Like My Father (Matthew 5:43-48)
When RJ was born, hospitals didn’t give dads bracelets for identification. But, we were in a small town hospital where a lot of the nurses know me or my family, so I could walk down to the nursery and get RJ whenever Tammy and I wanted him.
But one afternoon the nursery attendant didn’t know me from Adam. When I told her why I knocked on the door, she got nervous. She said she would walk RJ down to the room herself, but when she walked over to his crib and saw him, she just handed him to me. She said, “You’re the dad; he looks just like you.”
How much do your children resemble you? Do your kids’ baby pictures look like yours? Who has children who look alike? Are you or your children a splitting image of one branch of the family tree? How many of you have a child whose mannerisms mimic your own? Do you look or act like your parents?
You must act like your heavenly Father. Jesus said: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48). Jesus spoke about being kind to your enemies—your heavenly Father blesses the good and the evil, and you do the same. In other words, “You act like your heavenly Father.”
How do you act like your heavenly Father?
Body
One: You act like your heavenly Father through Sacredness.
God has great Sacredness, i.e., holiness.
- “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Ex 15:11)
- “Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the LORD our God is holy!” (Ps 99:9)
- “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Is 6:3).
God is holy, for he is separate from sin. When Isaiah saw the Lord, he cried out, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (Is 6:5). Isaiah was separate from God; he was sinful and God is holy.
However, you must act like God in Sacredness. “As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Pet 1:15-16). How holy are you? What does your conduct reveal? Do you live in sin? Have you put sin behind you so that you might be holy?
Two: You act like your heavenly Father through Steadfastness.
God has displayed Steadfastness; he is faithful.
- “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations” (Deut 7:9).
- “Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant” (1 Ki 8:56).
- “God is faithful” (1 Cor 1:9).
Yahweh has kept every single promise. He promised to give Abraham and Sarah a son; he did. He promised to give his children the Promised Land; he did. He promised to secure David’s throne; he did. He promised to exile his people if they were unfaithful; they were, and he did. He promised to send a Messiah; he did. He promised to raise that Messiah from the dead; he did.
You must display Steadfastness. To the man who was given five talents and who gained five more, his master said, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matt 25:21). “My beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Cor 15:58).
How is your Steadfastness? Are you faithful to the Lord? Are you faithful when the mood hits you? Are you always faithful? Do you steadfastly follow Jesus?
Three: You act like your heavenly Father through Sentiment.
God has displayed great Sentiment by loving mankind.
- “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son” (Jn 3:16).
- “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).
- “God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him” (1 Jn 4:8-9).
You must display Sentiment. You express Sentiment toward your enemies: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44). You express that Sentiment toward other Christians: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (Jn 13:34). You broadly express that Sentiment to your fellow men: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 Jn 4:20).
How much do you love your enemies? How much do you love your brothers and sisters? How much do you love all men?
Four: You act like your heavenly Father through Solace.
God displays great Solace.
- “Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me” (Ps 86:17).
- “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem” (Is 66:13).
- “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction” (2 Cor 1:3-4).
You must display Solace. “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Rom 12:15). God “comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor 1:4).
How is your Solace? Do you “weep with those who weep”? Do you seek to comfort those who are in affliction? Do you offer to pray with those who are hurting? Do you offer food or visits or whatever you can? Do you give appropriate Solace?
Nothing could give you greater Solace than knowing your sins are forgiven. Do you know the Solace of forgiveness this morning?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.