Kingdom Rules | Sunday, October 26, 2025

Amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Anthony and team. Good morning, everyone. You can have a seat. It is so good to see you here this morning, and I am glad to be with you.

I've had a few people ask me, "I thought you wouldn't be preaching today. You'd be too tired." Fortunately, I'm back on the normal schedule just in time. Just so you know, next week we fall back for the time change. I am told that you will gain an hour, which is great because I always confuse these changes. You will get an extra hour of sleep, and that will mean you will be so happy when you come here next Sunday. Just remember to set your clock so you don't show up at the wrong time, because that would be embarrassing.

I am back on the regular schedule after returning from Israel this past week. I came in early Thursday morning. I had the great privilege of traveling to Israel with a small team: myself, Pastor David Guzik, Pastor Lance Rston, and Chuck Muselwhite. We are the board for Enduring Word, which we highlighted today.

I want to share with you a big thing happening with Enduring Word in the next couple of weeks. Some of you know that I was with Enduring Word on a trip like this a few years ago when we went to Saudi Arabia to what we believe is the real Mount Sinai location. The entire time we were on that trip, every moment that David had free, he would open up his laptop and work on the commentary for a study Bible that Thomas Nelson was going to be bringing out.

Thomas Nelson is releasing the Enduring Word Study Bible in two weeks, so this is kind of a big deal. If you're looking for a new study Bible, I will share more about that next week as the release approaches. It is a great opportunity.

As I have shared every time I travel, I am so grateful for the leadership team we have here, our pastors and leaders at Cross Connection Church. They make it so easy for me when I'm out of the country or traveling. I don't have to think about anything. My friend, Pastor Neil, came out and shared from Florida a couple of weeks ago and gave a great message. Pastor Jason delivered a fantastic message last week on an awesome passage of Scripture dealing with the Beatitudes, which is found in the text of the Gospels called the Sermon on the Mount.

What's interesting about that is that while you were going through that text, I was with David, Lance, and Chuck at the very place where it is believed the Sermon on the Mount was delivered. Here is a picture from that moment. Just over Chuck, my friend on the far left, you can see the Sea of Galilee. This is the area where the Sermon on the Mount is believed to have taken place. We were there.

Right about the time that you guys were going through that text, I was really excited. I've had the privilege to go to Israel; I think this was my fifth trip. Most of the time when I go to Israel, I'm leading a team, so we have dozens of people with us. For example, when we were supposed to go to Israel in 2023, we were stopped just about 100 miles off the shore from Ashdod, which is the port just north of Gaza. We were supposed to be in Israel on the 8th of October, and of course, the attack happened on the 7th of October. So, we were diverted, but we had a team of over a hundred people.

Most of the time when I go to Israel, I have about a hundred other people that I'm there with, and my focus is to make sure that they all get to where they're supposed to go and that they all get on the buses. That's the hardest thing—like herding cats. Getting all those people on and off buses is crazy. So, I don't really get to take in the sights when we go on a trip like this. However, this trip was different because it was just the four of us. We were able to see things that we normally don't get to take teams on.

There are a lot of places in Israel that are hard to go to, particularly in a region called the West Bank. It's not that you can't go there, but you have to go through security checkpoints and do all these different things to get there. Most tours don't go there. One of the other reasons we don't take tours is because along the main road, we were driving to an area called Hebron. Hebron is one of the most contested sites in the world because there is a building that was built by King Herod 2,000 years ago, around a cave called the Cave of Machpelah. This is where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob are all buried.

The three major religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—all look to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as their patriarchs. Jews and Christians do, but Muslims also look to Abraham. This makes it a contested site. Along the main road to get there, there is a sign that I want to show you. It says, in Arabic, Hebrew, and English, "This road leads to Area A under Palestinian Authority. The entrance for Israeli citizens is forbidden. Dangerous to your lives." So, we normally don't take groups there, but we went there, and with us were two tour guides who are also officers in the Israeli Defense Forces.

Force. One of them is named Nur, and his nephew is Hamit. Hamit had his Glock hanging out the back of his pants. As we were getting out of the car at one point, I asked him, "So, is that a Glock 19 or Glock 17?" He looked at me and said, "You just became my favorite guest on any of our trips."

