How to Think and Act in Evil Days, Part 1

We know everyone dies. Everybody's headed for death, and everybody's headed for heaven or hell. That ought to be enough motive for us to be serious about using the time and opportunity God gives us to bring the gospel to people. Realizing everyone dies, everyone lives forever in heaven or hell, and the only way to get to heaven is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Should be enough compulsion for us.

Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. Because of smartphones and social media, you can be certain that whenever tragedy strikes, you'll hear about it. You can get up-to-the-minute reports about death tolls and civil wars or devastation caused by natural disasters. And you know what else you can be certain of?

Your friends, your family, your co-workers are hearing about those catastrophes as well. And maybe some of them are wondering why God allows so much suffering.

So, why does God allow tragic events that make him, in the world's eyes, look uncaring and cruel? Is it that God uses calamities to draw people to Christ? And if so, is that the only reason? John MacArthur has answers today as he continues a series he delivered during chapel at the Masters University, where John serves as chancellor. He addresses common misconceptions about God's character.

The series is titled, Consider This. And now, with today's lesson, here's John. I want to talk to you today from the 13th chapter of Luke.

So, if you have your Bible handy, you might want to open to that chapter. I've been thinking about this, always wanting to provide something for you that will be useful.

Something that will help you to not only clarify your Christian worldview, but will help you to talk to the people that you're going to intersect with as you go through the. the world and have the opportunity to honor Christ in every situation. It was 9-11, all the way back when the terrorists flew the planes into the Twin Towers in New York City that sort of catapulted me into a new world. I had pretty much been confined to the Christian world until 9-11 happened, and then, through a series of circumstances, all of a sudden, within a couple of days, I wound up in the national media. I wound up in the international media, and I remember sitting down on CNN.

For the first time in an international broadcast with talk show host Larry King. And I really didn't know what the questions were going to be. I never did for all the many times that I was with him and other programs. You never know what they're going to ask. But the first question out of his mouth was.

What does it mean? What is the lesson? What do we take away from the devastation of of the collapse of the Twin Towers under the terrorists. And 3,000 some odd people dying. What's the message?

And I I just said off the cuff, not knowing the question before, I said.

Well, the takeaway is this, you're going to die and you're not in control of when. Everybody's gonna die. And it was kind of a stunning answer, and as a result of that, it launched a lot more opportunities for for me to to communicate that conviction. That is the message. In fact, that's the message of life in all the catastrophes and calamities that we see around the world.

We live in a society unlike any in the past. We live in a world of electronic media and mass communication. Uh relentless visual images. And enhancements, we see everything. We see everything that happens in the world of any significance and we see it again and again and again and again.

We're not isolated from anything. Every catastrophe. Every calamity, every cataclysm. Every disaster, every tragedy. Everything is paraded before our eyes and becomes a vicarious experience for all of us.

How do we as Christians Absorb that, take that in, turn that into motivation to be effective for Christ in the world in which we live.

Now we know everyone dies. It's appointed unto men once to die, and after this, the judgment. We know that, the Bible says that, Hebrews 9. We get that. Everybody's headed for death and everybody's headed for heaven or hell.

That ought to be enough motive for us to be serious about using the time and opportunity God gives us to bring the gospel to people. Realizing everyone dies, everyone lives forever in heaven or hell, and the only way to get to heaven is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Should be enough compulsion for us. We need to understand the world the way the Lord wants us to understand it. We need a biblical view.

So that takes me to the 13th chapter of Luke this morning for just a little while with you. And this is a very notable portion of scripture. Let me read the opening few verses 1 through 5.

Now, on the same occasion, there were some present who reported to him. About The Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?

I tell you, no. Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Perish. This is a very, very important and very foundational way to view the world. This is information that would have been in the Jerusalem Gazette.

Or the Jerusalem Times, or whatever they called it.

Some Galileans were in the temple and they were offering sacrifices, and Pilate's soldiers came in. And slaughtered them so that their blood was mingled with the blood of the sacrifice. Very dramatic scene. And some other Jews, eighteen of them, Uh to be exact. Minding their own business and walking in a construction zone, and a tower fell on them and crushed them to death.

Now, the question that is on the mind of these people who are in the presence of our Lord is: did this happen to these people because they were worse sinners than everybody else? That's the point. Verse 2: Do you suppose these Galileans were greater sinners? Verse 4: Do you suppose those 18 on whom the tower fell were worse culprits? That is the question.

