A Sermon Response to September 11, 2001
Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. (John 10:7-11 KJV)
Not long ago I went to New York City to visit the World Trade Center. I stood in that plaza and looked up at those two soaring towers, gleaming with glass and steel, and as I did my jaw almost fell to my chest. I gasped at the monumental magnificence of the work of men’s hands. And yet a few days later I, like you, turned on the television and watched those towers crumble into ruins and dust, and we, as a nation, looked into the very face of evil.
The Presence of Terror
September 11, 2001, will go down as one of the bloodiest days in American history. Those towers that represented American ingenuity and business are gone. And the Pentagon, the very symbol of American strength, had a hijacked airplane fly through it like it was a crate of eggs. We’ve had to think and we’ve had to pray as we watched fellow Americans run through ash-covered streets, fleeing for their very lives.
One verse from God’s Word puts all of this into proper perspective. John 10:10 says, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” Jesus then said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
First, I want us to recognize the ultimate reason for this time of terror. People are asking questions today. I’ve been interviewed by many radio and television stations. One man asked me bluntly, “Where was God when all of this was going on?”
I said, “Friend, I’ll tell you where God was not. God was not up in heaven pacing about, wringing His hands, saying, ‘What am I going to do?’ God is still on the throne.”
Another asked, “Why did God do this?” May I tell you emphatically that God did not do this!
Satan is the ultimate terrorist. You say, “Osama bin Laden was behind it.” But who was behind him? We’re not wrestling with flesh and blood. A man of flesh and blood is not the ultimate source of evil. Who is the ultimate source? Jesus revealed it when He said, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” There Jesus was speaking of Satan himself.
This attack did not take God by surprise. God knows the wickedness of human hearts. Satan could not have done this without men’s compliance. And when God made human beings, He gave them the freedom of choice. That’s one of the greatest blessings and greatest dangers that we have. Human beings are free to choose, but they’re not free to choose the consequences of their choices. These terrorists chose evil. But their choices have not taken God by surprise.
An Hour of Peril
Some people, dewy-eyed and uninstructed in the Scriptures, think that sooner or later we are going to make this world a safe place, and there will be peace on earth, and we’re going to do it by human ingenuity. And they think that the preaching of the gospel will do that. But let me say emphatically, that is not the job given to the gospel.
The gospel was never given to save civilization from wreckage. The gospel is given to save all of us from the wreckage of civilization. By our own schemes, devices, and plans, we will never build a utopia. To the contrary, listen to the Scriptures.
Second Timothy 3:1 tells us, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” There are no ifs, ands, or buts about that. There’s no ambiguity. The Greek word here translated perilous is used only one other time in Scripture, and there it is part of a phrase translated “exceeding fierce” (Matt. 8:28). These are dangerous days. Things can happen that overwhelm us.
The Tuesday morning of September 11, Joyce and I had gone for a walk. It was a beautiful morning. When we came in from the walk, we were told to turn on the television, that the World Trade Center had been hit. The first Scripture that came to my mind was Revelation 18:17-19: “For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness!” Now listen to this phrase: “For in one hour is she made desolate.” This great city is in one hour made desolate. How could it be? We felt so secure.
This Scripture is not talking about New York City; it’s talking about Babylon and events yet to come, but oh, how graphic it is, and how it reminds us how fragile we are. The twin towers, like the ancient tower of Babel, came crumbling down. The Pentagon is a symbol of the mightiest nation on earth, and yet it, too, was vulnerable. What I’m saying to you is that God did not cause this. But he could not have done it without the free choice of mankind. It did not take God by surprise.
A Hedge of Protection
Now the question is this: If God did not cause this, who did? Satan and satanically inspired men caused it. Could God have prohibited it? Obviously He could have; obviously He did not. So God did not cause it, but God allowed it. Why did God allow it if He could have stopped it? Evidently, in His wisdom, He had some reason to allow it. Let me ask another question: Why has this God-blessed America of ours been so God-blessed? Why is it that the pestilence and the terror and the war that have reached other shores have not reached ours? America has been blessed by God. No other nation had as Christian a beginning as America.