Nur and Hamit took us to Gaza, specifically two miles outside of Gaza, to the site of the Nova Music Festival massacre, which was heavy to see. Right before we got there, we stopped at a box along the side of the road. Every single bus station next to us has these about 5x10 ft concrete buildings. This is a bomb shelter because rockets are fired from Gaza all the time. They have been for years. You have about 15 seconds when a rocket is fired to find yourself inside one of these shelters.

This particular shelter is important because it is about 200 yards away from the Nova Music Festival site. Nur brought us there because he said this one is personal. He took us inside, and it was plastered with pictures. These are the pictures of those who were hostages or killed on October 7. Inside this box, 29 Israeli youth were gunned down and killed with grenades by Hamas. Nur pointed out a picture of a young girl and said, "She was the babysitter of my children for years; she lived next door to us."

In Israel, you will not meet a single person who doesn't know someone who was killed on October 7. September 11 was a big deal for us, but there are probably very few of you here today who knew someone who died personally on that day. We knew of the 3,000 who died, but you may not know someone who died. However, every single person we met knows someone.

As I mentioned, two years ago, we were about to get into Israel when the attack happened, and we didn't go. This time, it seemed providential. On our first full day in Israel, we watched Air Force One fly in because the president was coming to sign a peace agreement, and the hostages were about to be released. When we were flying to Israel, we picked up a plane in Raleigh, North Carolina, and were flying to Tel Aviv. Sitting next to me was a young girl named Gia. I started a conversation with her because she had a sweatshirt on with a picture of a guy. I asked her, "Can you tell me about your sweatshirt?" I knew it was a hostage. She replied, "This is my cousin Alon."

Going to be released in two days as one of the hostages, she knew 13 people who were killed in the initial attack. She was a trauma medic in the IDF and is now in the U.S. doing premed at NYU to become a trauma surgeon. She is still an IDF reservist. Everybody we met had a similar story.

On the day of the release of the hostages, when President Trump came in, we were walking around southern Tel Aviv in a town called Jaffa. We went into a place because we were thirsty and wanted a drink. There was no one there except for the lady who worked there, named Ara. They were projecting a live news feed on the wall. While we were there, they released the hostages, and she broke down crying and was just weeping. She kept apologizing to us, but we said, "You don't need to apologize."

We had meeting after meeting over the last couple of weeks, and it was an amazing trip. I hope to bring a group to Israel again. We're planning a tour in 2027, specifically in the fall. We're working on that and will let you know when we finalize the details in the not-too-distant future.

About a week ago Saturday, since church services are on Saturday in Israel, we went to a Christian church in Jerusalem. Pastor David Guzik was asked to teach there by a friend of ours named Samuel. Samuel is the pastor and also a businessman in Israel, very well-connected with many influential people. David taught at this church, which had about 500 Jewish Christians worshiping the Lord together.

Afterward, we met a young man in his mid-thirties named Matan. Matan invited David and the rest of us to come to the ministry he oversees to speak with a group of students. We were finally able to go there on our last night, just before we got on the plane.

If you've ever read the Gospels, in Luke it talks about Jesus walking with two disciples on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection. So, this is Emmaus. We went to Emmaus and met at a compound there. Matan oversees a pre-military training academy because every single graduate from high school in Israel goes immediately into the Israeli Defense Force at 18 years old—two years for ladies and three years for men. They continue to be reservists in the IDF.

Until they're 45, most of them continue their reserve duty. I mentioned Nurr; he's 66 years old and still a reserve commander in the IDF. They all continue, but before they go into the military, they're given an option to take a gap year. During that gap year, they can go and learn under their rabbis. Most of them will go to a Jewish rabbi to prepare them so that they maintain their faith while they're in the IDF. There is only one pre-military academy for Christians, specifically Jewish Christians, and Matan oversees this. He invited David, Lance, Chuck, and me to come and speak to the 50 or so young people getting ready to go into IDF service.

We shared from the Scriptures and then opened it up for a Q&A. I'll never forget there was a girl, 18 years old. I didn't get her name, but she looked like any high school student here, and she was getting ready to go into the IDF. She asked a question: "How come it seems like so many Christians in America hate us, the Jewish people?" There is that sentiment. When I talked to Gaia on the plane, she came to the U.S. just before the attack and enrolled in pre-med at Columbia University. She had to leave Columbia because of the anti-Semitism and was run out of there; now she's at NYU. There's not much better.

