Summary: <p>Revelation 3:1-2 NLT "I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive-- but you are dead.<br> 2 Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God.<br><br>The 2 reasons the church at Sardis is said to be dead is because:<br>Conformity to the culture around it<br>Failure in their Gospel witness.<br><br>Read Luke 6:20-49<br><br>Luke 6:27-28 NLT 27 "But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you.<br> 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.<br><br>Luke 6:35-36 NLT 35 "Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.<br> 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.<br><br>We just read:<br>Luke 6:28 NLT 28 Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.<br><br>How is it that if we are truly practicing the love that is commanded in this verse that we would ever be persecuted?<br>Sometimes, too often, we are persecuted bc we have done exactly what Jesus told us not to do, we judge and condemn others out of our hatred.<br>When individuals are hateful or judgmental in the church, people don’t just say that that individual is hateful, they say the church is hateful. All the investments that we make in loving people, can be obliterated in an instant when one member of our church misrepresents Jesus.<br>But sometimes if you are living out this passage, the person or people who will persecute you and speak evil against you are the people you poured your life into the most.<br>If you live the life Jesus is calling us to and you genuinely seek to love people, there will come a time when you are persecuted, and instead of condemning these people, instead of judging them, and speaking evil against them, we must learn to continue to love and bless them.<br>you are going to feel violated, used, abused, taken advantage of, but rejoice, for great is your reward in heaven. Don’t be surprised and shocked. No servant is greater than his master and Jesus warned us about this.<br><br>When we do speak evil thinking we are defending righteousness, here is what Jesus says:<br>Luke 6:45 NLT 45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.<br><br>Jesus’ teaching on love became the centerpiece of the Christian Church:<br>Luke 23:34 NLT 34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing.”<br><br>Acts 7:59-60 NLT 59 As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."<br> 60 He fell to his knees, shouting, "Lord, don't charge them with this sin!" And with that, he died.<br><br>Romans 12:16-21 NLT 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don't be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don't think you know it all! 17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. 19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, "I will take revenge; I will pay them back," says the LORD. 20 Instead, "If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads." 21 Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.<br><br>1 Thessalonians 5:15 NLT 15 See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.<br><br>1 Peter 3:9 NLT 9 Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.<br><br>So as a Christian, you are going to be insulted or you aren’t doing it right, but you better be insulted for the right reasons. You are going to be tempted to pride, you are going to be tempted to retaliate, you are going to be tempted to take revenge.<br><br>The only way you are going to be able to love others, no matter what the context, is if you have the hope that Jesus is the one who will set all things right in the end on judgement day.<br>Luke 6:23 NLT For a great reward awaits you in heaven.<br><br>1 Corinthians 5:9-13 NLT 9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin.<br> 10 But I wasn't talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.<br> 11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don't even eat with such people.<br> 12 It isn't my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.<br> 13 God will judge those on the outside;<br><br>If we are going to openly criticize Muslims or Islam, abortion, homosexuality, or any such issue, can we be known for loving people who take the opposite position in our real lives?<br>When we aren’t loving people and blessing them, but instead we use social media to attack them, we are taking judgement in our own hands, and we become like the very culture we are criticizing. <br><br>Can we make it the practice of our church that those who have been Christians longer give preference to the younger Christians? <br>That is to say can we be willing to yield to the preferences of others, to be inconvenienced? <br>If we always have to have things our way, how will we ever grown? If you get even a handful of people together there is going to be disagreement. <br>The challenging thing we are trying to do at our church is make a place centered on Jesus and that means we have a broad spectrum of backgrounds. <br><br>Who is Jesus hard on?<br>Luke 11:52 NLT 52 "What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don't enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.”<br><br>If we are going to have strict standards, can we have those standards for ourselves. It is too easy to be hard on others and easy on ourselves. <br><br>When we fail to love others even when they are totally unChristian Jesus says this to us:<br>Luke 6:46 NLT 46 "So why do you keep calling me 'Lord, Lord!' when you don't do what I say?<br><br><br><br>I’m not arguing we should be docile and weak people, that are too cowardly to speak the truth. I’m arguing that LOVE MUST BE OUR APOLOGETIC.<br><br>When you are confused and don’t know how to respond, open this passage in Luke 6 and figure out how to respond out the conditions Jesus lays out for us here.<br><br>This is going to apply to your marriage, your children, your relatives, your coworkers, your presence on social media, people you have tried to love and disciple in the church, new believers, people that frustrate you.</p>
