MAT 5:45-48 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

>>Our text begins with the word "That". This word "That" is the central theme of the six contrasts set forth in this chapter.

>>After Jesus brought forth the beatitudes, He commenced in verse 13 through 16 to show how His church was to reveal His character to the world by being conformed to His image.

MAT 5:13-14 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.

>>Then in verses 17 through 20 Jesus admonishes His church of the need to live by the spirit of the law saying to demonstrate His character before the world.

MAT 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

>>Jesus teaches the glaring contrasts between the perverted righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, and the righteousness that excels under the true spirit of the law in the six major contrasts taught in verses 21-44.

>>Now, our text begins with "That." Other versions say "so that".

MAT 5:45 "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven."

>>Is it not practical teaching, that children imitate their parents in their expressions?

>>The central theme of Jesus teaching from verse 13 to the end of the chapter is that the world must be able to see that you are, "...the children of your Father in heaven,"

>>The world must be able to recognize your heavenly Father in you by your expressions.

>>What expressions is Jesus pointing to? Our heavenly Father's gracious, one-sided love.

>>See how Jesus expenses this with that connecting word "for".

MAT 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father, which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

>>Jesus condescends so low in His teachings. He spoke the words of our text so we can understand why He said in

MAT 5:44 "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."

>>When Jesus said, "He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good," we must examine those qualities, which He is referring too.

>>What is the first quality of the sun, which comes to mind? Is it not light?

>>Deborah and Barak sang after their victory over Sisera in JDG 5:31 saying, "So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might."

>>The righteousness of Christ shall lighten the heavens for all eternity,

REV 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

>>So shall the righteousness of the saints lighten the world.

ISA 62:1-3 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.

3 Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.

>>Jesus said in MAT 5:14-16 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.

>>God's servants who proclaim the gospel are His instruments of light as Paul said in

ACT 13:47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.

>>The apostle Paul taught that the walk of God's dear children are a light to the world in

EPH 5:8-12 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)

10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

>>Righteousness shines as a light in a wicked and perverse generation.

PHI 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

>>Zacharias, being filled with the Holy Ghost, spake of the coming Saviour as the rising of the sun.

LUK 1:78-79 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring [i.e., the rising of the sun] from on high hath visited us,

79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

>>What is the second quality of the sun, which comes to mind? Is it not warmth?

>>The rising of the Sun of righteousness, was the healing of the nations

MAL 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.

>>The warmth of the sun heals the barrenness of winter.

SON 2:10-13 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

>>Spiritual growth, requires us to "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away," from all coldness, spiritual deadness, harshness and hardness of heart.

>>All frost and coldness must give way to the approaching of summer, "For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone."

>>As the Spirit of Christ, i.e., "The Sun of righteousness" arises the little plants of the fruits of the Spirit begin to spring up everywhere. "The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away."

>>The love of Christ is compared to coals of fire in

SON 8:6-7 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.

7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it."

>>Death and the grave are used to illustrate the strength and attachment of Christ's love.

>>You could easier rob death of its prey than Christ of His purchased ones

>>Its intensity is an attribute of Christ's love for His church. "...the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame."

>>What kindled the fire of Christ's love? was it our good works? was it any beauty that He saw in us? it was all from His own bowels of mercy!

>>What is the third quality of the sun, which comes to mind? Is it not gravity?

>>It has been established scientifically that the sun's gravitation holds the planets in their paths.

>>Gravitation is the force that holds the universe together. If gravitation could be turned off, the universe would come apart.

>>The Lord Jesus Christ is the "SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS"

MAL 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.

>>The righteousness of Christ is the gravitation that draws the spiritual universe together.

JOH 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.

>>This self-sacrificial death which Christ dyed is the gravitation whereby "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them," 2CO 5:19.

>>This self-sacrificial love of Christ in our human nature is gravitation, which drew the Father's into oneness with His church by fulfilling the purpose in His creation.

PHI 2:8-11 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

MAT 5:45-48 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

>>God makes the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God," "...to rise on the evil and on the good."

MAT 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

>>This is the light that condemns all unrighteousness, but draws those who the "The children of your Father which is in heaven."

JOH 3:19-20 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

>>For those who "May be the Children of your Father who is in heaven," that light is the gravitation, which draws them to their Father.

JOH 3:21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

>>The Love of the Father in giving His Son draws His dear children unto Him

1JO 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

>>This love of the Father is what our text says we must reflect to "...the evil and on the good."

MAT 5:46-48 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

>>This love of the Father must lead us to express the same love to our fellow man

1JO 4:10-11 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1JO 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

>>Through the self-sacrificial love spoken of by Jesus we become a deterrent against decay by being the salt of the earth.

COL 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

LUK 14:34 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

>>That gracious Spirit of mercy, i.e., one-sided love reflects the expressions of our loving, merciful Father. Jesus said in our text,

48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Jesus pleads with our reasoning, The Lord says, in ISA 1:18, "Come now let us reason together." Jesus says in our text,

MAT 5:46-48 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

>>This word "salute" is taken from the Greek Word, "Aspazomai, [as-pad-zom-ahee], which means "To enfold in the arms, i.e., to salute, to welcome:--embrace, to greet."

>>Jesus says, in our text, MAT 5:46-47 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

>>In conclusion of His teaching of the contrast between the righteousness that excels, and that of the scribes and the Pharisees, Jesus calls upon us to reflect His Father's expressions of one-sided love.

MAT 5:43-48 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.