Good morning, Saints. How is everybody doing today? It is good. We are blessed indeed. Amen. It is good to see your smiling faces once again, the beginning of a new week. And it looks like people are starting to come out of their houses again, doesn't it? We were just commenting about that just the other day. Traffic seems to be picking up again out there. which is not necessarily a great thing. That's not the fun part, but it's good that everybody is feeling better and we're getting out there, getting people getting back to work. Glad to see that, glad to hear about that. So we are going to open our service this morning with prayer. I don't know if you've seen the insert yet, the Memorial Day insert, but this is also Memorial Day weekend. And so I ask that you take a few moments throughout the service and open your heart in gratitude to our Lord and we give thanks. to all the veterans that had given their lives for our country. And so we truly are blessed, blessed people. So let's bow our heads as we open the service this morning in prayer. Father, on this Memorial Day weekend, we do give thanks to you. For we have a rich heritage in those that have fought for our country and given their lives for our freedoms that we enjoy today. We enjoy the freedom of worship together this morning. Thankful to you, Lord, that you've blessed this country. blessed it with a heritage of love towards you and compassion towards you. So we just thank you this morning, Father, that you have done the work, that you've built the country, that you have established our rights and you have established the churches across this land. So we thank you, Lord, that we're able to gather together with freedom and proclaim the gospel and open our hearts in worship to you, seeing Lord without fear of retribution or of government imposing. So we give thanks to you for all of that this morning, Lord Jesus. So we pray that you would bless us with your presence. May you do a work in our hearts through your word. And we just pray it all in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Let's stand as we begin the service with song. You may be seated. Good morning, church. Good morning. We'll be reading Ephesians chapter 2, verses 11 through 22 today. Therefore, remember that at one time, you Gentiles in the flesh called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands. Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise. having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two. So making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father. So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens, the saints, and members of the household of God, built on the foundations of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, and whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Praise God. you You may be seated. We're going to go to the Lord in prayer this morning, lifting up our needs and petitions. If you don't have a prayer sheet yet, we have prayer sheets in the back. Just pick one up on your way out, and be sure to use that. Calling these names out throughout the week, lifting up these people that are part of our congregation, and sometimes they are just people that are connected with us in some way, form, or fashion. friends, family, distant relatives. We pray for them all. So be sure to pick up a prayer sheet this morning before you leave. So Robin Behe, pastor was informing me that Robin Behe had gotten a call last night and he was told that they have a kidney for him. for a kidney transplant. So, he's actually going in this afternoon. Surgery's at one o'clock. So, it happened very quickly. I guess this type of thing has to have a lot of preparation ahead of time, and then when it happens, it happens very quickly so that the kidney stays functioning. So, be sure to be lifting Robin up throughout this day, and not just today, but dealing with a transplant, it's an ongoing issue, an ongoing thing. So we're just gonna be praying that his body won't reject it, that all things will work and function smoothly and properly, and just asking God to lead and guide and touching him along the way, amen. So let's bow our heads this morning in prayer as we lift our needs before the Lord. And as I voice our prayer, be sure to be praying along with us. And if you have any other unspoken needs, I invite you to pray along as well. Father, there are so many needs within our lives and as frail human creatures, Lord, we do trust and we do depend upon you, the infinite, almighty God who sees all, who loves all, who keeps us. So we lift these prayer needs to you this morning, Lord Jesus, asking you to meet them. to touch those that are in affliction, those that are ill, those that are sick. They have various infirmities, Lord. As we read through the prayer list this morning, we can see that there are many. So we lift them all to you this morning, Lord Jesus. Unable to just read them all off at once, but we just ask, Lord, that you undertake and that you heal and that you touch each and every need and each and every request. We do want to say a special prayer this morning for our brother, Robin, and asking you, Lord, to guide the doctors in this surgery and the operation, asking that you would heal him, Lord, that you would give him complete wholeness and wellness, that he will not reject this kidney, but Lord, that his body will accept it and that it will function as intended. And Lord, that he will have full recovery and be restored to health, Lord Jesus, we ask. And Father, we just pray that he will have continued health throughout the weeks and the months that are coming as well, Lord Jesus. And