This message is primarily for those who call on the name of Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior from sin, and serve as a Chaplain or a gospel minister in a jail, prison or a follow-up ministry such as a rescue mission – in the
All Scripture quotes are usually taken from the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. When quoting a text, any deviation from the NKJV text is placed within parenthesis signs (). These usually occur as direct translations from the original languages, or as notes from the original setting to help apply the text to today’s culture.
ALL CAPITAL LETTERS are sometimes used to emphasize words in a text, or to make a comment about a biblical text, or emphasize a statement.
Last month as I was thinking about giving a Christmas message, I considered what I might say. I thought of all the decorations that go up. Beyond that, I thought of how many people decorate themselves in bright Christmas colored and Christmas patterned clothing.
So, I thought of doing a message on that theme. "What are you wearing for Christmas?" would be a good title for a message on our inner life and attitudes - that do show a watching world either Christ or something else during the hustle and bustle and crowdedness of that time of year.
This is also a good thing to fix our minds on as we begin a new year of ministry for Christ and the furtherance of His gospel. Many Bible passages come to mind.
Matthew 5:14-16 – where Jesus said to His disciples:
14 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Think about 1 Peter 3:3-4, where the Holy Spirit through Peter speaks to Christian women,
3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—
4 rather let it (your adornment) be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
Or, 1 Timothy 2:9-10, where through Paul, God similarly says-
9 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing,
10 but, which is proper for women professing godliness, WITH GOOD WORKS.
Again, the metaphor of dressing up, or how someone is clothed, comes out in 1 Peter 5:5, which is addressed to all believers –
5 Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for " God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
Next, consider these two passages on Christ-like virtues that believers should be clothed with:
FIRST - Colossians 3:12-15
12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering (patience);
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
THEN - Romans 13:8-14
8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
9 For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
It’s all about showing Christ to others through His love reaching out from us. Our treatment of others should be like Jesus’. He lived what He taught and He taught us to do good to our enemies.
In 2010, I want to re-commit myself to putting on the Lord Jesus (Rom 13:14) and showing Him to His enemies who do not know Him. I want to challenge you as ministers of His gospel to do the same thing.
Through the indwelling Holy Spirit who has been given to every one of His true children, we can show His critics something of who He really is. So look with me again at a familiar passage, it’s one from His sermon on the mount, in Matthew 5:43-48.
As a correctional or rescue chaplain, I want to urge you to be drastically different from an unsaved, religious social worker. I say that because – in the historical context of the gospel of Matthew, and specifically the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was exposing the Jewish religious leaders’ faults. He exposed their misrepresentation of God to the people whom they were supposed to lead to the knowledge of God.
In contrast to that, be a real Christian, a real citizen of the
The religionists our Lord exposed HAD NOT SHOWN GOD’S LOVE AT ALL. Here, in Matthew 5:43-48, Jesus taught His disciples FOUR THINGS they were to show others about God’s love.
To begin, Jesus said to His disciples both then and now:
43 "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, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
1. So the first thing Jesus said we are to show a watching world about God’s love is: a difference in doctrine and duty.
We are to show a difference in what we teach and then live out. The religious leaders’ sin was that they did not explain God’s written word, that’s sinful. In addition, they were also guilty of adding to it their own sinful lack of love. Let me explain.
In verse 43, they misquoted Leviticus 19:18 which said: "You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF: …"
They (the Pharisees) did not explain the phrase "Your neighbor," which meant anyone that you come across in daily activity, and they left out the explanation of love. They even omitted the words "as yourself" out of their Scripture quote. That was a deliberate deletion of God’s message in the Scripture. They did that because they always loved themselves more than anyone else.
Then, they also added to Scripture their own sinful thinking – in violation of the command to NOT take vengeance – they added "HATE YOUR ENEMY." God’s word never said that!
So, in verse 44, Jesus’ taught His followers, His disciples, a different doctrine from what the twisted religionists had taught. He taught them, "LOVE YOUR ENEMIES."
Notice the extra wording in verse 44 past the command to "Love your enemies" - “bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” So this is more than just a different way of thinking. It is Jesus spelling out our DUTY to do this in applicable ways towards our enemies.
