But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword that go down to the stones of the pit, as a carcass trodden under feet. Isaiah 14:19

[…Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet…spake…saying] Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon…. Then sayeth Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet…The Lord has not sent thee, but thou makes this people to trust in a lie. Jeremiah 28:1,2,15 (selected passages)

Ye have heard it hath been said, love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy, but I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. Matthew 5:44

Some of you, I'm sure, have memories of Pearl Harbor or D-Day. My own go back to the Cuban Missile Crisis and, a year later, the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Just about all of us remember the Challenger disaster, and the Oklahoma City bombing. In the years to come, though, I think all of our memories will focus around the single most disastrous day in our history, September 11, 2001. If we had any need to be reminded, the events of this week demonstrate the degree to which the forces of evil, bred in the pits of Hell, are active in this world.

I fear we are in store for far worse in the years ahead. Even our very response to the attacks, as necessary as it is, has the potential for unleashing the hounds of Hell even more. Violence begets violence. Our own society is forever changed; our vaunted freedom decreased by a few degrees over the last couple of days. We have been so intoxicated with our success, wealth, and power that we felt invulnerable to the kind of chaos and uncertainty that gripped much of the rest of the world. We find, instead, that even the most powerful nation on earth is subject to attack by a few determined madmen.

Judah also felt that kind of smug security. After all, they were God's people, and he had delivered them time after time throughout their history. Even when the mighty Assyrians attacked, God struck them down, and saved Jerusalem, his holy city. When the next great empire, Babylon, threatened, the Jews continued to believe God would bail them out. Never mind that they had deserted God, and gave only lip service to him, they couldn't ever admit or believe he might desert them as well. And, to a degree, they were right; he never did desert his people. He did, though, give them up to captivity for seventy years, and a large number of them were slaughtered by their enemies.

I praise God that he has given us a President who is a practicing Christian. We should pray for him now, more than ever, as our leader, but also as a brother in Christ. It is rather odd that many of the people who are joining in calls for prayer for our country were deriding George W. Bush's faith only a few days ago. It is also odd, but gratifying, to see some of the people who are vocal critics of Christianity have to acknowledge seeing miracles in these past tragic days. We live in a godless nation, where Christian churches are considered hate groups, but it is the faith of that core of believers that sustains this country through times like these. We have greatest military and the strongest economy of any nation in history, but without God we would be as weak as any of the nations who take such delight in our pain.

We should all covenant together to pray daily for our President, and for our other leaders. We should pray for comfort and peace for all of those thousands of families who have lost wives, husbands, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and dear friends this week. We should pray for our soldiers and pilots and sailors and marines, who will soon be in harm's way. We should pray for the Lord's judgment and vengeance, not ours, on the monsters who conceived and carried out the murders of thousands of innocent people. Satan is at the heart of the conspiracy; he is a defeated enemy, and God has given us authority over him and his demons. Let's use it. Most of all, let's pray that even out of this terrible tragedy some good may come: that we, as a nation, might turn back to God. If we don't, but continue to turn our backs on God, we shouldn't be surprised if someday he turns away from us as well.

None of us has any guarantee of life beyond the instant we're in. All of the thousands of people who died Tuesday had plans for their lives. No doubt, some of them were Christians, and ready to meet their Creator. Others probably had opportunities to accept Christ as Savior, but thought they'd wait just a little while longer. Most of the rest probably had rejected, to one degree or another, the Spirit's efforts to reach them and turn them toward Christ. This brings home to me, very forcefully, my own obligation to witness to those whom I know, or who come across my path. The next opportunity I have to witness to someone could well be the last, for them or for me.

The Devil and all those who serve him are bound for the pit. The poor, demon-directed fools who gave up their lives expecting to enter Paradise are already bitterly disappointed. As much as we hate people like Ben Laden and his kind, they aren't the real enemy. As hard as it may be, we need to pray for them as well. Some of them may be beyond the point where God can ever reach them, but that's not for us to judge. When we pray, Scripture clearly tells us to pray for our enemies as well.

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