Connected – Week 5 – Enemies Matter

Matthew 5:43-48

I want to tell you a story about a man. This man was an amazing man. He was known as a man full of grace and power. He loved on people and preached the Word of God boldly, and it is written about him that he did many mighty wonders and signs. When He spoke, he spoke with such wisdom and full of the Spirit. Nobody could argue with him. He always won the arguments in showing people who Christ really was. This made a lot of these people mad, so they made up lies to get him arrested. After he was arrested, as he was standing before the council, they asked him about the accusations made against him, saying, “Are these things so?” And the way he answered them was with one of the best sermons ever preached, proclaiming God’s deliverance through Jesus, and shouting to them that they are stiff-necked people who always resist the Holy Spirit. When he finished his sermon, they were furious! They dragged him off to outside the city and grabbed handfuls of stones and they started heaving them at him, striking him in the face and head and all over. They were killing him. His life on earth was almost over, and as he fell to his knees, too weak to stand, he shouted his last words…a prayer…one of the most powerful prayers to ever have been prayed. He said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Right as he prayed this, he died.

Now, why was this one of the most powerful prayers to ever have been prayed? It’s because the man that was standing there, happy about and approving of them stoning this man…he ended up getting saved. Not only that, but he ended up becoming a preacher. Not only that, because of him…this man that was happy and approving of this execution…because of him, millions have come to faith in Jesus.

The man that gave his life was a man named Stephen, and one of the men that Stephen prayed for, for God to not hold the sin against him…one of the men that was killing him…one of the men that was in charge of all these people killing him…a man that was zealous and happy about these people killing him…His name was Saul. And He became Paul. And God did not hold this sin against him.

Now, how can anyone pray such a prayer?

We’ve been in a series called Connected. We’ve been looking at relationships. And, it’s all based off Matthew 22:36-40. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

* Summarize the series up to this point *

Tonight, we are going to look at the hardest relationship that we will have to deal with – Enemies.

Earlier in Jesus’ ministry, he talked about this, in His sermon on the mount. Turn to Matthew 5:43-48.

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 and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Here, Jesus is quoting the same verse of Leviticus 19:18 that He did in our Matthew 22 passage. But He’s clearing something up – He’s clearing up a common misconception…one that we have as well.

He’s saying that your neighbor does not only include your friends, your parents, your loved ones, or strangers (which we will look at next time), but it involves someone else…your enemies. It’s easy to seek a good re