The Gospel of Matthew chapter 5 verse 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." What do you do more than others? What a challenging statement that is! What makes Christians different? What makes Christians special? That's the question. And the answer which Christ gives here is Christians love their enemies. Christians are able to bless those who curse them. Christians are able to do good to those who hate them. Otherwise, Jesus says, what makes you unique? What makes you different? Or, to be more precise, not just different, but what makes Christians to be my disciples? That's the challenge. And as we've indicated often, The Sermon on the Mount is really an exercise on Christian self-examination at many, many levels. And it came as a shock to me to discover that there are indications that the Sermon on the Mount was intended for memorization. Now what do you think of that? The Sermon on the Mount intended to be memorised. There's indications of that. As we've noted, the material is presented in groups of three. We had the Beatitudes, the Similitudes and the Law. Last week we had Murder, Adultery and Divorce. And now this section is Oaths retaliation, or how to respond when people hurt you, and of course most of all, unloving enemies. Let's just briefly look at these first two things. Teaching on oaths. We read it there in verses 33 to 37. And you might very well ask, look, what are we doing? looking at this subject of oaths and vows. When the whole world out there is purging, what are we doing studying this? Well, when we ask that question, we must remember two things. First of all, and primarily, when we are listening to this sermon, we are listening to the Son of God preaching. We cannot criticize Him like we may criticize others. This is Jesus preaching. His content is just right. His context is just right. His application is perfect. It's the sermon of sermons by the preacher of preachers. It's Christ It's God who's presenting and who's preaching this sermon of sermons. The other thing to remember when we ask the question, why are we discussing oaths and vows? Is it all that important in the day and age? Well, in the age Christ reached, oaths and vows were part of everyday life. When you and I want to do a transaction. When you and I want to sell something or buy something, one of the first things we say isn't it, well okay, put it in writing. There was no writing in these days to the extent that we have today. There was no paper and ink in these days like we have today. So what you said out of your mouth was absolutely vital. How could you know you could trust someone who said, right, I'll bring back these goods tomorrow at this price. And you come back and you say, that's not what you said. There's nothing in writing. That's why it was so important, as we mentioned recently, that a man's word was his bond. Jesus is trying to address that very important situation, contemporary, situation in his day. Now obviously Jesus is not condemning the literal physical taking oaths for example in a court of law and the supreme, well the way we can answer that is simply Jesus himself complied with that. Do you remember at that mock trial of his in Matthew 26 He didn't answer a word. He kept silence. But when he was put on oath, he did answer then. Matthew 26, 63. But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to him, I put you under oath by the living God. Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. You see there were some questions you could And this was one of them. Are you the son of God? It is as you said. Jesus said to him, it is as you said. He answered, while under oath. But really he's talking about here in verse 37 really. Let your yes be yes and your no, no. For whatever more than these is from the evil one. What's he saying there? Just let your business transactions, let your everyday conversation say what you mean and mean what you say. When you say, let your language be yes meaning yes, no meaning no, no vague meaning, simple straightforward honesty. No small print disqualifying effectively what has been said in big print. You know how good we are at going round the issue. Have you heard about the two children that were quarrelling? Two children were quarrelling. Listen to them. One says, did you take my sweetie? And the other said, I was doing my jigsaw. I didn't ask you, were you doing your jigsaw? I asked you, did you take my sweetie? There's 20 more sweeties in the tin now. Did you take my sweetie? Answer yes or no. See how we go around things, we don't come straight. This is what Jesus said, let your yes be a real true yes. Let your no be a proper straight forward no. Let a free gift really be a free gift. Let a three year guarantee be a proper no quibble three year guarantee. