Love Your Enemies

Jesus came and preached a message that is counter-intuitive. We want to hate those that hate us. In fact, we want to put our hate to action and retaliate against those that hate us. But Jesus came with a teaching that was altogether different. Hear His words from Matthew 5,

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." (vv.38-39).

Jesus went still further in describing how sons of God should treat those that hate us:

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven." (vv.43-45a).

If you're a Christian, a "son of your Father who is in heaven," then you've heard these words before. You haven't mastered them, but as a new creature with new desires to honor God, you're no doubt growing in your ability to apply them. We must, however, see that we draw strength to love our enemies from the God who reminds us that "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." While we were His enemies, rebels against Him, Jesus came to be humiliated, rejected, scoffed at, beaten, and murdered. He did all of that in order to buy us back from our hatred of Him.

God loved His enemies. That is why we need to reflect Jesus Christ by loving our enemies. When we don't love our enemies, when we hate them back, we need to repent from our opposition to the gospel. We need ask God to forgive us for not acting like sons that were bought by the supreme demonstration of Someone loving His enemies.

As I said, you've heard these words before, but they are new to some. My non-Christian friend (we'll call her Sue) called me last night asking me if Jesus really said we should love those that don't love us. I've been praying for 12 years for an open door so that I might share with Sue how Jesus loves his enemies. It was a glorious time of sharing this good new with Sue. Pray for her, for conviction and repentance and new life.

Conference Review

It is with great joy and praise to our God that I write these few lines of review of our first Fellowship in the Gospel Conference! What began as a handful of men huddled up on the floor of our sanctuary, praying that God would grow a men's ministry at our church, culminated in a men's conference on leadership that would be organized and served by countless men of our church. God be praised!

With respect to the conference specifically, I cannot say enough about God's faithfulness and answers to our prayers. We prayed that men from many different churches would come and fellowship together around the gospel and its power...and God answered that prayer. We prayed that pastors from Detroit would come and join us in the fellowship...and God answered that prayer. We prayed for teaching that would challenge men to become better leaders...and God answered that prayer. We prayed for music that would lead the men in singing that lifted up Jesus Christ and His cross...and God answered that prayer. We prayed for many gospel-centered books to be taken away by the men for future encouragement...and God answered that prayer (half the books were bought!)...We prayed for efficient registration and traffic flow...and God answered that prayer. We prayed that the gospel would be advanced and Christ's kingdom would be benefited...and God answered that prayer.

For all that came, I pray God's richest blessings on you as you explore and cultivate again the power from what Jesus has already done for you. Continue to fellowship around that gospel with new friends you made at the conference and with the brothers in your own church. One prayer that we had (which we are awaiting with confident expectation that God will answer) is that you would take gospel-centered teaching, preaching, and living back to your churches so that the Kingdom might be extended in our region. Do your part by talking about it, praying about it, reading about it, and living it as God powerfully works in you. It doesn't end with the conference being over.

For those that could not come (and those that want to review what you've already heard), the website (http://www.fellowshipinthegospel.com/) will be updated in the coming weeks with audio recordings of the conference sessions (perhaps videos) and many photographs. We also are working on a resource page that will include a number of helpful links and documents.

May the effects of this conference continue to emanate for years to come as God is glorified in Christ and in His church. Pray to that end. Now go and fellowship in the gospel!