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Luke,
directed and inspired by the Spirit of God, has
been teaching us that after the Fall of Man, and
the Ruination of the Human Race, after many centuries,
the Seed of the Woman, the Messiah, the Son of
David and the Son of God, the unique God-Man,
entered the world to rescue dying humanity! His
coming was accompanied by great angelic announcements,
and by prophetic utterances made by Jewish holy
men and women. A great prophet, John the Immerser,
was sent by God to prepare the Jewish people for
His coming, and to announce His arrival. At His
baptism, God the Father declared God’s approval
of His Son. The Spirit of God anointed and empowered
Messiah in a very special way.
Empowered
by the Spirit of God, the young Rabbi from Nazareth
went into the wilderness, and for 40 days faced
the deadly leader of the fallen angels, and resisted
every temptation. And, for the rest of His life,
Messiah pass every test, and resisted every temptation.
In this regard, He succeeded where every other
has failed.
Empowered
by the Spirit of God, Yeshua was doing great miracles
- healing many of the Jewish people of all kinds
of physical illnesses, and freeing us from demonic
control.
Empowered
by the Spirit of God, Yeshua was powerfully teaching
the people the Word of God line no one else ever
had.
Yeshua’s
powerful healing and teaching ministry foreshadowed
His ultimate healing and teaching of the entire
world, and His recreation of humanity.
The young
Rabbi from Nazareth was making a powerful impact
on the entire nation of Israel, and even beyond
Israel’s borders. Many were coming to Him from
everywhere. He had more and more disciples and
followers. From His many disciples, He chose His
key leaders.
But not
everyone loved and approved of Rabbi Yeshua. Most
of the leaders rejected Him. They did not accept
His claims to be the Messiah and the Son of God.
They would not accept His corrections of their
errors in their understanding of the Torah. Their
opposition was intensifying against Him.
We need
to understand that with the coming of the Son
of God, something radically new happened to the
world! Immanuel made full and final salvation
possible for all those who know Him and trust
Him. He is in the process of creating a new community
of men and women, the New Israel of Messianic
Jews, and Gentiles from all of the nations, who
know Him and will live forever ever with Him!
Yeshua’s
disciples need to be prepared for these new realities.
This new humanity needs to function differently
from any other group of people that came before.
Messiah’s followers need new values, new goals
and new priorities. Yeshua’s powerful teaching
will equip them for these new realities.
Next
Luke gives us some of Rabbi Yeshua’s powerful,
anointed, God-inspired teaching for His community.
The main themes of Yeshua’s teaching: the need
to embrace godly values and reject a corrupted
world with corrupted values; love for others as
opposed to selfishness and living for self; living
for Heaven and eternal life, not living for material
things on a doomed Earth.
Last
week we considered that the poor, the hungry,
the sad are blessed, better off, more advantaged
than the rich, the well-fed and the fun-seekers
because the world is corrupt, failing, perishing,
dying, far from God, far from the real meaning
of life, empty, and those who remain part of it
are corrupt, failing, perishing, dying, far from
God, far from the real meaning of life, and will
die along with the world. Human beings need to
be in the world, but must not remain part of the
world - willing participants in a corrupt and
dying system with its corrupt and deadening values.
The poor,
the hungry, the sad are more advantaged than the
rich, the well-fed and the fun-seekers because
they tend to be less satisfied and less comfortable
in this corrupt world. Because they are less at
home in the world, they are less attached to the
world and its values, and are more open to seek
another world - God’s world, the better world,
the lasting world. They are more willing to hear
about the true riches - the treasures that await
the rejectors of this world - the Sons and Daughters
of God in the New Jerusalem.
The poor,
the hungry, the sad may be more receptive to the
Good News about God’s kingdom, where they will
find real and lasting satisfaction and all their
needs met and gain unending happiness and eternal
laughter!
People
are are blessed, better off and more advantaged
if they are hated and insulted and ostracized
because they believe in and are identified with
the Son of Man and everything He represents -
God, truth, righteousness, rejection of the world.
So, if the world hates you, and makes fun of you
for the right reasons, you are blessed! It means
that you are no longer part of this dying world.
You will not share its destiny of destruction.
Wow,
this is very good news because it means that we
don’t need to be rich, well-feed, have lots of
fun to have a genuinely meaningful and successful
life. We can be poor, hungry, sad and ostracized.
We can do that! That’s within our reach! That’s
great!
