(Matthew 5:43-48) "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." In this generation of Christianity, you don't find many Christian people that know how to truly love their enemies. Christian people seem to have problems with loving their own in the church. Many of the brethren in the church appear to have problems in loving one another. That's strikingly odd but that's the truth. We don't even know what it means to love our enemies today. How can we learn how to love our enemies when we won't love the brethren in the church? Today if a brother stares at us the wrong way or they don't like the same things that we like, we won't have much to do with them. We allow trivial, insignificant things to affect us when it comes to loving the brethren in the church. It's amazing. There are many church members that are at odds with one another in that local assembly. That's why there are so many quarrels and schisms in the body. There's a lack of love among the brethren. Many of us in the church don't understand the need to love one another. When the brethren are in kahootz with one another, it causes division in the body. There's a lack of unity among the brethren in our churches today. It also is a poor testimony before the world. It should be natural for the brethren to love each other. If we in the body of the local assembly can't love each other, there's no way we can love those in the world that despise and hate us.
When we read Jesus' commandment to love our enemies in Matthew 5:44, we need to have a proper perspective what it means to love our enemies. When Jesus says to love our enemies he's not saying that we must be intimate with our enemies. In order for there to be an intimate relationship, there must be common ground among two people. Naturally there's no common ground with your adversary. When understanding what Jesus is referring to, one must understand there's three types of love: Agape, Philial, and Eros. Eros is the type of love which refers to romantic love between a married couple. This type of love is based upon moods and perceptions and it comes and goes. The other type of love which is Philial, stems from the word "Philadelphia" which stands for the city of brotherly love. This type of love is towards friendships we have with other people that we enjoy to be around. The first type of love is Agape which is a Godly type of love. This type of love isn't a slave to circumstances or how one is treated. This type of love seeks the well-being of mankind in general. This is a love that must come from the Lord. It's a love that's not selfish. Agape love is the kind of love that's necessary when Jesus says to love our enemies. This type of love isn't concerned about how we're treated. We love other people regardless. We are constrained by the love of God in our lives and as a result, we love other people, which includes our enemies. These other types of love are dependent upon circumstances. Agape love is unconditional. We must love our enemies unconditionally.
When Jesus says to love our enemies, we should also pray for them. We should pray for those that despitefully use us. We should be concerned for their souls and their eternal destiny. That's a love that no man can generate himself. This shows that we belong to the Lord when we can love and pray for our enemies. There's been classic examples of those that were persecuted for Christ's sake that love their enemies. Jesus was the ultimate example. He was mocked and ridiculed on this earth by the Pharisees and Saducees. He was condemned. He was mocked by Herod. However, he humbly and faithfully was obedient unto death. When he was crucified on the cross, Jesus uttered these words, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34) Jesus loved the world. He loved those that mocked Him and used Him. Another classic example is Steven who was stoned in Acts. He was accused of blasphemy. In Acts 7:59-60 says, "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep." Stephen didn't possess animosity toward those that stoned him. Another example is David. Anyone that reads the book of I Samuel knows Saul's jealousy toward David after David slayed Goliath. Saul sought to kill David on a number of occasions. In I Samuel 24:4 you read where David cut off a piece of Saul's skirt. David's heart was smote as a result. David could have used the opportunity to kill Saul. But he didn't. Saul was still the King of Israel and David respected his position. David showed love to Saul despite Saul's jealousy toward David. Saul had no cause to desire to kill David.
One final example I want to mention is the great English Reformer and scholar William Tyndale. He was responsible for translating considerable portions of both the Old and New Testament into the Modern English of that day. He drew directly from both Greek and Hebrew translations. Much of his work eventually was incorporated into the King James 1611 translation of the Bible. He spoke against the politics of that day during the English monarchy. He had to go into hiding and carry on the translation of both the Old and New Testament. In 1535, Tyndale was seized in Antwerp and was betrayed by Henry Phillips and held in the castle of Vilvoorde near Brussels. He was tried on heresey charges in 1536 and condemned to death. He was strangled before he died. Tyndale's final words was "Lord! Open the King of England's eyes!" It was amazing. Tyndale didn't saying, "Lord destroyed all those that have persecuted me." No, he asked the Lord to illuminate the King of England's heart and mind and show him the error of his ways. That's Agape love. Agape love is concerned about the welfare of their enemies. Agape love desires for your enemies to be saved and know the truth. Tyndale showed no animosity toward the King of England. His desire was to see the work of God advanced. Praise the Lord for people like William Tyndale!
I'm thankful for all the examples we read in the Bible for those that loved their enemies and prayed for them. I'm thankful for those in church history that were martyred for their faith that had a desire to see their enemies converted. When we pray for and love our enemies, we're manifesting the love of God toward the world. God help us in this generation. We have troubling loving the brethren. Until we learn to love the brethren, there's no way we can love those that persecute and despitefully use us.
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