Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

This past week, America was assaulted by a group of dedicated and faithful men. These men acted out of loyalty to their god and their leader. They unselfishly gave of their living, and gave their lives for a cause they believed in more that life, itself. They spent time and preparation becoming "good" at what they were going to do. They carried out their task for the benefit of the whole, without seeking self-glory, a personal following, name recognition or financial gain.

Please read that over and over again. We need to see these facts if we are to make "sense" of such "senseless" acts.

If it were not for the abominable acts that these men carried out, and if we could separate these qualities from the dastardly acts which they precipitated, these qualities would be proclaimed as good and honorable. As a matter of fact, all of us would like to have friends with these qualities.

A physical or human quality is only as good, as the motive behind that quality. That is true in New York and in the church. As we have seen, a person can have the best of outward qualities, AND the worst of inward motives. That is true of terrorists, as well as church members.

I am going to attempt to accomplish three things:

1. Find some understanding of this situation.
2. Learn from this situation and apply that knowledge to our lives.
3. Experience God's HOPE even in and in spite of these situations.
   Not necessarily as isolated points, as an outline or in that exact order.

Any one of those goals is FAR too vast to explore and complete in the short time of one lesson, and very possibly even a lifetime. However, if we will give careful attention, we can at least establish some parameters for all three that will assist us as we continue our searching of each.

My opinion in these matters is of little or no value. The ONLY base on which to build understanding, application and experience is the teaching of the Word of God.

Unfortunately... or BETTER stated, fortunately the Bible does not have a section dealing with the destruction of the Trade Towers, and the Pentagon. Instead, the Holy Spirit has given us Biblical principles from Genesis to Revelation that can be applied to this situation as well as any other situation.

One of the major problems and hindrances to our ability to get a "handle" on these and other real life situations, is our lack of the overall knowledge of the Word of God, and its proper division. Paul gave instruction to a young pastor concerning the direction of His ministry, and states a guiding principle that is so often forgotten, even among those who know it.....

2 Timothy 2:14 Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed,rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort,

The Biblical answers to these REAL life situations can only be understood as we have the Scriptures rightly divided, and allow the Holy Spirit to take that rightly divided Scripture we've planted in our lives, and compare that Scripture with all other Scripture.

It is the 

overall teaching of Scripture, 

properly harmonized with itself 

that presents the 

"mind of Christ" 

in these matters.

Drum beats, the strumming of guitars and flashing lights will not give answers to real life problems. Those things may produce good feelings, and goodness knows we could use some good feelings, right now.

However, as needed as good feelings are, they do not bring lasting answers, or the power to cope with life tragedies that are beyond the reach of those good feelings.

I've had people ask about the present situation and others with, "What does the Bible say about this?" I try to answer those questions as briefly and accurately as possible.

When I have completed the answer, I am often ask, "Where in the Bible can I find that? That is just what I'm looking for! I've got to show that to so-'n-so."

Without exception, those who ask such a question are disappointed, and some are shocked when they find that there is no single verse or even two that gives such an answer.

For decades and especially in the past few years, we have seen good Christians turn from the solid Word of God to activities that make their bodies, emotions, minds and egos feel better, but do nothing for their Spiritual life and growth. As a result, MANY Believers are ill equipped, or not equipped at all to Spiritually handle the stresses of real life, to say nothing of the stress of these past events.

Once again, Paul, in giving instructions to the young pastor Timothy about his ministry and the ministry of the church, gives a clear picture of this turning away from the solid Word of God to things that make the physical feel good.

2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

How sad to see so many good people TURN their ears away from the Truth.., and turn aside to fables!! As we saw in 2 Tim 2, these fables only increase ungodliness. This increase of ungodliness, spoken of in this passage, is among Believers who are turning away from the truth. What a picture of the modern church!!!! May God help us NOT to become such, OR if we already are...., may we repent immediately!

Much of our nation, along with many Believers are possessed and controlled by the fear caused by these past events, or the anticipation of the possibility of some future event.

As long as we are controlled by such fear, we cannot know or live in the freedom in Christ. Such domination, brings defeat to the individual Believer, and cripples the ministry of the Body of Christ.

However, knowing, by experience, the truth will set us free from such bondage, and liberate us to experience the power of the Holy Spirit.

