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Biblical Truth Ministries: “…the truth shall set you free”

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"But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering…" Now notice how He answered him. Now one of these days maybe I’ll get some "schmarts" "…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. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way:…" (vs. 29-31). Now you go back and you read all the laws of what a priest is to do. If he’s on duty he’s not to touch any dead body; he’s not to touch anything that has any blood on it; he’s not to contaminate himself, lest when he make the offering that he be profaned. Are those the laws of God? Yes, those are the laws of God. True. He gave them. You go back and read the laws.

I’ll tell you what he should have done when we get to the end of it, because it would have been very simple. Jesus is telling him that the priest should have helped the one who was wounded. So what should the priest have done? He should have gone back and said, "I helped a man who was wounded. Just count me out for duty this week, I’ll pick it up next week." No problem. See, but when people get so nitpicky in doing right, even though it’s the Law of God, when there is a greater need beyond a ritual or a statute or a judgment, a greater need, then that greater need falls into the category that Jesus said, "I want mercy, and not sacrifice." Here is an example of sacrifice, of ritual: "I will do the sacrifice rather than show the mercy." That’s what happened with the priest.

"And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side." "Ooh-hoo," and walked away. It doesn’t even show he called the Highway Patrol. "And likewise a Levite [who was the priest’s helper], when he was at the place, came and looked on him,…" Walked over and looked at him! And he saw someone who was naked, who was wounded, who was obviously in need, "…and passed by on the other side" (vs. 31-32). Now you see, in the Jewish society, or in the society with the temple, the two most respected citizens were the priest and the Levite. They held the two highest offices in the land. And they were to what? Lead people to God. Isn’t that correct? How on earth can a priest or a Levite lead someone to God when they don’t have the right kind of heart toward their fellow man? So this is why He gave the parable.

"But a certain Samaritan,…" Oh, now, you couldn’t have said anything worse to a Jew. Because you know that the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Here comes this dirty, slimy, greasy, Samaritan on his ding-dong donkey, trailing down the trail. You know, just kind of picture it in your mind. Maybe even flies hovering over his head as he goes along, who knows? "But a certain Samaritan as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,…" See, God is interested in your heart and your emotion. He had compassion on him. "…And went to him, and bound up his wounds,…" And I just imagine that the guy who was lying there, the priest looked from a distance and walked on. I don’t know if the victim saw him, but the Levite went over and looked right at him, and the guy probably, "(Groan) Help," you know. The guy said, "Oh, well, I have to go offer a sacrifice," you know, he goes on his way. And here comes this Samaritan. He saw his wounds, had compassion on him, "…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" (vs. 33-34). Now that takes a lot of effort. That takes a lot of work. Brought him to an inn, his own expense.

"And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence,…" Denarius, as it should read in the original. In the King James it is "pence." You could hardly do it, even…well, couldn’t even do it at the "Six-Pence Motel" with two pence. Ok. "…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." Then Jesus asked the question, "Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said [so the lawyer got the point], He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise" (vs. 35-37). In other words, don’t stand there and ask a stupid question, "Who is my neighbor?" Anybody that has need. That’s your neighbor, whether you know them or not.

Now let’s look at another example here. Let’s go to Matthew 9. And all the way through…now when you read and study the New Testament, go through and see that every time Jesus has an encounter of some kind He deals with the motive - the origin, the motive, the appearance, and the effect. Let’s keep those four things in mind: the origin, the motive, the appearance, and the effect, and it will really help you see the love and compassion that Jesus Christ has, and that’s how He wants us to act. That’s how He wants us to be.

Matthew 9:10, "And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat [to eat]…" The phrase there "sat at meat," it means He came to eat, "…in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples." Now this looked bad, you know; for those righteous Pharisees, this was bad. Like I mentioned last week, this woman who was a sinner touches Him, and "if this Man were a prophet, He would know…" And then Jesus asked him a question, he said, "Yes, Master?" The purring, fawning, "Oh, yes, yes, yes."

