Jesus Loves Terrorists - Part B

It's not the church's job to stop oppression. It is not the church's job to stop persecution. It is not the church's job to stop terrorism. It is the church's job to preach the gospel and accept the consequences of preaching the gospel.

That's what we do. So when evil comes our way because we preach the gospel, we are to overcome evil with good. Beloved missionary Elizabeth Elliot said, cruelty and wrong are not the greatest forces in the world. There is nothing eternal in them. Only love is eternal. Today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Skip examines the conversion of a terrorist, demonstrating the great love God has for all of us. Then stay tuned after the message, as Skip and his wife, Lenya, share encouragement with you about those we're reaching together with the good news of Jesus.

I think that there are keys to a person's heart, and that we can find them pretty quickly and unlock their heart. So what are their interests? What do they like to do?

What do they like to get involved in? Use natural conversations about things like that to lead to a supernatural conversation. Be sure to stay with us after today's message to hear the full discussion. Right now, we want to tell you about a resource that shows you how the truth of Jesus' resurrection transforms your life. It's pretty obvious that this world is filled with imperfect people, and that's on purpose. God is into restoring human beings.

He could make perfect people and then populate heaven with perfect people, but He doesn't do that. He takes people who are dinged up, who've been beat up, bruised by time, damaged by sin, and He does a full resto job on them. Complete restoration. Celebrate the joy and beauty of redemption with The Morning That Changed Everything with Skip Heitzig. This DVD collection of six hope-filled Easter weekend messages is our thanks to you when you give $35 or more today to help connect more people to God's Word and the redeeming love of Jesus Christ. Restoration is based on redemption, and redemption is tied to resurrection.

To give, call 800-922-1888 or give online securely at connectwithskip.com slash offer. Now, as we join Skip Heitzig for today's teaching, we're in Acts Chapter 9. It is the job of the state to protect its citizens. It is the mandate of the Christian to love all people and forgive even our enemies. But both of them are reality. This is important because whenever this discussion is raised, someone will invariably take the pacifistic position, the total pacifistic position, and they'll quote the Sermon on the Mount. And the Sermon on the Mount quote is in Matthew Chapter 5, verse 38. Jesus said, You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I tell you not to resist an evil person.

But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. Now Jesus said that, and I believe that, and you believe that. But listen, that is not a foreign policy statement. That is a personal strategy statement.

That's not a national policy, that's a personal policy. He's speaking to kingdom dwellers and telling them how they are to respond to their world. Why is this important? Because a century and a half ago, a very famous book was written that still influences people today called War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, the Russian novelist. And he read the Sermon on the Mount and those two verses that I just quoted became the seminal idea for the book War and Peace. And Tolstoy called for the elimination of military, the elimination of the police force, the elimination of courts, the elimination of judges.

Why? Because those are the people that resist evil in society. Again, however, Jesus wasn't giving a foreign policy statement, but a personal strategy statement. If we were to take that position that Tolstoy advocates, we are essentially giving a permission slip to every thug who walks the earth to do whatever they want. Go ahead, walk all over me.

I'm a doormat. Do whatever you want to our culture. That's why we need to make the distinction between the individual response as a believer and the national response as a culture.

So let me show you the difference, quite simply, actually, quite simply. On one hand, we are citizens of a nation and Paul in Romans 13 says we are to submit to our government, ordained by God to protect us. Romans 13, I quote, governments have been placed in power by God. So those who refuse to obey the laws of the land are refusing to obey God and punishment will follow. The authorities are established by God for that very purpose to punish those who do wrong.

In other words, the state is the divinely ordered institution to punish evil and protected citizens. However, a few verses before that in Romans 12, Paul writes this Romans 12 verse 17 repay no one evil for evil. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath for it is written vengeance is mine.

I will repay, says the Lord. Now he's dealing with personal forgiveness and acceptance of persecution that comes our way. So for society, for the state, an eye for an eye is still the law of the land. If you commit a crime, the state will mete out punishment for the crime committed.

