Wednesday, October 17, 2001

A biblical response to Sept. 11 terror attacks

By Dr. Howard E. Dial
Pastor

[Editor's note: The following column was provided by Dr. Howard E. Dial, founding pastor of Berachah Bible Church, 310 Corinth Rd. in eastern Fayette County.

The following responses to the World Trade Tower terrorism of Sept. 11, 2001, represent only a part of what God has revealed in the Bible. We can take heart in the fact that God has given us a trustworthy revelation of His will and that it is "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

1. We must go to God with every emotion we experience and express ourselves to Him. We are to cast all of our burdens upon Him. The psalms of the Old Testament demonstrate how we can relate honestly to God. They contain verbalizations to God of joy, disappointment, anger, grief, and fear. Read the psalms to find encouragement in the Lord (e.g., Psalm 34, fear; Psalm 58, anger). Psalm 46:1 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." 1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you."

2. We must handle our anger in a God-honoring way. Righteous anger over the evil deeds of wicked men must not be allowed to settle into sinful and vengeful anger. Express your anger to God and take refuge in the fact that He is a God of justice. Luke 18:7-8 "Now shall not God bring about justice for His elect, who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them speedily." Ephesians 4:26-27 "Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity."

3. Listen discerningly to the news and interpretation of events of the attack upon America. Children must be given the light of biblical wisdom as to why this happened. While we don't know the full mind of God on this awful experience, He has given us His word, the Bible. Many, if not most, of the representatives of the various religions interviewed on television have failed to express accurately the real issues involved in the vicious act of terrorism witnessed this past week. Deuteronomy 29:29 "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law."

4. Express your grief to God and rejoice in His compassion, faithfulness, and sovereignty over all things. Nothing happens that is contrary to His wisdom. Grief is the God-given capacity to respond to the losses that accompany the pain and suffering of life in a fallen world. Lamentations 3:22, 23, 32, 38 "The Lord's loving-kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness. For if He causes grief, then He will have compassion according to His loving-kindness. Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth?"

5. Pray for opportunities to minister to people. Be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you. This is a season for special opportunities to declare the good news that forgiveness of sin, eternal life, and fellowship with God is in Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 3:15 "But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence."

6. Pray for our President, Vice President, Congress, and all governmental officials that they will seek and receive God's wisdom, that they will make well-informed decisions, and do what is just and right. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 "First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity."

7. Do some act of compassion and encourage those who are involved in the recovery efforts (e.g., donate blood to the Red Cross). Ask God to make you a comforter to those who are hurting. Romans 13:8 "Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law."

8. Do not allow fear to rule your life. Fear is a terrible tyrant. God does not want us to live by fear but by faith. We make choices. We can choose not to be fearful by placing our confidence in God and rejoicing in His salvation. God knows what He is doing and will enable His children to deal with the most difficult of circumstances. Habakkuk 2:4 "Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith."

9. Assist children by helping them to understand, as much as is possible, what has happened. Attempt to shield younger children from needless exposure to scenes of the tragedy on the television. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 "And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up."

10. Pray that many will repent and put their faith in Jesus Christ as a result of this human tragedy. It is a reminder of the kind of world that we live in and the greatest need sinful man has. When evil displays its awful work, people must ask themselves what lesson is there in this for me? Death tells us that we live in a fallen world and that we must seek the Lord while He may be found. Luke 13:3 "I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

11. Meditate upon the biblical teaching regarding the problem of suffering. God is not the cause of evil and the suffering it brings, but is the Savior from it. All suffering can be traced to the fall of man and man's chosen path of disobedience. The sufferings of Jesus Christ serve as God's complete and final answer to human suffering. God alone can give meaning to suffering. God can enable the Christian to have the proper response to suffering. Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:12 "Therefore just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned." Isaiah 53:5 "But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed."

12. Do not allow the darkness of evil to eclipse the cross and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The cross of Jesus Christ reveals the kind of world in which we live. It is one of injustice. The cross of Jesus Christ reveals God's answer to the problem of suffering. The answer is found in the triumph of justice and love. They have kissed at the cross.

The cross of Jesus Christ reveals the destiny of evil. Satan was judged and evil was issued a death warrant. The cross of Jesus Christ reveals the trustworthiness of God. He is a God of sacrificial love. The cross of Jesus Christ and its great guarantee, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, reveal a door of hope for all who will embrace the grace of God in Christ through faith in Him. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

13. Appreciate the biblical-prophetic nature of the disaster in New York and Washington, D.C. One of the reasons terrorists have attacked America is because of our support of the nation of Israel. Once again Israel is the focus of world attention. Israel plays a strategic role in the plan of God. We also know that Satan wants to destroy Israel in order keep the Abrahamic Covenant, Davidic Covenant, and New Covenant from being fulfilled as they relate to the nation of Israel. Romans 11:1 "I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin."