So this girl at the academy was asking why it seems like so many Christians in America are against us. She said, "Have they not read the New Testament?" We are going to read an important passage on this key issue in the New Testament this morning. I shared with her and the rest of the group that I have the unfortunate reality to share with them today: there is a growing group of American Christians who believe in what's called replacement theology. They don't think that the people of Israel have any importance in end times events and things that are happening in the world today.

I said, "That's not all the Christians in America. It's certainly not the church that I'm a part of, but that is a growing sentiment in America." I expressed my sorrow that it seems to be that way. It may be that you only have the Lord to stand with you, but there are Christians in Israel sharing the gospel. There is a renewed interest in the gospel in Israel, and God is doing a work. I want to encourage you that God is seeing many people come to faith in Christ Jesus as Messiah in Israel today. It's an awesome thing to see, and we should continue to pray. They asked us, one of the students...

They asked the four of us, "If you could go back and talk to your 19-year-old self, what would you say?" Each of the three went before me, and I shared last. I said, "Well, if I could go back and talk to my 19-year-old self, I'd say, 'Be less anxious and don't worry about the future. Trust in the Lord and follow Him, and He will direct your steps. You don't need to worry about that so much.'"

Immediately after we were done, a young guy named Joshua came and talked to me. With him was a girl named Shira. She could only speak Hebrew, but she wanted to ask me for prayer. Joshua interpreted for her, and she said that she was anxious. She was worried because she was going into the IDF and might be positioned in Gaza, Hebron, or somewhere else. She is only 18 years old. I prayed with her that she would have the peace of the Lord and recognize the rest and the peace of the Holy Spirit in her life. You can pray for Shira and for Joshua. God is doing a great work.

They shared with us that there seems to be something of a revival happening in Israel. There is a revival unto Judaism. It has been said that Israel is one of the most secular nations in the world, and that's true. Every time I've gone to Israel over the last 20 years, I've seen that most of the people living there are not strongly committed to their faith. Yet, after 10:7, there has been a massive shift towards faith in Israel, and people have a renewed trust in God.

The reason we were told by multiple people is that we cannot not believe in God after all the miracles we've seen in the last two years. They have witnessed God move in powerful ways, and so many people are turning to faith in God. Additionally, many are turning to faith in Christ. One of the students asked, "Why do you think this is happening?" I shared something I've mentioned here before.

The culture we live in here in the West, over the last several generations, has done a terrible job of answering the deep questions that every human soul has: the questions of identity—who am I? Purpose—why am I here? Origin—where did I come from? Destiny—where do I go when I die? And morality—is there anything that is right or wrong? Because our culture has not answered those questions sufficiently or clearly, many people are seeking and trying to find answers. As a result, they are turning back to Scripture.

The best answers are found from God, who made us. That's happening in Israel, and it's happening here. We are living at a unique and opportune moment for us, the church. We need to make sure that we are able to answer those questions, and not just with our words. This is the key, and this is where I think this connects with the text that we are going to look at today.

People are looking to see if the things that you say you believe with your words are evidenced in your life. What you believe must change the way that you live. It must transform you to be a different person than you are naturally, different from all the other people around us by nature. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to do that very thing. God transforms us by the renewing of our minds through His word to make us different.

The passage that is before us today is one of those passages that challenges us in our nature. In this passage, there is a call from Jesus to a different kind of life, a different kind of perspective that is totally counter and contrary to our natural tendency. Jason started last week this section called the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes, where we read, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are those who weep, and blessed are you when men hate you, exclude you, revile you, and cast you out."

Jesus follows all of that up with some of the most challenging words of Scripture. These are the words that really call us to follow a different value system, to walk according to a different kingdom rule. Do you realize that if you are a Christian, you are a citizen of a new kingdom and a subject of a new King? As a citizen of this new kingdom and a subject of this new King, He calls you to live with a different value system.

For many decades, you could even say centuries, the value system of our culture here in America was very similar to the value system presented in the Scriptures, because this is, for all intents and purposes, a Christian nation. However, as things shift and the culture changes, the value system that Christ calls us to is different from the value system of our culture. You experience that on a daily basis, but Christ calls us to a different way of living.