That's how citizens get protected. But when it comes to personal attack, when you are in the line of persecution or even terrorism on a personal level, vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay. Listen, it is not the church's job to stop oppression. It is not the church's job to stop persecution.

It is not the church's job to stop terrorism. It is the church's job to preach the gospel and accept the consequences of preaching the gospel. That's what we do. So when evil comes our way, because we preach the gospel, we are to overcome evil with good. On a personal level, we don't retaliate. We overcome evil, not by personal retaliation, but by purposeful compassion. And that's what you have done so admirably, so well.

You know how you did it? We raised almost $150,000 and we've distributed it and you can see where the money has gone at our kiosk. You can see how Reload Love has reached out and found people in that country who are ministering to families who are broken, children who are orphaned, to give them that kind of compassion. When I was in Iraq, I was, the last day, in Erbil.

And in the outskirts of Erbil is a camp called the Mar Elias camp. And I was touring it with the man who ran the camp, refugees, children, parents, starting a new life as displaced people. And I never would have known, unless he told me himself, that this gentle, sweet, loving, smiling man was once captured by ISIS and had his teeth kicked in.

And he escaped. And now he is a clergyman running this camp, ministering to people. And he said this, the future, the answer for Iraq is forgiveness. If we don't inject forgiveness into this culture, he said all we're going to do is raise up another cycle of vengeance, another group of angry young men who take up the cause and go kill, and another group of angry young men who take up the cause and kill. He says, I want to raise a generation of forgivers and those who love Christ and spread the gospel. He said, that is the only hope for my country.

And that's why a lot of the money we raised went to that camp. Now, terrorism is a reality. Terrorism demands a response.

The third piece to this puzzle, the third reality, is the obvious message of our text, and that is terrorists can be reached. And I submit to you, Exhibit A, Saul of Tarsus. Verse 3, as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. And then he fell to the ground, and he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, Lord? The Lord said, I am Jesus. Boy, don't you think he got a lump in his throat about then? Don't you think it was a hard swallow in hearing the name Jesus speaking to him? I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

It is hard for you to kick against the goads. And so he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what do you want me to do? The Lord said to him, arise, go to the city, and you will be told what you must do. And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless hearing a voice but seeing no one. And then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were open, he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. He was there three days without sight.

He neither ate nor drank. Saul of Tarsus, the terrorist from Tarsus, has an experience with the living Christ. And later on, he shows up among believers, and he says, I'm saved now. I'm converted. Now do you think they were quick to say, hallelujah, let me embrace you with a big Christian hug? No, the Bible tells us they were very reticent, very skittish, because Saul was considered an impossible case.

People wrote him off. What do you think it would be like to be in the early church? You're sitting there with your scroll. Peter's preaching, and suddenly Saul of Tarsus, your archenemy, walks in with his scroll and sits next to you and says, hallelujah, praise the Lord. You'd like move a couple rows away, wouldn't you?

Here's what it would be like. Imagine if Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi walked into this church. You know who he is, he's the head of ISIS. He's the guy, he's the caliph of the caliphate of ISIS in the Middle East. He has killed thousands, thousands of Christians. Imagine him walking in sitting next to you, with a nice little smile on his face.

You're wondering, why is he looking at me that way? Or what if the supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the chief leader of Iran, came in and sat next to you? He went on record as saying if Christ were alive today, he would fight America. So he sits next to you. What are you going to do?

You're going to move a couple churches down, right? This is Saul of Tarsus. This is the guy who was in his high school annual in the section Most Unlikely to Convert to Christianity.

That's his picture right there. He's the guy who has this incredible conversion. Leads me to a question, what people in your life have you written off as impossible cases? They're in the trash bin, never going to get saved, no hope for that person. I hope this story gives you hope. Well, verse 3 and 4, I read that and I think, God must have really wanted this guy saved. He really loves terrorists because he's going to extreme measures to save one. Aren't you glad for the hound of heaven?

