

To Him I live

To Him I run

And I will remember - always -

the nails that bore my sins

and pained my God instead of me

The greatest mystery: this unmerited exchange

So that God might live inside of me.

Community (Acts 2:42-47)

Read it here.

Jesus’ death brings life. Because of His death, which gives us second birth, there are communities, friendships, and relationships started that never would’ve existed otherwise.

What is described in this little paragraph of scripture are the fruits of the gospel: fear, awe, prayer, equality, sharing, charity, thankfulness, love, praise, and even favor with non-believers. The new Christians are delighting in their new life, they have been born again as Jesus promised (John 3:3) and non-believers notice. They don’t see people acting very pious and religious, they see people burning with love and compassion, sharing all that they own, going to the Temple to worship joyfully, not out of tradition, duty, or cultural obligation. Who wouldn’t want to worship the God these people worship? Who wouldn’t want a taste of their joy? If this God they worship is anything like them, He must be good.

This text doesn’t describe everyone going home to pick fights or picket or complain or tell people they’re wrong. The opposite happens, because these people have been changed at the center of their being to see their sin, in all its dirtiness, and Jesus, in all His worthiness. Their changed lives speak and profess the gospel in a way that matches whatever spoken words they could offer to non-believers.

In a country and time when Christians are on every street corner telling everyone they’re going to hell, we should take note of this text. We need to be loving, giving, and radiant with joy. If people hate us, they should hate us because of Jesus, not because of ourselves. In other words, they should hate us for loving them and forgiving them (because of Christ) not because we are shoving tracts down their throat.

This text is also a message about the importance of community. I'm in college right now, and I have several Christian friends who don't want to get involved in a church because they have one back home. I can't see how this is a benefit to anyone - they are missing out on the richness of a church community and the church community is missing out on the richness of knowing them.

God made us to live together (Genesis 2:18) and share life together. We're not supposed to be "Lone Ranger" Christians, we're supposed to be Christians together. I know because I've had to learn this for myself. My greatest times of growth and joy are when I'm spending time with other Christians, and I know it will be so my whole life.

If you look at Paul, who seems like the most independent guy in the New Testament - traveling from place to place, leaving behind his home - you find he wasn't alone! He was always with people and talking about people, his ministry was a community effort. Imagine if he hadn't seen the need for community, for spiritual support - how far would he have been able to carry the gospel before collapsing in exhaustion? Would we know the gospel today?

God has richly blessed us with community, and friendships, and other people.

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!" (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)

Peter's Speech: Jesus (Acts 2:14-41)

Read it here.

This is the first time the completed gospel (except for Christ’s return) is preached. Peter draws from Scripture to explain Jesus as Christ. The effect of the gospel was the same then as it is now: “they were cut to the heart” (verse 37).

The men listening to Peter’s speech had heard of Jesus, His deeds were pretty well known. He was a rock star of the Mediterranean world. Possibly many of the people at this event had looked forward to Pentecost and the possibility of hearing Jesus preach, but then they found out that He had been crucified. (The way Peter describes Jesus’ murder is interesting, saying He was “killed by lawless men” (verse 23). These “lawless men” were the Pharisees, who were supposed to be the teachers of the Law).

Peter puts the guilt on everyone listening:

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. (Acts 2:36)

Jesus’ blood is on the hands of all sinners, and if you study His life, if you see how He lived and loved and never refused to help somebody, it leads to guilt. Can you honestly say you’ve lived and acted like Jesus? That you’ve lived as selflessly and as righteously? No, we have all “fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But Jesus died for those sins and shortcomings.

What a dramatic, overwhelming action to react to. When we make a mistake and find out it causes someone pain we feel horrible. I can remember times where I was late to pick up my brother or sister from something and they were left waiting and waiting – in fact, there was one time where I was supposed to be home and my sister ended up waiting outside of a locked house for an hour.

Because of our sinfulness and our wickedness, Jesus died! Painfully! His death was terrible and agonizing, and on top of that, shameful. Crucifixion was not only painful but demoralizing, especially to the Jews. In fact, it was looked down upon so much that Roman citizens were not allowed to be crucified – they were “above” such things. So the King of Kings – whose “nationality” is greater than that of the Roman Empire – was hung on a tree on the side of a busy road like a common criminal.

