West Greeley Baptist Church
May 20 2001
“When the rain comes”
Matthew 5: 44-45
Pastor Mark Hensley
44But I tell you: Love your enemies[1] and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Introduction: Chad a 34-year-old software developer married with two children from Florida responded to the question why don’t you attend church, this way:
“ Most Christians I know have a very positive outlook on life. But sometimes they can’t talk beneath the surface of their religion. I have some pretty deep questions, and so far no one has answered them. Like why does God allow innocent children to suffer and die? Why can criminals who have committed horrible acts profess to believe in Jesus right before they die and then go to heaven? What is heaven like, anyway, and why would I want to go there? Does anybody have proof? What if this heaven and hell thing is just a scare tactic? I would really like to explore questions like that with someone intelligent who has come up with some answers”
Transition: Chad has asked questions that every person has thought about at one time or another in this journey we call life. Soon Timothy Mcveigh will give an account of his horrible crime that took 168 lives in Oklahoma City. We remember where we were when it happened, just as we remember where we were when the space shuttle challenger exploded over the Atlantic Ocean in 1986. If you were alive you remember. Just as our parents remember where they were when John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. It’s as if time stands still, refusing to move forward wrapping us up in a historical event we wish would have never happened! We wonder why?
Chad has simply asked questions that are not simple to answer. We have grappled with them ourselves late at night when it’s quiet. Today in a message titled: “When the rain comes” we will face those questions squarely, seeking God’s perspective. Take God’s word and be finding Matthew 5:44-45
44But I tell you: Love your enemies[1] and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
God is Sovereign He causes the:
Sun to shine
Rain to come
I. The sun shines because God is sovereign 44But I tell you: Love your enemies[1] and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Jesus is teaching his followers concerning interpersonal relationships. In context he is trying to help them see that love is the answer! All of us have people that meander into our lives who frustrate us, who tax us! Well-intentioned grace builders! The solution? Love, warmth kindness understanding, in effect the “fruits” of the Spirit in operation and applied!
Rabbi David A. Nelson likes to tell the story of two brothers who went to their rabbi to settle a longstanding feud. The rabbi got the two to reconcile their differences and shake hands. As they were about to leave, he asked each one to make a wish for the other in honor of the Jewish New Year. The first brother turned to the other and said, "I wish you what you wish me." At that, the second brother threw up his hands and said, "See, Rabbi, he’s starting up again!" David A. Nelson
44But I tell you: Love your enemies[1] and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Our Lord is explaining the kind of conduct that characterizes those who follow Him. 44But I tell you: Love your enemies[1] and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven”
My dear friends we know more resemble our Father in heaven than when we pray and actually love those who are unlovely!
In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, "Do not waste your time bothering whether you ’love’ your neighbor act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less." Our Daily Bread, February 14.
Praying for our enemies has a two-fold benefit: it is a demonstration of love for our enemies; it also helps to increase our love for our enemies. Try it, and you’ll see what I mean. Through prayer for our enemies, we are in communication with God concerning them. Through prayer for our enemies, God speaks to us and so we begin to see our enemies as God does. Of course, God loves our enemies, and so if we see them as He sees them, our love grows for them.
Our Lord is explaining the kind of conduct that characterizes those who follow Him What he says next is crucial for every one of us and for Chad to grasp.
God is sovereign! Sovereignty - Possessed of supreme power unlimited in extent!
“He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” God has gone to great lengths to show His love for His enemies. He sent His Son to die for His enemies. All on earth have the same opportunity of salvation through Jesus Christ. God treats His enemies fairly, and gives them blessings, just as He gives His children blessings. "He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (vs. 45).
Many like Chad have struggled with the question, "Why do the wicked prosper here on earth?" Jesus here gives us one reason why God blesses the wicked: It is an example of love for enemies, an example that we are to follow.
As Jesus points out: "He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (vs. 45). Many have struggled with the question, "Why do the wicked prosper here on earth?" Jesus here gives us one reason why God blesses the wicked: It is an example of love for enemies, an example that we are to follow. From: Scripture Studies Inc 20 Pastora Foothill Ranch, CA 92610-1730
God is Sovereign He causes the:
Sun to shine
II. Rain to come "He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous"
Why do the wicked prosper here on earth?" Jesus here gives us one reason why God blesses the wicked: It is an example of love for enemies, an example that we are to follow.
When you think of rain, what comes to mind? It is refreshing it’s essential.
Oregon Horticulturalist Rod Smith wrote: “God sends rain on the just and the unjust.” I have often heard this verse quoted. It is almost always quoted out of context and completely misinterpreted. Rain is interpreted as troubles and trials. This verse is often used to explain why good people have to face trials.