The first
part of this great sermon taught us that Yeshua’s
values, ethics, goals and priorities, the things
He considers important, and the things He wants
us to embrace are diametrically opposed to the
values, ethics and goals of the world, and the
things the world thinks is important.
This
next part teaches us the need to love others as
opposed to being selfish and living for self;
being generous and forgiving; living for Heaven
and eternal life, not living for material things
on a doomed planet.
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.
By nature
we are not like this and we do not do this. We
do not love our enemies. We do not do good to
those who hate us. We do not bless those who curse
us. If we pray for those who mistreat us, our
prayers are prayers that God would punish and
hurt them.
We are
fallen creatures. Our nature has been corrupted.
It is no longer good and loving like God’s nature.
God is good. God is love. He is generous and kind
and giving and helping others so that they will
be elevated and raised up. Human nature is no
longer good. Instead our nature is more like the
demonic - disobedient to God, cruel, selfish,
sinful, indulging the desires of the flesh and
of the mind.
We do
not love our enemies. We hate our enemies and
want to see them punished, even killed. We do
not want to do good to those who hate us. We want
to have bad things happen to them. We do not want
to bless those who curse us. We want to curse
them and see them harmed. We do not want to pray
that good things will come to those who mistreat
us. We want to see them punished, not blessed.
Rabbi
Yeshua, Supreme Teacher that He is, gave some
examples to help us understand this hard-to-understand
and hard-to-implement teaching; to help us understand
what loving our enemies, doing good to those who
hate us, blessing those who curse us, praying
for those who mistreat us, looks like:
Whoever
hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also;
and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold
your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who
asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours,
do not demand it back. Be very patient and
forgiving with people. Don’t take vengeance on
others. Be very generous with your resources.
Now,
Rabbi Yeshua summarizes in a few words what He
has been teaching His followers: Treat others
the same way you want them to treat you. How
do we want others to treat us?
When
we are in need, to help us.
To be
very understanding of us.
To forgive
us quickly and fully when we make a mistake.
To be
tolerant, merciful, gracious and patient with
us.
To be
kind to us.
Don’t
love and do good only for the lovable and good!
Love and do good things to those who are unlovely
and bad - like God does with us! If you love
those who love you, what credit is that to you?
For even sinners love those who love them. If
you do good to those who do good to you, what
credit is that to you? For even sinners do the
same.
Don’t
be generous and lend to only those who have good
credit. Be generous with everybody! After all,
money and riches are not that important - people
are, and helping them find God and salvation and
spiritual rebirth and transformation and eternal
life. If you lend to those from whom you expect
to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners
lend to sinners in order to receive back the same
amount.
Don’t
be selfish and cruel and small and vindictive.
Be big and generous and loving and merciful like
God Himself! 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; you will be like the great
Creator God. You will be imitating His good nature,
as good sons imitate a good father; for He
Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be
merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Do
not judge, and you will not be judged; and do
not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon,
and you will be pardoned. “Do not judge”
does not mean that we are to suspend our determinations
that something is good or bad, truthful or in
error. It does not mean that all teachers and
teachings are equally valid and beneficial. It
does not mean that we are not allowed to tell
others that they are in error. It does not mean
that we can’t tell a person that if he does not
turn to God and Messiah, he will go to Hell.
It means
that life is full of hurts and offenses. People
will hurt you. Human beings will offend you and
sin against you. You may have a legitimate right
to make sure that person is arrested and tried
and judged and punished for their offense, their
sin, their crime against you. “Do not judge, condemn,
and instead pardon” means consider not pressing
charges against them - even if you have the right
to, in the hope that through your mercy they will
find redemption.
What
goes around comes around. What you sow, you will
reap. If you pardon others for their crimes against
you, and are generous to others with your resources,
the good and generous Creator who providentially
controls everything, will make sure you experience
the same thing, and even more - if not in this
life, then certainly on the Day of Judgment! Give,
and it will be given to you. They will pour into
your lap a good measure - pressed down, shaken
together, and running over. For by your standard
of measure it will be measured to you in return.
You want more things? Be more generous! You want
atonement, mercy and forgiveness? You take the
initiative and be very forgiving with others.
This
world is chaotic, confused and confusing. People
are far from God, from truth, from salvation.
Darkness covers the Earth, and deep darkness the
peoples. Even the Chosen People are often confused,
and stumbling in the darkness. So, make sure that
you get the Right Teacher, a God-ordained, God-empowered
teacher! It is so very very important and beneficial
if you do, and so terribly destructive if you
don’t!