Father, we wanna say a special prayer for the ministries that we support, for PACN, Lord, for the Conroe Chaplaincy Center, praying also, Lord Jesus, for the Coward family, the Wycliffe Translators who are putting the scriptures into the Indonesian language, Lord, that others may read your word and have the privilege of knowing what you said and enabling pastors to be able to preach your word And Lord, most of all, that people will come into the kingdom, Lord, and that they will grow, and that they will have that opportunity, Lord, to learn about you, to know about you. Lord, for knowledge of you is life eternal. Without the written word, Lord Jesus, we are a lost people. We depend upon that. So we just pray that you would prosper the cowards, Lord, as they do the work, Lord, of the ministry there in Indonesia, and blessing them, Lord, along the way. Lord Jesus, we ask that you would continue to work in our land, Lord, throughout the medical emergencies that we've been dealing with, Father, and the virus that has spread. We ask, Father, that you would bring revival among the people here in the United States, from East Coast to West Coast and North and South. Lord, we pray that there would be an awakening to a need of you. Lord, for truly we are lost without your help. Truly we are a people that are out on the open ocean without guidance, without a rudder, without an anchor. Lord, so we just pray that you would do a work in the hearts and minds of people, Lord, throughout this nation, bringing revival, Lord, touching hearts, touching lives, Lord Jesus. And may it begin here with us in Christ Church on League Line Road, that we may be an outreach, Lord. I just pray that the gospel message that we preach, the gospel message that we love, that it would be spread among this community through Panorama and all surrounding Conroe and Montgomery County. Lord, you are able to reach those that we cannot reach on our own. So Lord, we just pray that your work would take place here in our county, Lord, as well. Lord, we just are careful, Lord, to give you the praise and the glory. May your word find a lodging in our hearts today, and may you be blessed with our praises. And we just pray it all in Jesus' precious name, amen. Okay, we're going to be continuing this morning in the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 5, going through the Sermon on the Mount. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn there to the scripture or your device. Do your search on there, it'll come up. Matthew chapter five, and we're going to be reading verses number 43 through 48. You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies. and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven. For he makes his son rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, What more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Now last week we covered the Lex Talionis, the law of retaliation in the previous portion of scripture. And that was difficult enough. Jesus said not to resist evil or to seek revenge. Do not seek vengeance in the cases where you are wronged. How many of you ever been wronged? You're not of the human race if you haven't been wronged. Even when the law of Moses allows for recovery, Jesus says, do not seek your rights. And we went back and looked in the Old Testament what those rights were. The text is referring to personal conflict there. If you look at verses 38 through 42, it's dealing with personal conflict. If two people have a disagreement and it escalates to the point where one insults the other. Now the insult could be in the way of, as Jesus described, an open hand slap. which was a great insult and disgrace to somebody in the Middle East. Or it may be an insult of words. It could be either one. Christ tells us to bear the insult, though. Whatever form or fashion it comes to us, we are to bear that insult, do not pursue vengeance or legal recourse. We are to turn the other cheek. This text, though, is not referring to random acts of violence, because that's not what Jesus is talking about at the moment here. And he's not talking about criminal robbery or national defense. We're not talking about that. And Jesus is not addressing it within this text of Scripture. This is about personal conflict. In case you haven't had any difficulties in Christ's sermon yet, as you've gone through Matthew chapter five with me, now there's two more chapters ahead of us, chapter six and seven. If you haven't had any difficulties in the Sermon on the Mount yet, you will today. If it's all been easy for you, get ready. Put your seatbelt on, your crash helmet. This week we're looking into the next command of Christ, and it is the most difficult of all commands, and that is to love your enemy. The previous command which was do not take vengeance and do not seek retribution is a passive command. It is a command that you just don't do that. That's just an action that you don't need to take. Here we are getting into an active command. It is a command of something that we have to perform, that we have to do. We have something to do. This sets the Christian apart, though, from natural human behavior, does it not? This sets the Christian apart from natural human behavior. We learn from childhood to reject our enemy, don't we? We reject our enemy, even as children. We avoid that bully or we avoid confronting them, even though sometimes we might be antagonistic towards our enemy so that they don't get the advantage over us. Those are all learned lessons. learned actions. You know, we learn to avoid our enemy. We learn, we may learn to have conflict with our enemy, but we don't know and