Life is a journey, and in this section of Scripture, the Sermon on the Mount, we gain insight into what it looks like to be a child of God, with God as our Father. How does that affect us? It must be demonstrated in our lives; it must be evident.

With that as a preface, please take out your Bibles. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and an usher will bring you one, or we will put it up on the screen. We are going to read from Luke chapter 6. I ask you to stand as we read from the Gospel of Luke.

We will pick it up right after the passage you looked at last week, starting in verse 27. Jesus says, "But I say to you, love your enemies." That's a hard one. "Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And from him who would take away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks you. And from him who takes away your goods, do not ask them back. Just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise."

"But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive it back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be the sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore, be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful."

"Judge not, that you be not judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

God, I pray that you would give us wisdom and insight as we consider this challenging text together.

Would, by the working of Your word and the power of Your Spirit, You continue to transform each of us more and more into the likeness of Your children? That Your nature would be evident in us, that it would be seen that we do not only say with our mouths what we believe, but we live our faith. God, make it a reality in our lives. We pray. We ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen."

Amen. You can be seated.

Well, this is not an unfamiliar text. In fact, this is a text that is familiar even to many unbelievers. I would say this is the favorite text of antagonistic unbelievers, my favorite kind. I like unbelievers. I mean, God has called us to love unbelievers, and I want to see them move from unbelief to belief. But I love antagonistic unbelievers.

You know, it's almost November, which means you're probably going to see some of your family members who are antagonistic unbelievers in the next couple of months. You're probably really looking forward to that one. I certainly will see some antagonistic unbelievers over the next couple of months. The antagonistic unbelievers love this text. In fact, this is probably one of the only two texts that they know. They know this text and then they know the text in Matthew 25, where Jesus says that you should give a cup of cold water to the one who's thirsty or give your clothes to those who are naked and take care of them. They love those texts.

Oftentimes, they know these texts in part or they know them out of context, but they love these texts as a way to kind of one-up you. They may say to you, "Well, don't you know that the Bible says you shall not judge?" I mean, we just read it there: "Judge not, that you be not judged," verse 37. I've had antagonistic unbelievers tell me before, "Well, don't you know the Bible says you shall not judge?" Or they say to you, "I thought you're supposed to be like your Lord. He was a nonviolent pacifist. He said, 'Turn the other cheek.' That's what you need to do."

The antagonistic unbeliever says, "Well, don't you know that Jesus taught that you're to love your enemies?" So, how could you possibly be— and this is a big one right now in our culture— how could you possibly be a supporter of Israel? How could you possibly be a supporter of...

The United States and their military endeavors and efforts? I thought that your Lord said, "Love your enemies." The antagonistic unbeliever loves this text. This is one of the most famous passages of Jesus's teaching in all of the Gospels, the Sermon on the Mount.

Now, even right there is a challenge because this text is recorded in Matthew's Gospel and in Luke's Gospel. In Matthew's Gospel, it takes up chapters 5, 6, and 7. It opens with, "And seeing the multitudes, Jesus went up onto a mountain, and when he had sat down, his disciples came to him, and he taught them, saying, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit.'" It happened on a mountain overlooking Galilee, where I was just seven or eight days ago.

However, Luke's Gospel says that this sermon took place on a flat place in a plain. The incredulous antagonistic unbeliever says, "See, there's a contradiction. How do you deal with that, pastor? There's a contradiction in the Bible. Matthew says it was on a hill, and Luke says it was on a plain."

There is a simple answer for this. What we have in Matthew and Luke recorded as the Sermon on the Mount is what we would call Jesus's stump speech. This is the message he gave everywhere he went. When Matthew's Gospel says that Jesus went around the cities of Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom, the good news of the kingdom, what did he preach? He preached this. In Matthew's Gospel, it takes up three chapters; it is the full-length version. In Luke's Gospel, it is the narrow abridgment—just a section of the text.

It is good to keep that in mind because there are a lot of gaps in the record of what Luke records versus what Matthew records. Therefore, it is beneficial to cross-reference the book of Matthew as I read Luke's account of this same story. Even the way this one opens indicates that something is missing.

Look back with me, if you will, to the very first verse in Luke 6:27. It says, "But I say to you who hear." It seems like something's missing from the very beginning. But I say to you, what led into that? The gap is filled by Matthew. Let me read to you from Matthew's Gospel how this opens.

