How to Think and Act in Evil Days, Part 2

The most godlike thing you can do. The most godlike thing you can do is love your enemies. Let me tell you something. If God didn't love his enemies, there wouldn't be any Christians. Right?

Even while we were enemies, Paul says, he loved us. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. In 1941, Louis Zampurini was one of the most talented runners in the world. He seemed destined to be the first person ever to run a four-minute mile.

And then Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and Louis joined the army. On a rescue mission over the Pacific, his plane crashed and the Japanese captured him. And for the next two years, Zamparini was tortured and beaten so often, he carried physical and emotional scars home with him after his release. Those scars haunted him until he attended a Billy Graham crusade and came to Christ. Later in life, he went back to Japan.

and forgave his captors.

Now, do you think you could do that? Show compassion and love to your enemies? How do you stop hating a person and start loving him?

Well, it starts with understanding God's love for his enemies. John MacArthur's going to look at that love today as he continues his study titled Consider This. Here's John with a lesson. I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew 5 is in the Sermon on the Mount.

The Lord gave that sermon to the leaders of Israel in particular to dismantle their false religious system and expose them to how God thought. And there are a series of things that are said here, which our Lord directs at the Jews, and he does it in quite an interesting way. Starting in verse 21, he says, You have heard. And then in verse 27, you have heard. And then in verse 37, 31, it was said, and then in verse 33, again, you have heard, and then in verse 38, you have heard, and then in verse 43, you have heard.

Now, what he's talking about is their theology that had been taught to them by the rabbis. You have heard, you have heard, you have heard, you have heard, you've heard such and such about murder, you've heard such and such about sexual immorality, you've heard such and such about. Divorce. You've heard this. About oaths and vows.

You've heard this about retaliation, eye for an eye, tooth for tooth. You've heard this about how you deal with your enemies. This is your theology. This is the rabbinic. Extant theology that gripped the populace of Israel at the time of our Lord.

In contrast to that, he says in verse 22: but I say, Verse 28, but I say Verse 32, but I say. Verse 34, but I say. Verse 39, but I say. Verse 44, but I say, I'm giving you a new theology here. We're overturning your conventional thinking.

You have heard, but I say, you have heard. But I say.

Now, let's just go to the final one of these. Comparisons down in verse 43. And let me just read it to you, and then we'll talk about it. You have heard that it was said. You shall love your Neighbor.

and hate your enemy. But I say to you Love your enemies. And pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he causes his son to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?

Do not even the tax Collectors do the same. If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Pagans do the same. Therefore, you're to be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.

Now, as we look at this text, I just want to show you three things. Number one is the tradition of the Jews. And then the teaching of the Old Testament. And then the final truth from our Lord. The tradition of the Jews.

You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor. and hate your enemy. Their tradition then was Very simple, love your neighbor. And they added, hate your enemy. Love your neighbor, hate your enemy.

Now they conveniently omitted something. They omitted love your neighbor as yourself.

So they diminished the requirement of that love. Love your neighbor, but of course, you don't want to love your neighbor like you love yourself. Because you're far more important than your neighbor. You deserve more love than your neighbor. And that would define the culture in which you're living right today.

The self-centered, self-fulfilling. Self-aggrandizing. Self-esteem. Mentality. But the Old Testament says, Love your neighbor as yourself.

Let's look at the teaching of the Old Testament just briefly. Because I want to get past this to the most important part. Teaching of the Old Testament. What is the teaching of the Old Testament? What did the Old Testament say?

People say, well, look, if you go to the Old Testament, mm, you might understand why they had developed this very narrow view of Nabor. Because the Jews, when they entered the land of Canaan, were given the first command, the first responsibility was to exterminate the Canaanites. Obliterate them. They were told in Deuteronomy 23: the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Midianites were not a people to be treated with kindness. And if you get into the Psalms and you get into what are called the imprecatory Psalms, you can read like Psalm 69, 22 to 28, all these things that are prayers to God to destroy the wicked.

How does that kind of work with love your enemies? I think there's a very simple and lucid statement that was penned by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Dietrich Bonhoeffer knew what it was to be a Christian in the middle of vicious, vile, destructive. slaughtering murderous Nazis. And this is what Bonhoeffer wrote, and I think it's true: the wars of Israel.

against the pagan nations. Were the only holy wars in history. The only holy wars in history. The only wars. prescribed specifically By God.

against idolaters. for the preservation and protection Of his people For redemptive purposes. in the bringing of the Messiah and the salvation of the elect. He's right. The prescribed commanded holy wars.