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. But then he moves, really effectively what he is saying is, your speech says it all. Your speech displays your character. Your speech spells out what's in your heart. And Jesus himself said in Matthew 7, 18, just later on in the sermon on the mount, is it possible for a good tree to bring forth evil fruit? What comes out of your mouth tells us what's in our hearts. That's why it's so important. Your speech, your language, even the way you say things tells us a lot about what's inside. Then Jesus goes on to speak about what you might call retaliation, or our response to personal hurt. and personal injustice, that's in verses 38 to 42. Our response to all these situations, it reveals our true character, our true nature. Are we truly sons of God? As we heard in the children's story, our true identity. Is God our Father? Well, Like father, like son. Are we the children of the living God? Are we like our elder brother Christ? True identity. When he was reviled, he reviled not again. When he was provoked, he didn't retaliate. Can't we be identified as his brothers and sisters? Can we be identified as the children of God? You see, the way we retaliate, the way we respond, tells us who our true father in heaven is. That's what's here. Now, when he says this, whoever slaps you on the cheek, slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. It was apparently a slap on the back of the hand that was in mind here. The offence was not in the category of a violent physical crime. It was more a gross insult, as you just dismiss something with the back of your hand and slap them on the cheeks. It wasn't a painful punch, it was just a dismissive insult. Complete insult to you. That was more the offence of what Jesus is saying here. Show them that you're my children. Show them your true identity. by not standing on your rights. You see, the perfect example is Jesus himself and he spells out in verse 39, I tell you not to resist an evil person. And that word resist is a legal term, it could literally mean taking someone to court. someone insults you or does harm to you or is unjust to you as a Christian, don't take them to court. Now, the true interpretation is the example of Christ himself. And you do remember don't you at least two, well, Matthew 26, 67. How does Jesus respond? Then they spat on his face, and beat him, and others struck him with the palms of their hands. John 19.3 Then they said, Hail King of the Jews, and they struck him with their hands. What was his response? The end of the matter. He didn't say something back. He didn't retaliate. He just accepted it. That was the end of the matter. He just, as it were, ignored it. You say, oh, that's not right. Well, let's follow the example of Christ. He just ignored such contempt. He just ignored it. Be as your Father in Heaven. It really refers to our attitude and to our response when we're insulted, when we're injured, when we're done an injustice. What's our response to being hurt by people? And Jesus says, show your true identity. Be like the elder brother. Be true, real Christians. That's a very good example that I want to read to you from a change in someone's life. The example is, some of you may have heard of him, Billy Bray. He was what they call a pugilist or just a fighter. He disagreed with someone's opinion. That was his natural disposition. I'll just read to you what I read about him Thursday or Wednesday, whenever it was. the famous Cornish evangelist Billy Bray who before his conversion was a pugilist that's just a fighter Billy Bray was converted but one day down in the mine another man who used to live in mortal dread and terror of Billy Bray before his conversion knowing he was converted thought he had last found his opportunity. Without any provocation at all, he struck Billy Bray, who could very easily have floored him and made him unconscious in one move. But instead of doing that, Billy Bray looked at him and said, May God forgive you. even as I forgive you." The result was that the man endured for several days an agony of mind and spirit which led directly to his conversion. He knew what Billy Bray could have done. He knew what the natural Billy Bray wanted that Billy Bray did not do it. And that's how God used Billy Bray in this man's conversion. His response when he was insulted and done an injustice. But then what I really wanted to concentrate on this morning is verses 43 to 48. Here is Jesus saying What makes Christians different? Really? And the answer he gives is this ability of loving your enemies. Now the very last verse is, therefore you shall be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect. What a standard! That's hard, isn't it? Of course, when he speaks about being perfect here, obviously he's speaking about not being perfect in degree. Not as perfect as God in degree. We can't be, but being perfect in kind. We can't possibly be perfect, but still we're to strive for it. Now, I find it very encouraging. Note, it says here. You shall be perfect. It does not say just as God in heaven is perfect. That's not what it says. What does it say? Just as your Father in heaven is perfect. You get it? It's what the children's story was about. Identity. Are you the true children of your Father in Heaven? Well, behave like Him. Behave as your Father in Heaven tells you to behave. Behave as the elder brother, the perfect Son of God behaved. That's