TERRORISM, JUSTICE AND LOVING OUR ENEMIES/September 12, 2001

10/1/01 | Pastor John Piper/ Bethlehem Baptist Church

[RnMomof7]

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TERRORISM, JUSTICE AND LOVING OUR ENEMIES

September 12, 2001

Someone asked me after our Tuesday prayer service in response to the terrorist attack, "Can we pray for justice, and yet love our enemy at the same time?" The answer is yes.

But let's start with or own guilt. Christians know that if God dealt with us only according to justice, we would perish under his condemnation. We are guilty of treason against God in our sinful pride and rebellion. We deserve only judgment. Justice alone would condemn us to everlasting torment.

But God does not deal with us only in terms of justice. Without compromising his justice he "justifies the ungodly" (Romans 4:5). That sounds unjust. And it would be if it were not for what God did in the life and death of Jesus Christ. The mercy of God moved him to send the Son of God to bear the wrath of God so as to vindicate the justice of God when he justifies sinners who have faith in Jesus. So we have our very life because of mercy and justice (Romans 3:25-26). They met in the cross.

So we are not quick to demand justice unmingled with mercy. Jesus demands, "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" (Mathew 5:44-45). And, of course Jesus modeled this for us as a perfect man.

"While we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son" (Romans 5:10). And even as he died for his enemies he prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).

So the resounding command of the apostles is, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. . . . Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. . . . Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay,' says the Lord.

'But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink'" (Romans 12:14-20). When we live this way we magnify the glory of God 's mercy and the all-satisfying Treasure that he is to our souls. We show that because of his supreme value to us, we do not need the feeling of personal vengeance in order to be content.

But it does not compromise this truth to say that God should also be glorified as the one who governs the world and delegates some of his authority to civil states. Therefore some of God's divine rights as God are given to governments for the purposes of restraining evil and maintaining social order under just laws. This is what Paul means when he writes, "There is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. . . . [This authority is] a minister of God to you for good . . . it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil" (Romans 13:1-4).

God wills that human justice hold sway among governments, and between citizens and civil authority. He does not prescribe that governments always turn the other cheek. The government "does not bear the sword for nothing." Police have the God-given right to use force to restrain evil and bring law-breakers to justice. And legitimate states have the God-given right to restrain life-threatening aggression and bring criminals to justice. If these truths are known, this God-ordained exercise of divine prerogative would glorify the justice of God who mercifully ordains that the flood of sin and misery be restrained in the earth.

Therefore, we will magnify the mercy of God by praying for our enemies to be saved and reconciled to God. At the personal level we will be willing to suffer for their everlasting good, and we will give them food and drink. We will put away malicious hatred and private vengeance. But at the public level we will also magnify the justice of God by praying and working for justice to be done on the earth, if necessary through wise and measured force from God-ordained authority.

Seeking to magnify ALL of God's glories, September 12 2001

Pastor John Piper
Bethlehem Baptist Church
www.desiringGOD.org

[Uri’el-2012]

RnMomof7

With the exception of the following , I agree with the thrust of the remarks.

Police have the God-given right to use force to restrain evil and bring law-breakers to justice

I believe as a Christian country each saint has the rights given to us by G-d prior to the formation of the state.

We delegate to the state the use of our rights as long as the state performs to the expectations of the saints.

and thus we delegate these rights to the police to exercise in our stead.

Tehillim (Psalm) 18:46 The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Saviour!

XeniaSt

[CCWoody]

All I ask is that if you know where this is in the Bible that you don't tell GWB. The whole point to this exercise is to see if he will search it out for himself. FRmail me and I'll answer:

I speak now of a time after the marriage supper:

I was in church 2 weeks ago and we were reading these words when I had my vision: "Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." In this vision, I was standing in a large room like a banquet hall and there were many saints with me. I had a cup in my hand and when I raised it up, I noticed that I couldn't see my Jesus.