Aren't you glad for the Holy Spirit who chases down your relatives, that lost son, that addicted husband, goes after him? I read the story of a man by the name of Daniel Shayetze, Iranian. 30 years ago, some of you will remember this, 30 years ago, he was part of the coup to overthrow the government of Iran, the Shah of Iran. He wanted to institute Islamic law, Sharia law. He was part of that group. He said, and I'm quoting him, my background is radical Islam. When you read the Quran, it says you must destroy other religions, Christians and Jews.

You cannot expect them to value your values. Well, Daniel was put in prison. And in prison, something happened to him. He became very disillusioned.

Disillusioned with life, disillusioned with his cause, disillusioned with the coup he was staging, disillusioned with his religion. And one night in his cell, Daniel Shayetze had a dream. In his dream, he saw himself in his father's house and outside he heard Jesus calling him. Daniel, sort of like Saul, come out of the house. It's Jesus, come out of the house. In his dream, he walks out of the house.

In his dream, he turns around and his father's house crumbles to the ground to shreds, obliterated. He woke up shaken from the dream and in prison, Daniel Shayetze gave his life to Christ. You know how many stories like that I have read and read and read of people in impossible situations where the gospel can't be preached, missionaries can't go, churches can't be built. It's impossible to get to them by a dream or a vision or a semi-conscious state like that 32-year-old ISIS man we began the message about. I hear about these things happening. Muslims and even terrorists who get saved.

And here's the bottom line. God can find a way when there is no way. And I hope, I hope that we will engage this battle believing that, that we will be praying not only for brothers and sisters who are persecuted, but the perpetrators of the persecution and the terrorism themselves. Imagine some of them are getting saved, but imagine if many more of them came to Christ, how upsetting that would be to the network of terrorists around the world. Well, look at verse 4. He heard a voice saying, Saul, this is Jesus speaking to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You know, when I read this, I'm amazed actually that Jesus begins talking to him by just saying, Saul, you know, I can think of a lot of choice things to say to this guy.

And none of them are what I read. I think if I were Jesus, I would have been an idiot. You want some of this? But he's so respectful.

Doesn't take away his name. Saul, Saul. But then the question, why are you persecuting me?

He's probably going, what, what? I'm persecuting you. Who are you? I'm Jesus.

What, what? You're who? You're Jesus.

Wait a minute. Jesus is dead. He doesn't exist. He's been killed. This is a sham. That's what I believed until like two seconds ago when you just told me your name was Jesus.

Now I'm rethinking this whole thing, right? That's, that's what's going on in his mind. He didn't believe Jesus is in the present tense, alive talking to him, but he is. But he says, why are you persecuting me?

How do you think that sounded to Saul of Tarsus? He's thinking, I'm not persecuting you. I'm persecuting them. I'm terrorizing them.

I'm after Christians. Jesus said, no, you're not. When you touch them, you touch me.

When you mess with them, you mess with me. I am so aligned with my people that no blow on earth goes unfelt in heaven. I am the sympathetic high priest and you are in effect persecuting me. This is a great truth for anybody who suffers oppression or terrorism. You never suffer alone. Jesus takes it personally and Jesus is with you personally.

And sometimes when you suffer, just having him there is enough. I read a book put out by a very prominent Christian counselor who said something happened to him when he was three years old that made him think that is what the Christian life is going to be like for me. Let me tell you a story. He said I was three years old. As a little boy, I thought I need to go to the bathroom. I think I'm three years old now.

I think I can do this on my own. So he walked up the stairs to his house, closed the bathroom door, locked it and went to the bathroom. After he was done, he couldn't unlock the door. It was one of those stiff locks where you have to twist it with a real force to get it unlocked and opened at the same time. He couldn't do that. So he's banging on the door and he's yelling and his mom comes up, honey, are you okay? Did you hit your head?

They're all panicking. Father thinks very quickly, gets out a ladder, runs it up the side of the house, climbs up the ladder, pries open the window, jumps in the room, goes past his son with one movement, jerks open the door, unlocks it and frees his son. Now this boy grows up and as a Christian counselor he said, now that's what I thought the Christian life was going to be like for me. That every time I have a difficulty, God will show up in the room, walk past me, unlock the door and spring me free. He said, I've come to find out something differently. Oh, he comes into my room. Oh, he shows up into my world, but sometimes he just sits down with me there and he is just with me there. And he said, sometimes being with you in pain seems to matter more to him than getting you out of pain. But he's with you, he tracks with you, he relates to you.

