What Do You Expect?
Luke 6:27-49
Message #2
In our recent study of Mark, when we got to the Crucifixion, I expected so much more from the Disciples. I couldn’t believe they so easily deserted Jesus. I couldn’t believe they wouldn’t even stand up for Jesus in his greatest hour of need. I couldn’t believe that instead of being there for Jesus, they all ran and hid like a bunch of cowards. Peter denied three times that he even knew Jesus. I expected so much more from the Disciples.
But… Jesus did not. Yes. Jesus was God, so he knew the end from the beginning. But still, Jesus did not expect anything from the Disciples – even as he faced the Cross. Jesus loved them and he forgave them and he died for them, with no expectations regarding their behavior.
Their actions and their failures didn’t change – at all – the love and the forgiveness and the sacrifice that Jesus made for each of them. Jesus loved and forgave those closest to him in the same way he did the Centurion who oversaw his death.
What do you expect from those closest to you?
Last week we started a new series called The Bait of Satan and I explained in my thirty years in formal church leadership, by far, the most productive bait I’ve seen the enemy use to entrap Christians is the bait of offense. But – I explained – the offense is only the bait. When you take the bait of offense and become offended, that is when the enemy so often entraps you.
A person offends you (especially IN the Church) that is the bait. When you take up that offense and become offended, that is the trap. And when the enemy entraps us by getting us to become offended (especially by someone in the Church), we often spend years (or even a lifetime) producing the works of the flesh (that we’ll get to in Galatians 5), which the enemy uses to damage or destroy other Christians and entire churches.
These messages build on one another, each laying the foundation for the next, as we loosely follow the book, “The Bait of Satan” by John Bever. And so, you really need to watch, listen or read the first message, along with this message. If you missed the first message (called “The Bait of Satan”), you can get it on the “Word By Mail” phone app, in your app store.
So, back to today’s focus.
What did you expect from that person who offended you? What did you expect from them?
Doesn’t it sound right for us to say the following? “Well, I expected them to act like a Christian. I expected them to do what was right. What I thought was right.”
Really? When you took that offense, what did you expect of yourself? It’s really easy to say, “This is what I expected of this person.” But God says, “What did you expect of yourself?”
Do you expect yourself to act like a Christian?
Do you expect yourself to do what is right?
Let’s turn over to Luke Chapter 6 and let’s ask, “Do I expect myself to act like a Christian?”
Luke 6:27–28 (NLT)
27 “But to you who are willing to listen, (have you ever met a Christian who is NOT willing to listen?) I say, love your enemies! (those you think are your enemies – inside the church) Do good to those who hate you. (those you think hate you – inside the church)
28 Bless those who curse you. (those you think are cursing you – inside the church) Pray for those who hurt you. (those you think are hurting you – inside the church)
Is this how we expect ourselves to act?
And then (just down) in Luke,
Luke 6:32–33 (NLT)
32 “If you love only those who love you, (inside the church) why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! (outside the church)
33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, (inside the church) why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! (outside the church)
Do these verses make sense to us?
Isn’t it wrong that IN the Church, far too often, we ignore these biblical commands when we are dealing with other Christians? Especially other Christians who have offended us or even who rub us (a little bit) the wrong way. Often, too often, we don’t apply the Bible to us, our own self, to our own heart.
Guys, far too often, we use the world’s standards to decide who we love and who we will do good to… inside the Church. And worse, far too often, we use the world’s standards to justify our response to people who have hurt or offended us.
And far, far too often, our natural response to those who have offended us is the same natural response – as unbelievers.
And Jesus goes on in Luke 6.
Luke 6:35-36 (NLT)
35 “Love your enemies! (or those you think are your enemies – inside the church) Do good to them. (do what is good FOR them – inside the church) Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, (isn’t THIS what we should expect of ourselves as Christians?) for he (The Most High) is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. (in the church)
36 You must be compassionate, just as (in the same way as) your Father is compassionate.
Seriously, we could live in these verses forever – couldn’t we?
Then, in the next verse (starting a new section), Jesus just keeps rolling.