Originally, Matthew 5:43 states, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies." Luke picks up with "But I say to you, love your enemies," but he does not record those important words of Jesus: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'"

Just before this, in the last section called the Beatitudes, Jesus said his last Beatitude recorded by Luke: "Blessed are you when men hate you." How many of you feel really blessed when you find out someone hates you? For the record, there are no hands raised. "Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you." Do you remember maybe when you were in your primary school days being excluded? You weren't a part of one of the groups or didn't get chosen for the team. "Blessed are you when you're excluded," or when people revile you, speak wickedly of you, or cast you out as evil.

Matthew adds, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for doing what's right." Then Jesus gives this teaching: "Love your enemies." Love the person who hates you, reviles you, casts you out, or persecutes you. Just before that, not recorded by Luke, He says, "You've heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'" Let me tell you, I like that teaching better. Can I just be honest? That was the teaching of the rabbis in Jesus's day.

You see, Jesus was a rabbi; He was a teacher. There were other rabbis, other teachers in Jesus's day. He said, "Hey, you've heard the teaching of the rabbis. You've heard what they say. What do they teach? You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I'm telling you something different: "You shall love your enemies." My natural inclination, what the Bible would call my flesh, does not like Jesus's teaching here. I prefer the teaching of the rabbis, especially in light of gross wickedness, such as terrorists killing 1,200 people. Let me tell you, they recorded what they did. I have made it a point not to watch the videos. Maybe some of you have.

I have seen them. I don't want to see them, but I know what happened. I know from people like Hamit who told me about the desecrating, horrible things that were done to both men and women, including cutting body parts off. I'll just leave it at that. They recorded it all because they wanted to use it as propaganda. So, it's all on video.

My inclination is to love my neighbor and hate my enemy. I'm no different than you; you're the same. I want permission to hate, but Jesus doesn't give me that option. He says, "I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use and persecute you." His teaching is clear, but my flesh doesn't like it.

Point number one: the chief virtue of Christ's kingdom is love. But what is love? That's a challenging question for us. One great theologian, Thomas Aquinas, said, "Love is to will the good of another, to desire their good." So, Jesus says, "Love your enemies. Desire good." That's not my natural inclination.

What does it practically look like to love your enemies? He says in verse 29, "To him who strikes you on the one cheek, which is a sign of insult, turn to him the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic. Give to everyone who asks. And from him who takes away your goods, do not ask for them back." Just as you want men to do to you, do to them likewise.

By nature, as a man and also as an American, I do not like this teaching. My natural inclination is to stand up for myself and to assertively confront anybody. I feel it in myself, and maybe you do as well. When someone is rude to you, you feel that urge to respond. That's my flesh. The Old Testament, in Exodus 21, states the law of Moses: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, strike for strike.

Now, many people for a long time have interpreted the phrase "an eye for an eye" as a justification for retaliation. They think of it as a kind of "John Wick theology," where if you kill my puppy, I destroy you. Although this is a common interpretation, it is not the correct way to understand that text. This topic could be explored further in another study, but it is important to note that many people have interpreted it this way.

Jesus references this very text in the same message in Matthew's Gospel, specifically in Matthew 5:38. He says, "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' but I tell you, do not resist an evil person." This is a challenging statement. Jesus instructs us not to stand up against evil. I mean, the Beastie Boys said, "You got to fight for your right to party." So, I feel like I should be able to fight back if someone comes against me with evil intentions. What they did was wrong.

However, Jesus continues, "Whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." My flesh hates this passage. I want justice. I want retribution, vengeance, and revenge. I resonate with the prayers of David in the Psalms when he says, "Break their teeth in their mouth." I have prayed that prayer before; I won't tell you for whom, but I have prayed it. This is known as an imprecatory prayer, and there are many such prayers in the Psalms.

My desire for justice, when injustice has occurred, is not wrong. God, who made you, created you in His image, and He is perfectly just. Therefore, your desire for justice is connected to the fact that you were made in His image. However, my rightful desire for justice does not give me the right to take justice into my own hands. That is the hard part.

Point number two: when Christ rules as King in your life, the rules of His kingdom change the way that you live. Paul sums this up beautifully in the...

The book of Romans presents another challenging exhortation. In Romans 12:14, it is written, "Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion."

