All Episodes
Previous Next
Jan. 19, 2023 - Just Informed Talk - Craig James
14:07
Jesus Teaches Us To LOVE Our Enemies - Luke 6:27-36 | God's Grace Is Greater
| Copy link to current segment

Time Text
God's Grace is Greater segment that we do here on the channel.
We're studying the Gospel of Luke.
We're continuing our deep dive into it.
We're in chapter 6, and we're picking up right where we left off.
We started and left off yesterday talking about the Beatitudes of Jesus' Gospel, where he gives us all of these proclamations and all of these instructions.
And we started off with him telling us, essentially, blessed are the poor, and blessed are those who are hungry, and blessed are those who weep.
And he gives us the reasons why, because they will be the ones who inherit the kingdom.
And he also says, woe to you who are rich.
Woe to you who are full now and laugh, because you will not get anything.
And I went through what Jesus meant when he said all of those things, And if you want to watch that, that's in yesterday's God's Grace is Greater segment.
So go watch that wherever you're watching this.
But we're going to pick up right from there...
And we're going to go right into it right now.
And that is starting in Luke 6, verse 27.
We're reading to verse 36.
So chapter 6, verse 27 to 36.
Let's go ahead and read.
And this is talking about loving our enemies.
And I know that this is a crazy concept to a lot of people out there, and I'm going to explain how I don't believe that this concept is meant to apply to authorities and governments as much as it is, I believe, meant to apply directly to us as individuals as Jesus presented us with a seemingly impossible task that we're called to do, to live righteously by.
And I know it almost seems counterintuitive to a lot of people out there, but I'm going to explain why...
It is not only the right thing to do according to what Jesus tells us, but it is the hardest thing to do.
And that is part of why it's important that we follow it.
So let's read these words, though, and see what Jesus tells us in these verses where he goes on in his explanation here saying, But I say to you who listen, love your enemies.
Do what is good to those who hate you.
Bless those who curse you.
Pray for those who mistreat you.
If anyone hits you on the cheek, offer the other also.
And if anyone takes away your coat, don't hold back your shirt either.
Give to everyone who asks of you.
And from one who takes your things, don't ask for them back.
Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them.
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who love them.
If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you?
Even sinners do that.
And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive.
receive what credit is that to you even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full but love your enemies do what is good and lend expecting nothing in return then your reward will be great and you will be sons of the most high for he is gracious to the ungrateful and evil be merciful just as your father also is merciful now this is a lot to a lot of people right especially non-christians
This is a very controversial verse.
Because they can't understand or fathom or wrap their head around this concept that Jesus is teaching us here.
Now I don't think that this concept is meant to be prescribed to governing authorities who are working to keep the peace and structure in society.
I'm not sure that that's what Jesus is necessarily trying to convey.
I think he's trying to convey this to us on an individual basis, So what does he start off by saying?
He says, love your enemies.
Okay.
Well, let's hear what he says about that.
He says, I know that in our lives it may be easy and it may be the gut reaction that we have to fight back against those who want to harm us.
And of course, you are, I believe, as it's written, meant to rebuke evil in all of its forms.
I don't think this verse is telling us to become doormats and allow people to take advantage of us and use us with impunity and destroy us and treat us like garbage.
No.
Rather, I think what Jesus is teaching us is that in order to conquer your enemy, you must love them.
Now, isn't that a crazy concept?
Because we're told in Romans 12, verse 25, that we are meant to conquer evil with good.
We can never conquer evil with evil.
Right?
And that's essentially what Jesus is saying here.
He's telling us that if we are to defeat the enemy, we have to do it from a place of love.
Now, isn't that a novel thing?
Some it is, to some it's not.
When people hate us, when they curse us, when they mistreat us, what does he tell us to do?
Do what is good to those who hate you.
Bless those who curse you.
Pray for those who mistreat you.
We're fighting a spiritual war, ladies and gentlemen, and we are not surrendering and just throwing ourselves at people's mercy and saying, please don't hurt us.
No!
What we are doing is we are fighting them in the only way that God has taught us, and that is going to lead to the ultimate victory.
That is, by doing what is good.
If we allow ourselves to conquer evil with evil, then we become the evil we seek to conquer, and we lose the goodness that God has given us.
So in that way, Jesus is telling us here, you must love your enemies.
It's not easy.
It's not simple.
But it's right, and it is good, and it is what we are called to do.
It is the hardest battle to fight.
When he says, if anyone hits you on the cheek, offer them the other, why would he say that?
Why would he tell us to allow people who take our coat to take our shirt as well?
Because that is the more difficult way to combat them.
Perhaps what Jesus is teaching us is that if we want the world to change and become a better place, We must not engage in the evil that we see destroying it.
I'm not saying that this is going to mean your life's going to be easy.
