Jesus Asked, “Do you love your enemies?“

Flipping The Script
Written By Nick Bailey

Sermon Notes

TODAY’S PASSAGE:

Matthew 5:43-47 ESV… “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

THE CALLING OF A PROPHET ISN’T EASY

  • Jeremiah was consecrated to be a prophet before he was born… Jeremiah 1:4-5

  • Jeremiah complained to God about the difficulty of being a prophet… Jeremiah 12:1-4

  • God responds to Jeremiah pointing out there was nothing “unusually exceptional” about the suffering he has endured to this point in his life… Jeremiah 12:5

  • Jesus challenges those who think they know what it is to be “unusually exceptional” in their love of others.. Matthew 5:43-47

YOU CALL THAT LOVE?

  • The teaching in Jesus’ day was, “Love your neighbor, and hate your enemy”... Matthew 5:43

  • Jesus blows everything up when he says, “Love your enemies”... Matthew 5:44

  • Jesus asks four back-to-back questions to drive home what it means to be “unusually exceptional”... Matthew 5:46-47

  • What Jesus teaches in our passage today has to be one of his hardest sayings!

THE DIFFERENT WAYS GOD’S CHILDREN ARE TO BE UNUSUALLY EXCEPTIONAL

  • Unusually exceptional LOVE

  • Unusually exceptional KINDNESS

  • Unusually exceptional MERCY

  • Unusually exceptional HOLINESS

  • Unusually exceptional COURAGE

  • Unusually exceptional PATIENCE

  • Unusually exceptional HOSPITALITY

  • Unusually exceptional GENEROSITY

Nick Bailey
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