When our forefathers, the Pilgrim fathers, came, they wrote the Mayflower Compact underneath the decks of the Mayflower, and they stated that their purpose for coming to these shores was for the glory of God and the propagation of the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God evidently put a hedge around this country. Did you know that in the Bible there is a doctrine of hedges, that God can put hedges around people and individuals and nations? Let me give you an example.
God put a hedge around a man named Job. Satan tried to get to Job, but God would not allow it. Job 1:9-10 says, “Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.” Satan basically said, “I’ve been trying to get at this man, but I can’t get at him.” Satan tried, but there was a hedge around Job.
The same was true of ancient Israel:
Now will I sing to my well beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well beloved [God] hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: and he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?—Isaiah 5:1-5
God basically said, “I took this nation Israel. I planted these people. I made a vineyard. I did all that I could do for them.” Notice this next verse: “Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down.”
God had put a hedge around Israel. But he said, “I gave them all they needed. I blessed them with prosperity, and I looked for fruit. But what did I get but wild grapes? I’ll take down the hedge.”
America has been so strong because our first line of defense has not been the military but God Himself. I am afraid we have politely told God to take His hedge and go back to heaven. As a nation we’ve basically told God, “There’s no room for You here in this land. Take Your hedge, take Your prayers, take Your commandments. We’ll handle things ourselves.” The loss of a hedge of protection means we open ourselves to physical and spiritual attack.
The Bible says this is the task of Satan. Satan comes, the thief comes, the master terrorist comes to steal and to kill and to destroy. Human beings can be in compliance with Satan, but he is the master terrorist.
A Word of Hope
We must also remember the ultimate reason for a word of hope. I’m grateful that John 10:10 has such balance. Jesus said, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Our Savior is not the author of death but of life. Jesus came that we might live, not die. Satan comes that we might die and not live.
Our nation has been shaken to its knees, but some things cannot be shaken. In Hebrews 12:25-28, God is speaking:
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
Everything that man makes can be shaken. It’s all premature rubble, but I want to mention three things that cannot be shaken.
God’s kingdom cannot be shaken. Verse 28 says, “a kingdom which cannot be moved.” There is a kingdom that cannot be shaken. I had a meal one time with Corrie ten Boom. I decided to talk very little and to listen. One thing she said I’ll never forget: “There’s no panic in heaven, only plans.” There is a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
I’ve read of some sailors who were shipwrecked in a stormy sea. It was nighttime, and they didn’t know in which direction land was. But then the clouds opened, and one sailor saw the North Star. When he saw that star, he said, “Now I know the direction to the shore.” And the sailors manned the oars and began to pull in the direction of the shore. Then one sailor said, “Keep your eye on that star, for if we lose sight of it, we’re lost.” I tell you, there is a star in the heavens. It is God Himself, and He cannot fall.
God’s Word is never shaken. Verse 25 says, “him that speaketh,” and verse 26 adds, “now he hath promised.” Thank God for that. “Forever, O Lord, thy Word is settled in heaven” (Ps. 119:89). I don’t know about you, but when times like this come to me, I want to know, is there a word from God? I’m not interested in what some philosopher, politician, scientist, or mathematician has to say about it. I want to know what God says. I’ve often said there are three categories of people in the world today: those who are afraid, those who are not afraid or who don’t know enough to be afraid, and those who know their Bibles. God’s kingdom can’t be shaken. And God’s Word cannot be shaken either.
God’s grace cannot be shaken. Verse 28 says, “Wherefore . . . let us have grace.” Having infinite grace, we need never be shaken.
There are two other twin towers. One is faith and the other is hope, and they stand on the foundation of the grace of God. Our God is a loving God. Our God wants to forgive. Our God wants to heal this land. I thank God that we can stand on God’s grace. We can truthfully sing, “The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes; that soul, tho’ all hell should endeavor to shake, I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.”[1]
A Prescription of Faith
God’s alarm clock has gone off. What time is it? What should we do? Let me share with you six actions.
It is a time to trust. Trust God. He will see you through. Your anchor will hold. The Scripture says, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee” (Ps. 56:3). There’s no panic in heaven, just as Corrie ten Boom said, only plans.