Luke 6:37 (NLT)
37 “Do not judge others (in the church) (Listen Please, here, this word means “to form a critical opinion of another”) (do not form a critical opinion of another person – in the church) (how many of us specialize in forming critical opinions of others?), and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others (in the church) (to condemn, is to pronounce someone worthy of punishment) (how often do we pronounce someone worthy of some type of punishment in the church?), or it will all come back against you. Forgive others (in the church), and you will be forgiven.
These are serious, serious warnings to not take the bait of Satan in the Church. In Luke Chapter 6 Jesus goes on about this same subject, from verse 27 all the way to verse 49 (the end of the chapter).
This would be an awesome section for us to meditate on every day, for a week, or a month, or a year! AND every day, apply it to ourselves.
So, spend some time in Luke 6:27-49, and just say, “Man. I’ve got to spend some time with these verses and a mirror.” And as you’re going through these verses, just ask yourself, “Do I expect myself to act like a Christian? Or do I just expect those who have hurt me to act like Christians?”
By simply asking ourselves, “Do I expect myself to act this way (as a Christian)?”, if we were to genuinely apply the many verses in the New Testament on this subject, I think we may learn to not expect perfection of others while giving ourselves a huge pass on our own actions, and we may learn to not so easily take the bait of Satan.
Because guys, most often this is NOT the type of love we walk in, is it? And, isn’t there a chance that at least part of the reason we don’t walk in this love is because being offended has become the norm in the Church? And not just the norm in the Church, but fully accepted by other Christians. And not just fully accepted by other Christians, but supported and encouraged by other Christians? (This is where Satan just wins!)
“They did whaaat to you?
“The people God put in charge of leading the Church made a leadership decision about the Church… how could they?”
“You should be so offended by that.”
That person did whaaat to you? They did? Oh, honey, tell me more – all the gory details I need those details so I can pray. Tell me what they did! Oh. I can’t believe it! I am so with you. You’re right! We have to do something about this!
This happens every day in Church. Where Christians are supporting the sin, the bait of Satan, of offense! And saying, “You’re right! You should be offended! Forget all that ‘acting like Jesus’ stuff. Throw it out!”
Listen, in regard to other people feeding your offense, can I show you a hard application to a well-known scripture? Turn over to Matthew 7 verse 15.
Matthew 7:15–17, 20 (NLT)
15 “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.
16 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit.
. . .
20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.
The standard application of this passage is pointed at the pulpit. And it works there.
But, listen. Can I say this gently, please? If you are offended and a person comes alongside you and fans the flame of your offense, that person, I think, can be accurately described as a “false prophet” (teacher) in your life. If they are fanning the flames of your flesh and if they are feeding your offense, then they are producing bad fruit in your life.
If you are the one that is encouraging a Christian to be offended instead of forgiving, then I think you fit in the false prophet category because you are speaking something to someone that is leading to their destruction and you’re doing it acting like a Christian.
When you have taken the bait of Satan, and you have become offended – especially by another believer in the Church – what type of prophet (counselor) do you need?
You need one who will tell you the truth. NOT their opinion and not agree with your opinion, but someone who will tell you the only truth we are called to run our lives by. The truth of the Word of God. We don’t need a wolf in sheep’s clothing feeding the flames of offense in our lives. We need someone to lovingly speak the Word of God to us. We need someone to show us – by God’s Word – that we have taken the bait of Satan by becoming offended.
And… it is our heart that must be dealt with FIRST. NOT the person who has offended us.
Now, IF the person who has offended us has sinned, then God’s Word gives us ways to address that sin.
Look in Matthew Chapter 18, for example.
Matthew 18:21–22 (NLT)
21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”
22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!
So, God’s Word does give us clear instruction like these verses about HOW to deal with someone who has sinned against us.
But first, we must understand that if we have this fire of offense living inside us, whether it’s a smoldering ember or a raging inferno, then we must – first – deal with our own heart.
We have got to drop that bait of Satan and get free of the enemy’s trap of offense.
Can we just do one more scripture before we go?
Galatians 6:7–8 (NLT)
7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.