understand to make peace with our enemy, to allow them to run over us, to allow them to insult us, to persecute us. So when Jesus says here in verse number 43, he says, you've heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. So where is Jesus quoting this from? Well, we're gonna look at that a little bit here. If you looked in Leviticus chapter 19 and verses number 17 through 18, Jesus said, he's quoting this portion of scripture says, you shall not hate your brother in your heart. but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 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. Loving your neighbor is a command written in the book of Moses, Leviticus. So where is it found that we are to hate our enemies? So we see that it's an imperative to love our neighbor. But Jesus said in 43, he said that you've heard that it was said that you love your neighbor and hate your enemy. So where in the scripture does it tell us that we are to hate our enemy? At this point, we find though that Christ is not quoting from the law. when he says the phrase about hating your enemy. He's not quoting from the law of the Old Testament. He is quoting from the Pharisaical teachings, because if you go back in the Old Testament and look, you will not find that we are to hate our enemy. In the Pharisees' teaching, they left out the words, as yourself, when it's talked about loving your neighbor, He said, the scripture does say, love your neighbor as yourself. The pharisaical teaching left that part out as yourself when they were teaching about love. But they also added the phrase themselves to hate your enemy. That teaching is not the Old Testament law. According to the Pharisees, all Gentiles, that is all who are non-Jew, were enemies and they were to be hated. However, God never commanded that our enemies were to be hated and never taught that all Gentiles were enemies either. You won't find that in the Old Testament. In fact, you'll find where the Israelites are told that they are to treat kindly to the Edomites. The Edomites were brothers to them because they were the descendants of Esau. They were to not engage in warfare with the Edomites, but they were definitely not told to hate. They were told to love. In fact, just the opposite is true. God says this in Exodus. In Exodus chapter 23, if you want to look at verses four and five, it says, if you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. And this is your enemy, he says. If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it. You shall rescue it with him. You find an enemy and he's got an animal that's in distress. You are to help and assist your enemy. And again, it says here in Leviticus chapter 19, verses 33 through 34. When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. Okay, so now we're talking about the non-Jews, we're talking about the Gentiles. A stranger sojourns with you, you shall do him no wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you. And you shall love him as yourself. For you are strangers also in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God." He's telling them, they know what it's like to be a stranger in the land. You were strangers in the land, you were in Egypt, you sojourned there. And he says, remember what it was like. He says, you treat the stranger, you treat the sojourner with respect, with love, with care. You treat him just like your neighbor. Now, John Calvin goes as far as to say this. He says about this point of scripture, he says, nothing is more obvious or certain than that God, in speaking of our neighbors, includes the whole human race. Those are John Calvin's thoughts on this scripture. In other words, everybody is my neighbor. There is not a person, a human being on this earth that is not my neighbor. It includes everybody. So our God-given destiny is to love. Be kind to those who are most abusive towards us. Take their name to the Heavenly Father, asking for blessing, asking for them for blessing. Now in his commentary, William Barclay describes this word for love, which we commonly understand as agape. You know, we're very familiar with the fact that there are four words in the Greek language that speak of love. And the word that is used here in Matthew chapter five is the word agape. Agape is not defined as a feeling of the heart. So we have deep feeling towards family. We have deep feelings towards close friends and neighbors. Agape is not talking about the feeling that we get in our hearts. In other words, agape love is a determination of the mind to work towards someone we dislike and that person may dislike us as well. Christ has to enable us to conquer our natural tendency of anger and bitterness. Barclay describes this agape love, this type of love as invincible goodwill. I love that phrase, invincible goodwill. It's on the front of your bulletin. Love your enemies, love them to the point where they cannot resist. that goodwill overcomes the hard feelings of animosity and enmity. 