November 20, 2015 (Monday)
We have always had enemies. In other wars our enemies have been willing to kill in order to enlarge their borders and/or to rule other nations. The goals of ISIS (ISIL), however, have little to do with expansion of territory. They are terrorists and their aim is to commit murder. They have put themselves in the place of the god they claim to serve, and have decided that people will die at their hand. It seems to me that this is a different kind of enemy. They murder other people senselessly, even taking their own lives in order to kill crowds of people. There can be no peace talks or truce with terrorists, because they do not believe we have a right to live. Basically we have a band of marauders loose in the world, and their sole purpose is to murder as many people as possible. As long as they intend to kill us, no justification of any kind can be found for allowing their continued existence. The innocent people of the world have the right to defend their loved ones.
If somehow all our enemies in this world could suddenly be removed, we would still have spiritual enemies. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 NIV). “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:10-13 NIV).
No one in this world can truthfully say, “I have no enemies.” We may not hate them, and we may even refuse to defend ourselves against them, but they exist and they are very real. In the case of our enemy, Satan, we are told that if we resist him, he will flee from us (James 4:7), for our power is in the Lord and He will always be with us. “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us, for I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39 NIV).