8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature (that’s what we naturally do when we become offended) will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit (which is opposite of what we naturally do) will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
When we are tempted to take the bait of Satan and become offended, we must ask ourselves, “Do I want to harvest decay and death from my sin nature, in this situation, or do I want to harvest everlasting life from the Spirit, in this situation?”
In other words, we have to be very careful HOW we respond when we are faced with the bait of Satan. And the last person we need in our lives at that moment is a person who is agreeing with our sin nature and encourages us to harvest decay and death from this situation.
Continuing in Galatians 6.
Galatians 6:9-10 (NLT)
9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good (love in action). At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
10 Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity (like when we are tempted to become offended), we should do good (love in action) to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.
Why are we so quick to take up “being offended” by those in the family of faith and so slow to forgive those in the family of faith? Maybe because we are taking the bait of Satan.
Let’s read through the following statements, which include scripture references for us to further meditate on.
Adapted from “The Bait of Satan” John Bevere, Chapter 2
God’s love in my life will not be conditioned upon my expectations or the actions of those around me. With the Holy Spirit’s help, I will love those who have offended me. (1 Peter 4:8)
I commit to allowing the agape love of God, which has been poured out in my heart, to flow to those who have offended me. (Romans 5:5)
I refuse to live according to my flesh, instead, I choose to live according to the Spirit in all my dealings with those who have offended me. (Galatians 6:7-8)
Holy Spirit, please give me the strength to not grow tired of doing good and truly loving those who have offended me or not met my expectations. (Galatians 6:9-10)
With God’s power, I will tear down every stronghold of human reasoning that causes me to take the bait of offense. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)
I will live with an open heart of love and will not become imprisoned by my own walls of conditional expectations. (Proverbs 18:19)
I will follow the admonition of Jesus to love my enemies, do good to those who hate me, bless those who curse me, and pray for those who hurt me. (Luke 6:27-28)
I will never deny the power of Godliness at work in my life. I will allow God’s truth to pierce my heart and bring forth the character of Jesus Christ in me. (2 Timothy 3:3-5)
Many around me are living with offense toward others, I refuse to listen to them or join them in their sin. I will guard my heart against those who speak only what I want to hear, not what I need to hear. (Matthew 7:15-20)
But… Jesus did not. Yes. Jesus was God, so he knew the end from the beginning. But still, Jesus did not expect anything from the Disciples – even as he faced the Cross. Jesus loved them and he forgave them and he died for them, with no expectations regarding their behavior.
Their actions and their failures didn’t change – at all – the love and the forgiveness and the sacrifice that Jesus made for each of them. Jesus loved and forgave those closest to him in the same way he did the Centurion who oversaw his death.
What do you expect from those closest to you?
Last week we started a new series called The Bait of Satan and I explained in my thirty years in formal church leadership, by far, the most productive bait I’ve seen the enemy use to entrap Christians is the bait of offense. But – I explained – the offense is only the bait. When you take the bait of offense and become offended, that is when the enemy so often entraps you.
A person offends you (especially IN the Church) that is the bait. When you take up that offense and become offended, that is the trap. And when the enemy entraps us by getting us to become offended (especially by someone in the Church), we often spend years (or even a lifetime) producing the works of the flesh (that we’ll get to in Galatians 5), which the enemy uses to damage or destroy other Christians and entire churches.
These messages build on one another, each laying the foundation for the next, as we loosely follow the book, “The Bait of Satan” by John Bever. And so, you really need to watch, listen or read the first message, along with this message. If you missed the first message (called “The Bait of Satan”), you can get it on the “Word By Mail” phone app, in your app store.
So, back to today’s focus.
What did you expect from that person who offended you? What did you expect from them?
Doesn’t it sound right for us to say the following? “Well, I expected them to act like a Christian. I expected them to do what was right. What I thought was right.”
Really? When you took that offense, what did you expect of yourself? It’s really easy to say, “This is what I expected of this person.” But God says, “What did you expect of yourself?”
Do you expect yourself to act like a Christian?
Do you expect yourself to do what is right?
