Teleios: Loving Those Who Oppose You

**SPEAKER_1** (0:04)
Welcome to the City Lights Church Podcast. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing today, we hope this message inspires you to follow Jesus. You can find out more about City Lights Church at city-lights.church.

**Andrew Scott** (0:24)
Thank you so much. Thank you so much to our team for leading us so well this morning. Well, how are you doing? Are you doing well? Turn to the person next to you, give them a huge smile and say, it's so good to see you this morning. Just a quick note, actually a praise point. Some of you who were here two weeks ago, at the end of my message two weeks ago, I had had a sense that God wanted to heal someone who had some kind of tumour or a growth. And so I wasn't sure who that was. And, you know, even for all of us, sometimes when God speaks to us, we've got to take that step of courage, right? When we put something out there and we're like, you know, there's that temptation to say, well, what if nothing happens? And what if people say this or that? Here's a better idea for living. Just say yes to God. Anyway, it turns out that one of the people that God wanted to heal was actually my daughter. And so she had had, we had just been to the physio, and I wasn't even thinking this at the time. She's had some knee issues since when she was young. We thought it was some fluid in her knee, but the physio said, actually, that is a cyst that it will actually need to be, you'll need to go to the doctor and get that removed. We actually have a photo from our recent holiday of her when we were at Bondi Beach, and you can actually see this cyst coming out of her leg, and it has completely healed and completely dissolved. Come up here and show them your knee. No, I'm not going to do that.
Too much trauma for pastors' kids, huh? Of which I am one, but my psychologist says I'm doing really well at the moment.
We are in the middle of a series on spiritual growth called Teleios, and I'm going to jump right in to teaching of Jesus from Matthew chapter 5 and verse 43 You can read in your Bibles or it will come along in the screen. It says this, You have heard the law that says love your neighbour and hate your enemy. Let me just pause for a minute to say, Jesus is not actually saying this is what it says. He's saying, you've been taught that it says this. There's a distinction. Your teachers have said that this is what the law of Moses, our Old Testament says. He says, but I've got some different news. I've got a different perspective. He says, but I say love your enemies. How about that? Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven, for He gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. Listen to this. If you only love those who love you, what reward is there for that?
Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you're kind only to your friends, how are you different from every or anyone else? Even pagans do that. But here we go. You are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. Here is what I love. I love that He says, You have been taught this way, but I say, do you know that Jesus has for you and I, an elevated vision, that we have an understanding of the way that we think we should do things, of the way that we've been taught, of the way that we've been conditioned, but Jesus wants to come and He wants to bring an elevated vision, a new vision, a new way of living, a new way of being, that radically changes you and your perspective, but will ultimately radically change the world.
He gives us a higher vision and a greater goal. And that's what this sermon series, Teleios is all about.
That Jesus wants us, this idea of Teleios means bringing something to its intended purpose, having something to be whole and complete. This morning, I want to say that you are Teleios, you are complete, you are whole, you fulfill your intended purpose when you love your enemies. You are a mature and fully formed follower of Jesus when you love your enemies. And so, this morning, I want to talk about, and the title of my message is, Loving People Who Oppose You. Loving People Who Oppose You.