That Israel engaged in Directly by the command of God, are the only holy wars in history. As for the imprecatory psalms, what do we make of those where David is praying these kinds of things?

Well, the way to understand that is the psalmist speaks not with personal animosity. Not with personal animosity. But as a representative of God's chosen people, he is, after all, Israel's king, and he is defending the integrity of God. He regards the idolatrous enemies of God as worthy of judgment. You see that earlier in Psalm 69.

He regards them as God's enemies, and he is upholding the honor and the glory of God.

Sort of like Revelation chapter 6, where you have the martyrs under the altar and the fifth seal, and they're saying, How long, O Lord, how long, O Lord, how long, O Lord, will you allow your people to be martyred and you will not vindicate your honor and your glory? Or maybe the message of Habakkuk, the same message, the prophet, how long, O Lord, how long, O Lord, are you going to let the enemies of Israel be triumphant and be victorious? These are judicial cries. They're not personal. Vengeance and personal animosity.

The people of God take up the cause of God. Like the psalmist said, the reproaches that fall on you in the same psalm, the reproaches that fall on you are fallen on me. In other words, when you're dishonored, I feel the pain.

So, what you have here in precatory psalms are cries for the justice of God to go forth for the vindication of his name, not personal. Retaliation. not personal vengeance. It's very different. For example, you have in David who offers these in precatory sums on behalf of God a desire for God to be honored.

And then you have the very opposite situation. If you remember in 1 Samuel 24, David could have killed Saul. And he would have, I suppose, on many levels, have been just in doing that because it would have been an act of self-defense, and Saul was trying to kill him. But he looked at Saul in his vulnerability, and you remember in 24 he says in verse 10: I had pity on him. I had pity on him.

And he wouldn't take his life. And again and In 2 Samuel 16, The the cursing enemy, Shimei. Comes against David and he's told. You need to get rid of this guy. You need to get rid of this guy.

And David's response is, let him curse. Let him curse. The Lord will deal. with this. And that's kind of like Romans, isn't it?

Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. You don't take that into your own hands.

So what is instructing us here? Verse 44. But I say to you, Love your enemies. Love your enemies. Love your enemies.

Apart from a holy war, Apart from an imprecatory prayer, For the vindication of the glory of God and the dishonor of His name to stop. It comes down to the personal attitude of the believer. And what is my personal attitude toward the enemies of the cross, toward the enemies of the gospel, toward the enemies of the church? It is to love them. To love them?

What does that mean? What do you mean to love them? Maybe. To desire that they will repent? That's where it starts: to desire that they will believe the gospel.

To desire that they will be saved. To hate them? No. to want them To go to hell? To want them to die in their sins.

No. How about having the attitude of Jesus who looks at the city of Jerusalem and what does he do? He weeps. He weeps. How often I would have gathered you as hen gathereth her brood, but you would not.

you who murder the prophets. About to Slaughter me. That has to be the attitude. No matter how vile or violent No matter how threatening. We love those enemies.

The worst Islamic terrorist The most foul-mouthed anti-Christian person that Irritates you. The one who criticizes Christ and dishonors him. Uh until it literally causes pain for you. What's your attitude? It's an attitude of love.

Let me say it again. To love them is to ardently and passionately and genuinely desire that they will repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. And that has to be the heart attitude that we take into this dying world. In Exodus 23, 4 and 5, It says this: if you meet your enemy's ox. or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him.

If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving Yet to him you shall surely release it. If you find The animal of someone who hates you. Care for that animal. That's communicating love. In the 31st chapter of Job, Job defends his virtue, and this is what he says: Have I rejoiced at the extinction of my enemy?

What an interesting insight. You want to know my character? Have I rejoiced at the extinction of my enemy or rejoiced when evil befell him? Do I get some kind of pleasure when a terrorist blows himself up? Do I get some kind of pleasure when a politician, an immoral, ungodly, profane politician succeeds in leading some kind of movement that changes laws for the worse?

Do I rejoice when... His plane crashes?