Why is this the question in their mind? Because this was Jewish theology. If you go back to the book of Job, Job's friends come to him in the middle of his calamity and they say, there must be sin in your life, Job, because God is punishing you. This is the only way they would have defined that. If something's wrong with you, that's a judgment of God on your personal sin.

If, on the other hand, you're doing fine and you're well and you survive, you must be the good people. Is that how we are to understand calamity? Where the 20 some folks who were killed in Connecticut, the worst people in that school. Were the people that were murdered in the theaters in Aurora, Colorado, the worst people in the theater? How do we understand those kinds of Calamities.

Well, let's look a little closer at this passage because it's very, very instructive for us. Verse 1: Now on the same occasion, that is the same occasion as a long, long sermon in chapter 12. A sermon that our Lord is preaching, an evangelistic sermon to be sure, which ends in verses 58 and 59, while you're going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate on your way, there make an effort to settle with him so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you in prison. I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent. This is an analogy, and at the end of our Lord's sermon, he's saying, You better make your peace with the judge before you show up in court.

That's an analogy with a spiritual point. You better get right with God before you show up in His courtroom, before you show up in His courtroom. Presence.

So they tell Jesus about this incident where the Galileans We're offering sacrifices, Pilate's men came in. And massacred them. Obviously, a very fresh event. It surfaced and it brought up their traditional idea that God punishes bad people, and if you escape the punishment or the calamity, then you're the good people. Let me give you a little background.

This is a mass execution. We don't know how many people, but this is a slaughter of Jews at worship, a bloody slaughter in the most protected and sacred place in the temple. The temple is the only place where sacrifices are offered in Israel, so, this is in the temple. And the gory details say that the blood flowing down the altar from the sacrifice is mingled with the blood of the offerers. That means that it probably happened at Passover because Passover is the only time people actually participated in the slaughter of their own sacrifices.

So there they are, these people from Galilee, offering their sacrifice at Passover, a surprise attack by Pilate's men. Slaughters them. They mention this. And Jesus presumes to know the question that's on their minds. They just make a report.

They just report to him about this recent incident, and he says, Do you suppose? And that means he's going into their minds, and according to John 2:23 to 25, he knew what people thought. No man needs to tell him what was in the heart of man. He knew what was there. He reads thoughts.

He read Nicodemus' thoughts in John 3. He knows.

So he knows the question, and he answers the question. It's a question that's in their minds. And the question is that simple question: what about calamities, not about death in general, what about calamity? Is this singled out for the worst of people? Is God doing something that we could actually call judgment.

Well, let me back off of that question for a minute and just say: God would have a right to kill us anytime, any of us, anytime, right? The wages of sin is what? Death. The soul that sins it shall die. Certainly God would have the right to kill every sinner anytime he wanted, and that would be a just act on God's part.

That would be a just act. That's why, way back in Joshua, when Achan was told to confess his sin and give glory to God, he was setting himself up for the judgment that would fall, being a just judgment by God, not an unjust one. God is just to judge sinners. We are worthy of that judgment. But God is merciful, God extends grace to us, and sinners live, and they get used to living, and they get used to not being judged.

So when something happens like some calamity, then the question arises: why is this happening? Why is this happening? The better question is, why is this not happening? Why is there not more of this? Because God is patient.

And kind. and gracious and merciful. The sinner may be storing up wrath against the day of wrath. But he has the opportunity during that time to come to God and to be forgiven.

So here is the simple principle: God has a right to kill every sinner instantaneously, and it's a just act. He doesn't do that, so sinners get used to being Favored by God in the sense of common grace. The real punishment for sin comes in the next life, God giving sinners gospel opportunity, we couldn't say, in this life.

So the question then: go to verse 2: Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? And the Lord says in verse 3, I tell you no. I tell you no. They're not. greater sinners than anybody else or Everybody else.

Go to verse 4.

Now Jesus introduces another incident. Do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who lived in Jerusalem? Do you suppose those were worse culprits, ophalates, worse debtors to God, worse violators of God's law than any other people? And he says, I tell you, no, no. Which is to say, the fact that you're alive and you're wondering this and you're posing this question in your mind.

does not mean that you're better. Doesn't mean that you're any better at all. This is eliminating this long-standing Wrong idea. That bad things happen to bad people. And good things happen.

