"If Your Worst Enemy..."

IF YOUR WORST ENEMY, all of a sudden, at a random moment was standing right in front of you, could you say "hi" to him and be nice to him?

Don't have any enemies? Aww, c'mon now! If not, you better "examine yourself, whether you be in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5). Jesus Himself said this: "WOE unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. BUT I SAY UNTO YOU WHICH HEAR, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, DO GOOD TO THEM WHICH HATE YOU, BLESS THEM THAT CURSE YOU, AND PRAY FOR THEM WHICH DESPITEFULLY USE YOU." -(Lk. 6:26-28).

And again, "BLESSED are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. 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." -(Lk. 6:22-23)

So are we settled here, that it is GOD'S WILL that you have at least a few ENEMIES? I mean, right there it is, in the Word. Let's narrow it down a little futher, SHALL we?

"BLESSED are they which are persecuted for RIGHTEOUSNESS sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. BLESSED are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost it's savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing, but to be trodden under foot of men." -(Matt. 5:10-13).

So we see from this that the main cause of true persecution and of having enemies, is because we DO THAT WHICH IS RIGHTEOUS IN THE EYES OF ALMIGHTY GOD. WE ASCERTAIN WHAT IS "TRUTH", AND WE WALK IN THAT, NO-MATTER-WHAT! And of course, this is not even possible in the first place unless the "object of our faith" be exclusively in Christ and His Blood Sacrifice on the Cross, wherein we walk in GRACE, "the sin nature' not having dominion over us (Rom. 6:14)! And then, once we ascertain "Truth", have it in our heart, and walk in that, we walk in spiritual "Light"; And then here is what begins to happen:

"For every one that doeth evil hateth the Light, neither cometh to the Light, lest his deeds should be exposed." -(Jhn. 3:20)

(Jesus speaking): "The world cannot hate you; but Me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil." -(Jhn. 7:7)

Friend, the closer you resemble JESUS, and walk in "TRUTH", the more your life and words will testify to evil folks around you that their deeds are evil, and THEY WILL HATE YOU. Bottom line. Makes perfect sense, right? AND... if the person is religious, and thinks that he is pretty darn good.... oooo buddy! There is no kind of hatred like RELIGIOUS hatred. It was these type of folks (the Scribes and Pharisees) who absolutely seethed against Him, and in the end, He allowed them to instigate His murder - SO THAT SCRIPTURE COULD BE FULFILLED, AND HE WOULD BECOME THE SIN OFFERING FOR REPENTANT SINNERS!

Okay, I believe I have established the fact that it is "normal Christianity" for you to have some enemies. Now I shall get to my title, "IF YOUR WORST ENEMY...all of a sudden, at a random moment was standing right in front of you, could you say "hi" to him and be nice to him? I aim to prove right now from the scriptures that, YES, YOU SHOULD, AND YOU... MUST!

"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." -(Mat. 22:37-38)

In Luke 10:27, Jesus said basically the same thing, and then a lawyer tempted him by saying "and who IS my neighbor?"

Jesus then, in Luke 10:30-37, gives the story of "the good Samaritan". A "certain man" was robbed and beaten, and lay hurting by the side of the road, half dead. A PRIEST, and then A LEVITE passed by (these representing RELIGIOUS FOLKS), turned up their noses to the man, and walked by. But "A CERTAIN SAMARITAN" had the utter gaul to stop and take care of the poor fellow! Now you must realize, "Samaritans" in that day and time were despised by the Jews. Sort of looked at as the scum of the earth. And yet only HE had the good sense and compassion to help that poor guy. Guess what? Jesus COMMENDED.... the SAMARITAN! Speaking of Samaritans.... Jesus said "Hi" to one: the "woman at the well", in Jhn. 4:1-42. Not only did He say "Hi", but He actually had a long discourse with her, led her to salvation, and led many Samaritans in her TOWN to salvation! SAMARITANS WERE CONSIDERED "ENEMIES" TO THE JEWS (A "TYPE" OF GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE.... CHRISTIANS!). Do you see the point?

Take another person here: JUDAS. He was the enemy of Jesus, and Jesus KNEW it. In the garden of Gethsemane, Judas came right up to Jesus to give him a BETRAYAL KISS, which would lead to the Romans beating, torturing, and ultimately crucifying Jesus. Now keep in mind, Jesus knew ahead of time that Judas was coming to do this. Did Jesus turn his back to Judas, turn up His nose, and not acknowledge him? No. What did he SAY to Judas? Here it is, right from the Holy Bible: "FRIEND, wherefore art thou come?..." -(Matt. 26:50). HE CALLED HIS ENEMY "FRIEND"!!!

And we all know the story of how, as Jesus hung on the Cross, His ENEMIES were mocking Him and railing upon Him. And how He prayed to the Father, and said "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." -(Lk. 23:34).

Likewise STEPHEN, as the religious zealots (Saul holding their coats for them- HIS ENEMIES), were stoning him, he looked up toward heaven and said to God, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. -(Acts 7:60)

JESUS had the Scribes and Pharisees on His back, persecuting Him relentlessly, and even with THEM, although He rebuked them strongly, and denounced them (Matt. chpt. 23), .... STILL.... would acknowledge them, and talked with them, and tried to reason with them, multiple times.

In closing, am I advocating moseying up real close to your enemies, and having intimate fellowship with them? No, we can love a rattlesnake, but not be so foolish as to get all close to it, for it to BITE ITS VENOM into us! That would be verrry unwise.

At one time, we were ALL the "enemies of God" (Rom. 5:6-8; 3:23). What would have happened if GOD would have just turned His nose up at US, and said... "Ahhh, let's just FORGET about them scum-balls! I am gonna IGNORE them!" ?

Instead, He hung and died for us "enemies". And those who repent of their sins and accept His Sacrifice completely for all righteousness ARE JUSTIFIED FROM ALL SIN. O HALLELUJAH!!!! (And those who ... don't? We are still to love them, do good to them, and pray for them. There is still hope until they breathe their last!.)

So the next time...... "IF YOUR WORST ENEMY all of a sudden, at a random moment was standing right in front of you, could you say "hi" to him and be nice to him? YES, IT IS THE WILL OF GOD FOR YOU TO DO SO!! The best course of action is just to love EVERYBODY. It's up to them what they choose to do!

To the Lord Jesus Christ be all glory, honor, and praise. HALLELUJAH!!!!!