Luke 6:27-38 What Does the Lord Say?

The Lord Says Love Your Enemies

Luke 6:27 “But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you,

Romans 5:10–11 (CSB) For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.

Ephesians 6:10–12 (CSB) Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.

Based on what Christ said and what Paul has said, who is your real enemy?

If we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, how should we view those who oppose and persecute us?

The Lord Says Bless Those Who Curse You

Luke 6:28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

If people are not our enemy, can they actually curse us? In other words, who has power over our lives?

How do we put a cursing upon ourselves?

The Lord Says Give To Others

Luke 6:29-30 If anyone hits you on the cheek, offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your coat, don’t hold back your shirt either. Give to everyone who asks you, and from someone who takes your things, don’t ask for them back.

Psalm 16:5 (CSB)
LORD, you are my portion
and my cup of blessing;
you hold my future.

Again, where does our provision--money, time, home, cars, job, food, water, clothes--comes from?

Matthew 6:25–34 (CSB) “Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying?And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith?So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

The Lord Says Do Unto To Others As You Would Want Others To Do Unto You

Luke 6:31 Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them.

Romans 12:9–21 (CSB) Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another. Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord. But

If your enemy is hungry, feed him.
If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
For in so doing
you will be heaping fiery coals on his head.
Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

If God is merciful and gracious to you, how should you treat others?

Romans 2:4 (CSB) Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

The Lord Says Love Those Who Don't Love You

Luke 6:32-34 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full.

1 John 4:7–21 (CSB) Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is made complete in us. This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son as the world’s Savior. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God. And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. In this, love is made complete with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.

If we don't love each other, can we say we actually love God?

The Lord Says Do What Is Good

Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High. For he is gracious to the ungrateful and evil.

Matthew 6:19–21 (CSB) “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What is the most important thing to you right now? How does God factor into all of that?

The Lord Says Be Merciful

Luke 6:36 Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

Matthew 9:13 (CSB) Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

What is mercy?

How has God shown you mercy?

The Lord Says Do Not Judge Nor Condemned But Forgive

Luke 6:37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Romans 7:24–8:2 (CSB) What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

If there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, what could we do other than to judge and condemn?

The Lord Says Give Because The Father is Your Provision

Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over—will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

2 Corinthians 8:1–6 (CSB) We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that was given to the churches of Macedonia:During a severe trial brought about by affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. I can testify that, according to their ability and even beyond their ability, of their own accord,they begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints,and not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us by God’s will. So we urged Titus that just as he had begun, so he should also complete among you this act of grace.

Psalm 50:10 (CSB)
for every animal of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.

If everything--money, time, possessions, riches--belong to God and God is our Father, is it possible to give more?

Romans 8:14–18 (CSB) For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children,and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.