The good people. Calamity happens to good and bad people. Calamity happens to people doing the right thing. It happens to people doing nothing. in particular.

It happens. The real calamity is that you die. without Repenting. then you will face divine judgment. and perish in hell.

So, that simple statement that I made on CNN that day: what is the lesson of the Terrorists flying into the towers and 3,000 people dying. The lesson is this: you're going to die, you better be ready. Because you're not in control of when. That's the lesson. And again, I go back to what I said earlier: life in this world is a very dangerous thing.

And there's only one group of people who have any Truth. that can deliver people from the danger of being alive. And that's Christians. There is no other message. There is no other truth.

How important is your life? How important is your testimony? It's more important than anything else on the planet.

So, what is the message that Jesus gives? At the end of verse 3 and at the end of verse Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. perish. You're gonna die.

And it's going to be the end. You're going to be literally destroyed. A very familiar word used there in the New Testament to speak of eternal destruction. You need to change your mind about your sin. You need to come to the only Savior, the only one.

who can rescue you. from judgment. You will all likewise. Perish. Apollo me.

to be lost, destroyed, killed. The intent of the warning is that divine judgment comes after death. You have to be ready to die. You know, once you get a vision of this and you see All humanity as people on the brink of death, and you have the only message that can rescue them from hell, your life takes on an importance that transcends every president, every king, every monarch, every ruler, every great mind on the planet.

So, I think it's a fair assumption to say that all the people killed at the altar and all the people. crushed by the tower went to hell. They perished. I don't know that we could conclude that any of them. We're true believers in the true God.

And it was over for them. in this life but had just begun. eternally in the next life.

So in a sense, Everybody's living on borrowed time. Everybody lives on borrowed time. And with that thought in mind, Pick up the parable with which Jesus draws this Sermon to a conclusion. In verse 6, he began telling this parable: a man had a fig tree. which had been planted in his vineyard.

And he came looking for fruit on it and didn't find any. And he said to the vineyard-keeper, Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down. Why does it even use up the ground? But he answered and said to him, let alone, sir.

For this year, too. Until I dig around it and Put fertilizer. And if it bears fruit next year. Fine. It's not.

Cut it down. That tree is living on borrowed thyme. And that's exactly what our Lord is saying about every human life, not just Israel. but every human life, everybody lives on borrowed time. Everybody.

You're moving through a world. as a possessor of Christ and the Holy Spirit. As a believer, Knowledgeable of the gospel, you're moving through a world. In which you alone have the truth that rescues dying people. You are the most important people.

on the planet. Judgment is near next year. Judgment is imminent. Life is short. It appears for a little time like a vapor and fades away.

God is patient. But he will not always strive. with man.

So as we think about Life in this world. As we think about what matters in this world. I think we have to go back to this very basic reality. that really only one thing matters, and that's what has eternal implications. Just a personal word maybe to I'll wrap this up.

You know, when I was a college student, Uh I was thinking about athletics, that's that's what I did, that's what I loved and That's what I enjoyed. And uh I had the opportunity to play football and thoroughly enjoyed it and the opportunity to go to a pro football camp after my junior year and get into the mix of being drafted and all that after my senior year. And I had an experience. I was speaking at an event as a senior football player. The season was over, and I'd received some kind of an award.

And so I went to speak to this group that had invited me to come and talk about football. It was a secular kind of thing.

So I just gave my testimony, talked about Christmas. Christ and By then, I knew kind of in my heart that I wanted to minister, that I wanted to give my life in ministry. But out of that event, somebody told me about a girl, and this is kind of an important point in my life, really important. who had been shot through the neck by her boyfriend and severed her spinal. She's a quadriplegic.

She was a head cheerleader at Thousand Oaks High School in those days. And somebody asked from that event if I would go talk to her in the hospital because they heard me give a testimony. And I'm like you. I'm a high school, I mean, I'm a college senior. I'm not sure I'm ready to give profound answers to people who've just been shot through the neck by their boyfriend at the age of 17.

A lifetime quad. But I went. And I talked to her. And I just said, it's not what happens to your body that matters, it's what happens to your soul. And I even said, fear not him who destroys the body, but fear him who destroys both body and soul in hell.

And I just gave the gospel and told her that God could give her reason to live purpose in life. I remember the occasion very, very vividly. It was in the hospital in Glendale, Venice Hospital. And she responded by saying I I would kill myself if I could, but I can't move anything. And I said, Well, then you are hopeless.

