Author: Dwayne Gandy

Sermon on the Mount
How to Treat Your Enemies
Matt 5:33-48
Points to Consider
Pursue Honesty
Pursue Peace
Pursue Reconciliation
Pursue God
Pursue Honesty
Matt 5:33-37 Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
Not all swearing is sinful.
Matt 26:63-64 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!" 64 Jesus said to him, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."
Jesus answered a question under oath.
Heb 6:13-18 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you." 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
Swearing can put an end to disputes.
Swearing is for the benefit of others (court of law).
Jesus is teaching that it is wrong for any oath to determine our honesty.
Pursue Peace
Matthew 5:38 You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'
Where would they have heard this statement?
Exodus 21:22 If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman's husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 "But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, 24 "eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 "burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
A person who hurt a baby in the womb would deserve the same injury.
The husband was the one to determine the penalty if no harm was done.
God determined the penalty if harm was done.
Lev 24:19 If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor, as he has done, so shall it be done to him- fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him.
If you break a man’s arm, you deserve to have your arm broken.
In verse 23 we see that this punishment was carried out by the people.
Deut 19:18 And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, 19 then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you. 20 And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. 21 Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
If one man is bearing witness against another, the judges (with God’s help) were to determine who was telling the truth.
If a man was a false witness, he was to suffer the penalty he was trying to inflict on the other man.
Jesus was not diminishing the authority of civil government to punish criminals.
He was condemning the practice of taking matters into your own hands.
Matthew 5:39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 "If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 "And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 "Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
Jesus is elaborating on verse 9 where He said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.”
Jesus is giving us a formula on how to encourage peace.
John 18:22 And when He had said these things, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, "Do You answer the high priest like that?" 23 Jesus answered him, "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you strike Me?"
Jesus did not literally turn the other cheek. Jesus is trying to teach the people against taking vengeance into their own hands.
Another way to pursue peace is to go beyond what the other person is wanting.
If someone wants to sue you for your tunic, you are to give him your cloak also.
John 19:23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece.
Jesus gave up His cloak and tunic in order to provide peace.
If anyone compels you to go one mile, you are to go two miles.
Mt 27:32 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross.
The soldiers compelled Simon to bear Jesus’ cross.
Pursue Reconciliation
Matthew 5:43-44 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.
In Leviticus 19:18 God gives the command to love your neighbor as yourself. The idea of hating your enemies must have been man’s conclusion.
Reconciliation starts with love.
1 Cor. 13:4-8 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails.
This is how we are to treat our enemies, not just our families.
How to pursue reconciliation
Bless those who curse you.
Do good to those who hate you.
Pray for those who spitefully use you.
Romans 12:19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. 20 Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
We are told not to avenge ourselves. God will right the wrongs done in this life.
When we do good to our enemies we repay evil with good.
Pursue God
Matthew 5:45, 48 …that you may be sons of your Father 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… 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
We should do good to those who hate us that we “may be sons of your Father in heaven.”
God sends rain on those who hate him.
Romans 5:6-11 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
While we were His enemies, God pursued peace and reconciliation by doing good.
God demonstrated His love toward us by sending Jesus to die.
We are to treat our enemies the way God treats His enemies.