It is a time to love. Don’t let your heart become a headquarters for hate. Let this terrible wickedness be the dark velvet upon which the diamond of God’s love can be seen. This is an opportunity for us to show what pure religion is, to show what the grace of God is.
People, in the name of their religion, are slaughtering innocent human beings with blood, mayhem, unimaginable brutality, and horror. Let that be the dark background against which the love of God shines brightly.
Our faith is not the faith of the sword or coercion. If you have Arab neighbors, Muslim neighbors who do not agree with this, go to them and share the love of Jesus with them. Share the love of Jesus with everybody, whether they are Jews or Gentiles, Muslims or Arabs, whites or blacks. This is a time for a mighty baptism of love. You might say, “Pastor Rogers, do you mean that there’s not to be any military action?” Oh, there must be military action. Questions arise: What does the Bible have to say about war? How can believers sanction war? Could we? Should we? Are we to be pacifists? No. That’s why God gave us government. God told us that as individuals, we’re to love. And God says, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:18-20). That’s our job. That’s our duty as the church, as Christians. As individuals we are to show love.
It is time to repent. All the prayer in the world is not going to do any good unless we repent. Joshua was faced with an insignificant city named Ai in his conquest of Canaan. And Joshua was riding the coattails of victory until he came to little Ai.
The people didn’t pray over Ai. As a matter of fact, there was sin in the camp. When they sallied forth to war against Ai with a handful of troops, that little, insignificant nation brought great devastation to the people of God. Joshua then got on his face before God and began to pray, “Oh, God, why did you allow this?” And God said, “Joshua, get up. Israel has sinned. Deal with the sin, Joshua.” What was God saying? We cannot use prayer as a smoke screen to hide our sin. We can pray and pray and pray, but there must be something more: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways” (2 Chron. 7:14). Do you think we can ask God to bless the filth, the debauchery, the immorality, and the mayhem in our land? No. We, as a nation, must repent. It’s time to repent.
It is time to speak. We need to speak out. We need to speak up. As the night grows darker, the saints need to grow brighter. The terrorist acts were based on a philosophy, an idea, that came out of the hearts of wicked and violent men. It first started in their heads. They had a concept, an idea, a distortion; and then they acted it out.
You cannot kill an idea with a bomb. You cannot shoot it down with a bullet. The only thing that will overcome an idea is another idea. A better idea is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Would to God we had pulpits across America aflame with righteousness and pastors opening the Word of God and saying, “Thus saith the Lord, thus saith the Lord.” Would to God that we would share the love of Jesus, that we would live the truth, tell the truth, speak the truth, believe the truth, love the truth. Truth is greater than error. It’s a time to speak.
It is a time to unite. Isoroku Yamamoto, the admiral who led the Japanese in the attack at Pearl Harbor, reportedly said afterward, “I had intended to deal a fatal blow to the American fleet by attacking Pearl Harbor. I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” And I believe the terrorists of September 11 have done exactly the same thing. They have awakened a sleeping giant. We’ll never all be alike, look alike, act alike, or believe alike. But let’s unite our hearts and stand together against this evil.
It is time to pray. Gather your family and pray. Gather your neighbors and pray. Go to your schools and pray. Go to your classes and pray. Let us pray and pray and pray that God’s kingdom will come and that God’s will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven.
If you’ve never given your heart to Jesus Christ, if you’ve never trusted Him as your personal Lord and Savior, you need to do so. The best thing you can do for yourself, for your family, for your city, for your nation, and for your world is give your heart to Jesus. It is not to say, “My country, right or wrong,” but to say, “Oh, God, I’m the one that’s wrong. Be my God. I give you my heart, my soul, my life.” I am not promising that you’ll get an emotional feeling. You may or you may not. I don’t mean that you’ll sprout wings and get a halo. You’ll have to grow as a Christian. But Christ will come into your heart. Your sins will be forgiven. Heaven will be your home. He’ll never leave you or forsake you. The only reason you can be saved like this is because Jesus died for your sins on the cross and paid your sin, your debt. You can receive the gift of salvation today and be saved.All Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version.
The full text of Dr. Roger’s sermon can be found in A Reason to Hope by Crossway Books, copyright © 2001. The sermon, slightly modified, is used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois, 60187.