A DEFENCELESS GENERATION

                         A DEFENSELESS GENERATION

                                  (for the local newspaper)

“Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.” Proverbs 29:18. In French, “…casts off restraints…” is also translated “are without brakes.” The Revelation referred to here is the revealed knowledge about God and His Word; He Who is the Ruler and Maker of all things, the One with Whom we all have to give account on that day.

  Some years ago, I was listening to a program on which two Gen X youth workers were being interviewed. They were saying that Gen X has the least faith of any generation of the West. It also has the highest rate of depression and suicides seen in our history. These heartbreaking byproducts of our deteriorating society give us a glimpse into the direction in which we are heading. What will be our end?

 In order to subjugate a people, they must be disarmed in some manner, either by deception or by coercion. In the late sixties or perhaps the early seventies, I was watching a popular sitcom. This particular episode focused on the boyfriend of the main actress asking her to sleep with him, which in those days was recognized as what the Bible calls the sin of fornication. Confused and uncertain, she still refused, but her line of defense was clearly crumbling. The show ended with him asking, “Why not?”

  In the Old World in which I grew up, most everyone knew or knew about the Ten Commandments "...Thou shalt not kill... commit adultery... steal... bear false witness... covet... take the Lord’s name in vain... But when God's divine authority and His Word are left out of any equation, everything becomes subjective and relative to those who are unaware. Furthermore, because accountability and pending judgment are disregarded, the door to what the Bible calls ‘Lawlessness’ is flung wide open. Lawlessness is the platform of the one whom the Bible calls the Anti-Christ.  Where God has placed laws, a question like “Why not?” is more than just a question; it is actually an attack intended to draw people into corruption and thereby destabilize society, making us vulnerable to all kinds of harmful behavior and oppressive influences. During those years that I was referring to, the typical answer given by the adults that I recall was, “Well, that is the way we have always done it,” which is completely unacceptable. Although the Christian worldview at the time was the social norm, as a society, we had replaced the revelation of God and Jesus Christ with tradition and social norms. Consequently, the Old Order was weakened and began to cave. Today, our society is now racing on a downhill road that has no boundaries, and in a vehicle without brakes.

 The knowledge of God and the Bible is the knowledge we all need, providing guidance for our spiritual, moral, and social health and safety. This knowledge is a defense against satanic deception and corruption. Through it, we can know God’s will, His ways, and our Salvation. He has given us the Ten Commandments and all the associated morals to warn us against what God calls sinful or immoral behavior, and it is ultimately a defense against the evil influences trying to seduce us. And greatest of all, Jesus Christ, His only Begotten Son, had come not only to reveal Himself to us, but to save us by dying on a cross for our sins and rising from the dead three days later. Friends, this is a historical, world-revolutionizing event! Check it out! Those who know Him can testify to His life's transforming power to this day, just as was testified by the writers of the Bible who knew Him.

  As for defending ourselves against the wiles of the Devil, our intellect, skills, strengths, and abilities are useless. Jesus left us an example of how He defended Himself when the devil attempted to deceive Him. With each temptation, Jesus responded by quoting from the Scriptures of the Bible, saying, “It is written...” In other words, God, our Creator and Father, has commanded such and such; however, the greatest defense is to be in Christ, Who loves you so much!

  If you need a defense against the voices that confuse you as to what is right and wrong, or if you are searching for the truth and a hope beyond the promises of our unstable society, Jesus Christ and the Bible are the answer. He is the UNSHAKABLE FOUNDATION, SURE DEFENSE, and the ONLY ONE you can completely trust.