Saul, why do you persecute me? And then he says, it's hard for you to kick against the goads. The goads were stickers, pricks. They were sharpened pieces of wood used to motivate oxen and donkeys. You know, sometimes those animals just want to stand there and so owners have to get work done and they want to motivate them and you can't have a therapy session, you have to poke it. And when you poke it, they get the message and they move. Those are goads.

Saul, it's hard for you to kick against the goads. There's something pricking his conscience. What is it?

What is it? What's goading him? What's pricking his conscience?

Well, we don't know. But I can put two and two together and pretty safely guess, he has seen hundreds of Jewish believers in Jesus have their lives changed. They're happy, they're saved, they're being persecuted, but they're free.

That bothers them. That goads at him, that pricks his conscience, haunts him. And number two, he has seen a young man named Stephen just die.

He was a guy egging him on. He watched him bleed to death after getting pelted with rocks, stone to death. And the Bible says he looked at Stephen's face, it looked like the face of an angel. And his last words are, don't let this sin be laid to their charge.

Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. I think seeing that happen, he's died like that, that he remembers. That haunted him. And the haunting turned into humbling and the humbling turned into heralding the gospel message. This terrorist was changed.

He was reached by Christ. So terrorism is real. Terrorism demands a response.

The dual response individually, nationally, and terrorists can be reached. I want to close with a paragraph. I read a whole article, I'll spare you, but it's just a paragraph of a large article that I read in Christianity Today, very well thought out on our response to this issue. And it frames it quite nicely, sums it all up beautifully.

And it's so good, I couldn't do a better job. I'll just read you what he said. Mark Galley wrote this. The struggle must be waged on a variety of fronts. Christians praying always and everywhere. Missionaries and local believers hazard their lives in sharing the gospel in the most religiously repressive settings. Relief agencies and local congregations refusing to discriminate in distributing aid to the needy. Christian diplomats employing all the wiles of their craft.

And yes, even Christian fighter pilots, Navy personnel, and infantry insisting that when other options are exhausted and military force is called for, that liberty must be respected and justice must be done. That wraps up Skip Heitzig's message from the series Jesus Loves People. Now, here's Skip and Lenya as they share encouragement with you about those we're reaching together with the good news of Jesus. Lenya Today we learned that when it comes to salvation, God can find a way into someone's heart when it seems like there's no way. Chances are someone listening right now who wants to reach a friend or family member with the gospel, but they just don't know how to break through to them. Skip, when you're trying to reach someone whose heart seems closed to God's love, where do you start? Skip Do you remember that book by Don Richardson and he talked about the keys to a culture and, you know, that there's certain ways to get into a culture and speak the gospel to them.

And I think that there are keys to a person's heart and that we can find them pretty quickly and unlock their heart. So what are their interests? What do they like to do? What do they like to get involved in? Use natural conversations about things like that to lead to a supernatural conversation. So for me, when I was in the medical world and there were scientific minds, I used apologetics to unlock their hearts, fulfilled Bible prophecy.

If you know somebody who's an artist or a musician, give them an album you like, a Christian song or like when you first met me, you were asking about music and you discovered, man, there's some really great artists out there. Lenya Randy Stonehill and Larry Norman. Right.

That takes us way, way back. And then at some point with a person, just get it out in the open and say, hey, can I have your permission to have a conversation with you about spiritual things? Then it's on the table and they know what you're going to ask. You're not couching it. You're saying, do I have your permission to have this conversation with you?

And then even if you have to schedule it, schedule it in, talk it out. Thank you, Skip and Lenya. The Bible gives you foundational truths about who God is and how He works in your life. And we make these difficult teachings available on the air across the U.S. and around the world.

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800-922-1888. Thank you. Tune in tomorrow as Skip Heisig talks about the message of freedom Jesus has for you when you feel entangled by the chains of sin in your life. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heisig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.