And
He also spoke a parable to them: A blind man cannot
guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both
fall into a pit? There are many religions
and philosophies; there are many teachers; there
are many spiritual guides in this confused and
chaotic world. Make sure you get a religious teacher
whose spiritual eyes are really open, so that
he clearly sees through the darkness and sees
the light of God and understands the Word of God
and is able to tell you the way of salvation.
That is so important!
Rabbi
Yeshua is the Supreme Teacher, and He sends His
community human beings who are reliable teachers,
like the Apostles and others who have come after
them. Make sure you find one!
A
pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone,
after he has been fully trained, will be like
his teacher. “The disciple of a rabbi dedicates
himself to his master’s teaching and way of life.
Thus he cannot be expected to be different from,
or better than, his master” (Walter Liefeld).
Choose Rabbi Yeshua as your teacher! Stay within
the teachings and boundaries that the Greatest
Teacher Of All has taught you!
If you
want to teach others, examine your own life first,
and make sure that your life lines up with what
is right. Why do you look at the speck that
is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the
log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say
to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the
speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself
do not see the log that is in your own eye? You
hypocrite, first take the log out of your own
eye, and then you will see clearly to take out
the speck that is in your brother's eye.
All of
us are sinners. All of us have been corrupted
by the Fall. All of us have areas of weakness
in which we fall short. It is not always easy
to see our own blind spots. It’s generally much
easier to see the areas of weakness in others
than see them in ourselves.
And,
it is part of our fallen human nature to excuse
ourselves and our weaknesses, and magnify the
weaknesses of others, and criticize them while
tolerating our own shortcomings. Focus on your
own problems and be patient with the problem areas
that others are having. Choose a teacher who is
mature and whose life is consistent with the truth.
When
determining if someone is a good teacher, and
worth listening to, pay attention not only to
the purity of his teaching, but to the quality
of his life. Is his life producing good results?
For there is no good tree which produces bad
fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which
produces good fruit. For each tree is known by
its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from
thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.
The good man out of the good treasure of his heart
brings forth what is good; and the evil man out
of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil;
for his mouth speaks from that which fills his
heart.
If a
person can’t stay within moral and monetary and
sexual boundaries, he probably won’t be able to
stay within theological boundaries. Things go
with things. Look for consistency in what a person
says and does - especially a teacher. They are
held to higher standards.
And,
examine your own life. Are you consistent in word
and deed? Do your actions match your claims and
both line up with the truth and with what God
teaches us is right? If so, good. If not, it is
time to become consistent by turning from your
sins, and your bad goals and priorities, and the
things that are unproductive and will not last.
Make
sure your teacher’s life and your life, your words
and deeds and his words and deeds, are consistent
with the Supreme Teacher, the Lord Yeshua. Why
do you call Me, “Lord, Lord” and do not do what
I say? It is easy to claim that you believe
in God, that Yeshua is your Messiah, your Lord
and Savior, that you are saved and born-again
and headed for Heaven. You had better prove those
claims with obedience to the Person and teachings
of the Lord Yeshua, or one day, when it is too
late, you may discover that you have completely
blown it. You will have missed it and you will
forfeit eternal life!
You are
wise and will be blessed and live forever if you
do believe in and are loyal to Supreme Rabbi Lord
Yeshua and His supremely wise and beneficial and
true teachings. Everyone who comes to Me and
hears My words and acts on them, I will show you
whom he is like: he is like a man building a house,
who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock;
and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against
that house and could not shake it, because it
had been well built.
You are
foolish and disobedience and will suffer loss
of eternal life if you aren’t obedient to the
Person and teachings of the Lord. But the one
who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is
like a man who built a house on the ground without
any foundation; and the torrent burst against
it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin
of that house was great."
It is
not easy to live this very generous, very loving
way, very kind and patient and merciful way, but
it is possible! It is not easy to live according
to the truth, but it too is possible! His grace
for these things will be sufficient for us! To
live this way, we need to be convinced that God
is real, that Yeshua is the Messiah, risen from
the dead, and the only Savior and the Supreme
Teacher; that Heaven is a reality. We need to
have a sure hope of living forever. We need an
inner transformation that comes from the indwelling
of the Spirit of Messiah living in us and transforming
us from within. May the Three-In-One God make
these things very real to each one of us! If you
are not sure of these things, make an appointment
to meet and talk with me, and we will work on
these things together until they become realities
in your life!
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