How to Defeat ISIS

How did God change the course of human history?

I like this question, because it makes me think.

I like this question because it makes everyone think, from the elementary aged kid learning how to subtract to the Bible scholar and world renowned theologian.

I like this question because it is not so easily answered. In fact, one would ask if it even can be answered…

Perhaps though, we need to ask a clarifying question:
Was there ever a time that God was not changing the course of human history?

For my purposes in this post, I want to answer it this way:

Through one person.

God can change history through one person.

God HAS changed history through just one person.

Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, Esther, Mary, and anyone ever hear of… Jesus?

Or a little more contemporary… George Washington, Amy Carmichael, Martin Luther, MLK Jr., Mother Teresa…

All of these are good answers, all of these are answers deep enough to expound upon in books, many, many books if we wanted to write them.

What about ISIS?

Is God changing the world through one group of terrorists/warriors/ Islamic militants ?

Ask any of the displaced refugees, the countless women who have lost their children to beheading. The hundreds of people shot, bombed, and sick because of their presence in the region.
I'd say God is letting the world be changed by this group.

Why don't you ask the families of the 21 men in orange coveralls kneeling in the sand?

The 21 Christians who lost their lives this past week.

It is hard for me to write this...
Because I am angry. I am hurt. I am in desperate need of more and more grace in my life to cope.

I didn't know these 21 men. I never even would have thought of them before. To me, they were just a stat.

But when I saw them kneeling on the sand....

When I saw the words, "A message signed with blood to the Nation of the Cross"...

In my heart, it clicked, it made sense, it resonated... that these men are my brothers.

I am part of the Nation of the Cross. This message was to me. They killed my family to send a message.


I want vengeance.  I want God to make this right. I want these horrors removed from the earth.

But I also believe God has another plan in mind.

And it is hard for me to believe that, because if I am honest, I would rather just be angry.

"Measured by holiness I am in myself far closer to ISIS than I am to Jesus. Praise Jesus I am not in myself." -R.C. Sproul Jr.

Can I tell you a story?

There once was a man who changed the world, he came from the most unlikely of places, and God used him in insurmountable ways.

This man's name was Saul.

You may recognize him by a different name though. Many people know him by his letters and his travels. He took his Roman name, Paul. And without him, Christianity would not have exploded the way it did in the first century.

Think about it, take away Paul and our Bible shrinks by a dozen or more books.

Take away Paul and the Gospel never would have reached the Gentiles as quickly as it did.

Take away Paul and there wouldn't be much biblical content to combat gnosticism and other heresies.

Take away Paul and Christianity looks simply like a Jewish “cult”. 

Take away Paul and you take away arguably the greatest evangelist, apologist, disciplemaker, church planter, theologian, and Biblical scholar there ever was.

You may be wondering where I am going with this, how in the world does the story of Paul have anything to do with ISIS / ISIL ?

I ask, do you remember who Paul was… before he was Paul?

Do you remember Saul?

“Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” –Acts 8:3

Saul was a brilliant Jew. He trained under one of the greatest Jewish teachers ever. He was a trained Pharisee and he was utterly convinced that he ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And he did so in Jerusalem right after the church was born, not only locking up many Christians in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were up for the death penalty… he cast his vote against them. He punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them he persecuted them even to foreign cities. He separated families, tortured those whom he could, attempted to get every Christian to renounce their faith by killing and threatening. He was a smart political man, and worked the steps of command to get power and get authority to continue what he did. He reminds me of some of the top members of ISIS.

 “But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” –Acts 9:1-2

Saul was killing Christians.

Saul was persecuting the church.

Saul was the one in whom Christians were afraid.

Saul was the one who was taking down the church, destroying families, stoning people, condemning people to death, sentencing them to prisons because they would not renounce their faith in Jesus.

I don’t pretend to know what the Christians in the first century were praying concerning Saul, perhaps they were praying for his destruction, perhaps they were praying for his downfall, perhaps they were praying for a foreign country to come in and rescue them from him and his followers…

But perhaps, they were praying for his conversion.

And perhaps when Saul was on the road to Damascus and met Jesus… it was all an answer to prayer?

Perhaps it is exactly like God to intervene into humanity, not to destroy someone, but instead redeem them… and take the very weapon of Satan and turn him into a weapon for the kingdom.

To Saul, the people of this Jesus movement were heretics. They had become apostates and they were to be rightfully punished in accordance to the law! However, God wanted to reveal to him who he was really fighting against. And God was going to transform this man’s identity and give him a new mission.

Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”  So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.”
-Acts 9:3-19

Saul would no longer terrorize people but now he’d proclaim a message of grace and reconciliation. God chose a terrorist to be his instrument, to proclaim Jesus to the world.

And this Saul, who became Paul, changed the entire landscape of the world for the next 2000 years and so on…

Brothers and sisters, let the story of the conversion of Paul be a testament of what our God can do.

The people of ISIS are like Saul. They believe they are doing the work of God... and yet they couldn't be further from the truth. May Jesus confront them as he did Saul! And may we truly hope and pray that He does that.

Brothers and sisters, BELIEVE in the power of the Gospel and BELIEVE that God will continue to change hearts through that power.

Brothers and sisters, fight the evils and the injustices and the hardships and the dark schemes of the evil one by praying for conversion. 

Pray for dreams and visions. 

Pray for a “Paul” to rise up out of the top ranks of ISIS / ISIL. 

Pray for softened hearts. 

Pray for the Gospel to penetrate deep into the souls of these men. 

Pray. 

And when you are finished praying, pray again and again for the Spirit of God to fall hard and fall fresh upon the Middle East. 

Pray that out of ashes life will rise. 

Pray that out of the darkest of darkness the light of Christ will shine the brightest.

It seems to be the typical, tried and true method. It seems to be so cliche. It seems to be passive, it may even seem powerless, but friends, the time has never been greater for men and women of God to rise up and... Pray.

That is how, right where you sit, right where you stand, YOU can defeat the evil in this world.

I have full confidence that God will break the power of ISIS in the Middle East, not through military aggression, but by conversion, by softened hearts, through repentance and through the power of redemption in Christ.

To go back to the original question:  

“How did God change the course of human history?”

The answer:  

God is still changing the course of human history.

And He will continue to do it through one person.

Are you praying for it though?

“God, protect your church. All of those who are being persecuted for your namesake. Awaken your global church to the crisis. Help us to stay strong during these difficult times, those dealing with the daily pressures, and those of us who are tasked to pray for our christian family.
You are Just and Full of Mercy. Help us to be an extension of that character here on earth.
We want to see your people be delivered, and we want to see the terrorists come to Jesus. Just like you changed Saul, we plead your blood over the hearts and minds of our enemies. We want to see Pauls emerge from ISIS. We know that you are in control, and that ultimately your name will be magnified. Come, King Jesus. Let your kingdom be made known. Amen.”

-----

Nathan Bryant

is a pastor living in Phoenix, AZ. As a student at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri he majored in Biblical Leadership, New Testament Studies, and Missiology. Nathan has a combined passion for unity and discipleship in the global church.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our causes.

Christ's Kingdom is bigger than our boundaries.

Follow him on Twitter: Follow @nathanpbryant

Nathan's Website