John 8:31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Let's look at some truths in this passage. Before we do so, we need to see or review the essence of this passage on knowing the truth. We often quote John 8:32. We carve it into stone and use it as the corner stone of buildings on the campuses of higher learning.

We throw v. 32 around in theological circles as though it were toy football, BUT very seldom connect it with the rest of this statement by Christ.

Christ is directing this statement to those who believed in Him. As a matter of fact, some of them had just, moments before, believed in Him. In that same incident, some of those who DID NOT believe in Him took His statement and tried to use it against Him. A subject for another time.

We need to see that Christ was addressing those who believe in Him. Christ says, in v. 31, that if they abide in His word they will know the truth and will be set free. That is an experience and state unknown by non-believers, and is exactly what we want to experience in this situation. We want freedom from fear of all kinds.

Notice, we must FIRST abide in Him, THEN and only then will we know the Word of God that can and will make us free. We need to see the truth concerning these areas, THEN I trust that each of us will abide in that truth.

If we do abide in that truth, we will be set free, not only from the fear of this situation, we will be set free from many other Spiritual enemies, and will be set free to experience all that we have in Christ.

If this present terrible situation drives us to Christ and His Word, then it will not be a total loss. The pressures of life can be Spiritually beneficial, depending on which direction that pressure pushes us.

If pressure pushes us to Christ, 

it is Spiritually beneficial,  

EVEN  

if the pressure itself is of the worst type.

 If pressure pushes us away from Christ, 

it is Spiritually devastation,  

EVEN  

if it is an acceptable pressure of life.

2 Timothy 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Evil = (Greek) Hurtful; To break into pieces so as to destroy; Calamitous; Acts to afflict others.

Impostor = (Greek) A wizard (muttering spells); Enchanter.

Deceiving (Greek) To roam or cause to roam from truth or virtue; A straying from orthodoxy.

If you carefully examine and digest this passage, it will help to bring some understanding to the situations of this present time, and produce hope that will last beyond the emotion of a good feeling.

This is not the only passage that gives us insights into these matters, but this passage is very clear, and we don't have the time to move from passage to passage. I trust you will take this information and continue to search other passages dealing with this same subject.

Please see what Paul is telling Timothy, and therefore us. Paul says that "evil men" and "impostors" will grow worse and worse. Along with growing worse, they will deceive more and more, and by that deception, they themselves will be deceived more and more.

You say, "That's awful!!" Yes, and it is "awfuller" when we know what those words mean. I realize that some don't like definitions, BUT you can't even come close to understanding this passage without the definitions.

Evil is certainly sin. However, evil is a special category of sin. Evil, in its elementary definition, is the opposite of good and is always harmful and causes loss and suffering.

That should have grabbed your attention!!! That is exactly what happened in New York and Washington D.C. this past week. That evil was very harmful, causing a lot of loss and suffering.

We still need to know a little more about Biblical evil. There are several types or kinds of evil mentioned in the Bible. I will just mention a few. We will not take time to turn to passages demonstrating each type. I'm sure you can draw many parallel passages from your own Scriptural memory.

There is "moral" evil. This depends on customs of the culture and the taboos of a society. This type of evil may or may not be considered by the Bible as sin, seeing that it is primarily human judgment of another's conduct.

There is "social" evil. These could include alcoholism, business corruption, unemployment, poverty, etc. Certainly, some of these would be considered as sin. However, these evils are more the results of society's response to defined sins.

There is "natural" evil. This would include earthquakes, famine, fire, floods etc. Once again, these are a result of sin, even though they may not be the result of some individual's personal sin.

Please read again 2 Timothy 3:12-15, and the definitions of "evil", "impostor" and "deceiving".

That was a two minute study of evil that should have taken hours. I'm sure we could have categorized evil even further, but this should help in our understanding.

What we need to see, is that when the Bible uses the term for evil, it is speaking of something other than the general run-of-the-mill sin.

Evil is something that is hurtful. It causes damage such as breaking in pieces with the intent of bringing destruction. When evil comes from a human source, it is for the purpose of bringing affliction to others.

As to the situation of this past week, if we went no further, we could see that this passage is as current as tomorrow's headlines. It is describing, in essence, the acts of destruction by those hijackers on our nation.

No, the passage didn't talk about planes ramming into buildings. BUT it goes far beyond the images on TV, to motive and true actions of these and other events around us. Therefore, we had better perk-up our Spiritual ears, open our Spiritual eyes and see what the passage has to say as to these events, and our response to those events.