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verses four through seven say this. It says, love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Invincible goodwill, love conquers all. The bitterness and anger that can infect relationships can be overcome. by a love that will not give in. God's love to all. Jesus said the Father gives the good things of the earth to the evil and the good. Back in our text that we read this morning that he causes the rain to fall and he causes the sun to shine on the evil and the good alike, doesn't he? In the story of Jonah, we recall that after Jonah finally gave in to preach to the Assyrian people of Nineveh, the people repented of their sins with fasting. And God did not bring judgment on the city, the city of Nineveh, a very wicked people, the Assyrians. And Jonah had an animosity towards them. He counted them as his enemy. And as you're aware of the whole story, how that he resisted going to preach to them because he said, I know that that God, that God is steadfast in love and he's merciful. And that if they repent, he will relent from punishing them. He knew that about God and he resisted going to preach. As we see here in Jonah chapter four, I'm gonna read a portion of this scripture here. And Jonah 4 says, but it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, oh Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you were a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. That's pretty angry. And the Lord said, do you do well to be angry? Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade till he could see what would become of the city. Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah that it might be a shade over his head to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. But when dawn came and the next day God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked again that he might die and said, it is better for me to die than to live. But God said to Jonah, did you do well? Once again, the same question, do you do well to be angry for the plant? And he said, yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die. And the Lord said, you pity the plant for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow. which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right from their left, and also much cattle? God's compassionate mercy was extended to people who were weak, who were unlearned. They were limited in their understanding. They didn't know their right hand from their left, the scripture says. They were uneducated in the ways of God. The Jewish people had the benefit of the laws of Moses and they were told and taught God's law and knew what to do. The people of Nineveh had none of that. The Israelites, their whole goal for existence was that they were to be a witness to the nations around them. That's lost to Jonah. He doesn't see that. They were enemies of the Israelites, but God desired that they repent. That's where God's heart was. He desired that they repent. Even though the Assyrian people could be very wicked people, they were cruel in the way that they treated their enemies. And Jonah did not want them to repent. He wanted to see them destroyed. But what better way to make an enemy a friend than to see them repent? Isn't that a way to find a friend? Isn't that a great way to see them repent? The anger in Jonah was great and he wanted to see judgment. Let's fast forward to the year 2020. Is that our motive? To see God judge our enemies? We only know our own hearts, we don't know each other's hearts, we don't know each other's motives. And sometimes we don't even understand our own motives. We need the light of the Holy Spirit to shine and show us and direct us. Is that our motive to see God judge our enemies? Jesus says we are to pray for our enemies. We are to pray for those that have used us and maybe have even persecuted us. Pray for them. John Calvin goes on to say, in the respect of judgment, God does not desire us to imitate him. As we read through the Sermon on the Mount, that is an imitation of God. Jesus is calling us to do what God does. In other words, at the end of the chapter, he says, be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. He calls us to imitate God, but in the sense of judgment, he does not call us to imitate God. For the judgment of the world is God's prerogative, and it does not belong to us. That's up to him. I don't wanna take that on myself. God calls us to show an agape-type love to the people around us, to our enemies. Judgment belongs solely to God. We do not imitate him in judgment. The next portion of the scripture in Matthew chapter five I want to cover is regarding God's benefits. Christ talks about the benefits that God provides even to his enemies, the unrighteous. In verse 45 of our text it says today, for he makes his son rise on the evil, and he makes them rise on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. From creation point forward, through the fall of man, God has not discriminated his goodness. He has given common goodness to all mankind. By his provision to all creation, he has and continues to show his goodness. He continues to show his mercy. John Calvin called this a common grace, a grace that is a benefit to all mankind, no matter how evil they are, no matter how bad they are. There is a common grace that they receive. They receive the benefit of nature, of all of creation, the benefit of food and provision, the benefit of friendship, the benefit of family. To all persons, everybody has that, a common good. And God gives that to all men, all mankind. And he endures, even though he gives wonderful, great gifts to mankind. And yet mankind can still be his bitter, bitter enemy. working against him, fighting him, hating him, wanting to go their own way, disregarding him. Paul summarizes this thought very well in the book of Titus, Titus chapter three, verses three through eight, and I wanted to read that portion of scripture. For we ourselves were once foolish. Were we not disobedient? led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us. He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Christ Jesus, so that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy. And I want you to insist on these things so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. Then in verses 