Maybe people think of rain as bad because it interferes with our camping and picnics. But these words were spoken to mostly farmers living in a land with low rainfall. They depended on rain for their survival. To them, rain was a picture of God’s blessing. Reading the phrase in context makes it clear that Jesus is talking about God’s blessing! Rod Smith
Remember Chad’s concerns: “Most Christians I know have a very positive outlook on life. But sometimes they can’t talk beneath the surface of their religion. I have some pretty deep questions, and so far no one has answered them. Like why does God allow innocent children to suffer and die? Why can criminals who have committed horrible acts profess to believe in Jesus right before they die and then go to heaven?” For everything that comes into our lives, you can write one word…permitted!
"Why do the wicked prosper here on earth?" Jesus here gives us one reason why God blesses the wicked: It is an example of love for enemies, an example that we are to follow. Why do the innocent suffer? That question is not easy to digest much less answer.
Never were we promised that we would not have trouble in this life. On the contrary Jesus said in this life you will have trouble. He said: "I have told you these things , so that in Me you may have perfect peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration, but be of good cheer, take courage, be confident, certain, undaunted! For I have overcome the world. I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you". (John 16:33 Amp.)
He never said that he brings the trouble, he said in this world you have trouble, but He is here to help you through it. We need to understand that God is not the problem, He is the solution. When we read this passage we see that He is offering protection, help, comfort and courage. Even in the midst of your storm you can have joyful peace in the certainty of Christ’s victory. It is possible for you to have peace. I want you to know Jesus is enough, He is your peace.
Our confidence is not in our ability to overcome but in His ability in us. The word of God says: for whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the son of God? ( 1 John 5:4-5) Grant & Anchen Comley
Jesus came to show us God’s character, who God was, how God responded to suffering, to need. The culmination of this was on the cross, God’s ultimate response to suffering. The answer to the question "where is God when I hurt?" is quite clear: He is on the cross giving everything to restore us, to bring an end to suffering once and for all. The cross demonstrates just how hard and grave the problem of suffering is. Chad asks: Why can criminals who have committed horrible acts profess to believe in Jesus right before they die and then go to heaven?”
The same God that snapped his fingers and made the world had to sacrifice everything, dying on a cross to open the way to heaven. 2nd Corinthians 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin[1] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
We see not only that love takes on all the sin of the world - that God takes on every hurt, every injustice, The image is staggering. The cross shows us that God is willing to break every rule, to sacrifice absolutely everything to solve the problem. It hurts him. He hates it. It shows us that he is deeply intimately involved in our suffering. And it gives us reason to hope. Derek Flood
Why can criminals who have committed horrible acts profess to believe in Jesus right before they die and then go to heaven?” Because the “Blood of Christ His son cleanses us from all sin”
Where is God, when a child suffers? The same place He was when His one and only son was suffering on the cross! Watching, knowing that out of His agony would come our hope! The innocent have always suffered…but remember what the Apostle Paul said in 1st Corinthians 15:19 “19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”
Heaven is a reality! Chad wonders: What is heaven like, anyway, and why would I want to go there? Does anybody have proof? What if this heaven and hell thing is just a scare tactic?
In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. John 14: 2-3
Writer Calvin Miller wrote: I once led a man to Christ who loved the sunny country of common sense, but he could not put up with the mysteries of godliness. He kept shoving common sense at me, while I kept trying to show him that the mysteries held the meaning of faith. One day he said, "Pastor, you know this new eternal life I have -- well, I’ve been thinking about it. What are we going to do all day long for eternity?" "We’ll praise the Lord," I said. "Forever - for ten million years! --we’re going to stand around and praise the Lord?" "Well, yes," I said, although heaven was beginning to sound like cable television. "For millions and millions of years?" he said. "Couldn’t we just stop now and then and mess around a while?" I kidded him about his "dumb questions," but I have to admit similar questions of my own at times. How meager our understanding of praise -- and heaven! Calvin Miller.
The proof of heaven is that Christ died to open the way. The proof of hell is the same. Evil exists because Christ died to save us from it!
We know very little about heaven, but I once heard a theologian describe it as "an unknown region with a well-know inhabitant," and there is not a better way to think of it than that.
Richard Baxter expresses the thought in these lines:
My knowledge of that life is small,
The eye of faith is dim,
But it’s enough that Christ knows all,
And I shall be with him.
To those who have learned to love and trust Jesus, the prospect of meeting him face to face and being with him forever is the hope that keeps us going, no matter what life may throw at us. James Packer, Your Father Loves You, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986.
God loves you when the sunshines and when the rain comes!