Let’s turn over to Luke Chapter 6 and let’s ask, “Do I expect myself to act like a Christian?”
Luke 6:27–28 (NLT)
27 “But to you who are willing to listen, (have you ever met a Christian who is NOT willing to listen?) I say, love your enemies! (those you think are your enemies – inside the church) Do good to those who hate you. (those you think hate you – inside the church)
28 Bless those who curse you. (those you think are cursing you – inside the church) Pray for those who hurt you. (those you think are hurting you – inside the church)
Is this how we expect ourselves to act?
And then (just down) in Luke,
Luke 6:32–33 (NLT)
32 “If you love only those who love you, (inside the church) why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! (outside the church)
33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, (inside the church) why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! (outside the church)
Do these verses make sense to us?
Isn’t it wrong that IN the Church, far too often, we ignore these biblical commands when we are dealing with other Christians? Especially other Christians who have offended us or even who rub us (a little bit) the wrong way. Often, too often, we don’t apply the Bible to us, our own self, to our own heart.
Guys, far too often, we use the world’s standards to decide who we love and who we will do good to… inside the Church. And worse, far too often, we use the world’s standards to justify our response to people who have hurt or offended us.
And far, far too often, our natural response to those who have offended us is the same natural response – as unbelievers.
And Jesus goes on in Luke 6.
Luke 6:35-36 (NLT)
35 “Love your enemies! (or those you think are your enemies – inside the church) Do good to them. (do what is good FOR them – inside the church) Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, (isn’t THIS what we should expect of ourselves as Christians?) for he (The Most High) is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. (in the church)
36 You must be compassionate, just as (in the same way as) your Father is compassionate.
Seriously, we could live in these verses forever – couldn’t we?
Then, in the next verse (starting a new section), Jesus just keeps rolling.
Luke 6:37 (NLT)
37 “Do not judge others (in the church) (Listen Please, here, this word means “to form a critical opinion of another”) (do not form a critical opinion of another person – in the church) (how many of us specialize in forming critical opinions of others?), and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others (in the church) (to condemn, is to pronounce someone worthy of punishment) (how often do we pronounce someone worthy of some type of punishment in the church?), or it will all come back against you. Forgive others (in the church), and you will be forgiven.
These are serious, serious warnings to not take the bait of Satan in the Church. In Luke Chapter 6 Jesus goes on about this same subject, from verse 27 all the way to verse 49 (the end of the chapter).
This would be an awesome section for us to meditate on every day, for a week, or a month, or a year! AND every day, apply it to ourselves.
So, spend some time in Luke 6:27-49, and just say, “Man. I’ve got to spend some time with these verses and a mirror.” And as you’re going through these verses, just ask yourself, “Do I expect myself to act like a Christian? Or do I just expect those who have hurt me to act like Christians?”
By simply asking ourselves, “Do I expect myself to act this way (as a Christian)?”, if we were to genuinely apply the many verses in the New Testament on this subject, I think we may learn to not expect perfection of others while giving ourselves a huge pass on our own actions, and we may learn to not so easily take the bait of Satan.
Because guys, most often this is NOT the type of love we walk in, is it? And, isn’t there a chance that at least part of the reason we don’t walk in this love is because being offended has become the norm in the Church? And not just the norm in the Church, but fully accepted by other Christians. And not just fully accepted by other Christians, but supported and encouraged by other Christians? (This is where Satan just wins!)
“They did whaaat to you?
“The people God put in charge of leading the Church made a leadership decision about the Church… how could they?”
“You should be so offended by that.”
That person did whaaat to you? They did? Oh, honey, tell me more – all the gory details I need those details so I can pray. Tell me what they did! Oh. I can’t believe it! I am so with you. You’re right! We have to do something about this!
This happens every day in Church. Where Christians are supporting the sin, the bait of Satan, of offense! And saying, “You’re right! You should be offended! Forget all that ‘acting like Jesus’ stuff. Throw it out!”
Listen, in regard to other people feeding your offense, can I show you a hard application to a well-known scripture? Turn over to Matthew 7 verse 15.