14. Pray for the Muslim world that many will turn to their only hope, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Confess any sin of bitterness and hatred of the Arab people or Muslims anywhere. Pray for those missionaries serving in Muslim countries for their boldness in witness. The church must not allow unsettled world conditions to keep it from taking the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. This includes the Muslim world. Matthew 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

15. Prepare yourself for a war of a different kind. It will be difficult, requiring many sacrifices and will significantly alter the way we conduct our lives as a nation. Human government has been given the right by God to use force to restrain evil. We cannot look the other way and ignore evildoers or think that if our nation "turns the other cheek" that evil will lay down its arms. Romans 13:3-4 "For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil."

16. Do the next thing. Don't let your life revolve around the television or allow yourself to become morbidly obsessed with the evil done by the terrorists. Listen to God-exalting Christian music, memorize and read Scripture. Be faithful to your God-given responsibilities. Live hopefully. 1 Cor. 15:58 "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord."

17. Pain and suffering expose the inadequacy of the conceptions of unbelief: that there is no such thing as good and evil, that meaning in life is defined by wealth/money, that we don't need God, that man is good, and that tolerance means that all religions are equal.

All religions do not worship the same God and there is only one way into God's heaven and that is through Jesus Christ. John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me." Ephesians 4:17-18 "This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;"

18. The church of Jesus Christ is in need of reformation and revival. We have become spiritually flabby. There must be a return to biblical preaching and a passion for the glory of God. The church must not be too quick to lay blame at the feet of others when its own sins need to be confessed to God. 1 Peter 4:17 "For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God;" 2 Timothy 4:2 "Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction."

19. Satan is not all-wise, all-knowing and all-powerful. God has him on a leash. The devil is self-deceived and his evil schemes will fall in upon themselves. Job 1:12 "Then the Lord said to Satan, ... Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.'" Luke 10:18 "And He said to them, ... I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning."

20. We are not helped when we seek to explain evil only in terms of "free will." God rules over evil and accomplishes His purpose by the free choices of Satan and sinners. God governs and guides all events both good and evil to the accomplishment of His will. The ways of God cannot be fully understood by finite man. But our attempts to understand what He has revealed must not diminish either His power or His love. Ephesians 1:11 God "works all things after the counsel of His will." Isaiah 45:7 "The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these."

21. Expect grief to have an effect upon the entire population as well as yourself. There will be weariness, inability to concentrate, the eruption of old emotional or mental wounds, anger, and fear. But God's grace is available for whatever test comes our way. Be patient with people. Be kind. Don't be prejudiced toward immigrants and "foreigners." Galatians 6:10 "So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith."

22. Be prepared for a sorting out of people during this time of pain, suffering, and war. Some will faint and fall. Some will be strong and courageous. Suffering brings our weaknesses out into the open. It uncovers flawed thinking. We are seeing this in many of the interviews on the television. Some Christians are writing and saying things that are very unbiblical. Let these difficult times drive you to God's eternal and infallible Word. James 1:2-5 "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."

23. The evil of death has visited our nation in a brutal way. It sends a message to all of us. We live in a fallen world where death reigns. It wields its terror because of sin. We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. An infinitely holy and righteous God cannot wink at sin. Because God's standard is perfection and we are not perfect, we have earned death. We deserve to die and be separated from God forever.

But God has come to our rescue. Like those brave firemen who rushed into the World Trade Towers to save people and died doing it, so Jesus Christ died for us. He came into this world, lived a perfect life, and died on a cross in our place. He took the penalty that we deserved for sin. Three days later Christ came back to life having conquered sin and death.

We can be saved from sin's penalty through faith in Jesus Christ. By placing our trust in Jesus Christ and through no effort of our own, we can have the forgiveness of sin and eternal life.

Are you facing an eternity of suffering? We can be sure of one message that comes to us from the World Trade Towers. It is as one writer has said, "The worst thing that can happen to you is not the death of a loved one, a prolonged illness, or a painful accident. The worst thing that could happen to you would be to suffer for nothing, die, and be lost forever." Romans 3:23 "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 5:8 "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Ephesians 2:8, 9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast."

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

[Dr. Howard E. Dial is the founding pastor of Berachah Bible Church where he has been ministering since 1970. Dr. Dial received his Master of Divinity and Master of Theology degrees from Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Ind., and his Doctor of Ministry degree from Western Conservative Baptist Seminary in Portland, Ore. in 1992.]

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