The very nature of Christ’s death demands a response. Do you feel bad, but walk away? Do you spit on Him and say, “Serves him right”? The crowd needs to respond, and they do, asking: “Brothers, what shall we do?” (verse 37). If you like Jesus at all His death leaves you asking such a question. If you love Him you feel horrible, and you can’t walk away. Guilt weighs down on you as you realize a perfect man stuck Himself between heaven and earth (literally and figuratively, and, on top of that, literally in the figurative sense too – think about that one…) suspended by wood between God and man.

God, perfect and good, demands good. He demands justice, and as He looks down at us, as He looks beyond what any human eye can see and into our hearts we are judged rightly. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Psalms 119:126 says:

It is time for the LORD to act, for your law has been broken.

And again:

Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true. (Psalm 119:142)

Jesus was righteous and able to see our full brokenness and sin. And instead of walking away from our eventual death and destruction, He embraced it for us, interceding between God and man, taking the sins of all on Himself, a just man being condemned by a just God for an unjust, unholy, undeserving, and thoroughly wicked people (you and me and everyone we know).

But he was wounded for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquites;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush

him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. (Isaiah 53:10)

Jesus stuck himself in front of God’s wrath, embracing our death – and in order to truly live our response must be to embrace His.

Peter calls us to throw off sin and that which is an affront to God.

“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ…”

Embrace His death! Do not walk away.

“…for the forgiveness of your sins…”

He has removed them “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12).

“…and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our god calls to himself.” (Acts 2:38-39)

This is the gospel: that Christ died, rose again, and promises eternal life and eternal fellowship with Himself, with God. It is called the “gospel” because it is good news, in fact, the best news we ever can (or ever will) hear.

And Now...The Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-13)

Read it here.

Jesus told the Apostles to wait, and they obeyed His commands.

How awesome that the Apostles, by faith, waited on the Lord. Jesus could have made them wait for a long time, like He did with Abraham and Sarah, or He could’ve been a short time. The point is sometimes we're made to wait, and whether it’s a long or short wait for us, God is never late – His timing is always perfect.

Pentecost! What a perfect day for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the third member of the trinity. Jews from everywhere (Acts 2:5-11) had come to Jerusalem for the holiday/festival/thing. They all spoke different languages and had different cultures – this is something we’re used to.

It’s hard to imagine the whole world speaking the same language, but at one point that was true. In the book of Genesis (chapter 11) Moses records a time when everyone on earth spoke the same language. Only man used this unity to defy God and build monuments to themselves. God saw this and decided to stop us in our foolishness by creating many different languages so nobody could understand each other. The great monument they were working on (the Tower of Babel) never got finished.

I bring this up because this event – the day of Pentecost – is a mirror event to the one in Genesis. At the Tower of Babel men attempted to glorify themselves so God confused their languages, but at Pentecost God brought together people in understanding so that Jesus might be glorified.

The Holy Spirit’s entrance is certainly glorious. Unlike and yet like the birth of Jesus the Spirit comes to humble people, not the proud. He does not come to Caesar, or Pilate, or Herod, or any other person in authority, He comes to the Apostles. Nowadays we have pictures of the Apostles every where, they have their own statues and stained glass windows, but remember – these guys were nobodies. They were fishermen, tax collectors, etc. They were blue-collar workers, they didn’t have a Ph.D. in Biblical Hermeneutics or New Testament Greek, they were lower class, poor, nobodies.

In the same way, Jesus came to earth among shepherds and the humble – Mary and Joseph. Jesus’ birth is humble, yet it is also glorious and a cause for celebration (Luke 2:13-14). The Spirit enters with a similar bang:

And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each of them. (Acts 2:2-3)

This is supernatural, it is amazing, it is beautiful. God is glorious and powerful and capable of anything. Here He enters the Apostles with glory, majesty, and beauty – what a beautiful sight this must’ve been. It is almost hard for Luke to describe because we don’t have anything similar to it in the natural world. This kind of thing doesn’t just happen

And so we meet the wonderful, glorious, all-satisfying third member of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit. He comes down to reveal wisdom, to help, and He does it in a majestic and powerful way. Praise be to Him, the Counselor, the Helper! He is still moving and active today, calling us, beckoning us closer to Christ, inviting us to drink of His Word, filling us with the joy of God, and giving us the strength and ability to face the world in faith. Without the Spirit we would be empty – for it is He who calls us to Christ in the first place.

I think this is the member of the Trinity surrounded by the most confusion. Either we don’t really understand who He is or we have been given a distorted and crazy view of Him. But He is God. He is not less than God, a part of God, or anything else – the Holy Spirit is God. If you continue reading Acts, pay attention to His works. Ask Him to teach you more about Himself.

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26)