Turn with me, if you would, to
Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6, this was such
a sweet blessing to my heart. This word is so perfect. You know that? This word is so
precious. It is so needful. Don't we need this word? I want
us to just hear what our Lord has to say. I want us to sit
down at His feet and just listen to Him talk. That's what I want
us to do in this Bible study. One of these days we are going
to be able to sit down at His feet and just listen to Him talk. We're just going to enter in.
to everything he has to say to us, maybe he will let us do that
this morning. Let's sit down and just listen
to what he has to say. As the scripture says, I pray
he might enable us to rightly divide what he has to say. Let's listen to it, consider
it, and I want to just make a couple of comments from verses 17 to
38. We're just going to read down
through it. and see what he has to say. Luke 6 verse 17 says,
And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and in the
company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out
of all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and
Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases,
and they that were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were
healed. And the whole multitude sought
to touch him, for there went virtue out of him and healed
them all." Healed them all. The Lord is good. You know that? He is so good. And if any person is healed,
of whatever. If any person is healed, it's
God who does it. It's God who does it. Man naturally
gives the credit to doctors and man gives the credit to medicine
and I am so thankful for doctors and medicine. I'm so thankful. But the truth of the matter is,
if a person is healed, God is the doer of it. He deserves all
the glory, all the praise. He himself said, I heal, didn't
he? So we go to him and we praise
him for it. He is good, he does good, and
he does it to many, many. All of these people came to him
and he healed them, but verse 20 says, And he lifted up his
eyes on his disciples. He looked straight at his disciples. All of these people were there,
and he physically healed all of them who had a need. Every
single one who came to him, he healed them. And now he's talking
to his disciples. In the midst of all these people,
he looked straight at his disciples, those who claimed to know him. Those who claim to follow him,
claim to belong to him, they say that he's done a work in
them. He did something to me. He did something for me. He did
something in me. Verse 20 says, and he lifted
up his eyes on his disciples and said, blessed be ye poor. Don't you love that? Poor financially? No. Matthew 5, don't turn there,
but Matthew 5 expounds on it. He's talking about the poor in
spirit, the poor in spirit. He's talking about the humble
in heart, the low, the meek. The not proud, the not haughty,
the not arrogant. Blessed be ye poor. He said, for yours is the kingdom
of God. The kingdom of God is yours. Verse 21, he said, blessed are
ye that hunger now. Hunger for food, hunger for bread. No, Matthew 5 expounds it by
saying, blessed are you that hunger for righteousness. Are you hungry for righteousness,
truly hungry for perfection, for goodness, for Christ himself? Do you hunger for righteousness
himself, Christ himself? He said in verse 21, you're going
to be filled. Blessed are you that hunger now,
for you shall be filled. You desire that, you'll be filled.
That's true with whatever we desire. The Lord will give us
our heart, whatever we desire. If we desire Christ, we'll have
Christ, won't we? If we desire something else,
we'll have something else. But he said, if you want the
goodness of Christ to be poured out, if you are truly begging
for it, if you crave it, you're going to be filled. Verse 21,
he said, blessed are you that weep now. Weep because of bad
conditions? Weep because of injustices? No. Blessed are those who weep
over their own sin. Weep over their own sin. Blessed
are those who get a good look at their own heart. Who they
are. What they are. And it just crushes
them. I mean it just crushes them.
What a blessing that is. So sorry for it. They cry out
to God begging forgiveness. Lord forgive me. Forgive me. He said, blessed are you that
weep over that sin. Right now He said, you're going
to laugh. You weep over that sin, you're going to laugh. You're
going to be forgiven. Verse 22 says, blessed are you
when men shall hate you. What a strange verse of scripture
that is. Isn't that strange? Blessed are you when men shall
hate you. He said, when they shall separate
you from their company, he said, blessed are you, blessed are
you, and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil for
the son of man's sake, for Christ's sake. For standing up for his
glory and his honor, for the goodness of the gospels sake. You know, the more the Lord enables
us to spread this gospel, the more we are opening ourself up
to persecution for it. It's okay. He said, blessed are
you for standing up for the words sake, the truth sake. When men
don't want to hear it, when they hate you for it, Christ said,
I'm going to bless you for it. I'm going to bless you. Verse
23, he said, Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy, for behold,
your reward is great in heaven. For in the like manner did their
fathers unto the prophets. He said it has always been that
way. It's always going to be that
way. Always. Always but he said you rejoice
because every soul that is cut off Every soul that is evil spoken
of for my glory and for my honor's sake he said in that great day
I'm gonna raise him up I'm gonna receive them up to any a returnal
reward in me verse 24 He said, but woe unto you that are rich. Have money? No. Rich in pride. Rich in self-worth. The exact opposite of poor, like
he mentioned in verse 20. Poor in spirit. Rich in spirit. Haughty in spirit. Arrogant in
spirit. Verse 24, he said, woe unto you
that are rich, for you have received your consolation. That pride,
that last word in the moment, that final cutting word that
makes you believe you won, that's what every man by nature wants,
isn't it? That last word. He said that's
all the reward that comes to the proud. Verse 25, he said,
woe unto you that are full. The opposite of those that hunger
in verse 21. Full, having need of nothing.
