How to Think and Act in Evil Days, Part 2 B

God love his enemies.

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 that is your calling is not a California couple that was notified that there home Bible study violated a zoning board. Then there's the story about a teacher who ordered a little girl before her piano recital not to announce that she would be playing Jesus loves me. You've heard stories like those. Maybe you anticipate similar troubles will come your way. As society becomes less tolerant of Christianity. So how should you respond to persecution or hostility.

Consider that as John MacArthur continues his study on grace to you titled how to think and act in the evil days.

If you have your Bible turn to the gospel of Matthew. And here's John. I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 5 verse 43 and let me just read to you and will 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 sun 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 then others do not even the pagans do the same. Therefore, you're to be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect now as you look at this taxation will show you three things okay number one is the tradition of the Jews and then the teaching of the Old Testament and then the final truth from from our Lord.

The tradition of the Jews. You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. There 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 diminish 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 that would define the culture which are living right today the self-centered, self-fulfilling, self-aggrandizing self-esteem mentality, but the Old Testament says love your neighbor as yourself, but for the teaching of the Old Testament, just briefly, but I want only get past this to the most important part teaching of the Old Testament.

What what is the teaching of the Old Testament. What what did the Old Testament say proves it will luck go to the Old Testament you might understand why they had developed this very narrow view of neighbor because the Jews when he entered the land of Canaan were given the first command, the first responsibility was to exterminate the Canaanites, obliterated that they were told in Deuteronomy 23 the ammonites Moabites, the Midianites were were 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 very like Psalm 6922 to 28.

All these things that are that are prayers to God to destroy the wicked how to set can 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 was to be a Christian in the middle of the officious vial destructive slaughtering murderous Nazis and sort Bonhoeffer Road 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 is 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 we make of those where David is praying these kinds of things while they 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's word like Revelation chapter 6 where you have the martyrs under the altar and the fifth seal in there saying how long the Lord how long the Lord how long the 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 the Lord how long are you, Lord, are you going to let the enemies of Israel. Be triumphant and be victorious. These are judicial cries that are 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 reproaches the fall when you are fallen on leave. In other words, when you're dishonored I feel the pain. So what you have here in the prayer imprecatory Psalms are cries for the justice of God to go forth for the vindication of his name not personal retaliation, not personal vengeance is very different. For example you have in them. David who who offers these imprecatory Psalms on behalf of God and a desire for God to be honored and then you have the very opposite situation. If you remember in first Samuel 24 David could have killed Saul and he would've that I suppose on many levels and that been just in doing it because it would've been an act of self-defense since always try 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.

I had pity on and he wouldn't take his life again and in second Samuel 16 that the cursing enemy.

She may comes against David and he's told you need to get rid of this guy need get rid of this guy and David's responses.

Let let him curse but him curse the Lord will deal with this as kind of like Romans is not vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. You don't take that in 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 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 was that mean what 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 you want them to go to hell, to want them to die in their sins.

No about having the attitude of Jesus who looks at the city of Jerusalem and what is he do he weeps he weeps how often I would've gathered years hen gathers her brood but but you would not you who murder the prophets about to slaughter me that that has to be the attitude no matter how vile or violent matter how threatening we love those enemies. The worst Islamic terrorist. The most foul mouth anti-Christian person that irritates you the one who criticizes Christ and dishonors him until it literally causes pain for you what your attitude, it's an attitude of love. Let me say 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 a heart attitude that we take into this dying world.

In Exodus 23, four and five, it says this if you meet your enemies 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 it to him. You shall surely release it.

If you find the animal of someone who hates you care for that animal that that's communicating love and 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 terrorist blows himself up to I get some kind of pleasure when a politician, and in moral, ungodly, profane politician succeeds in leading some kind of movement that changes laws for the worse or do I do I rejoice when there is plane crashes will Job said there is no I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life, I heard people say maybe the best thing would happen would be the present be assassinated.

Vesting it would happen would be the present would be what saved along with every other person who's on the other side of the gospel. Proverbs 2521.

If your enemies hungry, do what feed him if he is thirsty giving water to drink and oh by the way, the little reward you. That's Proverbs 25 2122 well that's the Old Testament. The Old Testament is love your neighbor and your neighbor includes your enemy alright so you 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 means everybody including your enemy the final point is to look at the truth from Jesus oddity. 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 is in heaven. There's three things that I just you can see them yourself. Three principles will correct the faulty understanding, love your enemies and pray for your persecutors and demonstrate your son ship, love your enemies, pray for your persecutors manifest or demonstrate your son ship. Nobody has problems living with her friends. Jesus goes to the real issue in that second and great commandment.

Your enemy is your neighbor.

Remember the loop 10 good Samaritan story that that's a story about loving your neighbor eager neighbor was a 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, that the possessive pronoun. There is very definite. Love your personal enemy. Love is aga pate it.