You can't live without hope. And we began to talk some about that. Eventually, she opened her heart to the Lord. She prayed a beautiful prayer, acknowledged Christ. I responded to Christ and I was shocked.

how that kind of desperation And anger and fear could turn into a heart open to Christ was a work of the Holy Spirit, and I saw it. Anyway, she gave her life to Christ. Totally shifted my entire life thinking. Why would I do anything other than that? What else would matter?

Certainly, football didn't matter. That mattered. And the wonderful part of the story is She recovered and, of course, quadriplegic in a wheelchair. A young man came along, fell in love with her, married her, a Christian young man. And God graced her life in that way.

That was a monumental event in the life of a young guy about your age. And that answered all the questions that I ever had about what I should do. Because what was the most important thing you could ever do with your life? The one thing that only Christians can do, and that makes them the most important people in the world. And that is to communicate the gospel to a dying people who are all living on borrowed time.

They're going to die, they don't know when, they're not in charge of when. Whether it's here or anywhere around the world. That's why we're here, that's why we exist. That's our great high calling. That's Grace to You with John MacArthur.

John preached his current study during chapel services at the Masters University, where he serves as Chancellor, and he calls this series Consider This.

Now, John, to follow up on the issue of evil in the world that you looked at today, let me have you listen to a question we got on our Q ⁇ A line. We'll hear the question from a man named David, and then, John, you respond. My name is David. John, here's my question. I heard a broadcast where you were talking about sin.

Someone asked if God created sin. And your answer was no, and you went on to say that uh God can't create SEN or even look upon SIN. Quite often I hear people talk about what God can and can't do. And it's a little confusing and frustrating to me because I think to say that God can't anything implies that there is some sort of system or power. beyond the power of God.

I believe God can do anything that he wills himself or chooses to do. he chooses not to create or accept evil.

So I I was wondering if you could get into that question and maybe answer it for me a little more specifically. Thank you. Thank you, David. That's a big question. Here's the way to phrase that.

God cannot do anything that is, beyond his nature. A dog Can't do anything. beyond the nature of a dog. A dog can't fly and live in a tree and build nests. Fish can't survive out of water because the very nature of the fish Flourishes only in a certain environment.

Everything is controlled by its essential nature. And God is consistent with His essential nature. and his essential nature excludes evil. It excludes sin. God cannot look on sin.

God cannot act sinfully. God cannot commit sin, He cannot commit transgression, He cannot will sin. You know, there's a popular survey recently that I read where Over fifty percent of so called Christians said Jesus. Sinned. Before he died and rose again while he was on earth.

That's just. Heretical. Jesus sinned the holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinner, Son of God? who could not sin Sinned? It was impossible for him to sin because it was completely outside the capacity of his infinitely.

and eternally perfect nature, God cannot sin.

However, Sin appeared in the world. And all we can say about that is God had no responsibility for it. But he did allow it, and if you ask why did he allow it, the answer is Because only if there was sin in the world could there be forgiveness. Only if there was sin could there be repentance. Only if there was sin could there be mercy and grace.

And God wanted to put all of those attributes on display. He allowed sin, in order that he might display his attributes that deal with sin. Both attributes of grace, mercy. and attributes of judgment and wrath. That is really helpful.

And thank you, John. And, friend, if you, like David, have a question about the nature of God or some other theological topic. I would encourage you to check out the thousands of free study tools available at our website. Get in touch today. Our web address is gty.org and at the website you have free access to multiple daily devotionals, numerous articles on the Grace2 blog, and more than 3,600 of John's sermons in MP3 and transcript format.

So whatever question you have about the Bible, you're likely to find a sermon or a devotional or a blog article or a Q and A that meets your spiritual need. Our website one more time, gty.org.

Now, as we've been mentioning, John MacArthur first delivered the messages in his current study at the Masters University. That's, by the way, a fully accredited liberal arts university in Southern California, committed to the authority of Scripture, discipleship, and strong academics. If you know a student who is thinking about college or if you just want information about the Masters University, you'll find the link to the school's website at our website, gty.org. That's gty.org.

Now for John MacArthur and the entire Grace to You staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for tuning in today and be back tomorrow as John shows you how to obey one of Jesus' toughest commands, the command to love your enemies. It's another 30 minutes of Unleashing God's Truth, one verse at a time on Grace to You.