bric house gathering 9

8/14/2019 BRIC House Gathering 9

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BRIC House Gathering no 9

But God demon ! rat e h # o $ love for us %# :While we were ! i l sinners, Ch '! ( ed for u

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Loving ose Who Dont Love You

Love is the hardest lesson in Christianity; but for that reason it

should be our most care to learn it. William Penn1

ScripturesFor this is the original message we heard: We should love each other. (1 John 3:11 MESSAGE)

Youre familiar with the old written law, Love your friend, and its unwritten companion,Hate your enemy. Im challenging that. Im telling you to love your enemies. Let them bringout the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the

energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves.is is what God does. He gives his bestthe sun to warm and the rain to nourishto

everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, doyou expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, doyou expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

In a word, what Im saying is, Grow up. Youre kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out yourGod-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives towardyou.(Matt 5:4348 MESSAGE)

enemy | enm |noun ( pl. -mies )a person who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something. ( the enemy ) [treated as sing. or pl. ] a hostile nation or its armed forces or citizens, esp. intime of war : the enemy shot down four helicopters| [as adj. ] enemy aircraft. a thing that harms or weakens something else : routine is the enemy of art.PHRASES be one's own worst enemy act in a way contrary to one's own interests.ORIGIN Middle English : from Old Frenchenemi , from Latin inimicus , from in- not +

amicus friend.

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1 John Blanchard, ed., e Complete Gathered Gold: a Treasury of Quotations for Christians(Accordance electronic ed.New York: Evangelical Press, 2006), n.p.


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CommentaryBy telling us not to retaliate, Jesus keeps us from taking the law into our own hands. By lovingand praying for our enemies, we can overcome evil with good.

e Pharisees interpreted Leviticus 19:18 as teaching that they should love only those who lovein return, and Psalms 139:19-22 and 140:9-11 as meaning that they should hate their enemies.But Jesus says we are to love our enemies. If you love your enemies and treat them well, youwill truly show that Jesus is Lord of your life. is is possible only for those who givethemselves fully to God, because only he can deliver people from natural sel shness. We musttrust the Holy Spirit to help us show love to those for whom we may not feel love.2

44. Love your enemies. is single point includes the whole of the former doctrine: for he whoshall bring his mind to love those who hate him, will naturally refrain from allrevenge, will patiently endure evils, will be much more prone to assist the wretched. Christ presents to us, in a summary view, the way and manner of ful lling this precept, oushalt love thy neighbor as thyself,(Matthew 22:39.) For no man will ever come to obey thisprecept, till he shall have given up self-love, or rather denied himself, and till men, all of whomGod has declared to be connected with him, shall be held by him in such estimation, that heshall even proceed to love those by whom he is regarded with hatred.

We learn from these words, how far believers ought to be removed from every kindof revenge: for they are not only forbidden to ask it from God, but are commanded to banish and e ff ace it from their minds so completely, as to bless their enemies. In themeantime, they do not fail to commit their cause to God, till he take vengeance on thereprobate: for they desire, as far as lies in them, that the wicked should return to a sound mind,that they may not perish; and thus they endeavor to promote their salvation. And there is stillthis consolation, by which all their distresses are soothed. ey entertain no doubt, that Godwill be the avenger of obstinate wickedness , so as to make it manifest, that those who areunjustly attacked are the objects of his care. It is very di ffi cult, indeed, and altogether contraryto the disposition of the esh, to render good for evil. But our vices and weakness ought not tobe pleaded as an apology. We ought simply to inquire, what is demanded by the law of charity:for, if we rely on the heavenly power of the Spirit, we shall encounter successfully all that isopposed to it in our feelings. [...]

45. at ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven.When he expressly declares,that no man will be a child of God, unless he loves those who hate him, wh o shall dareto say, that we are not bound to observe this doctrine? e statement amounts to this,Whoever shall wish to be accounted a Christian, let him love his enemies. It is truly horribleand monstrous, that the world should have been covered with such thick darkness, for three orfour centuries, as not to see that it is an express command, and that every one who neglects itis struck out of the number of the children of God.[...] 3

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2 Life Application Study Bible(Accordance electronic ed. Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, 2004), n.p.

3 John Calvin, Calvin's Commentaries (Complete)(trans. John King; Accordance electronic ed. Edinburgh: CalvinTranslation Society, 1847), n.p.


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Questions1. Do you love people that dont love you?

2. Is loving someone more than just getting along or being nice?

3. Do you have any enemies?

4. Do you love your enemies?

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About the Cover Imagee Piet' s rst home was the Chapel of Santa Petronilla, a Roman mausoleum near the south

transept of St. Peter's, which the Cardinal chose as his funerary chapel. e chapel was laterdemolished by Bramante during his rebuilding of the basilica. According to Giorgio Vasari,shortly after the installation of his Piet Michelangelo overheard (or asked visitors about thesculptor) and someone remark that it was the work of another sculptor, Cristoforo Solari,whereby Michelangelo signed the sculpture. Michelangelo carved MICHAELA[N]GELUSBONAROTUS FLORENTIN[US] FACIEBA[T] (Michelangelo Buonarroti, Florentine, made it) onthe sash running across Mary's chest. It was the only work he ever signed. Vasari also reportsthe anecdote that Michelangelo later regretted his outburst of pride and swore never to signanother work of his hands.

In subsequent years the Piet sustained much damage. Four ngers on Mary's left hand, brokenduring a move, were restored in 1736 by Giuseppe Lirioni and scholars are divided as towhether the restorer took liberties to make the gesture more 'rhetorical'. e most substantialdamage occurred on May 21, 1972 (Pentecost Sunday) when a mentally disturbed geologistnamed Laszlo Toth walked into the chapel and attacked the sculpture with a geologist'shammer while shouting "I am Jesus Christ". Onlookers took many of the pieces of marble that

ew off . Later, some pieces were returned, but many were not, including Mary's nose, whichhad to be reconstructed from a block cut out of her back.

After the attack, the work was painstakingly restor ed and returned to its place in St. Peter's, just to the right of the entrance, between the Holy door and the altar of Saint Sebastian, and isnow protected by a bullet-proof acrylic glass panel .4

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4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_(Michelangelo)

bric house gathering 9

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