Not only are these evil men (the ones inflicting hurt and destruction) going to get worse and worse, there is another class of persons who are also going to get worse and worse.

The second class of persons mentioned here are the "impostors".

Forgive me, but without the definitions, you will just read over this and say..., "Yea." BUT when you know the definitions and apply them, you are going to say, "WOW !!! That's exactly what's happening this week!" So if you came to take a nap, forget it!

We have some very important stuff (as always) to see from this Scripture. This information will not be as dramatic as falling structures. BUT this passage, alone, will give more insight into the WHY, than all the untold hours of the TV commentators. The answer to WHY will do more to bring comfort and give courage than about any other information.

An impostor, as per the Greek word used here, is one who mutters or casts a spell on others. He is an enchanter. The impostor is not the one doing the evil, or directly causing the hurt. He is the one who casts the spell on the "Evil Men", who do the dirty work.

How did the Holy Spirit know about this situation in the Middle East, New York and Washington some 2000 years ago??? Because He is our God! You can trust this God for all situations of life and eternity. You can trust this God for the present situation, because He is All Knowing, All Powerful and All Loving. This All Knowing God came to earth NOT to condemn, BUT to save.

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 everlasting life. 17 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

There may be times when an evil MAN (singular), acting alone, brings harm through breaking in pieces. But if your are going to have evil MEN (plural),working as a group, as in the case this week and as indicated in this passage, then you will have an impostor enchanting or casting the spell. That impostor may be in the Middle East, America or the church.

Let's come up to speed so far in this passage. Paul tells Timothy that there are going to be evil men who's goal is to hurt others through breaking in pieces with the intent to destroy. Not only will there be those who inflict this damage, there will be those who enchant or executes influence over them.

We need to go back to the definitions again. These, the evil men and impostors, are going to get worse and worse.

Before we look at the definition, we need to see the double use of the word "worse". This, in Greek as in English, simply shows that it is something that is to be multiplied over and over again.

Worse = (Greek) More evil and injurious.

2 Timothy 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Evil = (Greek) Hurtful; To break into pieces so as to destroy; Calamitous; Acts to afflict others.

Impostor = (Greek) A wizard (muttering spells); Enchanter.

Deceiving (Greek) To roam or cause to roam from truth or virtue; A straying from orthodoxy.

Oh, my goodness!! I don't know why our translators do things like this. Part of the problem is simply the inability of the English language to clearly depict the meaning of the Greek.

The term "worse" in English simple means a little less good than something else. You know, like a good hamburger compared to a "BigMac". That might not be a good illustration. Because a "BigMac" is always "worse" as per the Greek definition than a good hamburger. BUT you see the point.

Worse in Greek means the same as "evil" in Greek, EXCEPT that the evil continues to increase in intensity.

Does that describe the happenings of last week???? Those happenings were unthinkably worse than anything known to mankind in a single event!!!!!

You know, I think the Holy Spirit intended this passage to be used today, don't you??? BUT we aren't through yet!!!!!!

These evil men and impostors were not only inflicting harm at an escalating rate, they were deceiving and they themselves were being deceived by their own actions.

Yes, this passage has meaning and great value EVEN if you didn't know the definitions. BUT once you know the definitions and apply them, THEN this passagejumps off the page and slaps you right in the face.

Not only are these evil men and impostors growing worse and worse, they are continually moving further away from truth and virtue or orthodoxy. Back to the Lexicon, again.

Grow = (Greek) To lengthen out by hammering as a blacksmith forges metal; Drive forward.

Please read again 2 Timothy 3:12-15, and the definitions, even if you think you know what they say.

Once again, our English word fails to communicate the meaning of the Greek. Try to think of v. 13 as a circle, and it continually grows worse with each pass.

However, the way this whole circle continues to get worse and worse is that it is lengthened every time by hammering at it over and over again like a blacksmith.

In the present situation, as well as in all evil, the evil continues and increases by reviewing it, over and over again. This can happen through talking about it, chanting about it or practicing it over and over again. Without the impostor enchanting and hammering, the organized evil acts would be far less and much weaker. Check out your conversations! Do they continually come back to "evil" that you want to happen in the lives of others?

We have developed a word that sums up this process of evil men inflicting damage with the intent of destroying, spurred on by impostors who bewitch these evil men through constant repetition and hammering. Therefore, they continue to deceive and are (themselves) deceived even by their own deception.