"And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto His disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, He said unto them [now, He didn’t answer the question either], They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice:…" (vs. 11-13). In other words, all those little ritualistic things that were added to the laws of God to separate people and destroy love, and mercy, and compassion are against the laws of God, though they appear righteous by religious leaders, are just so much dung. Now you can understand why.

Here, hold your place right here, and let’s go to Isaiah 58. I know when I first read this, boy, it was hard for me to understand it but it’s crystal clear now. Let’s just begin here in verse 1. "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek Me daily,…" Isn’t it interesting? People still seek God even though that they are just living in sin. "…And delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God" (Isa. 58:1-2). Oh yes, "We’re going to offer a sacrifice today, everyone, we’re going to have a feast;" or, "Now today’s the Day of Atonement, the most holy day of the year."

"Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and Thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and Thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness:…" And boy, that’s sure true of human nature. Here’s human nature, religious human nature in the raw, right here. This is why Jesus went and ate with sinners and publicans. He didn’t go…well, He did eat with some of the Pharisees, and scribes, and so forth. We’ll see that a little later. But that’s all they were doing. They were fasting for strife, and debate, and the fist of wickedness. And "…ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high" (vs. 3-4).

Let’s take a look at one other place here for just a minute. Let’s go to Isaiah 64:6. "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;…" Now you’ll understand why the righteousnesses of the scribes and Pharisees were as filthy rags, because their heart was not right. See, the whole thing is, God does not care what the outward appearance of what you may be doing. He’s interested in the motive and in the heart. That’s the whole key thing, motive and heart. Otherwise it’s just like filthy rags. "…And we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." And when you find that we should keep the commandments and they are righteous, and then you go back and read that all of our righteousnesses are as an unclean thing and a filthy rag, and then you read the book of Job, you think, "Boy, how’s anyone ever going to make it?" And I’ve read the…when I read…honestly, when I first read the book of Job I thought God was wrong. Really. And I knew that wasn’t right. That took me a long time before I really have understood the book of Job. I think I understand more than I have in the past.

Now let’s go back here to Matthew 9:13. See, here’s this righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees would not eat with publicans and sinners. And what good did all of that righteousness do them? None. So Jesus said, "But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice:…" That’s the whole key thing – mercy and compassion and doing the things that God wants and not the sacrifice of religious ritual. Or we could say, not the sacrifice of "playing church" today. There are a lot of people that play church – Protestants, Catholics, Church of God people. They play church. That’s sacrifice. "…For I am not come to call the righteous,…" And you know who is righteous. Paul said none is righteous, "…but sinners to repentance." And we’re going to see that’s the key all the way through.

Now let’s look at an example of a good work, a righteous sacrifice, a proper judgment. Let’s go to John 8. Now, you know the account, so I’m not going to go through and cover it all; but it’s the first eleven verses, where they came and they brought a woman who was caught in the act of adultery – the very act. Brought her; and here, they’re taking God’s Word to use as a club again, right? And it’s right – it did say that adulterers and adulteresses were to be what? Stoned. Didn’t the Law of Moses say that she was to be stoned? And you know the result of it. Jesus then said, "He which is without sin cast the first stone." Now to them they thought, "Boy, we’re going to catch Him, because we are right! We have the Law of Moses behind us to back us up and prove it is right!" But what did Jesus do? He went right to the heart, and He said, "The one who is without sin, let him cast the first stone." And then you know the rest of the account. No one was there. It was a crowd around, like this, and then Jesus and the woman, and surrounding Jesus and the woman was a circle of Pharisees and scribes who brought the woman. Just picture it today. Police catch someone red-handed and bring him right in. "Now what are You going to do about this?"