His further statement means these people are those that always try to persecute you. You are to love them in practical ways. You, as a Christian, are to do good to them. That’s agape love (the original word). It never depends on the worthiness of the object it loves.
Most importantly you are to pray for them. Pray for what would truly help and benefit them. Their best, ultimately means that they would make peace with the God who through Jesus Christ has already taken the first step towards making peace with them! (See – the July 2008 Chaplain’s Corner message on 2 Corinthians 5:18-21.)
The very word used for "enemies" is so important that I need to comment on it. The root of the word is the word "hater." This word pictures a hateful adversary charging you with hateful screams and profanity. Jesus says we are to love and do good to those that hate us for whatever reason.
2. Next, by mirroring the love of God, Jesus said His disciples would give people A Definition of who you are – God’s true children. Note that in the first part of verse 45.
45 that (in order that) you may (appear to) be sons of your Father in heaven;
A physical child, the "offspring" of their parents, has physical traits that mirror their own parents’ looks. Think of the familiar phrases, "He has his father’s nose," or "She has her mother’s cheek bones." Similarly, as a result of spiritual birth and life, the same is true. We can’t help mirroring our heavenly Father’s traits.
God’s love through you MUST leak out towards His enemies. So, the Holy Spirit in us drives us to do good to our enemies in similar ways as God does towards not only those who are righteous, but ALSO are evil.
45 … for He makes His sun rise on the evil (this word means malignantly evil – the worst kind of evil) and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
3. Then, in verses 46 and 47 Jesus went further to explain this love through A Difference in your response to others –
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?
Here Jesus used a teaching style that compares things from the lesser to the greater. "Tax collectors" represented the lowest, vilest people in the contemporary society of Jesus’ earthly life. Yet even they loved those who first showed them love. So, as His disciple you and I have to do MORE. We have to do better.
Jesus was talking about how we react and respond to the people we come across. He pictured two situations of personal encounters and the ensuing responses. Both are pleasant. The first was with someone who has showed us love, the second was with those that we see often who are of our own kind. They think just like we do, and we call them "bro" or "friend." Women call other women of this type, "girl-friend."
But, by contrast, what Jesus really meant in these verses is we have to do better than that. Remember it is the lesser to the greater inference in His words.
You and I MUST LOVE those who don’t love us and don’t want to befriend us. They do not consider us part of their world or party. We are NOT IN THEIR CIRCLE. To them, WE ARE THE ENEMY. When we actively reach out with sacrificial deeds of love to these people, Jesus clearly implied we will have a "REWARD." This reward will be from God, not men.
Lastly, and summing it all up, in verse 48 Jesus taught His disciples that they must show - 4. A Duplication of God’s true character. Are you one of His true disciples? If so, you MUST show your enemies God’s loving character. Note verse 48.
48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
The word twice translated "perfect" in verse 48, can have one of two meanings. The first is complete, or full - in the sense of brought to an expected end. This is why in certain contexts it takes on the meaning of being fully matured. The second meaning is full of integrity and virtue.
Since God the Father cannot grow or mature because from eternity past - He is - all that He is, - the meaning here would lean toward the second meaning, full of integrity and virtue. God is consummate GOOD. As His true representative and with the help of His Spirit, you are to reflect that goodness to all you come in contact with! You are TO BE full of His virtue.
How do you and I do that? We put on Christ, clothe ourselves with His love – even and especially for our enemies in 2010. I close with a story from John MacArthur’s Commentary that illustrates what Jesus taught His followers about loving their enemies.
"In 1547 King Philip II of
It is reported that one man who was sentenced to die for his biblical faith managed to escape during the dead of winter. As he was being pursued by a lone soldier, the man came to a lake whose ice was thin and cracking.
Somehow he managed to get safely across the ice, but as soon as he reached the other side he heard his pursuer screaming. The soldier had fallen through the ice and was about to drown. At the risk of being captured, tortured and eventually killed – or of being drowned himself – the man went back across the lake and rescued his enemy, because the love of Christ constrained him to do it. He knew he had no other choice if he was to be faithful to his Lord."
Rich Hines
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