Well, Job said this, no. I have not allowed My mouth. to sin. by asking for his life. I've even heard people say maybe the best thing that would happen would be the president would be assassinated.

What? The best thing that would happen would be the president would be what? Saved. Along with every other person who's on the other side. of the gospel.

Proverbs 25, 21, if your enemy's hungry, Do what? Feed him. If he's thirsty, Give him water to drink. And oh, by the way, the Lord will reward you. That's Proverbs 25, 21, 22.

Well, that's the Old Testament. The Old Testament is love. Your neighbor, and your neighbor includes your enemy. All right, so you've got tradition in Jesus' time: love your neighbor, and your neighbor is this very, very narrow group of people that you prefer, and hate your enemy. That's tradition.

Old Testament teaching, love. Your neighbor and your neighbor It means everybody, including your enemy. And the final point is to look at the truth from Jesus. How did he Give us clarity. I say to you.

Love your enemies. And pray for those who persecute you.

So that you may be sons of your Father who's in heaven. There's three things there that just you can see them yourself. Three principles will correct a faulty understanding. Love your enemies. Pray for your persecutors.

And demonstrate your sonship. Love your enemies, pray for your persecutors, manifest or demonstrate your sonship. Nobody has problems living with their friends. Jesus goes to the real issue in that second and great commandment: your enemy is your neighbor. Remember the Luke 10 Good Samaritan story?

That's a story about loving your neighbor. Your neighbor was an outcast alien. Here is a Samaritan and a Jew, and they had no dealings. And yet there is an expression of love. Love your enemies.

The possessive pronoun there is very definite. Love your personal enemy. Love is agapate. It's a present, constant command. Be constantly loving.

And agapa'o is the love of the will. It's the noblest of all loves. It's the love that's not the love of feelings and emotion. It's not fileo, which has a shade of kind of affections. It's the love of the will.

It's the love that determines. It's the unconquerable benevolence of an invincible goodwill. Love your enemies. Love your enemies. Luke six, Jesus says, to the point that you do.

good to those who hate you. Second, pray for your persecutors. It can come to that. Pray for those who persecute you. Who's the best model of that?

Jesus on the cross, what did he say? Father Forgive them. They don't know what they do. That forgiveness went into action fast. Because a thief was forgiven on the spot and so was the Roman Centaurian.

Again, Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, This is the supreme command. Through the medium of prayer, We go to our persecutors. Stand by their side. and plead to God for them. You pray for your persecutors.

You go to your persecutor's side. to your enemy's side. Spiritually speaking. And you take hold of your enemy and you lift your enemy before God in prayer. It was back in 1880.

Some words were written that affected Bonhoeffer. By another He wrote this. This commandment to love your enemies and pray for your persecutors will grow even more urgent in the holy struggle which lies before us. The Christians will be hounded from place to place, subjected to physical assaults, maltreatment, and death of every kind. We're approaching an age of widespread persecution.

Soon, the time will come when we will pray. It will be a prayer of earnest love for these very sons of perdition who stand around and gaze at us with eyes aflame with hatred and who have perhaps already raised their hands to kill us. Yes, the church, which is really waiting for its Lord and which discerns the signs of the times of decision, must fling itself with its utmost power and with the armor of its holy life into this prayer of love. End quote. That has to be the attitude of the true church.

Love your enemies. Show it by praying for your persecutors. And thirdly, that will demonstrate your sonship. Verse. 45, so that you may be.

Sons of your Father who's in heaven. That is just a profound statement. The most godlike thing you can do. The most godlike thing you can do is love your enemies. Let me tell you something.

If God didn't love his enemies, there wouldn't be any Christians. Right? Even while we were enemies, Paul says. He loved us. That's the basic principle.

we manifest that we are genuinely the sons of God. when we love the way God loves. We were all enemies, and he made us friends. He made us sons. He made us joint heirs.

We are to behave toward our enemies. The way our Heavenly Father Behave toward us. How does God treat his enemies? He loves him. He loves them.

How do we know that? Verse 45. causes his son To rise on the evil. And the good? Sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

The world is full of the enemies of God, they hate God. They defy God. They resent God. And the rain falls. and the sun shines.