So when there was no one there and Jesus said, "Is no man condemn you?" Verse 11, "She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." And sin no more – that’s the key thing. I imagine she was scared to death. Imagine how she felt. Let’s answer this question: did Jesus change the law here? No. They evoked the law of Moses which said, "Stone the adulteress," but you also have to stone the adulterer. A - They didn’t bring him with her. They caught her in the very act, but how are you going to catch her in the very act without him? That’s a little strange. So maybe one of those shining-robed, broad-phylactery priests was the one who tricked her into it. And maybe that’s the whole thing behind it – they tricked her into it. They said, "Aha, we’re going to get this guy." So no, it isn’t that Jesus did away with the law of Moses, because He told her to go and sin no more. He said, "I don’t condemn you; no one condemns you. Go and sin no more." And He couldn’t condemn her, because what? Legally you needed two or three witnesses: "Everything shall be established by the mouth of two or three witnesses" (Deuteronomy 17:6, paraphrased). That’s Old Testament doctrine.

So there were many things wrong in their case. So rather than Jesus getting onto an argument over the rightness or wrongness of the case, He got to the heart of the matter by saying, "The one who has no sin, let him throw the first stone." And then He told the woman, "Go and sin no more." So this is showing that adultery is still sin, and in a sense the wages of sin is still death, but it’s going to be administered in a proper way. So I just imagine how that poor woman felt, even though she may have been what she was, dragged up there…See the whole bottom line is in this, they were using this incident as a means to trap Christ. In other words, they were taking something that God had given to Moses which was to be used for good - to keep adultery out of the land, to eliminate it, to keep it to a smaller degree – and they were using this then to try and trip up Christ. It was an evil motive behind what they were doing. Had nothing to do with truth and fact. So that’s why He answered the way He did.

Let’s go on here. Let’s go to Romans 2. And again, this will tell us about the heart, the conscience, and what God is looking to. Romans 2, and we will see in this chapter…here we get down to the heart and the core of the whole problem in Romans 2. I won’t go through every verse, but it’s talking about judging and condemning, and using the judgment of God. But then he goes on to show that unless your heart is right, it doesn’t matter what your judgment of another person is going to be, God is going to reward you according to your heart: whether you are led to repentance by God and seek honor, and glory, and truth, and immortality, then you receive eternal life; or whether you’re hard-hearted and won’t repent, then you’re going to receive anguish and wrath and so forth.

Now we come down to verse 11. "…For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law [that means separate from the knowledge of the law] shall also perish [separate from the knowledge of the law] without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified" (Rom 2:11-13). But what is he talking about? What kind of doers? How should you do it? To do it in a ritual? To do it just because the Bible says, "Do it"? Well you should do it because the Bible says do it, but that should not be the only motivation. You should do it because it becomes a part of you. What is the whole purpose of the New Testament to do with God’s laws? To what? To write them in your heart, and in your mind, and in your inward parts, so that it becomes a part of you: Christ in you, the laws of God in you, the love of God in you.

Now notice verse 14. Here again, Paul uses the example of the Gentiles. "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law,…" They weren’t given the laws of God. God never went to any other nation and said, "I am God, here are My laws; follow them." Only to Israel. Notice what he says: "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law,…" In other words, these things are always a law unto themselves. "…These, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: which shew [here’s the key thing] the work of the law written in their hearts,…" (vs. 14-15). Now of all the mixture of good and evil that people have in the world, there are some who have reasonably decent societies. I know when I first saw the movie on the pygmies I was impressed. They don’t commit adultery, they believe in one god, and they don’t steal. Now, they don’t have the laws of God, but believe me, I’m sure God honors them for that much of what they do and what they know.

"…Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience…" So God is interested in what? The heart and the conscience. Because that’s the only thing God can truly deal with because these are spiritual things. God cannot deal with a stick, or a stone, or a hard-hearted person. He’s got to deal with someone who has some conscience, someone who has some heart. "Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)…" Now Paul says, "…In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel" (vs. 15-16). So then he went on showing here very clearly about what a true Jew was - one of the heart, not of the letter. Where the Pharisees Jews by nature? Yes. By physical circumcision? Yes. By heart? No.