the key. That's the secret. Now, here's the other thing that is just so important about this. The question is not really, what is it that makes Christians different? Because there are many people different from the world. The Buddhist is different, the Sikh is different, the Hindu is different. The question that Jesus is asking here, the searching question of the Sermon on the Mount Not so much what makes you different from others, as what makes you Christ-like. It seems it's not enough if the world see us and say, well he didn't do that, he didn't retaliate because he's a religious person. Well the Buddhists are a religious person, the Hindus are a religious person. It seems our response to being hurt ought to make people say, oh well, isn't he like Jesus? Isn't he like Christ? He's not just different from the world, he is like Christ! Now, if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors the same? Jesus says, I say to you, love your enemies. Now that love is, I'm sure you've heard it before, the Greek word is agape love. Agape, meaning a special kind of love. The love that God has for sinners. You see, a boy may love a girl, and a girl may love a boy, because they're nice. Because they're attractive. Because they're beautiful. That is not agape love. Agape love is being able to love something that is not attractive. Loving something that is not beautiful. loving something that does not deserve to be loved. And God says, that's the love I showed to you Christians. You Christians, show some of that type of love back to others. That is what we have here. Not attracted by dessert, what they deserve. Not attracted by beauty, And the other thing about this agape love is, it's not a feeling, it's an action. When you measure love in the Bible, this kind of love, you didn't love them by saying, now, how much do you love that person? What do you feel about that person? Do you get, oh, oh, you can't, there's so much love for them, you can't sleep, you can't eat, you can't work. It's not referring to How you feel about someone. It refers to what do you do for that person. Show me how much you love that person by telling me not what you feel about them but by telling me what you are prepared to give for them. That is what is so significant about John 3.16. God so loved the world he gave He gave what? And you can measure the love he has for the world by what he gave. God so loved he gave his son. Agape love. It's not logical love. A boy loves a pretty girl. That's logical. That's natural. Jesus says you have to have a different kind of love. How can we love? And this is when we're asked now look, how can we possibly love somebody that has been cruel to us? Somebody that's been unkind to us? How can we possibly love somebody that's obnoxious? Good question. But here's the answer. You can only love a person by an act of the will, by deciding to do it, by making a decision, this is my duty, this is what I am commanded to do. We are commanded to do something for those that do us harm, not to feel something for them. And here is something that I found just so helpful. The Bible and Jesus does not ask us to like our enemies. You got it? We are not commanded to like our enemies, we are commanded to love our enemies. Now do you see the difference? You like someone you say, oh aren't they nice? Aren't they beautiful? He's not commanded to say, oh these enemies of mine are lovely people. He's not asking us to think that about them or be that. When we're commanded to love them on the other hand, He says, do something for them. Do something nice to them. Do something for them they just don't deserve. That's what makes you different. That's what makes you liked. If you're just nice to your friends, well, everyone's nice to their friends. If you hold a party and you just call your friends and your like-minded ones, well, tax collectors do that. I don't know if I should say this or not, but maybe, I'm quite sure in Dumfries yesterday, The Queen of the South supporters had a party and all supporters of Queen of the South were welcome. Rangers and Celtic have parties for Rangers and Celtic supporters. But Jesus says, when you have a dinner, you invite those that just don't deserve to be invited, that aren't your supporters. Be different that way. Now, of course there's nothing wrong in having a fellowship of like-minded people together, but is that all you have? What makes you different? What makes you Christ-like? What makes you like your Father in Heaven? challenging thing that is so challenging to us here. Now, just as we come to a close, we might very well say, look, are you saying then, look, let's just take the sermon on the Mount and go through all these things and say, right, I must do this, I must do that, I must do the next thing, I must do, that's it. We might say, look, there's plenty good people in the world who aren't Christians, they're morally upright, What's the difference between the Christian, the true Christian, and the person in the world who's morally upright, he believes in God, he doesn't do anything wrong, he's morally upright, but he's