Luke 6:32-36

Book of Luke chapter 6. Our text this morning will be 32 to 36. The book of Luke chapter 6 verses 32 to 36. Jesus speaking says this. For if you love them which love you, what thank have ye? For sinners also love those that love them. and if you do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? For sinners also do the same. And if you lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? For sinners also lend to sinners to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the highest. For he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil, be ye therefore merciful, as your father also is merciful. May God bless to us his sacred and holy word this morning. One Christian and faithful, were passing through Vanity Fair, they got into trouble because they were so much different than everybody else. Now, they weren’t arrested for wearing a sign which says, give a shout if you love Jesus. They weren’t arrested for wearing a t-shirt that said, what would Jesus do? They weren’t arrested for, because they had a pin on their clothes, with a cross or a fish on it. They weren’t arrested for doing a Christian victory march, demonstrating for Christ. It was their Christian character, which stood out. It was their Christian character that made them different. They didn’t dress the same way. They didn’t speak the same way. Their interests were not the same as the people of Vanity Fair. They acted as if they were, they were pilgrims and strangers. And their overall conduct was different, and thus they were hated and despised and rejected. Now, Jesus, in verse 35s, speaks here of his people being the children of the highest. The children of the highest. And he indicates this is demonstrated by your conduct, especially your conduct toward your enemies. If you are what you profess yourself to be, the indication of this passage is is you must do more than other people, those around you. The question arises, which was asked in Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 5, verse 47, what do ye more than others? What do ye more than others? those around you. It’s not enough merely to claim you’re a Christian. Your work should prove that you’re a Christian. So you must, he indicates here, imitate your heavenly father if you say you’re one of his children. Now, Jesus, in giving this sermon on the plane, which is similar to the sermon on the Mount, he provides some wonderful teaching. But we often have difficulty implementing it because it goes so much against our natural inclination. But our topic here is being the children of the highest. The first thing he says here is finally verses 32 to 34. As a believer, you are to be vastly different than other people. Now, first, he says this. You must do more than love those who love you. you. Verse 32. For if you love them which love you, what thank have ye? For sinners also love those that love them. This is no evidence of Christian character if you love those which love you. Why Jesus says even the children of this world can do that. Love begets love. It’s only natural to respond in kind. We can even say, Jesus indicates here, even sinners, the most profane people of this world, can do that. Grace is not needed to make a man the loving husband of a woman who loves him. We sometimes read about a husband who steps in front of his wife to protect her when there was a gunman and get shot and killed and he spares his wife. Publicans, thieves, extortion. can love their wives and their friends who love them. That’s very common. Can not a mob boss love his wife? Can a mob boss love to give her gifts, expensive gifts, and treat her with great kindness? Can’t the most profane man love his companions and buy rounds of drinks for them at the bar? Or when he hears that his neighbor’s houses burnt down, and he says to him, he did one of his friends or a neighbor or something, you can stay in my house until you get things settled. Now, it’s true. Sometimes the people of the world don’t even love the race to that occasion where they even love those that love them. That’s true. There are children who don’t love their parents who have lovingly devoted themselves to raising them and killed them for the inheritance. for insurance or something. They’re without natural affection. There are husbands who brutally treat their wives who actually love them, and yet they beat them up and abuse them, and they get black eyes and bruises and, you know, punches, and that have hurt their bodies and are kicked and so forth. Perhaps thousands have never reached even this basic standard. Love those who love you. But who can deny that the worlding is capable of meeting this basic standard? Jesus says they can’t. Why should anyone give you praise or thanks for doing this? It’s interesting that the word thanks here, caris. While can be rendered thanks is often rendered in scripture grace. This is no indication of grace. that you love those who love you. You must do more than love those who love you. Secondly, he says, you must do more than gratefully return the treatment you have received. Now notice verse 33. If you do good to them, which do good to you, what thank have ye? For sinners also do even the same? We have a saying, good turn deserves another. Someone does you a good turn and you willingly do him one later. People expect such a return of favor. Maybe someone helps you, you know, replace a water heater in your home and they say, now you owe me one. And later they expect somewhere along the line, they’re going to need help and you’re going to have to be obligated to help them. Once when I worked as a part for a diesel engine company. I had my car in the shop, and I needed a ride to work for that particular week that it was getting repaired. And there was a woman who worked in the office of the same company who lived nearby. She agreed to give me a ride, but she expected a favor in return. I had to change the hoses on the radiator on her car. So I needed to do her good for her to do me good. So this isn’t a very ordinary thing. It’s not something which makes you stand out as unique as a child of God that you would do a favor or do good for someone who does good to you. Since sinners can do this, he tells us, it’s not praiseworthy. There’s no indication of Christian grace. Sure, it’s proper and right to endeavor to repay a benefit that’s been done to you. It’s not something the world thing is unable to do. do. It’s true that there are some people who are so selfish that it won’t even give you a good turn for a good turn. Once a while, you’re someone bewale the ingratitude of those