911: A DAY OF EVIL

Tabernacle Baptist Church ^ | By E. L. Bynum, Pastor

[RMrattlesnake]

911: A DAY OF EVIL

By E. L. Bynum, Pastor

Tabernacle Baptist Church 1911 34th Street Lubbock, Texas 79411 (These are essentially the sermon notes I used Wednesday night, September 12, just one day after the awful tragedy that befell our nation on September 11. This is not meant to be an example of what a sermon ought to be, but it is what the Lord laid on my heart in the midst of this awful experience.)

INTRODUCTION: It is ironic, perhaps it was planned that way, that yesterday's date was 911. It was truly a day of national emergency, and I hope that we all turned to the ONE who is our ultimate source of help in real emergencies. I don't know what you did, but the Bynums closed their day on their knees in prayer to God in heaven. I do not say that bragging, for I believe this was a duty for all Christians. As Christians we often fail to measure up, but I believe that God is giving us another chance.

I was 15-years of age on December 7, 1941, when the sneak attack came at Pearl Harbor. It was very shocking to hear the radio reports and to hear President Roosevelt address the nation. As a nation we arose to the occasion and ended that problem by many people sacrificing their lives in heroic ways that will live in the history of our nation as long as time remains. I am proud to be a Christian, a Baptist, and an American. I love this country, and I am confident that with God's help we can once again rise to the occasion, but I must tell you without God's help we will be destroyed. Perhaps it will not be by the enemy without, but from the enemy within.

In about 1995, Mrs. Bynum and I were at the top of one of those towers 110 stories high. It was a beautiful day, and it seemed like we could see forever. I cannot but think what it would have been like, if it had happened the day we were there. Yet, thousands (up to 50,000) of people, were in those two buildings when it happened. This presents us with horror that is almost beyond belief, but it happened.

As your Pastor, I can only tell you what I believe we should do according to the Word of God.

I. WE SHOULD PRAY FOR THE VICTIMS. I Tim. 2:1, I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men. The "all men" that we are to pray for would certainly apply to the following, as well as many more.

1. Those who may be alive, trapped in those buildings, and the anxious families that await some kind of news. 2. The firefighters and policemen who have been injured. Many will suffer the rest of their lives with physical problems, as a result. 3. The hundreds of families whose loved ones were on those planes. The loved ones will never come home again. 4. We do not pray for the dead, but we must pray for the hurting, broken families that are left behind.

II. WE SHOULD PRAY FOR OUR LEADERS. They are not perfect, but they are the only leaders that we have. I Tim. 2:1-2, I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

1. We can be thankful that no high government official was killed, as far as we know. The enemy wished otherwise. I personally believe that they intended to hit the Capitol and leave it a heap of rubble. In the divine providence that plot failed, and we should thank God for it. We should thank God that the fourth plane did not reach its target, but crashed in Pennsylvania. 2. We should pray for the President and his Cabinet. 3. We should pray for the Congress. 4. We should pray for the FBI and the CIA. 5. We should pray for our armed forces who may be called upon to do difficult and dangerous things. Their safety may be very much in peril. 6. Pray that these perpetrators, who cowardly warred on women, children and civilians, be found. 7. Pray that they are put to death, as nothing else will do.

III. WE SHOULD PRAY ABOUT THE SINS OF OUR NATION. Israel went into captivity because of sin. This can be easily proven from Kings, Chronicles and the prophets. For brevity sake, we turn to Daniel 9:4-19. Daniel was a pure young man when he went into captivity, and no blot can be found in his character. Yet, we see him take his place with the sinful nation. Please note that he includes himself as involved in the sins of the nation. Over and over again, he says "we have sinned." With bold face type we will emphasize these and other statements. Daniel 9:4-19. "4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; 5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. 8 O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. 12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. 14 Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name." At the time that Daniel prayed this prayer, the nation was in complete desolation, and they had been in captivity for almost seventy years. Before they went into captivity they had a number of wake-up calls. God had intervened and saved them by miracles. I think of the time when Hezekiah was king of Judah, when Sennacherib sent his powerful Assyrian armies against Jerusalem. They gave an ultimatum for Jerusalem to surrender, but Hezekiah spread it before the Lord in prayer. In one night God utterly defeated the Assyrian army. "Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: (185,000 dead), and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses" (Isa. 37:36). This is only one of many instances where God delivered them, when they heard the wake-up call.

It Is Time for Us to Confess Our Sins. God has given our nation a wake-up call over and over again, but mostly we have ignored them all. On Tuesday September 11, 2001, God gave us another opportunity to wake up. Will we do it, is the question? We as Christians often want to blame all of the troubles of our nation on liberals, socialists, communists, cults and false religion. While we still stand firm against all of these false movements, it is time for us as Christians to quit playing the blame game, and confess our sins and the sins of our nation. It is time to do business with God, lest we sleep through God's final wake up call.

Here Are Some of the Sins We must Confess. 1. We have killed about 40 million babies through abortion, since Roe vs. Wade. This wanton destruction of little innocent people has not gone unnoticed by God. 2. We have taken the Bible and prayer out of our schools, and largely out of our public life. 3. We have polluted the minds of our youth with pornography, cursing, filthy talk and unbelievable acting out of the vilest sins. This has been amplified through TV, movies, music and every form of entertainment. Innocence has been destroyed and the vile has been injected. 4. We have become calloused, cold, and worldly as Christians. 5. We have legalized homosexuality that is so clearly condemned in the Bible. 6. We have tolerated fornication until one out of every three babies are born out of wedlock. 7. We have put material things, pleasure and sin ahead of God. 8. We have left Church, Bible reading, prayer and worship out of our hearts and homes. 9. We have elevated sports to the point that they have become shrines of unholiness at which we worship.

We well know that much of our nation will not see this, but we see it, and God will hold us accountable as to what we do with this knowledge.

We have some things to pray about, and we have some things to repent of. Let us begin tonight.

(NOTE: At the close of the service, there was no song of invitation. In a matter of moments, every man and young man present was down at the front on their knees. Women were on their knees between the pews, as men prayed, confessed, and sought the face of God. May we not forget what we did this past Wednesday night.)