When Jesus says, I say unto you that hear, He is talking about people with spiritual perception.
Luke 6: 27But I say unto you which hear continuous action, active voice, to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, Love command to do something in the future which involves continuous action, to welcome your enemies those opposing you, do good to them which hate you, 28Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. 29And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. 30Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. 31And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. 32For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? For sinners not free from sin, specifically of men stained with certain definite vices or crimes also love those that love them. 33And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? For sinners also do even the same. 34And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. 36Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
Sinners are not to be resisted or thought of on a natural plane. They’re not to be hated, but they are to be loved. We are to do good to them. This is very difficult, but it is at this point that the move of God’s Spirit in the earth will find the perfection of spirit restored to the Body enabling God’s people to do the great exploits. God will not be able to move mightily through us if we are still subjective in our reactions to the persecutions around us.
When the disciples were passing through a little town of Samaria, Jesus’ face was set as though He was going to Jerusalem and immediately the racial prejudice of the Samaritans against the Jews arose. They wouldn’t listen to Jesus. Even two of His disciples said, “Let’s pull fire down out of heaven and consume this city.” They said this because they were subjective. They were angry and hostile. Their reactions came from within them, not from God. The Lord wouldn’t grant it.
However, there was a time when fire did fall from heaven to consume 450 prophets of Baal when Elijah prayed for it (I Kings 18). But Elijah had another spirit. The disciples let their own feelings get in the way. We cannot see what God wants to do in the earth as long as we move on either the plane of human sympathy (the feeling or expression of pity or sorrow for the pain or distress of somebody else) or of human antipathy (strong negative feeling, strong hostility or opposition toward somebody or something, somebody or something that causes anger, hostility, strong opposition, or disgust).
We cannot let sympathy get in the way. Neither can we allow our heart to become bitter or have an antipathy against people. “Well, that person did me wrong so I will have nothing to do with them”.
It’s what God wants that counts; not what we want. We have to get our feelings out of the way. We can’t react on a human plane. God will move through people who have perfect love for their enemies.
One of the greatest things that can happen to a body of believers under persecution is to go into fasting and prayer for perfect love for everyone who speaks evil against them.
To us He says, “Love your enemies, do them good and lend, never despairing; and your reward shall be great and ye shall be the sons of the Most High for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.” “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. And do not pass judgment and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you shall not be condemned.”’ This is one of the basic reasons the Lord is demanding a right spirit. We cannot play God without Him dealing with us. We are to be merciful because God is merciful. We don’t judge and God won’t judge us. We don’t want to rise up to take the thing in our own hands when it isn’t our business.
For those who come into trouble we must believe and have faith. A walk with God is to be without judging one another; and we must exercise faith for others without condemnation; then situations can be reversed and love and faith can clear them.
We don’t excuse wrong doing, but people become overtaken in a lot of things where it is easy to judge them. It’s easy to see something in a wrong light. In the Body of Christ, our greatest strength comes from being merciful. We believe in grace; we don’t believe in judging or condemning. This is what it means to have a perfect spirit.
Release and ye shall be released: give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again. Verses 37b–38.
Do we have a problem? How are we going to solve it? “Oh, I’m just going to get in there and fight that situation until I break it down and destroy it.” It would work better if we would rise into that Excellency of spirit; then the Lord will see that we get a release. Instead of using the negative defense, “Well, I have to solve this problem and that problem,” we simply rise above them with a perfect spirit and watch how God takes care of them.
There are some really valid problems for which there are no solutions. There are relationships in families where someone will not walk with God and viciously goes the other way. Homes have broken up and people face difficult situations because they want a walk with God. What do we do for them? Do we counsel them on some strategy that will outwit the other person? No, that’s not the answer. We rise into the perfect spirit. Jesus never solved a problem through contention, but always through perfect love.
There is such a thing as building a spiritual wall of defense; but we build the wall against the evil a person sends to us, not against the person. We build walls against the evil, the contacts, and the responses that we have, but not against the individual, so that we can become a channel for God to minister His will.
Romans 12:17–21: Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men. Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord. But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
When we walk in that perfect spirit we open the door for God to have a clear channel to deal with the evil thing. He will either work a miracle in that individual or He’ll remove him.
There are too many things that come into being only to misfire. They are aborted at the last minute. God cannot deal with them because we are in the way. If we build walls of defense and walk in a perfect spirit, though a host comes against us, we’ll live in victory.
Daniel was put in the lions’ den because he was uncompromising and faithful. He had real integrity. Daniel 6 says that an excellent spirit was found in him. What did he do with that excellent spirit? People fought him, but he didn’t fight back. He continued seeking God with all of his heart and with a perfect spirit.
No doubt he had real spiritual defenses built against his enemies because he didn’t seem to care what they did. They formed a conspiracy against him. They put him in the lions’ den, but his spirit was so perfect before God that God delivered him. Then what happened? The men, who plotted against Daniel, along with their wives and children, were bound and thrown into that same lions’ den, and every one of them was torn to pieces. Daniel had an excellent spirit because he kept out of the way.
We commit ourselves wholly into the Lord’s hands. We walk before Him with a perfect spirit. We just stand in the situation with a perfect love and a perfect spirit, and the Lord will take care of the problem.”
We never know who is right in a difficult situation because both parties fuss back and forth and become so bitter that God can’t put His blessing on any of it. That is why there cannot be a clear-cut decision.
God deliver us from a bad spirit, from anything but walking in the perfect love of God. It will be difficult for us to learn how to apply this word, but in applying it, God will help us to see the end of many problems.