who will not return a favor to them. We talked about, you know, David and Naipal situation where he watched over the shepherd and the sheeps while they were out there in the field, and then when he wanted a favor and returned, he didn’t give him one. So the bottom line is you have no problem doing someone a good turn who has helped you. You have an old debt to repay, you know, okay, yeah, he helped me, I’ll help them. Even the worst sinner can do that. That doesn’t prove you’re a Christian. You got to do more than that. So you have to do more than gratefully return the treatment you receive. Thirdly, he says, you must do more than lend to others you expect will repay you. Verse 34. and if you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thank have you? For sinners also lend to sinners to receive also much again. A temporary loan is often made to someone with the expectation that when you ever you were in need, they would probably help you out too. The word lend here is usually used with reference to lending money to someone. It’s primary. meaning, but we often lend things to people. And the law talks about Exodus 2214, if a man borrow out of his neighbor, it could be an ox, it could be an ass. In the book of 2nd Kings chapter 6, one of the sons of the prophet lost an axe head and he says, wo, master, because it belonged to my neighbor. I borrowed this axe. So I lend an axe one day, maybe I’ll borrow sorrow. Or I borrow a chainsaw. One day, I lend someone on a ladder. There’s nothing special about such brotherly bartering. That’s a very common occurrence. But let us assume that the Lord is talking about money in this passage. I’ve loaned money to a neighbor who was in need and expected her to pay it back, and she did when she got the money in that she needed. Is the loaning of money something that is showing you have grace when you expect them to pay you back. Is it virtuous? Don’t even openly sinful people loan to their friends in need. This isn’t praise worth. This is not an indication of divine grace. So as a believer, you’re going to be vastly different from those around. You’ve got to do more than love those who love you. You got to do more than grateful. return the treatment you’ve received. You’ve got to do more than lend to others you expect will repay you. That brings us to the second part. As a believer, you are vastly different from others because you imitate your Heavenly Father. And this is where we see what we see in verses 35 and 36. But love you, your enemies, and do good and lend, hoping for nothing again, your reward shall be great and ye shall be the children of the highest for he is kind unto the unthankful and to evil. Be you therefore merciful as your father also is merciful. So as children of the highest you have to do more than the children of this world. Loving your enemies is what God demands of you. In verse 20 seven, we’ve already covered this. He says, by seven, you love your enemies, do good to them which hate you. We’ve already covered this in an earlier sermon, but higher virtue exists than just loving those who love you. Love those who don’t love you. Who just hate you, who just spitefully use you. Can you love those who mistreat you? Who curse you out? Who seek your ruin? you have an earnest desire for their earthly and spiritual good? There’s an ancient saying which I think is appropriate. It’s worth repeating here. Doing evil for good is devil like. Doing evil for evil is beastlike. Doing good for good is manlike. Doing good for evil is godlike. See you the rise to the level of being godlike, to overcome evil with good. You are to watch for an occasion when you can do your enemy a good turn. This often extracts the venom out of your enemy and can lead to a better relationship with your enemy. You know, Spurgeon the famous Baptist preacher once found a dog trampling through his garden. He was really upset about it. He yelled at the dog. and he threw a stone at the dog, figuring that when the stone hit him and stung him, he would run off and that would get him out of the guard. However, instead of running away, the dog came right up to Spurgeon and licked his hand. He said, it just took all the, you know, all the venom out of me, all the anger out of me. I just pet, I petted the dog, and that was it. You know, and it sort of just diffused the whole situation. That’s what doing good to an enemy can achieve, you see. you can change the dynamics, the attitudes. So a higher virtue exists than lending money to someone you expect to pay you back. Sometimes we readily provide financial help for someone who may be too poor to repay us back. There are times when you forgive the debt that’s owed you. We read in Proverbs 1917, He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth under the Lord. And that which he hath given, will he repay him again? You know, sometimes we may lend and realize that maybe they’re not in a position to repay us. And we figure, you know what? The Lord will take care of it. He’ll repay me somehow. Somewhere along the line, he’ll give me back what I put out. So the Christian lends, even when he may not be repaid. Because he knows the Lord will take care of it. So as children of the highest, you must do more than the children of this world. He says here, you must imitate your Heavenly Father. Now, God grants saving mercy and kindness to his enemies. There are those who come to this particular passage of Scripture, who believe in common grace, and they often quote this passage and they claim here that God is a positive, albeit non-saving favor for the non-elect. I deny it. And I don’t believe that’s what this passage is teaching. Does God love his reprobate enemies? Is this passage teaching that God is kind to all human beings? That he’s merciful to all human beings. Or the unthankful and evil who are the objects of God’s kindness here, reprobate persons. Well, the key to all this is to realize that God’s kindness that’s mentioned in this verse of scripture is not, not a non-saving favor. The word kindness that’s used here equals God’s saving grace or mercy. The Greek word for kindness here, Christos, is translated elsewhere as gracious. If so be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 1. Peter 2.3. That’s saving grace. Or it’s also translated goodness in Romans 2. 4. Or despise thou the riches of his goodness. and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. This kindness of God, or goodness of God, that he mentions there, is one that leads to repentance. So this kindness is gracious. It brings the repentance. Does it disprove that it’s equal to God’s mercy, which is, is mentioned in verse 36. God is merciful to the same persons and to whom he is kind. It is clear from Scripture that God is not merciful to every human being. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he has afore prepared under glory. Romans 923. The point is this. God saves those who are his enemies, who are unthankful and evil. God’s kindness is grace or mercy leads those people to repentance, grants them forgiveness of their sins. It’s not everyone, but it is those who are once his enemies. In the love and kindness you show your enemies, you are to reflect hear the mercy of God. That’s what he teaches us in this passage of Scripture. Now, let me also say that God gives good gifts to his enemies. Now look with me at Matthew chapter 5, verses 43 to 45. You have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I said you love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate, you, pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be the children of your father which is in heaven. Now, all that we could say, that’s similar to everything in Luke, but, notice this, this is where it’s different. For he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth his reign on the just and the unjust. If you love them which love you, what reward have you? Do not even the public and is the same. And if you salute, Your brethren, only what do ye more than others? Do not even the public and so. Be, therefore, perfect even as your father, which is in heaven, is perfect. Remember, and I’ve told you, this is where we run into problems. If you try to make these two sermons equal, equate to one another, they have similar things in them. But notice a distinction that he makes here, in this Matthew passage, we have two different sermons. They’re not the same, and often there are subtle differences between them. In Luke, Jesus emphasizes God’s saving mercy and kindness or grace, who is given to the elect enemies of his. In Matthew, Jesus emphasizes God’s good gifts like the sunshine and rain. which all men enjoy. God’s good gifts of earthly things come without any desire necessarily to be gracious to the recipients of such gifts. this is a general statement. Sometimes God sends drought and famine too, and both the elect and the non-elect have to endure that. But the point is this. God provides good things to those who are johns. and unjust or good as well as evil. Who can deny that? While God’s good gifts work for the spiritual good of his elect, Romans 828, this cannot be said with regard to the reprobate. God curse, rest on the house of the reprobate, even when he receives good gifts from God. God’s providence is a good gift. working all things for the end for which that person was created. Are not the wicked made for the day of evil? Proverbs 16.4. Then the good gifts of God are working toward that end for them. or as the psalmist says in Psalm 73, these people will have all the prosperity of this world that God has set their feet on slippery places to bring them down. down to destruction so that their good gifts that God has granted them ultimately do not benefit them. There’s not no evidence of grace to them. However, you as a believer are to imitate God’s good behavior, you do good under the unjust and the evil. Your treatment of others must never depend on how they treat you. You’re to rise to God-like level, to behave as evil. God behaves. And that means we do good, even good gifts like the sunshine and the rain and so forth. We would give good gifts or help people on earthly matters of this nature. But it also means that we have a spirit of grace in us and mercy. Our compassion is toward these people. We might see them saved. So we must imitate our Heavenly Father. God grants saving mercy or kindness to his enemies to his elect prior to conversion. And that’s according to Luke 6. God gives good gifts to his enemies. The just and unjust alike enjoy his sunshine and rain. That’s Matthew 5. Two different things, but similar in the argumentation. The thing is. here is this. You must do something worthy of reward by God. And your reward shall be great. He says in verse 35. More is rightly expected you as a Christian, as a son of God than is expected from the children of this world. What is praiseworthy? And what is going to be rewarded by God is an imitation of his own behavior. That we show something of God in us. Now all God’s rewards, I don’t care what they are. They’re always gracious. Because if any good comes out of it, it’s because God worked in us, both to will and the do of his good pleasure. So even when he gives rewards, they’re actually gracious rewards that were given. But his point is, he will reward those who behave as he has commanded. Again, you see here, how you can’t do this without the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is not in your life, how can you possibly be Godlike? You’re incapable of it. No one can be Godlike unless God makes you a unique, particular person, special. Because anything Godlike about you comes from the Spirit. Still, God says, I’ll reward you. Even when he’s the one that’s producing within us, by His spirit, the actions that we take. So the question is, this morning, are you God-like in behavior? Do you do more than others around you? Do you do as Christ teaches here? Mr. Christian and faithful, God into trouble at Vanity Fair because they were so much different from those around them. And that’s the way we should be. Christ speaks of his people here. Being the children of the highest, are we the people? the children are the highest. Don’t we have something of his image in us? His spiritual image? These are the questions we should ask ourselves. We read a passage like this. You might say, well, man, I don’t know if I can do all of it. You can do it if the Spirit of God is within you. You’re capable of all these things. It’s a matter of applying. You know, the Spirit tells us what we’re supposed to do. Here’s Scripture telling us we’re supposed to do. He prompts us to do it. It’s a matter of. us applying ourselves to it. Do what he tells you to do here. I hope that as we go through this Christian life, we begin to realize the high walk. We’re to walk worthy of this calling that he’s given us. How difficult it is for us as sinners to do these things. And yet we’re capable because he gives us all things that pertain pertain unto life and godliness doesn’t he? We can do this. We can do it by the power of the spirit. We should pray that we could do this. And he enable us to do it. Let’s close with a word of prayer.