not a Christian according to Christ's standards. What's the difference between the two? Well, a morally upright person, his religion, his Christianity, if you like, more negative. He doesn't do this and he doesn't do that. You're speaking, oh I would never do that. I would never do that. I couldn't do that. I would never do that. There's that negative aspect to it. You ask the Christian about these things. And the Christian, as the Saviour pointed out in the Beatitudes, he's got this hungering and thirsting after righteousness. He has this longing for purity of heart. But you don't find that out in the world. A Christian knows what he should be inside. Not just outside, but inside. When it comes to sin, you'll find the morally upright person acknowledging he's not perfect. Acknowledging he makes mistakes. Acknowledging he's got faults. Then you go to the Christian and you ask him about his sins. And he says, oh, I'm hell deserving. Tell me, will you get anyone in that world out there to say they're hell deserving? The Christian knows he's hell deserving. But the man who's just morally upright, well, he thinks he's He's doing as good as he can, and that's all that's expected. He doesn't really consider his hell deserving. You ask a Christian about sin, and he will say, if it wasn't for Christ dying on that cross, I'm lost for all eternity. Now tell me, will you get a man of the world saying that? It wasn't for Christ dying on a cross or lost for all eternity. What are you talking about? The Christian has a relationship with Jesus and he knows that he's saved not because he's better than others, not because he's done things perfectly up to a certain standard. He knows he's on the way to heaven because Christ died on the cross for him. That's all he has. You've heard people say, take away their calvary and sunk and lost. Their religion is much more positive. Their religion is all in connection and relationship with Jesus. Not with do's and don'ts and systems, but with their love for Christ. Ask them, why do you do things? The morally upright person will say, well, you've got to do your best, you've got to reach a standard. He does things to earn points, as it were, with God to climb the ladder. And you ask a Christian, now, why are you keeping God's law? Oh, he loves God's law. He loves God. He loves Jesus. His heart goes out to Him. He wants to, he's full of gratitude for being forgiven. And he says, well, how can I sin against the God who forgave me my whole life? How can I sin against the God that forgave me through faith? I want to please that God. I just love my Saviour. That's what motivates him to keep God's law. Then of course there's trouble. You can really tell by one's reaction of trouble. You can get some very morally upright people in trouble. They're very commendable. Very commendable, they accept it with dignity, a measure of dignity, but it's just stoical, philosophic. That's the way things are. You've just got to be manly. They've got iron, wool powder as well, as it were. But the Christian, in trouble, he knows God's in it. He senses Christ is with him. He's got this saviour behind him. He has a peace. A peace that he never experienced in times of prosperity. But in times of trouble he knows God is there. He's got this peace. And in times of trouble he still loves God. Even though like Habakkuk he's confused, he still loves God. He still has faith in God. Despite the way things have turned out, he still trusts God. There is a world of difference actually. Just as we close, you might say, look, how can a mere man be like that? Maybe you are here and you are not a Christian. You say, how can anyone Reach that standard. How can anyone be like that? Well, you know what the answer is? No mere man can. It's impossible for a mere man. You must be born again. You need the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God? Yes. The Spirit of Christ. That's what you need. If you're here and you're not a Christian, whatever you do, don't try and reach this standard. You have one thing to do. Get into Christ. Get to Jesus. He's the one that will make the difference. You don't have that power. You don't have that ability. You need His Spirit in you. And you say, well, where can I get the Spirit? Where can I get that Spirit? You get it in the Gospel. You get it from Christ. Always remember, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. You get it from Christ in the Gospel. Here is the Gospel. Whoever you are, Come to me. Doesn't matter what the past is. Doesn't matter what condition you're in. Just come to me. We'll handle your sin together. Don't try handling your sin on your own. Come to me. Have my power. My Spirit. You get the Spirit in the Gospel. Through the Gospel of Christ. Hear the gospel. Ho, everyone who thirsts. Do you wish you had this? Do you wish you had forgiveness? Do you wish you had peace with God? Do you wish you had control over your sin? Well, ho, everyone who thirsts for these things, come to me. I will give you rest. May God, the Holy Spirit, make His Word, His truth, effector to every one of us. Let's pray.