And they live life. and they smell the flowers and they eat the food and they fall in love and they have children. And they suck in all the wonders of Life and creation. This is what Calvin first called common grace. that manifests the love of God.

for his enemies. Psalm 145, 15 and 16 says, The eyes of all look to thee, and thou dost give them their food in due time. Thou dost open thy hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. Common Grace. Common grace.

You know, when you think about But that uh Love of God that extends toward everyone. I like to break it into four simple categories. Running out of time, I'll give them to you quick. Number one is general goodness, general goodness, just life in the world. Just look around you.

We're living in Santa Clarita. How many real believers are in this town? But what a delightful place to live. That's common grace. Music is a common grace.

Food is a common grace. Friendship is a common grace. Recreation is a common grace. Scenery is a common grace. There's a second way in which God loves his enemies: compassion.

Compassion. He feels pity for them. Matthew Jesus weeps. Luke 19 Jesus weeps. Jeremiah 13 and Jeremiah 48, Jeremiah literally cries the tears of God, tears of compassion.

We see the compassion of God toward his enemies in the healing ministry of Jesus. Why did Jesus heal people? He could have come into the world and demonstrated his deity a lot of ways. How about flying? Huh?

Just standing there and levitate. Go up to Galilee in the air. Take a few guys with you. Fly back, land. Pretty impressive.

Or maybe he could leap a tall building at a single bound like Superman. Why did he do what he did? 'Kay. He was not only demonstrating miraculous power, he was demonstrating divine compassion. There is compassion.

Medicine is the evidence of God's compassion. There's a milk of human kindness we talk about in even fallen, wretched people that's part of the image of God that makes them care for people. Not everybody that runs hospitals, not everybody that runs charities, not everybody that tries to relieve suffering is doing it because. The Holy Spirit is in them. But it's part of the image of God.

So, God's love for his enemies is shown in common grace and compassion, and thirdly, warning. God loves enough to warn. You must repent, or you will all likewise perish. That's what we saw yesterday. You're all living on borrowed time.

And the fourth. Way in which God demonstrates His love for His enemies is in the gospel offer. The gospel offer God's general love for mankind. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes, in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

Tell them to repent. Tell them believe in Christ. To be saved. God's love. extends across the world Bruce.

to the corners of the world. to bring the gospel offer. to sinners. Does God love his enemies? Yeah.

How does he love his enemies? By being good to all? By showing compassion to all, By warning all, and by offering the gospel.

So just do that, okay? That's your assignment. Live the rest of your life. Loving the way God loves his enemies. That's how you live your life.

You extend. to your enemies. Love. the way God extends love. No different, can't improve on it.

Show them kindness, goodness, compassion. Warn them of what is to come and offer them the gospel. That is your calling as long as you're here. That's John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary, showing you why you need to love those around you, even your enemies. John's current study here on Grace to You is titled Consider This.

Now, friend, the biblical mandate to love your enemies that John looked at today is clearly opposed to what the world tells you. It's no surprise that the philosophies of the world are in direct opposition to scripture, and you need to make sure that the secular worldviews that saturate our culture don't make their way into your own thinking. To help you guard against that and to help you consistently apply biblical truth to every issue of life, let me recommend a book that John and fellow leaders at Grace Community Church have written. It's called Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong. This book brings biblical clarity to some of the most controversial subjects that you and your church can face, like abortion and euthanasia and suicide or environmentalism and a whole lot more.

It's an excellent resource that you'll read. Reach for again and again to order right thinking in a world gone wrong, get in touch today. Call 800-55GRACE or go to gty.org. Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong is especially helpful for high school and college students grappling with humanistic thinking in the classroom. The cost for the book is $15 and shipping is free.

You can order by calling 800-55GRACE or visit gty.org. Right thinking in a world gone wrong. It's one of those dozens of books available from Grace to You. Books on the debate between creation and evolution, on the nature of the gospel, on the return of Christ, and much more. To see the complete selection of our books, go to gty.org.

And if you'd like information about the Masters University where John serves as Chancellor and where he preached this series that we've been airing called Consider This, you'll find the link at our website, gty.org.

Now for John MacArthur, I'm Phil Johnson, inviting you back next week when John looks at a topic he calls the most important issue you will face as you live out your Christian life. Don't miss John's upcoming study called A Plea for Discernment. It's another half hour of unleashing God's Truth, one verse at a time, on Monday's Grace to You.