The word that describes this process is  

TERRORISM.   

There is a way that each of us can counter TERRORISM, and that way is also found in this passage. We'll look at that counter to TERRORISM in just a few minutes. Let me call your attention to a lesson taught a few weeks ago, and just sent out by Email this week.

1 Corinthians 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Wickedness = (Greek) Depravity i.e. malice. The type that plots its activity to be hurtful or to bring anguish.

That definition of wickedness sounds a lot like what was taking place for years BEFORE the events of this past week. The special type of wickedness mentioned here, is the same as, or a close second to TERRORISM in its planning stages.

This type of TERRORISM is practiced by some in the church on a regular basis. Some Believers say or do things designed to hurt and bring anguish with the indent of weakening or destroying either a person or program.

By the way, the sin of church TERRORISM is no less a sin than theTERRORISM we have come to hate so much in the past week. The outward results of this "church type" TERRORISM may not be as obvious, but the sin is the same. Oh, to God, that each of us would learn to hate this "church type" terrorism as much as we hate political terrorism!!!!

Proverbs 26:20 Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no talebearer, strife ceases. 21 As charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. 22 The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down into the inmost body.

Talebearer = (Hebrew) Slanderer, one who uses words to inflict damage or destruction to character.

That definition of a "talebearer" is pretty close to TERRORISM. Do you say and do things so they will hurt a person or program? Have you said things that are not true, and "slammed" them into someone's life to do damage?

That is terrorism, as surely as "slamming" a plane into a tower. No, there may not be as much TV coverage of such an event, BUT God does not need the news media to keep Him informed.

Romans 2:1 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. 3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who "will render to each one according to his deeds":

Folks, as with anything and especially any "bad" thing that comes into our lives, we should look carefully to see if there is anything we can learn and apply to our living that will aid us in our walk of holiness. This week's events should be no exception.

Look back at the passage in 2 Timothy 3, and let's see the first and most important steps in our Biblical counter terrorism.

2 Timothy 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

This matter of the evil men and impostors, who by definition fit the profile of a terrorist, is sandwiched between two things that are a must if we are to be effective against any type of terrorism, and especially church terrorism.

In verse 12, there is an absolute MUST. We must DESIRE to live godly and be ready and willing to suffer persecution. The "desire" mentioned here is a deliberate act of the will, with determination to carry out that desire. This living godly is more than coming to church and doing good things.

v. 14 gives us the other side of the sandwich of vv. 12, 13 & 14. v. 14 starts off with a "But". We must have the desire of verse 12, AND we must be absolutely sure that we do not become involved with those of v. 13.

We can prevent our involvement by continuing, or literally "Standing our ground" in the things that we have already learned and been assured of.

In no way can we become involved with the Spiritual terrorist. That is harder than it sounds, BUT look at the results.

Proverbs 26:20 Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no talebearer, strife ceases. 21 As charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. 22 The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down into the inmost body.

When there is no fuel for the talebearer STRIFE CEASES. That would be nice!!!!

Therefore, the "ball" is in your court. Will you make sure that you shut off the fuel to the talebearers? OR will you continue to be an associate of the terrorists by being the fuel supplier? You can shut off that fuel by not listening, or by taking the talebearer to the person they were talking about to establish truth?

No, 

you and I, 

as individuals, 

cannot stop international terrorism.  

BUT  

we can stop terrorism against other Believers.

There is GREAT hope in the midst of the events of this past week. First, the full realization that these events did not catch God by surprise. His intelligence systems are all in place and working at all times. Not only did God detect these event, He predicted this type of action, long before it took place (as we saw in 2 Tim 3). None of these events or the terrorists are greater than His Grace!!

2 Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

There is no supply of God's grace, until there is a need for it. God makes His grace available, but we must draw upon it. God has not promised that "bad" things will not happen in the lives of "good" people. But He has given us an assurance and a steadfast hope for the good, and bad times.

Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thank God for our nation, our military, our financial strength, etc., but don't put your trust in any of those things. Only God is "A Strong Tower" that can bring protection and comfort.

Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

Psalms 33:16 No king is saved by the multitude of an army; A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. 17 A horse is a vain hope for safety; Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength. 18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy, 19 To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him, Because we have trusted in His holy name.

Proverbs 21:31 The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the LORD.

Proverbs 21:1 The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.