4 Days later I had the same vision when I read these words: Glorifying God by Not Serving Him, but Being Served by Him. At that moment, I understood why I couldn't see Jesus. You see, He was serving.

So, tell me GWB, where in the Bible does God tell His saints that He will do this for them? Tell me why if you don't let Him serve you that you can never have any part of Him?

[jude24]

I am acting on specific instructions from God

Yeah. Sure. That would explain your humiliating, evil actions on the "Why do the nations rage" thread, which got pulled, but not before I saved it on my hard drive.

That was an embarassment for all Christians, to see the depths to which you and peg sank. "Putting the sword" to GWB and kicking him off the forum? That sounds Christ-like...

Spirit of prophecy? Sure.... whatever you say.

[George W. Bush]

As I said before, I don't intend to have any discussion with you. I've made it very clear.

[CCWoody]

No, I mock false prophets when they try to impose their strange and unchristian ideas on me.

You mean like these ideas of yours:

I'm not the sword-pulling type. Neither is my Saviour. - GWB (Spoken in response to several posts concerning the sword of the Spirit)

I know that you are not the sword-pulling type. This is my complaint against you. - CCWoody

Satan’s number-one objective is to destroy our joy of faith. We have one offensive weapon: the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. But what many Christians fail to realize is that we can’t draw the sword from someone else’s scabbard. If we don’t wear it, we can’t wield it. If the Word of God does not abide in us (John 15:7), we will reach for it in vain when the enemy strikes. But if we do wear it, if it lives within us, what mighty warriors of we can be! "I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one" (1 John 2:14). – John Piper from Desiring God.

George W. Bush (don't bother me with those pesky facts)

I don't put much stock in visions, any more than any other Baptist I know of. - GWB

I see, so Peter's vision, Acts 10:10, is what? - peg the prophet

I know false prophets when I hear the babble. - GWB

You can't even confess Christ publicly, and now, are you dismissing Peter as a false prophet? - peg the prophet

Tell me, O mighty man, where in the Bible can this vision given to me by God be found? Are you going to cry foul on this thread as well when you can't answer questions?

[CCWoody]

As I said before, I don't intend to have any discussion with you. I've made it very clear.

So, your mode of opperation is to accuse others of all kinds of things and then run when you can't answer the questions. There is a word for this.

[sola gracia]

CC, if you are truly a man of God, I would encourage you to put away your sword and take heed to Paul's word to Timothy:

"And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will." 2 Timothy 2:24-25 NKJV (bold added)

Now, I am not saying that GWB is in the snare of the devil. But I get the idea that you think so. But I don't see you acting in the way that the apostle Paul admonishes you to act. Until I see that kind of humility in your actions you have no credibility with me.

[George W. Bush]

"And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will." 2 Timothy 2:24-25 NKJV (bold added)

I quoted this till I was blue in the face on the other theads. It won't do any good. It will no doubt be shortly explained to you how this doesn't apply when a hyper-Calvinist is out to get someone. But thanks for trying.

[CCWoody]

That was an embarassment for all Christians, to see the depths to which you and peg sank. "Putting the sword" to GWB and kicking him off the forum? That sounds Christ-like...

When necessary, I expose false prophets who babble of their own fevered imaginations. Or of demonic influence. - GWB

I'll leave it to the charismaniac crazies to compete in blasphemy. - GWB

You know, I think snakehandling and poisondrinking is pretty unique these days...just a thought. - GWB

He [GWB] has openly bragged on other threads and to other Freepers that he got rid of doc. - peg the prophet
I helped him. You babbling idiots [peg & CCWoody] are next. - sinkspur

Yeah, GWB is the poor innocent victim in all of this. He has managed to get 2 kicked off of FR. And, BTW, look who posted scripture on that thread and who did not. Oops! All you guys have to do to discredit me and this vision is show from the Bible why it is wrong. And yet, not a single person has even tried. Oops!