Here's the kicker: "Repay no one evil for evil." This challenges the whole notion of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." We are instructed to have regard for good things in the sight of all men. Another challenging directive follows: "If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all people." Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath. For it is written, "Vengeance is mine. I will repay," says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap coals of fire on his head. I like that part.

We are told not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good. Passages like this are a challenge. They challenge me and they challenge you to live a life that goes contrary to our nature. My natural inclination is none of these things, but Christ calls me to another way of life. He calls you to another way of life. I want to avenge myself. Can I get an amen?

All the guys in the room might say, "Yes, amen." But God would say, "If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live at peace with all men." This begs the question, and it is a lingering question in the air. Jesus tells us, "Love your enemies. Do good to those who persecute you. Do not resist an evil person." The question that lingers is the right question.

Okay, that's all well and good, but what about when something genuinely evil happens? What about when terrorists kill 1,200 people, take 251 hostage, and put children in an oven to burn and kill them? That happened. So what do you do? Well, there's the tension. The antagonistic unbeliever says, "Listen, Christian, Jesus was a nonviolent pacifist. He told you to turn the other cheek. He told you to love your enemy. He told you to be a pacifist."

How could you possibly support violent military action? You certainly must reject what Israel has done in Gaza over the last two years. This is where theology meets reality. How do we live righteously according to theology? According to what the Scriptures teach, how do we live righteously in the present evil age? We live in the midst of wickedness.

You cannot read Paul's exhortation in Romans chapter 12, where he says, "Do not resist an evil person," out of context with the very next words in Romans chapter 13. What does he say immediately after? He exhorts Christians in the church in Rome, of all places, to not resist evil. Romans 13:1 states, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves."

For rulers, governing authorities, and magistrates—sometimes called magistrates—are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of authority? Do what is good, and you will have the praise of the same. For he, the minister of justice, the governing authority, the ruler, the magistrate, is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. He is God's minister to avenge and to execute wrath on him who practices evil.

We are living in the tension. This is where the Christian lives because you are the subject of another king and a citizen of another kingdom. He calls you and me to live according to his kingdom rules, which he is teaching us here in the Sermon on the Mount. However, we are still in the present evil age here in this place.

So, we live in this tension between the already and the not yet. You are already a citizen of another kingdom and the subject of another king, but you are not yet in the fullness of his kingdom. That's why we pray, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." But here we are in this, well, I want to say something—I won't say this—not so great place, which means you will be hated, reviled, rejected, and persecuted. We have been the privileged.

We are recipients of 250 years of religious freedom, which means we have not, to any significant degree, experienced rejection, reviling, or persecution for righteousness' sake because we are Christians. However, that is not guaranteed to last. We have been quite privileged to live as we have lived, but we live in this tension. As much as is possible, we are to live at peace with all people and to love our enemies—those who hate, revile, reject, or persecute us. All the while, we should be praying for righteous rulers and good magistrates who will execute wrath on those who practice evil.

You see, Jesus does not give me or you the opportunity for personal vengeance. There is a governing authority that collectively deals with injustice and evil, and it ought to be addressed. The subject and citizen of Christ and His kingdom trusts in Him to deliver perfect justice in His own way and timing. His way is for the magistrate to deal with it.

You might say, "Well, we don't always have good magistrates." That is a real problem. Paul wrote those words to Christians living in Rome during the time of one of the most wicked Caesars in all of history. He says, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities." Man, is that hard! We are pushed to pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

There is a real tension here, with two teachings very clearly evident in the Scriptures. Jesus teaches a nonviolent reality, but the Scriptures also teach that there is to be a strong execution of justice and a defense of the defenseless. God held His people, the children of Israel, accountable for not defending the cause of those who could not defend themselves. In His terms, it was the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow—those who could not take care of themselves. He judged His people because they did not execute justice on their behalf.

What we have in this tension is the teaching of nonviolence by Jesus and the reality that the Bible calls for justice.

Also, it teaches a strong execution of justice. This reminds us that there is a separation between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world. In an American context, we would say there is a separation between church and state. That's a hard one for us. There is a push among many Protestant Christians in America today to reject that idea, which is very clearly evident in the Scriptures. There is a draw towards, and you have probably heard it in the news, Christian nationalism.