It's a present constant command be constantly loving and aga powers the love of the will. It's the noblest of all loves, it's the love that's not the of the love of feelings and emotion.

It's not the stiletto which has associative of kind of the affections. It's the love of the will.

It's the love that determines it's the on comparable benevolence of an invincible goodwill, love your enemies, love your enemies. Luca 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 with the 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 centurion 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 persecutors side to your enemies side, spiritually speaking, and you take hold of your enemy and you lift your enemy before God in prayer was back in 1880, some words were written, the defected 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 are 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 most power and with the armor of its holy life into this prayer of love" 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 son ship verse 45 so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven, and is just a profound statement most godlike thing you can do the most godlike thing you can do is love your enemies and say 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 us 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 loves. He loves how we know that verse 45 because his son to rise on the evil and the good sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous of the world is full of the enemies of God they hate God.

They define God. They resent God in the rainfalls and the sun shines and they live life and they smell the flowers and the eat the food may fall in love and they have children and it 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.

Someone 45, 15, 16, says the eyes of all look to the and that us give them their food in due time that a stop and I had and satisfy the desire of every living thing common grace common grace and when you think about that the love of God that extends toward everyone. I like to break it into four simple categories run out, given to quick. Number one is general goodness, general goodness, just life in the world. Just look around you were living in Santa Clarita. How many real believers are in this town. But what 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 to come into the world and demonstrated his deity a lot of ways.

How about flying to standing there and levitate each go up to Galilee in the air.

Take a few guys with you flyback land. Pretty impressive. Maybe he could leap a tall building of a single bound, like Superman, why did he do what he did because 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 us milk of human kindness. We talk about in it even fallen wretched people. This part of the image of God makes them care for people not everybody it runs hospitals not everybody that runs charities. Not everybody that tries to relieve suffering that it 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 as 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 in 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. That God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

Going to all the world for just what every creature. Tell them to repent. Tell them believe in Christ to be saved. God's love extends across the world through us to the corners of the world to bring the gospel offer to sinners. Does God love his enemies. 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 your son with 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 improve on it. Showed him 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 and that's John MacArthur showing you how to think and act in evil days, along with teaching here on grace to you. John is also Chancellor of the Masters University in seminary, which is where he originally preached this current series now today John, you made the point that if God didn't love his enemies, then there would be no Christians that's a humbling thought maybe you could close this study by talking about that a bit more what does it look like to love our enemies while we still have to point out their sin and call them to repent how you do all of that. At the same time.

Well hi I think that is the message of the gospel. Just go back to Christ himself. The very God who is love incarnate right right. God is love. Christ is God. Christ is love. No one ever loved, as Christ loved but that love caused him to speak the truth about sin and death and judgment about righteousness and about salvation and what did they do, they crucified him. That's an inevitability in this world that there will be hostility toward the gospel. Jesus said that in the Beatitudes. Blessed are you when they persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely in all of these things, so we have to expect that you can't back off of that because it offends people you know. Seems to me that evangelicals in this climate today are working very hard to make sure they don't offend anyone remember doing an interview not too long ago on television and somebody asked me does it bother you that you offend people and I think I said something like, will know I exist to offend people.

That's exactly why I'm in the world is to offend people who are comfortable in their own sin and don't realize the deadly reality that looms ahead of them in divine judgment. So being able to think and act correctly in the evil days comes down to being willing to confront sinners. And that's what I was trying to say to the young people of the Masters University Chapel where I I gave this series. It's this easy to be kind to people. It's very difficult to come across as unkind because you confront their sins, but that is what is most necessary, so the series how to think and act in evil days is available in two CDs a little album that were glad to send to you, good for you to listen again to give to someone else. Also available in two MP3 downloads@jidety.org yes John study how to think and act in evil days is an ideal resource for a person graduating from high school or college.

Although the lessons apply to you, to whatever your age or circumstance in life. If you want to purchase the CD album or if you just want to download the MP3s. Contact us today to order the CD album call 855 grace or visit our website Jide TY.org. The two CD album is reasonably priced and shipping is free and you can download both messages from how to think and act in evil days, free of charge@jidety.org that's our website and there you'll find all of John's messages from 5+ decades of his pulpit ministry while you're at Jide TY.org. I'd also encourage you to download this study Bible app. If you haven't got it already. This free app gives you the entire text of the Bible in the English standard. New American Standard and King James version, as well as instant access to thousands of online resources to get the free study Bible app or to download any one of John's sermons, you can visit our website Jide TY.org now for John MacArthur and the entire grace to you. Staff I'm Phil Johnson encouraging you to be here Friday when John kicks off a compelling study of your future home. If you're a believer. Don't miss John series called when we all get to heaven it starts tomorrow when we're back with another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on grace to you