Let’s go to Luke 5. Let’s take a little bit of survey in the book of Luke and see if we can cover some of these. The book of Luke is really full of some of these examples of an evil work, a good work, an evil motive, evil imputation to a person, and so forth. Ok, Luke 5, and let’s pick it up here in verse 17. "And it came to pass on a certain day, as He was teaching [now notice], that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem:…" So here were all the nitpickers all gathered around. There they were. "…And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before Him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in [to Jesus] because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus" (Luke 5:17-19).

Now if you can picture some Middle-eastern type up there, they’re taking away the tile, and here’s everybody gathered around there. And then they start letting this fellow down, right in the middle of where Jesus was teaching. And remember, there were what sitting around? The scribes, the doctors of the law, the Pharisees. And here’s Jesus teaching. And all of a sudden, right down in the middle of this, here comes this man being let down. I imagine everybody looked up and said, "I wonder what on earth this is? Look at that." So he let him down.

"And when He saw their faith, He said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee." Very simple statement. Now notice: Aha! Self-righteous antennae go up – ding! "And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying,…" Instead of saying, "That’s marvelous. Look at this man, it’s…that’s wonderful. Why, that’s old George. We’ve known him for a long time. Look – he’s healed! He can get up and walk!" No, they began to reason, "…Saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts,…" (vs. 20-22). Now that must have been interesting on Jesus’ part. He knew their thoughts. Sometimes I wish I knew that. That might save me from a lot of grief, to know the thoughts of people. On the other hand, I wouldn’t want to do that. No, no. You wouldn’t…you’d have to be God in order to handle it. I mean, truly, the human mind is so wicked, you wouldn’t want to know everybody’s thoughts. No. Only God could handle it. You think on it a while, and no, you really wouldn’t want that. No. You think at first, "Boy, that would be good in some circumstances." But if you knew everybody’s thoughts all the time, you wouldn’t want…no.

So Jesus perceived their thoughts. "…He answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?" Now that must have been interesting. Here, they’re sitting there and trying to have a pious look on their face, and Jesus is reading their thoughts, and then He turns to them and says, "Now why are you thinking this?" I imagine they’d swallow once or twice. You know, sometimes it makes you wonder, you wonder what on earth went on in the minds of these scribes and Pharisees. I mean, we yet have that sermon to bring about scribes and Pharisees. We’re getting part of it here.

"…What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (He said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay [in other words, just wrapped it all up], and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day" (vs. 22-26). So then He went by and He told Levi to follow Him, who was then later called Matthew.

Now notice verse 29, "And Levi made Him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against His disciples,…" Here, these perpetual critics. All they did was grumble and murmur and gripe. And didn’t all their criticism cause a lot of problems in the New Testament church, when supposedly the Pharisees were converted? Oh, yea, verily yea. "…Saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And they said unto Him, Why do the disciples of John fast often,…" (vs. 29-33). Now He has a little to say about John. It’s just like a technocrat. They’ll even use something that they hate. They didn’t like John. They wouldn’t…John called them vipers, and "who warned you to come and flee the wrath and be baptized?"

Then they said, "…Why do the disciples of John fast often…" See, they were so beady-eyed jealous with them eating and having a good time, and having a feast, they stood out there, and when they couldn’t answer back to Jesus then they said, "Now, why don’t You fast? Look – this meal…and why eat all the time?" "…And make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but Thine eat and drink? And He said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?" (vs. 33-34). So again, He answered with a question. Very clever. He never really answered their questions. Because why? He knew their hearts. He knew the motive. So they would take a good thing – is it good to fast? Yes. Is it good to pray? Yes. So what was the origin? It was the Pharisee, right, who was self-righteous. The motive was to try and use something good, that appeared good - fasting and praying – the motive was evil to use a good thing in an evil way.

