Adding Love: How Did Jesus Love His Enemies?: full transcript and answers

▶ 0:36 And we’re going to talk about adding love to our faith. We’re going to take a look at how Jesus applied these statements of loving your enemy. Did Jesus always turn the other cheek? Luke 4:28, Jesus went to the synagogue and he preached and spoke things there, and when the people in the synagogue heard what he had to say, they weren’t very happy. They were angry. They were mad. Not like your psychological self-esteem preachers of today in America. He said the truth and the truth made them mad. And they dragged him out of the city, took him to the peak of the hill to throw him over the cliff. Now here he is—they’re mad, they’re going to throw him over the cliff. Now here’s Jesus—his chance to turn the other cheek. Go, yeah, go ahead and throw me.

▶ 1:43 He didn’t. He, passing through the midst of them, went his way. He flexed his muscles, his supernatural power, then just walked right through them. He didn’t turn the other cheek. He didn’t go the extra mile. He didn’t bless them. He didn’t speak good about them, and he didn’t pray for them. Are you there? So Jesus didn’t even apply his own sermon here. Why? Because these were criminals. They wanted to kill him. If we gave in to every criminal, nobody would be alive, and you wouldn’t have anything. John 8:59, they took up stones to stone him.

▶ 2:39 Now okay, here’s Jesus—he’s preaching again, and again they don’t like what he’s saying. And they get mad. They throw a temper tantrum and they pick up stones—they’re going to stone him. And did he turn the other cheek? Did he bless them and say, oh you wonderful people, you’re such good Jews? Oh yeah, and I have to be patient with you, God isn’t finished with you yet, so you just go ahead and throw the stones? He didn’t do that at all. He hid himself. The Son of God, God himself, hid from them to keep them from carrying out their criminal intent.

▶ 3:34 Are you with me? Are you getting this? Hallelujah. Yeah. He didn’t keep his own word because it’s out of context where that word is. When you get into the criminal realm it changes everything. And a family member get mad at you and all—that’s one thing. A criminal wanting to kill you, steal your car, steal your house—steal—that’s another thing. Did Jesus always bless those that cursed him? Matthew 23:15, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. Boy, that don’t sound like political correctness to me. How about you? You hypocrites, you phonies, you say one thing and you do another. You travel land and sea to make one proselyte, one convert, and you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. In other words, you’re going to hell and everybody following you is going to hell too.

▶ 4:41 Now is that a blessing? You know why. Did he pray for them? No, he didn’t pray for them. Are you there? Did he do good things because they spitefully insulted him and all that? No, he didn’t do anything. He’s trying to straighten them out. Are you with me, church? Matthew 23:33, you serpents—here he is—you serpents. He’s down there preaching again. You serpents, you generation of vipers. Not just a garter snake—you are a cobra. You’re poisonous. You’re destructive. How can you escape the condemnation of hell? You’re going to hell. When’s the last time you hear the preacher on radio or TV say that statement?

▶ 5:38 No, we’re so brainwashed into being spiritually, politically correct. We don’t want to offend anybody. Oh yeah, let them die and go to hell. They’re really offended there for eternity, but don’t dare offend them now. God. Luke 13:31, they come and said Herod the governor, the king, the politician, the leader, the civil leader, wants to kill you. Did he bless Herod? Oh, blessed Herod? Oh. Did he pray for Herod? Oh God, forgive him for he doesn’t know what he does. Are you there? No, he didn’t. He said, you go tell that fox. That wasn’t a good word.

▶ 6:31 That wasn’t a good word at all. That tomorrow I’m going to preach, second day I’m going to preach and do miracles, and the third day I’m going to be glorified, and you’re going to see it, and there’s nothing you can do about it, Herod. I’m going to do it. You ain’t killing me. I’m laying down my life. Nobody has power to kill me. Are you with me? Jesus did not follow that love-your-enemy pattern. Why? Because it is a pattern for those who are not criminals—they’re just having a bad day. In fact, some of us are having a bad season—it’s more than a day—and some of us are having a bad year. I mean this thing has dragged out. And you are supposed to respond right.

▶ 7:23 Hallelujah. Now folks, that was good stuff. Now. Did Jesus always give to those that ask? I said, anybody ask you, just give it away, give it away. Did he always pray for those who spitefully used him? Luke 23:8, Herod hoped to see some miracle done by Jesus. You know, here’s Jesus coming into the throne room and Herod’s—oh man, he wants to see a miracle. He heard all these miracles. He wanted to kill Jesus, but now Jesus is here—he wants to see a miracle. He wants a show. He wants a performance. That’s what a lot of Christians are into that run to the quote-unquote healing ministries. They’re looking for a show. And they put on one themselves even if God isn’t healing, and it’s really disgusting.

▶ 8:18 They act like they’re healed. They act like something supernatural is going on when it’s not. And what did Jesus do? He answered Herod nothing. He didn’t say one word. He didn’t pray for Herod. He didn’t even give him one word. He zipped his lip and just looked at him. Because John the Baptist had already given Herod the word that he needed to hear: it’s not lawful for you to have Herodias, your brother’s wife. So Jesus had nothing else to say because Herod hadn’t corrected that message yet—he hadn’t responded to that message. John 12:5, this woman comes in and anoints Jesus’ feet with ointment. Judas and some other ones there go, hey, don’t do that—sell that ointment and give it to the poor.

▶ 9:11 Did he do that? No. He didn’t give to those that asked him. There is no record of Jesus giving anything to the poor. Are you guys aware of that in the Bible? He wasn’t on a help-the-poor program. He was on a saving-the-soul program. Which tells us the priority of the church is to save the soul and get them to grow. And a peripheral section of it is to help those widows and orphans that are in need, if they qualify. That’s a real small side issue. What is the big issue in America? Help the poor, do some kind of social good thing, and you’re a great Christian. No. Jesus kept the focus on saving the soul and them to grow. Wow, that’s good.

▶ 10:19 And we got Christians doing good deeds and they’re not growing. And we got people receiving the good deeds and they’re not getting their souls saved. You never hear him praying for the rich or for the politicians or people in authority. You never hear him praying for them. But you hear him praying for his apostles, his disciples. Amen. Yes. Wow. He’s focused on the church and building the church and changing people’s lives is what he’s focused on. And if the rich want to be a part of it, they got to convert and come in like everybody else. Yeah. He didn’t pray for the drug addict and the alcoholic. He prayed for his disciples.

▶ 11:13 Hallelujah. Conclusion: the enemy here is your neighbor, your brother. Nobody’s closer to you than your brother. Nobody’s closer to you than your spouse. How many know your spouse can have a bad day? In fact, they may have a bad week, a bad month, and a bad year, and you’re patiently turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, waiting for God to change them—when God’s waiting for you to change to change them. Did you hear that one? Yeah. You want somebody changed—change yourself first. Start with yourself. That’s the Bible way. Well otherwise you’re falling into I’m going to do something so I can get something back.

▶ 12:10 You see. And that’s not maturity. Hallelujah. You do something because you need to do it. If you want your spouse or your children or your parents to love you—love them. You want them to treat you right—treat them right. It starts with you. Wow, that’s good stuff. Hallelujah. We want a magic prayer: Lord, change my husband, change my wife, change my child. It ain’t working. Why? Because you ain’t working. It starts with you—your character, your heart. Hallelujah. And America needs to hear this. You out there in America, you need to hear this stuff. So. You.