Isn't that what our Lord said? Having need of nothing. No inward
need. Don't feel that need. He said,
woe unto you that don't feel that need. He said, you're going
to have it later. Twenty-five, woe unto you that
are full, for you shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now,
for you shall mourn and weep. I think about the fact that when
our Lord was here, they laughed Him to scorn, didn't they? They
laughed Him to scorn. They put Him on trial. They mocked
Him. They laughed Him to scorn. They made a mockery out of who
he is, they made a mockery out of what he said. And that's what
he's saying here. Woe unto you who make a mockery
of Christ, of his word, his spirit, his gospel. Lord, let that not
be us. Let that not be us. Isn't that
the last thing we want? Lord, help us. Let us not make
a mockery out of this word. That's the last thing I want
to do. That is the very last thing I want to do is make a
mockery out of this word. Verse 26 says, Woe unto you when
all men shall speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the
false prophets. And he's talking about in reference
to the truth of the word of God. He's talking about in reference
to the gospel. Men ought to speak well of believers
in general, in conduct, in honesty. Believers ought to be the most
respected people in town. We ought to know that. Believers
ought to be the most respected people in town. Believers ought
to be the hardest working people on the job. Believers ought to
be the most polite. They ought to be the most giving,
the most generous. They ought to be the biggest
tippers in the restaurant. Generous. And the reason is because
of everything Christ has done for us. How generous has he been
with us? How giving has he been with us? How loving has he been toward
us? But he said, when it comes to
the gospel, When it comes to the truth of the word, the message
of the cross, that's an offense to the natural flesh. The message
where the blood of Christ gets all the glory, all the glory
in salvation and man doesn't get any of it. That's an offense. That message is an offense to
the flesh. And he said, if no persecutions come to you for
the message of the cross, he said, then you're not telling
men the message of the cross. That's a pretty good indication
that you're not being truthful with men and women. And if you're
not telling the truth, he said, you're a false prophet. Oh, Lord. Let us tell the truth. There's
a little baby crying down there. Let me tell him the truth when
he grows up and gets in this room. Let's tell the truth. Let's
tell the truth. I need the truth. You need the
truth. Nothing else will do us a bit
of good, will it? Dear God, help us. Help us. Our Lord, the number one thing
he said was beware of false prophets. You know why I believe the Lord
has laid it on our hearts to sling seed to these other cities?
We're not there. They're not going to increase
our church size. I don't think they'll increase
us financially. I believe it'll be nothing but a financial drain
on this congregation. Why do it? Because there are
false prophets everywhere deceiving men and women, telling lies,
and what they need is the truth. They need the truth. May God
give us a heart at all cost. Preach the truth. What's the
truth? Whatever he says. Whatever he
will let us sit down at his feet and listen to. That's the truth. Verse 27, he said, but I say
unto you which hear, those who have been given ears to hear.
You know, ears to hear, they're a blessing from God. Ears to
hear are a privilege. They're a grace, a kindness from
God. Our Lord said, he that hath ears
to hear, let him hear. Everybody has ears. And that's
not what he's talking about. That's not what he's talking
about. Whoever has been given the ear of the heart that only
God can give, whoever God has done a work in, opened the ear. Verse 27, I say unto you which
hear, he said, love your enemies. Don't we thank God for loving
us? If we ever really enter in to
the fact that God loved me, once I see me and I realize I'm not
what I thought I was, don't we get on our knees in the heart
and thank God? Don't we thank God? We know what
we are by nature. We know we're his enemy. We're
his enemy. We were just like everybody else. The scripture says children of
wrath, enemies of God. We were all at enmity against
him. That's what the scripture says.
Enmity means an enemy of his. But he loved us. He loved us. He says in verse 27, you do the
same thing. He said, love your enemies. Do good to them which hate you."
