The Greatest Terrorist Of All

The Greatest Terrorist of All

Psalm 91:1-7

The world as we knew it changed forever on September 11, 2001. On that fateful morning, life was moving along as it had always moved here in America. People were going to work, driving their kids to school, having breakfast with their families, planning activities and so forth. No one could foresee the danger that would forever disrupt the lives of Americans and all freedom loving people for that matter.

The images are still fresh in our minds as we watched the planes crash into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. To borrow a phrase from the past, it was a day that will go down in infamy.

In the past several decades we have witnessed the rise of various terrorist groups across this planet. From the hijacking of planes in the late 70’s and early 80’s to chemical attacks in subways, terrorist have made their presence known.

For many years people warned that terrorism would become a problem for mainland America and not just a middle eastern problem. The last half of the 20th century was marked by terrorism and the beginning of the 21st century so far has carried that trend forward. There have been assassinations and assassination attempts on our Presidents, the Pope, one of the Beatles was gunned down on the streets of America and various leaders throughout the world have faced these acts of violence. In fact, Saddam Hussein came to power in the late 70’s by way of a violent coup.

In the last two decades, fundamental Islamic terrorist have declared jihad against Israel and Christians from the West. In 1993 the US Marine barracks in Beirut Lebanon was bombed killing 241 marines. In 1993 18 soldiers were brutally massacred in Mogadishu Somalia; also in 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed. In 1996 another attack on the barracks of US forces in Saudi Arabia; in 1998 there was the bombing of two American embassies in Africa killing several hundred innocent lives and then in 2000 there was the attack on the USS Cole.

In 1998 Osama bib Laden issued a fatwa in which he commanded the fundamental Islamic terrorist to kill all Americans whether they are soldiers or civilians. On September 11, 2001, America was awakened to the absolute evil in our world and the extent in which people will go to carry out their hellish plans.

The dictionary defines terrorist as one who rules with terror or intimidation. Today there are over 400 known terrorist groups operating in our world. Jesus foretold of a time near the end when men’s hearts would fail for fear. Today, Americans are dealing with a different kind of fear. The land of the free and the home of the brave has become another land of opportunity for terrorist to unleash their bitter hatred against us. To make matters worse we must contend with terrorist within our own borders. Places that were once viewed as safe havens are now targets of opportunity. Pearl Mississippi, Columbine and Wedgwood Baptist church stand out as stark reminders that the days of little house on the prairie are long gone. Gone are the days of Mayberry and Greenacres.

No one is immune for the terrorist, no one is completely safe. Job 18 describes a time when “terror shall make him afraid on every side and shall drive him.”

The question begs to be asked, “what is behind all of this? Why the waves of terror? Why the planes being blown out of the sky? Why hostages, torture and murder? Why are men strapping explosives to their bodies and detonating them in public places? Why the rape and brutality? Why do we see civility becoming less of the norm and violence becoming more of the norm? Darwin tried to convince everyone that man started at the bottom of the barrel and would evolve his way to the top. In other words, mankind and civilization would get better. But the reality is, man started off at the top and because of sin has continued to spiral towards the bottom.

Friend, the evil so prevalent today is no accident. It is more than mere happenstance, more than just negative environmental influences and hereditary impact. With all the evil being perpetrated today, who is the greatest terrorist of all? Is it Osama bib Laden? Saddam Hussein? How about Kaddaffi or Mohammed Omar?

I submit to you this morning that as evil and dangerous as these men are along with many others, they are not intelligent enough to carry out the reign of terror by themselves. There has to be a mastermind behind it all running the show and calling the shots. The greatest terrorist of all began as a covering cherub, a son of the morning; Perfect, beautiful and intelligent. Yet he became the organizer of the greatest terrorist organization the world has ever known. Multitudes of people unwittingly follow his plan and carry out his orders. Who is it? None other than Satan himself, he is the greatest terrorist of all. All acts of evil and terror are conceived in his evil mind. The prince of the power of the air hates this world and seeks its destruction. Whether it is a madman like Hitler or Mussolini or a Saddam Hussein he lurks behind every evil waiting to wreak havoc on the crown of God’s creation.