I'm not saying that this means you're going to feel that bit of retribution and satisfaction in the justice that you dish out on those who have committed wrongs against you.
No!
As a matter of fact, I'm telling you that the satisfaction that you will receive will come in the treasure that's been built in heaven through the self-sacrifice that we have made in this earth while we were facing persecution.
Now for some people that might not be enough.
And if that is the case, I would really encourage you to meditate on these words and pray to God and ask Him to show you understanding in these words.
But I think it kind of sums it up here.
He says, Give to everyone who asks you, and from one who takes for your things, don't ask for them back.
But he says this finally, Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them.
That is what we have to fight for.
The world is never going to give us what we desire if it's the wrong thing.
Or actually I should say it will always give us what we desire if it's the wrong thing.
Seldom will it give you the thing you desire if it's the right thing.
It will always be something that's hard fought for.
And this is the same thing.
He gives us a few examples following this.
If you love people who love you, what credit is that?
Even sinners do it.
If you do what is good only to people that do good to you, what credit is that?
Even sinners do that.
He says if you lend to those and expect to receive, what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend and expect to be repaid in full.
So what he's telling us is if we just do it for the reason of selfishness, To get what we want, but not to do the selfless thing, then we're missing the point.
Because when he wraps all this up, he says, Be merciful just as your Father is also merciful.
Are any of us perfect?
Are you?
I know I'm not.
I know I've had a life full of sin.
I know I've made mistake after mistake.
I've never claimed to be the perfect person or had every answer or done everything right.
But I try every day to get better.
And I recognize through the humility that I found in finding God and fearing through reverence God that God showed mercy on me to get me to where I am today.
And if he hadn't shown mercy on me, if he hadn't given me this opportunity to help others in the way that I believe I have and have been and will continue if he wills it, God willing, If I hadn't got that, then I'd be done.
I'd be dead.
I'd be gone.
I wouldn't be here.
You wouldn't hear this voice speaking to you right now.
And I recognize that, and I hope that you all recognize a little bit of that maybe in yourself as well.
That without God and His mercy, we wouldn't have it.
His grace, His undeserved love, kindness, and forgiveness that He's given to us freely is not a gift that we're meant to just hold on to for ourselves.
It's a gift we're meant to give unto others, just like Jesus did when He gave His life for our sins so we could have eternal salvation in heaven with Him and God.
And that's, I think, what Jesus is teaching us here in these words.
He's almost foreshadowing his own sacrifice and selflessness that he's about to go through and give.
He's teaching us in these very words what it means to be good, what it means to do good, what it means to truly do unto others as you would want done unto yourself.
Maybe not the answer some people want.
Maybe not the answer you're going to seek out.
Maybe you're going to reject it and you're going to say this is wrong and you don't believe it.
I encourage you.
I encourage you to pray and ask God for clarity and wisdom.
Because if I'm not giving it to you here, I know He can.
So, remember...
That he tells us here that our reward will be great and that we will be sons of the Most High if we do this.
If we take the gift of the mercy and grace that God has given us and shown us in our lives and we share that onto others in the ways that Jesus tells us right here.
So that's where I'm going to go ahead and leave it.
We'll say a prayer and then we'll wrap it up.
Lord and Heavenly Father, please show us the path forward to understanding these words.
Lord, if the way I've explained it has fallen short, which I'm sure it has, I pray that you'll help me find discernment and wisdom in these words even further, and that you'll help those out there who have listened to this find it for themselves as well.
To help us understand what it truly means to love our enemies.
What it truly means to forgive those who trespass against us.
To find out what it truly means to do unto others as we would want done unto ourselves.
Lord, to find out how to live it in practice the way you've called us to live.
I pray, Lord, that you'll show us the way.
And I pray, Lord, you'll give understanding and discernment to all of us.
Together, as we put you first above all else, and we thank you most of all for our eternal salvation through the sacrifice, the selfless sacrifice made on the cross for our sins, by your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Alright guys, I hope that you enjoyed that segment.
Make sure you like, share, subscribe.
It helps out big time.
Leave your comments below.
I want to hear what you guys think about all this.
If you're watching this on YouTube, go into the description.
There's links to my Rumble channel and my Bitchute channel where you can find the news show that I used to do on YouTube when I had a larger channel that was taken down during the great purge of 2020 right before the election.
If you want to get that news show again, please go in the link in the or in the descriptions.
There's a link to Rumble and there's a link to Bitchute.
That's where I do these shows every day now because I can't say the political stuff on YouTube or else they'll obviously cut that off and censor it.
So I hope you guys do all that, but make sure if you want to support this channel, there's a link in the description for a donation if you can do that.
I appreciate it.
But thanks to everybody for watching.
We'll see you on the next one.
Until then, my name is Craig.
▲
Export Selection