[Samir]

Plea for tolerance by Jim Robinson [Free Republic]

[jude24]

I'll stick with scripture since I put no stock in your alleged revelations. "By their fruit ye shall know them." Your fruit, as evidenced on that thread last night, completely discredits you.

[jude24]

He has managed to get 2 kicked off of FR.

They deserved it....

[CCWoody]

Now, I am not saying that GWB is in the snare of the devil. But I get the idea that you think so. But I don't see you acting in the way that the apostle Paul admonishes you to act. Until I see that kind of humility in your actions you have no credibility with me.

He refused for an entire thread to confess Christ. And this is not the first thread he has done that on.

It's much easier to dismiss someone because he doesn't conform to how one would expect a saint to behave than to objectively look at all the evidence. So, you will understand that it bothers me not one bit to not be credible in your eyes.

[CCWoody]

"By their fruit ye shall know them." Your fruit, as evidenced on that thread last night, completely discredits you.

I must have quoted too much scripture.

[jude24]

no, you allied yourself with peg, the false prophet.

[CCWoody]

no, you allied yourself with peg, the false prophet.

All you have to do to label me a false prophet is to show where my vision cannot be Biblical. So far, still no takers. It's easy to dismiss with accusation but much harder to put yer sword to it.

[George W. Bush]

They deserved it....

I did not request that anyone be removed from FR. But when thing are out of hand, I do report incidents that seem poisonous to the forum and let the management deal with them. doc is already back after only a two day absence. peg will probably be back tomorrow, I would guess.

BTW, jude, I know you have a copy of the pulled thread and you know that Woody is only pulling some very selective quotes from it. What Woody doesn't realize is that the rest of us have copies of it too and can compare what he's saying and posting now with what was on that thread.

[RnMomof7]

This is from a piper sermon on proverbs 10:11 and it seems to fit..Please ....This bickering and name calling doesn't honor Christ..

The Mouth of the Righteous is as a Fountain of Life

"That kind of relationship with God and his Son makes your mouth a fountain and not a factory. There is a great difference between the freedom of a fountain and the frenzy of a factory. God means to make our mouths pure and life-giving not by commanding us to marshall more human resources and digging up raw materials and organizing labor and management like a factory--like: "Get your psychological corporate act together!" Instead God means to make our mouths pure and life-giving by becoming our resources and our raw material and our labor and management himself.

"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks," Jesus said (Matt. 12:34). And the way God means to change the mouth is by becoming that abundance. He means to be a fountain of life for us and in us so that out of that abundance our mouths can be a fountain of life for others.

That's the answer to our second question: The mouth of the righteous is a fountain and not a factory because righteousness means living on the abundance of God--moment by moment drinking at the fountain of living water which is nothing less than God himself, manifest in Jesus Christ and welling up in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (John 4:14; 7:38-39).

So the heart of this sermon is a call to trust God as your abundance and treasure. To live in God, to feed on God, and drink from God, and fellowship with God, learn all your wisdom from God and fear to forsake God (Ezra 8:22). He invites you this morning very earnestly and sincerely: "Let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price" (Rev. 22:17). The fountain of life is free. And it reproduces fountains not factories.

[CCWoody]

What Woody doesn't realize is that the rest of us have copies of it too and can compare what he's saying and posting now with what was on that thread.

This would be much easier than simply proving through the Scripture that what I saw cannot possibly be Biblical. Of course, your problem is that none of your commentaries can help you do this. When there is no evidence to the contrary, Woody must be right.

[jude24]

When there is no evidence to the contrary, Woody must be right.

You asked for it, here you go:

Christ came to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. That job being accomplished, he now " Sit on [God the Father's] right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."

Now our call is to serve Christ. And here are the calls to that effect:

Colossians 3:24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

Hebrews 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear

Revelation 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

Looks to me like we're the ones to be serving God. And this is no great thing on our part-- its our "reasonable" service according to Romans 12:2. You think we'll be served by Christ post-Rapture?? I don't think so....