Sermon Tone Analysis

Love defined

I have preached many sermons about love and one thing remains true, the more I study it, the more I continue to learn.

This word love agapao in the Greek is what the church struggles with even today.

Just as faith is an action, so is love.

If you say you have faith, yet you never act on it, your faith is dead.

If you say you have love yet you never put it into action, your love does not exist.

This morning I want to share with you the importance of love and how it truly defines the core of who you are.

I. Love In Action Towards Enemies“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

“Love your enemies” was not what the scribes were teaching the people.

They were saying, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy” ().

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

By means of this addition—“and hate your enemy”—the emphasis was shifted away from the real intention of the law.

By means of this addition—“and hate your enemy”—the emphasis was shifted away from the real intention of the law.

What did the Leviticus writer say: 19:18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

The Pharisees and religious leaders were happy to interpret as a right to hate certain people since the Lord said bear a grudge against the sons of your own people.

SO we can hate the Roman oppressors and we can hate the heathen.

Why they are not our people.

This prevailing attitude has gripped our country today.

If a person does not look like us, a different race than us, a different background than us we have cause to hate them.

It was in the midst of this intensely narrow-minded, exclusivistic, and intolerant environment that Jesus carried on his ministry.

All around him were those walls and fences.

He came for the very purpose of bursting those barriers, so that love—pure, warm, divine, infinite—would be able to flow straight down from the heart of God, hence from his own marvelous heart, into the hearts of men.

His love overleaped all the boundaries of race, nationality, party, age, sex, etc.

When he said, “Love your enemies,” he must have startled his audience, for he was saying something that probably never before had been said so succinctly, positively, and forcefully.

“The conclusion remains that the first one who has taught mankind to see the neighbor in every human being, and therefore to encounter every human being in love was Jesus;

Jesus shows this in the parable of The Good Samaritan.”(see

).

“And who is my neighbor?”

but should prove himself neighbor to the man in need, whoever that might be (see ).

records Jesus explaining to His disciples about love in action.

You see, it was not enough to just say you love someone, He actually explained to them that love is an action.

During the time that Jesus taught this lesson to His disciples, the Jews were being oppressed by the Romans and therefore they hated them.

When Jesus told the people to love their enemies, many could not do it and chose to stop following Him.

You see, it is much easier to hate than it is to love.

But you must understand, Jesus was not talking about having “affection” for enemies, He was talking about an act of the will.

When he said, “Love your enemies,” he must have startled his audience, for he was saying something that probably never before had been said so succinctly, positively, and forcefully.

Thorough research of all the relevant sources resulted in the statement: “The conclusion remains that the first one who has taught mankind to see the neighbor in every human being, and therefore to encounter every human being in love was Jesus; see the parable of The Good (literally, the Compassionate) Samaritan.”

Without in any way denying that statement one might add, Jesus taught the people that one should not even ask, “And who is my neighbor?”

but should prove himself neighbor to the man in need, whoever that might be (see Luke 10:36).

Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001).

Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke (Vol.

11, p. 348).

Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.

records Jesus explaining to His disciples about love in action.

You see, it was not enough to just say you love someone, He actually explained to them that love is an action.

During the time that Jesus taught this lesson to His disciples, the Jews were being oppressed by the Romans and therefore they hated them.

When Jesus told the people to love their enemies, many could not do it and chose to stop following Him.

You see, it is much easier to hate than it is to love.

But you must understand, Jesus was not talking about having “affection” for enemies, He was talking about an act of the will.

records Jesus explaining to His disciples about love in action.

You see, it was not enough to just say you love someone, He actually explained to them that love is an action.

During the time that Jesus taught this lesson to His disciples, the Jews were being oppressed by the Romans and therefore they hated them.

When Jesus told the people to love their enemies, many could not do it and chose to stop following Him.

You see, it is much easier to hate than it is to love.

But you must understand, Jesus was not talking about having “affection” for enemies, He was talking about an act of the will.

You must Make a Choice to Love

This is what many people fail to understand in their relationships, love is a choice, an act of your will.

Just as you can choose to hate, you have to make the choice to love and this is what Jesus was talking about.

You can’t “fall into” this kind of love, it takes a conscious effort.

look at these powerful verses: 27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.

30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.

31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you?

For even sinners love those who love them.

33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you?

For even sinners do the same.

34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you?

Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount.

This radical but its necessary.

This kind of love takes much prayer, much concession, much humbling.

It takes efforts!

It much easier to hate than love!

It means saying I’m sorry.

This kind of love brings you peace.

Loving our enemies means acting in their best interest.

Loving our enemies means acting in their best interest.

In the ,  But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

after Jesus tell the disciples to love their enemies, He then explains to them how to do it.

In verse 27 He says “do good to those who hate you.”

This is the first step and it is a huge one because it goes against everything that we have been taught.

We justify our “unwillingness” to do this by saying something like “they won’t receive it anyway….they

do not like me or won’t have anything to do with me…”

We need to understand that it is not about the person, but about us.

Whether a person chooses to receive the love is not a condition or requirement of us showing it.

Making the step to do good to those that hate you becomes a defining moment in the rest of your life.

In verse 28 Jesus says “bless those who curse you” and “pray for those who mistreat you”.

The second part we do not have a problem with, but the first part of this verse hinders us.

The world says “do unto others as or before they do unto you”.

So by the world’s standard, we find good Christians cussing one another out.

Someone said “I’ll go there with you if you want to go there.”

Jesus was teaching that we should choose not to go there regardless of if someone else wants to.

Speaking a blessing to someone who curses you is for your benefit but it will have an impact on the other person.

You may not see it, but it will burn in their minds.

I believe God wants us to open the door so that He can do the rest.

If our actions open the door instead of closing them, then God has something to work with when He is dealing with those who are lost.

Michelle Obama said when they go low we go High!

The second part of the verse says to pray.

We do not have a problem praying for those who get on our nerves.

Oftentimes we pray that God will “give them what they deserve” so that we can get even, but this is not what Jesus was saying.