46 and 47 of Matthew 5, Jesus completely dismantles the teachings of the Pharisees. When he says this, he said, the tax collectors and the Gentiles whom you hate, Now, don't you hate the tax collectors and the Gentiles speaking to the Pharisees? Those are the ones you hate. But they also love the people who love them. You're telling me that you don't do any better than the tax collectors or the Gentiles? He's kind of sticking it to the Pharisees here. You don't do any better than the tax collectors, the Gentiles. Even they love their neighbors. Even they will do good to those who do good to them. Even they love their family and get love from their family in return. You've got to do better. Jesus said your righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees. This is a distinguishing characteristic of the Christian. Loving our enemy. Distinguishing in this culture that we're living in, that Jesus is preaching to, it would distinguish them. Nobody anticipated that. Nobody truly loved their enemy. Jesus is calling us to a higher standard, a standard above natural human behavior. I read this story some time ago, but it fits so well with the text of scripture that we're reading this morning. I wanted to rehearse it once again and bring it back to your memory. It's about the story of Peter Miller back during the Revolutionary War. He was a minister. The Reverend Peter Miller was a friend of General George Washington and he helped the cause of the new republic. He had translated the Declaration of Independence and sent it over to Europe so that the courts of Europe could hear it and understand what they were saying, what the whole thing was all about. Miller had also arranged to print the first American money on his printing press, the printing press of his Christian community, and he did it for free, the first American money. Peter Miller and his community also fed the army when Washington was at Valley Forge that long winter when the soldiers were starving to death. He fed them. Again, it was Miller who saw to it that the wounded were also well cared for. He was a very well-known man. Peter Miller. But for some reason, and the records do not elaborate, there was another man by the name of Michael Widman, and he attempted to betray his country. to the British Army. In fact, British General Howe refused the offer that Michael Widman had made him. He was so repulsed by Widman's treachery that one such as Widman could never be trusted in the royal cause, he said. So he sent Widman away. And when Widman came back across the American lines, he was instantly arrested. He was court-martialed. and Michael Widman was sentenced to be hanged on the gallows. Only one person did not denounce Widman, and upon hearing of his act, that was Peter Miller. Peter Miller walked 70 miles to Valley Forge to intercede for Widman at the coming court-martial. Washington requested him to be seated, but Miller replied that his business with him would not admit a moment's delay, that it required immediate dispatch and instantly proceeded to plead for mercy towards Widman. Most forcibly and most eloquently he pleaded for his life. Deeply moved, Yet mindful of his responsibilities, General Washington replied, Friend Miller, there is scarcely anything in this world that I would not deny you. But such is the state of public affairs that it would be fatal to our cause to not to make examples of renegades to the cause of liberty. Otherwise, I should most cheerfully release your friend, Widman, to you. Friend, exclaimed Miller, Interrupting the commander-in-chief and throwing up his hands, he is my worst enemy, my incessant reviler. For a friend, I might not impartoon you, but Widman being and having been for years my worst foe, my malignant, persecuting enemy. He spat on me and beat me when I would come to town. My religion teaches me, though, to pray for those who despitefully use me. As he gazed on Miller, Washington's eyes filled with tears. He took the old man by the hand and said, my dear friend, I thank you for this lesson of Christian charity. I cannot resist such a manifestation of our divine religion. The pardon shall be granted on one condition, that is, that you be the bearer of it yourself and hand it to the commanding officer at Turk's Head in Widman's presence. With a quickly prepared pardon, Miller sat out immediately for Turks Head. It was 18 or 20 miles away and thus it was late at night when he finally arrived. There in a hollow square formed by the soldiers was a gallows. Standing on its steps with a rope adjusted around his neck was Michael Widman. In his last moments, Widman was dramatically addressing those present. He acknowledged his treachery. acquiesced in the decision of the court-martial and admonished his audience to be faithful to the cause of liberty. Miller had made his way to the commanding officer and had handed him the packet from the commander-in-chief. As the post commander perused the document, Widman caught sight of Miller. He saw him off in the back, saw something was going on, and in full humility, he called to him from the gallows, Peter Miller. Whatever has prompted your presence at this place at this time, I avail myself of the occasion to acknowledge my great and multiplied abuse and persecution with which I have followed you for years past. And I esteem it the kindest providence that I have this opportunity to retract my villainous and outrageous upon you and crave your forgiveness. Yet I trust that I may find pardon above." And then at that point, he is interrupted. The commanding officer interrupted to announce the commander-in-chief's pardon. Turning towards Peter