The Bible makes it very clear that the minister of God's kingdom— that's what I am, a minister of God's kingdom— is separate from the magistrate of the kingdoms. All you have to do is look at Christian history to realize that every single time the ministers took on the role of magistrates, there were bad outcomes. Read church history. Jesus was asked by the magistrate of His day, who ultimately condemned Him to die, Pilate. The Roman governor Pilate asked Him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I would not be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not of this world."

Man, that's a hard one for me because I want to rise up and take the power of the kingdom and execute righteousness. That's what we want to do, but that's my flesh. Jesus says, "My kingdom is not of this world. It is not for the minister of Christ's kingdom to forcibly control as the magistrate in the kingdoms of this world." We pray, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Who will bring Christ's kingdom to this world? His church or Him? Him. He will bring His kingdom.

Now, that does not mean that there should not be righteous magistrates. Definitely, we should seek for, pray for, and desire that there would be righteous magistrates—governing authorities on earth who govern according to the values and principles of Scripture. You have been given, and I have been given, the privilege of living in a nation where we have a voice in that. We should work for strong magistrates. But that's not my calling. That might be your calling; you might be called to political office. But God has called me to be a minister, not the magistrate of justice. You don't want me with my finger on the button, but I'll pray for you that maybe He will guide you.

It does not mean that we should not seek righteous magistrates. It does not mean that we should not work for strong, valued Christian leaders in the public sphere. We certainly should do that. However, it is crucial to recognize that the same Bible that teaches pacifism and nonviolence also teaches strong defense in just war, as outlined in the just war theories of Augustine and Aquinas.

It should be our prayer and desire to have good leaders and good magistrates. When we have good leaders and good magistrates, it means that they will execute justice. Justice can be hard to swallow. This is a difficult passage. Christ's call here is challenging to my flesh.

I think it's important to note how Jesus finishes this section of Scripture in the Gospel of Matthew, particularly in Matthew's record of the same text, because it's key. He says, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'" Yes, I've heard that one. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He makes the sun rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust.

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

Then, here’s the key, the last verse of this section: "Therefore, you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." I discovered something interesting about this verse about four years ago that stood out to me. It says, "Therefore, you shall be perfect." Most of the time, we teach this as a command: "You shall be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect."

How many of you are living up to that command? John, I figured if anybody would raise their hand, it would be John. He's really close to it; he's like right there, slightly imperfect. We'll ask his wife about that one later.

Therefore, you shall be perfect. Here’s the interesting thing: it’s not a command in the original language. In the Greek, it’s not in the imperative. "You shall be perfect" is not a command.

The indicative is clear. It says this: Love your enemy, and you shall be a child of your Father. That is what it looks like to be a child of God—love your enemy. There is no greater example of that than the one who laid down His life for us.

We are going to partake of communion this morning. Hopefully, you have the communion elements. If you haven't received them, some of the ushers will be walking down the aisle to bring them to you. What is this but the greatest example of loving one's enemy that has ever been seen? His body was broken for us, and His blood was shed for us. While He was on the cross, He prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." There is no greater example of love for one's enemy than that of Jesus Christ. That is the example He has given to me and to you. God help us.

On the night that He was betrayed, Jesus took bread, and when He had broken it, He blessed it and gave it to His disciples, saying, "Take, eat. This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me." Let's partake together.

In the same manner, after they had eaten, He took the cup and said, "This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." Let's partake together.

God, we thank You for Your goodness towards us. Let's stand together. Lord, we thank You that You have given us an example. That's exactly what You said to Your disciples on the night that You partook of the bread and the cup with them. You said, "I have given you an example that you should do as I have done for you." Lord, would You help us by Your Spirit to love as You have called us to love? I cannot do this without Your empowering.

By your Spirit, Lord, enable us. The fruit of the Spirit is love. God, make it a reality in our lives when our flesh desires to take vengeance and retribution into our own hands. Help us to have the mind of Christ, the mind of Paul, where we can recognize that you said, "Vengeance is mine. I will repay," and trust that you will do that.

God, do a work in us. Help us to be an example of your grace, your love, and your truth to this world. In this very same text that we are reading from today, you said, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid." God, help us to be a light to this world. Our world desperately needs to see it.

We ask this in Jesus' name. And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of his Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.