Now can people use a good thing in an evil way? Sure they can. That’s right. Yes they can. We’re going to see that God will use an evil thing in a good way. One time He said, "Let’s send a lying spirit down to deceive Ahab." I don’t know if it was Ahab, or maybe it was some…a lying spirit. Now you can imagine God commanding a spirit to go down there and lie? Saying, "You go down there and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all these false prophets." You know God said, "I create good and I create evil." I covered it on a tape the week before, so be sure and get a copy and listen to it. God does create evil to enforce the penalty of sin. He does create it. I know when I first read that, Isaiah 45:9, "I God create good, and make evil." I couldn’t believe that; tippy-toed around it, said, "Well, God allows it." Well then does God allow good? No, He blesses the good. He’s determined what is good and what is evil. But He will create the evil to enforce the good. So when someone sins, He’s decreed "the wages of sin is death," that’s an evil result, He enforces the penalty of it, "I create evil, says the Lord." But you see, God can do that because He has the power to undo it if there’s repentance. That’s so very important.

Let me just clarify what I said, lest someone misunderstand me. God is God, and He is righteous, and in Him is no sin at all. Isn’t that correct? We all agree to that. God has given His laws, which are holy and righteous and just and perfect and good and true. Isn’t that correct? We all agree to that. We also know that God is not sin. God cannot sin. But does that mean that God cannot enforce the penalty for sin, which is evil? Now it does not mean that. God can enforce that. So God creates a law, and says, "This is good. The transgression of it is evil." You go through Deuteronomy 28. "You’ll be blessed if you do what is right, you’ll be cursed if you do what is wrong. I, the Lord, do it." So He makes the blessings happen by blessing, correct? He brings about the result of sin by bringing the curse, which is evil. He is creating the evil.

Now in that, He can use the agency of Satan the devil, the demons, human nature, or God Himself do it directly. But He is enforcing the wages of sin, which even God says He does not like to see the death of the wicked. Then it’s an evil thing. But He does it because the righteousness of God and God’s plan is so fantastic and so great that there is no room for that kind of thing. Now I know we’re getting into a rather deep area because our concept of God is more limited than we would like to admit. Far more limited. I mean, God has made the fantastic…say, the universe, that’s true; but probably what we know of it is so infinitesimal from what God has done.

So therefore, when God says, "Behold, I create evil," He does just that. Because if you make a law that is blessing on one side, cursing on the other side, you have to create it, and you have to enforce it. God does not like to enforce the evil. God loathes enforcing the evil. But He will do it. Even when it came time for the flood, what does it say? It repented God the heart that of all the evil that was there, and He was sorry that He made man because of all the…God does not like to enforce the evil. But He eventually will. So God, in enforcing the penalty of sin with the evil, and enforcing it, does it so that in hopes that the wicked would repent and turn to God. (Audience comment)…And that’s why the Tribulation. God is going to take care of a lot of things at the Tribulation. I mean, it is…God has a way of storing up His wrath, and look out. That’s why Jesus said, "Why do you desire the Day of the Lord?" We’re to pray, "Thy kingdom come." That is true. But why do you desire the Day of the Lord? It’s a terrible, terrible, terrible day. Even Jesus said it was. And it doesn’t rejoice God at all to go through it.

Let’s just take the case of David and Bathsheba. God does not stop anyone from sinning, does He? No. All that took place: the conniving, the planning on Bathsheba’s part, because she bathed right out underneath his window, and then on his part to send down and get her, to have her husband killed, and all that that went on, and then the correction from Nathan the prophet came and said, "You are the one." And he repented, and God said, "Ok, I’ve put away your sin. But because you have done this, and because you’ve caused the enemies of God to blaspheme, I am going to wreak havoc in your family the rest of your life." I’m just summarizing what He said. And that’s what happened. God ensured that havoc was reaped in his family. It was terrible. But when by the time David got old he was worn out with all the strife that went on. Look at Absalom. Look at the rebellion that took place. All because David did this sin. Had he not sinned he wouldn’t have had any of that.