Miller, he said to Widman, here is your deliverer. Fully pardoned and restored, Miller and Widman walked away arm in arm. What an example of our text today. Loving your enemy, doing good to those who persecute you. When we realize how much God loves his enemies, we see his blessings that he pours out on people. Do we need to question how much he loves us? Surely if he loves the worst of mankind and he has some care for them, he has love for those who love his son. Do you struggle with God's love towards you? No need to struggle. God has demonstrated his love towards you. He's given his only son to be your redeemer. He's given his only son to take your place. Though all forsake you, Christ comes closer. He has warm compassion, loving mercy for you. He is active and he is working to your benefit with the infinite resources at his disposal. There's a saying that's gone around, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. You've all heard that. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer, meaning keep an eye on them so that you know what they're up to. The Christian is not to work that way, though. We keep our enemies close to show them the love of God in Christ Jesus so that we may give them, show them his love. Come near to Christ. Let him work in your heart. Only he can give you love for your enemies. This is an impossible, impossible command that we can do in and of ourselves. We cannot do that. The definition of it, it doesn't fit the definition of an enemy. An enemy is somebody that you are against and working against. We are to love them. When you're able to love your enemy, though, how much better, how much easier is it for you to love those who are near to you? If you are able to love even your enemies, how is that going to affect your relationship with your spouse? How is that going to affect your relationship with your children, your neighbors, your friends, those that are close to you? It gets easier, I would have to guess. It gets easier. I think if you learn to love your enemies, even your dog is going to know there's something different going on. Love your enemy as yourself. As we read earlier in Ephesians chapter 2 that Joel had read, Christ has made peace with us. Now he is, we see in Ephesians chapter two how that the Apostle Paul talks somewhat about this. He says, you know what? There were two different types of people. There was a Gentile and there was a Jew. And they were two totally separate people. The Gentiles were alien from the Commonwealth of Israel. They were strangers to the covenant of promise that the Jews had received. The Bible tells us in that chapter that the blood of Jesus, through the blood of Jesus that we are brought nigh and we are brought into one communion, into one family. He brings us near and he creates one whole new people once again. Those that were at enmity before are now joined together in love, love and peace. So, Our job is to love our enemy. Now it's your job is to go out and do it. Easy, isn't it? Just go love him. Well, that day-to-day living part kind of gets in the way sometimes of our spiritual victories, doesn't it? But with God's help, with the enabling of the Holy Spirit and the work that he is able to do, let us endeavor. Let us endeavor to love our enemies. The Bible says that if we are able to do that, that we are a shining light to the world, that we are different, and they see it, and they will glorify our Father which is in heaven. They will see that. When they see that you are able to give to your enemy that has been so bitter towards you, Or when you're able to, your enemy is able to see that, they may be away from the table of grace themselves. When they see it, and they experience your benevolence and your love that you have towards them, that is a shining light and a witness for Christ. It's just a perfect example of how that we are towards God, that we are his enemy, and yet he loved us. And he worked in our lives to the point where he won our hearts. He won our hearts to the point where we love Him and we would do anything for Him. And the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. And when we have that love in our hearts, we are able to love one another. Amen. Let's stand as we begin to close with our final hymn. And I'm gonna close in prayer. Glorious Heavenly Father, how marvelous is your word. How truly inspiring it is. How truly it is only enabled by your Holy Spirit that we live in obedience. So we thank you for it this morning, Lord Jesus. Thankful to you that you loved us enough to give us your word. You loved us enough to change our hearts. We're thankful to you this morning, Lord Jesus. Bless us this morning as we sing our final hymn. In Jesus' name, amen. If you need prayer this morning, we invite you to the front for prayer and the elders will pray with you. Let's sing our final hymn this morning. Sounds like we got a few thunderstorms going on outside. It was actually the prayer time, so maybe that was God speaking to us. Amen. Just want to put you in remembrance that today is Missions Offering Sunday and that rather than pass the plate like we normally do, we're going to, we have an offering basket at the back of the church on the table right in front of the sound booth. So just drop your missions offering there and it'll go towards the three ministries that we support right now. So, Do we have any other announcements that I'm missing? Yes, Barbara. Okay, thank you for that. All right, let's receive the blessing of the Lord this morning as we head out to our work week. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you this day, this week, and forevermore. Amen. you