Matthew 7:15–17, 20 (NLT)
15 “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.
16 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit.
. . .
20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.
The standard application of this passage is pointed at the pulpit. And it works there.
But, listen. Can I say this gently, please? If you are offended and a person comes alongside you and fans the flame of your offense, that person, I think, can be accurately described as a “false prophet” (teacher) in your life. If they are fanning the flames of your flesh and if they are feeding your offense, then they are producing bad fruit in your life.
If you are the one that is encouraging a Christian to be offended instead of forgiving, then I think you fit in the false prophet category because you are speaking something to someone that is leading to their destruction and you’re doing it acting like a Christian.
When you have taken the bait of Satan, and you have become offended – especially by another believer in the Church – what type of prophet (counselor) do you need?
You need one who will tell you the truth. NOT their opinion and not agree with your opinion, but someone who will tell you the only truth we are called to run our lives by. The truth of the Word of God. We don’t need a wolf in sheep’s clothing feeding the flames of offense in our lives. We need someone to lovingly speak the Word of God to us. We need someone to show us – by God’s Word – that we have taken the bait of Satan by becoming offended.
And… it is our heart that must be dealt with FIRST. NOT the person who has offended us.
Now, IF the person who has offended us has sinned, then God’s Word gives us ways to address that sin.
Look in Matthew Chapter 18, for example.
Matthew 18:21–22 (NLT)
21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”
22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!
So, God’s Word does give us clear instruction like these verses about HOW to deal with someone who has sinned against us.
But first, we must understand that if we have this fire of offense living inside us, whether it’s a smoldering ember or a raging inferno, then we must – first – deal with our own heart.
We have got to drop that bait of Satan and get free of the enemy’s trap of offense.
Can we just do one more scripture before we go?
Galatians 6:7–8 (NLT)
7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.
8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature (that’s what we naturally do when we become offended) will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit (which is opposite of what we naturally do) will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
When we are tempted to take the bait of Satan and become offended, we must ask ourselves, “Do I want to harvest decay and death from my sin nature, in this situation, or do I want to harvest everlasting life from the Spirit, in this situation?”
In other words, we have to be very careful HOW we respond when we are faced with the bait of Satan. And the last person we need in our lives at that moment is a person who is agreeing with our sin nature and encourages us to harvest decay and death from this situation.
Continuing in Galatians 6.
Galatians 6:9-10 (NLT)
9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good (love in action). At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
10 Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity (like when we are tempted to become offended), we should do good (love in action) to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.
Why are we so quick to take up “being offended” by those in the family of faith and so slow to forgive those in the family of faith? Maybe because we are taking the bait of Satan.
Let’s read through the following statements, which include scripture references for us to further meditate on.
Adapted from “The Bait of Satan” John Bevere, Chapter 2
God’s love in my life will not be conditioned upon my expectations or the actions of those around me. With the Holy Spirit’s help, I will love those who have offended me. (1 Peter 4:8)
I commit to allowing the agape love of God, which has been poured out in my heart, to flow to those who have offended me. (Romans 5:5)
I refuse to live according to my flesh, instead, I choose to live according to the Spirit in all my dealings with those who have offended me. (Galatians 6:7-8)
Holy Spirit, please give me the strength to not grow tired of doing good and truly loving those who have offended me or not met my expectations. (Galatians 6:9-10)
With God’s power, I will tear down every stronghold of human reasoning that causes me to take the bait of offense. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)
I will live with an open heart of love and will not become imprisoned by my own walls of conditional expectations. (Proverbs 18:19)
I will follow the admonition of Jesus to love my enemies, do good to those who hate me, bless those who curse me, and pray for those who hurt me. (Luke 6:27-28)
I will never deny the power of Godliness at work in my life. I will allow God’s truth to pierce my heart and bring forth the character of Jesus Christ in me. (2 Timothy 3:3-5)
Many around me are living with offense toward others, I refuse to listen to them or join them in their sin. I will guard my heart against those who speak only what I want to hear, not what I need to hear. (Matthew 7:15-20)