Well, I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to do
good to people until they become at odds with me. And then after
that, uh-uh. No more. I'm done. Our Lord said, don't do that. Don't do that. If they hate you
and they hate you and they hate you and they just want to hate
and hate and hate, he said, you let that be fuel for the fire
of love. Love and love and love as God
for Christ's sake. You know, every single day. This flesh is the enemy of the
loving God, but every single morning His mercies are brand
spanking new. Isn't that right? And as God,
for Christ's sake, has loved us and forgiven us, He said,
love your, well, He's about to expound on that in a minute.
Love, love, love. Let this mind be in you, which
was in Christ Jesus. Verse 28 says, bless them that
curse you and pray for them which despitefully use you. I love
this right here. Bless means celebrate with praises. Isn't that amazing? Celebrate,
speak well of, invoke a benediction upon. Bless them that curse you. When I perform a wedding ceremony,
I end every single one of them with a benediction. I write the
word in my notes, benediction, it's the same one every time. Number six, 24 through 26, it
says, the Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his
face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his
countenance upon thee and give thee peace. He said, when somebody
curses you, do that. Do that truly in the heart. Our
Lord said in this word, don't do anything with lip service.
Don't just say, well, I'll show you, I'm going to do this with
lip service. Do it in the heart with love and with joy. And the
reason is because in spite of our cursing, all those people
that hung Christ on that cross, All of that cursing, all of that
spitting, all of that hatred, all of that bitterness, that
was us. They represent us. They stood
there for us. And in spite of every bit of
that, as He hung on that cross, He looked right at them and said,
Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Bless
them. That's what He said. Father,
would you bless them? And then if you turn a few pages over
to Acts chapter two at the day of Pentecost, Peter said, you
were the ones that by wicked hands took him and nailed him
to the cross and thousands of them fell to their knees crying,
men and brethren, what shall we do? And the Lord added them
to the church. Blessed. Oh, they're so blessed.
God is good, isn't he? Man, he's good. Then he said
in verse 28, pray for them which despitefully use you. Well, they're
just using me to make themselves look good. Using me to get ahead. Our Lord said, pray for them.
That is the most loving thing that we could do for each other.
Absolutely the most loving thing is pray for each other, bring
each other before the Lord in prayer. He is the only one who
is able to do anything. He is the only one. He said love
each other. How should we love each other?
He said, pray for each other. Pray for each other, bring each
other before God, bless each other before God. Verse 29, unto
him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other. You know, our Lord never tells
us to do anything that he has not already done for us, never. He did that first while he was
standing there before Pilate. Those arrogant men, they took
rods in their hands and struck him across the face, right across
the cheekbone. I can physically see him in obedience
to the commandment of God Almighty turning his cheek and giving
them the other one. Verse 29, unto him that smiteth
thee on the one cheek, offer also the other. And to him that
taketh away thy cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also. They
stripped him naked. They stripped him naked. They
took his seamless garment, his cloak, his robe. At that moment,
he could have called down 12 legions of angels. He could have
literally called down fire from heaven. And he didn't do it. He didn't do it. And he's telling
us to do the same thing. If somebody literally clenches
their fist and strikes you in the face, he said, say with David,
God sent that man to strike me in the face. Maybe God might
just bless me through this. Shimei was doing that to David
and his soldier said, I'm about to go take his head off. And
David said, don't do it. He'll take away my blessing. God might
just bless me through this. Verse 30. Give to every man that
asketh of thee. Our Lord said if somebody comes
up and asks you for something, give it to them. Let me tell
you why that is so wonderful. You ready for this? If he tells
us to do that, then it means that's exactly what he will do. How often do we ask him for something? How often? Lord, help me. He said, I'll help you. I'll
hold your right hand. Lord, feed me. He said, open
your mouth wide. I'll fill it. Lord, deliver me. Wash me in your blood. He said,
there's a fountain filled with it. Plunge in today. Verse 30, he said, give to every
man that asketh of thee and of him that taketh away thy goods,
ask them not again. If somebody steals from you,
acknowledge that it was God that gave it to you in the first place
and God can give it to you again. You have not been defrauded.
Our Lord gives, our Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of
the Lord. Verse 31 says, and as you would
that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. Our Lord was so, so good to everyone. I mean everyone. While he walked
this earth, he was so kind to everyone. And natural man, the
Pharisees, the scribes, all the religious leaders, They were
so mean to him. They were just so mean to him.