There are some people right now who are going through terrible trouble because in righteousness they sinned. And they’re reaping all of this…their families are just being absolutely being torn asunder, and sickness and things. Because in the name of God the perpetrated evil. And I’m not going to wish anything upon anybody. Boy, I tell you, we’ll learn a lesson. Let’s go to Luke 6, then, and we’ll end here in Luke 6. And we will see that God is interested in our hearts, and interested in what we do. Let’s pick it up here in verse 20, and then we’ll go ahead and end this. And I’ll take one more sermon on these on the works, good-evil, the motivation, the appearance, and so forth. In the mean time, if we can get tapes out to everyone who didn’t hear it last week, then I’d sure appreciate that.

Luke 6:20, "And He lifted up His eyes on His disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company,…" Sometimes you can be thankful that that’s a blessing. "…And shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you!..." (Luke 6:20-26).

And people can use…a compliment, isn’t that a good thing? How nice you are, how good you are, how wonderful you are, how….But beware when everyone speaks well of you. Beware, because your vanity can be gotten into sin just as much on compliments as in sin. That’s how deceptive human nature is. "…For so did their fathers to the false prophets" (vs. 26). "Oh, that was a wonderful message." Imagine everyone when the lying spirit came from God to be a lying spirit in the mouths of the false prophets, and all the false prophets got done and said, "You’re not going into captivity. You’re not going to see the evil that’s going on. We’re the prophets of God." And they all come up and, "Oh, bless you. That was marvelous…Oh, that was nice. Oh, you’re such a good boy." It didn’t happen that way, did it?

"But I say unto you which hear,…" Now here is where it comes. This is what we need to aim for: "…Love your enemies,…" Why does He say "Love your enemies"? So you don’t end up with the same kind of heart that your enemy has. Oh, if they could do that in the Middle East today. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine the Arabs and Jews embracing? The Shiites and the Rabbis, the Hamal and the Rabbis hugging each other, kissing each other, on their knees repenting to God? Love your enemies. Well they will one of these days. Not now. Now’s not the day. "…Do good to them which hate you,…" (vs. 27). Why? Because if you turn around and do bad to them, you’re going to put yourself in their same shoes. That’s why Jesus said to the woman – to those who caught her, "You who are without sin, throw the first stone."

"…Do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again" (vs. 27-30). That seems on the surface not a good thing to do. Well obviously, if it comes down to a threat on your life, let them have it. Don’t worry about it. God is able to supply it. How about all these poor people who have had all their homes burned out? They’re right there, aren’t they? There’s nothing – nothing. Don’t worry about it. God will take care of it.

"And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." Here’s the key verse. "For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye?..." In other words, what have you done that is gracious? The "thank" is the word charis is the Greek, which means "gracious." "…For sinners also love those that love them." (vs. 31-32). So even a false love one to another is not good enough. God wants to make sure our hearts are sincere. It’s the hypocrisy of human nature that is the root of all the sin. You know, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks"? Jesus said all these evils proceed from within. So therefore if you come to God and ask God to get rid of the hypocrisy, and the guile, and the deceit, He will.

Verse 33, and we’ll finish here. "And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again." Or we could put in parentheses, "and more." "But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil" (vs. 33-35). It’s quite a statement, isn’t it? Quite a statement. Our whole perspective of God has got to be broadened out tremendously. God is not going to be narrowed down into some little confines of a set of doctrines that people may have. You want ten? Twenty? Fifty? A hundred? Two hundred? Doesn’t matter how many sets of doctrine you have. If your heart is not right with God, and Christ is not in you, then it’s all just so much playing church and so much good work to be seen of men, you’ve had your reward.

So that’s what we’re talking about here, with the good works and the evil works. Alright. I’ll finish it off with the rest of the survey of parts of the book of Luke next time.