The King is coming. Do you know Him?

PART 3

Is it my imagination, or are corruption and
violence on the increase? What does this have
to do with Christ’s return?

Corruption

Noah's era was also one of corruption: "Every imagination of the thoughts of [mankind's] heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). The result: "The earth also was corrupt before God" (Genesis 6:11). It takes no stretch of a person's imagination to see a world of men filled with vile imaginations. This is history's worst hour. Filthy pornographic magazines and X-rated movies have brainwashed the depraved into submission. Vile, lewd, and licentious pornography floods the world. Savages are roaming the streets raping and sodomizing victims. Since morality is the essence of God's Ten Commandments, as well as the entire teaching of the Holy Bible, Christians should be crusaders in the battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. How does it make you feel to see pornographic bookstores within a few doors of gospel-preaching churches? Unfortunately, many believers are doing nothing to stop this intrusion on our morality. This is contrary to the Almighty God who demands that His servants "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 58:1).

If we do not want kiddy porn and its sister, prostitution, to arrive in our communities, we must rid ourselves of obscenity at every level or eventually it will touch the innocent lives of our children. Even the Supreme Court has stated emphatically that the first amendment does not protect obscenity. The laws must be enforced at all levels: local, state, and federal. Many Christians think their children are safe because they are in a Christian school and church. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our homes are being invaded by television filth from morning to night, with the afternoon "freak shows" walking away with the ratings! Yet, millions of American Christians have accepted the philosophy that there is no right or wrong. The result of our inaction? Purveyors of smut capitalize on the opportunities that an uncaring public hands them on a silver platter. The present scene has become so nauseating that celebrities, professional counselors, and media executives themselves are speaking out. One famous comedian, Steve Alien, declared publicly that television has gotten too dirty and that the networks televise junk just to keep the ratings high. A broadcasting executive asked his industry this probing question, "Have we sunk so low that we have sold our children to the dogs in order to make a dollar?"

You've probably seen the popular armbands worn by many Christians-young and old alike. There are only four letters on the band: WWJD-a question and a reminder to the wearer: What Would Jesus Do? Good question. "What would Jesus do? Well, I can tell you one thing He's going to do: He's going to return in majesty and glory. He's going to remove His church from the porn, the permissiveness, and the poverty of morality and arrange for His bride to meet Him in the air in a sky-splitting event known as the Rapture. While we remain on planet earth, you and I must heed the apostle's words, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12). This bombardment of continual wickedness, implanting so much filth and false values in our collective minds, is presently reaping an abundant harvest morally, spiritually, and socially. Just as the degenerated values of society in Noah's day filled the world with violence, so sin, crime, and fear stalk humanity as we come to the close of the twentieth century.

I'm confident this situation will continue to deteriorate because the sign will break forth in all its debauchery during the Tribulation Hour. We are already observing the preview of coming events. Life will not be worth living during the Tribulation, because Satan will be cast out of the heavens and will be enthroned upon the earth. Because he knows that he has only a short time to perform his heinous acts, and because of his impending imprisonment for one thousand years (Revelation 20:3), he will unleash all of his brutality and uncleanness upon earth's millions. That is why Revelation 12:12 states, "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."

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