They accused him. But when he was reviled, he reviled
not again. He just didn't do it. Verse 32 says, for if you love
them which love you, what thank have you? For sinners also love
those that love them. Man, did he prove that to us. Every being in heaven loved him
and adored him. All of the cherubims and the
seraphims have never yet stopped crying, holy, holy, holy. And he left them. He left them. And he came down to a place where
everybody hated him, everybody. And because of that, he's owed
a lot of thanks. And for all eternity, that's
exactly what he will receive. We're going to be crying, thank
you, Lord, for saving our souls. Verse 33, if you do good to them
which do good to you, what thank have ye, for sinners also do
even the same. These verses remind me of Romans
5. It says some would die for a
righteous man. Some would even die for a good
man. But God commended his love toward us in that while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us. Verse 34 says, and if you lend
to them of whom you hope to receive, what thank have you? For sinners
also lend to sinners to receive as much again. The nature of
a sinful man is to give when he thinks he's going to get something
in return. But Christ gave it all knowing
we could never offer him anything in return. Never. He did it knowing
that. And he says, you give with the
same motive. You lend to each other, do for
each other, expecting nothing in return. And for him to be
more bold about it and more clear about it, verse 35 says, But
love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing
again. Hoping for nothing again. I hope you don't give me something
in return. Isn't that something? Love your
enemies and do good and lend hoping for nothing again and
your reward shall be great and you shall be the children of
the highest for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil."
And he sure is, isn't he? We see that word unthankful and
we think, man, people ought to be ashamed of themselves. They're
so unthankful. Do you know who he is describing
in the unthankful? Your preacher. I'm so unthankful. We ought to be thankful for every,
how many breaths of air have we had since we started this
service? We ought to be thankful for every
single breath of air. Every day that I wake up with
another day of life, Every time he allows me the honor and the
privilege of entering into his house and opening up his word,
this all belongs to him. It all belongs to him. Every
time he gives me the honor to bow before him and worship him,
I ought to be so thankful for that. verse 36 be ye therefore merciful
merciful oh how merciful blessed lord thou art to me be ye therefore
merciful as your father also is merciful Be merciful. You know what that
means? Don't give people what they deserve. That's what mercy is. Mercy is
not getting what we deserve. We as sinners keep crying to
our God, God be merciful to me. Isn't that what we say to him
all the time? God be merciful to me. Don't give me what I deserve. Well, he said, you be merciful.
Don't give people what they deserve. Don't do it. Blessed are the
merciful, they shall obtain mercy. Verse 37, judge not and you shall
not be judged, condemn not and you shall not be condemned, forgive
and you shall be forgiven. In the prayer that our Lord instructed
us to pray over in Matthew 6, this is how he ended all that.
He said, if you don't forgive, neither will your heavenly father
forgive you. Now, our salvation, our mercy
that He gives to us is not based on anything we do. If you forgive, I'll forgive
you. If you don't forgive, I won't forgive you. That's not how it
works. Not based on the Word of God. It's not based on anything. But the fact of the matter is,
the things that we do are the evidence of what he has or has
not done in us. It's the evidence. The evidence. If he has not put a heart of
forgiveness in us, then we don't have any evidence that he has
forgiven us. No evidence. He said, this is
what he said, by this shall all men know that you are my disciples
if you have love one to another. If we don't have love one to
another, then that's the opposite evidence. So may God put it in
us. Last verse here that we're going
to look at, verse 38, this applies to any and everything, not just
money. Many people read this and they
immediately associate it with money. We have so much we can
give. We can give a word of encouragement.
We can give a word of love, a helping hand, a shoulder to cry on. We
can give each other our time. We can support each other in
many ways. And he says in verse 38, give
and it shall be given unto you, good measure pressed down, shaken
together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that
you meet with all, it shall be measured to you again." And I'll
just say that that verse of scripture has been proven to me time and
time again. Time and time again, we cannot
out give our Lord. We just cannot do it. His word
will not fail. It will not fail. He said, you
give, and it'll be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken
together, running over, shall men give into your bosom, for
with the same measure that you meet with all, it shall be measured
to you again. And again, we'll use our Lord's
great example. For God so loved this world of
sinners, he gave his only begotten son. He gave his only begotten
son. That's our motivation. That's
our motivation to give. And this is what we conclude
from all this. He's saying you give. Give your
love, give your forgiveness. And love and forgiveness will
be given to you. It'll be given to you in good
measure. Love will be poured on you. Forgiveness will be poured
on you. Mercy will be poured on you.
Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall
men give into your bosom. With the same measure you meet,
it'll be measured to you again. May the Lord bless that to our
hearts. You're dismissed.