There is considerable concern in many quarters over the relaxed tone of morals in young people’s circles, and it does not stop with young people. To be precise, it is more like a complete breakdown of morals. The surprising thing is that anyone should wonder about the source of the present phenomenon. On every hand bad seeds are being sown; there is no mystery, then, when they suddenly spring up and bear an abundant crop of noxious weeds. The simple reason for the lavish crop of moral delinquency is that this nation and most other nations have given up the “fear of the Lord.” There is now “no fear of God before their eyes.”
On every hand there is a concerted drive to remove the fear of God from the consciences of the people of the land. Atheism is growing apace. Atheists bask in the favor of the courts which render decisions approving their objections to the mention of God or of prayer to Him. God is restricted in this land — that is, as far as men can restrict the omnipotent. They ignore the fact that He is supreme and will be justified when He speaks and clear when He judges (Psa. 51:44Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. (Psalm 51:4)). He is the One “with whom we have to do,” and there is no escaping that settled fact (Heb. 4:1313Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:13)).
Education
The schools of the land have taught that God did not create man, but that he merely evolved from slime. In this he takes pride that he is such an exalted product of fanciful chance. He will accept any theory of his beginning (no matter how degrading) rather than accept God’s sure Word, and for one reason only: If he can satisfy himself that God did not create him, then he can throw off responsibility to God. The wish is parent to the thought. And then if he can persuade himself that he is, after all, nothing more than an intelligent beast, then, by deduction, he may just as well live in a bestial manner and satisfy all the corrupt tendencies of his evil heart. By the fall, man became God’s enemy; this could not be said of any mere beast.
Religion
If we turn to the religious world to observe underlying causes of the moral breakdown, we find hosts of professed ministers of the gospel who are modernists and liberals. They deny the very basic elements of the Word of God. It is common today to find men who do not believe and affirm the inerrancy of God’s Word, its relevancy to the problems of the day, the deity of Christ, the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus, His sacrificial death, His bodily resurrection, and His coming again. Men in pulpits do not hesitate to call the very facts of Scripture but allegories. Anything that happens to annoy church members can easily be explained away. Can we wonder that when such daring infidelity parades in clerical garb, the precepts of God’s Word are treated as fables?
Young believers, remember that “every word of God is pure,” and there is no safety in this wicked world but in taking heed to that Word in all departments of our being. Mankind has fallen until all that governs people’s morals today are their lusts and popular opinion. As conduct becomes lower and lower, man allows more and more. What was scorned a year ago is accepted on the basis of “it is not thought anything of today.” And thus there is no floor under the lowest state of morality. As this sinks, man tolerates more. When the fear of God is removed, there is no stability, nothing under his feet which is sure and unalterable. A common expression today is, “Everyone is doing it.” This is not true, but if it were true, what is that to the man that trembles at God’s Word? “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing” (Eccl. 12:1414For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:14)).
God Is Omniscient
There is now a certain type of sophistry abroad that supposes that if people do not get caught in their immoral or amoral deeds, all is well, whereas it is written, “There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops” (Luke 12:2-32For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. 3Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. (Luke 12:2‑3)). “He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see?” (Psa. 94:99He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? (Psalm 94:9)). God is omniscient, and nothing can be hidden from Him. Everything that is said and done and even what is thought (Psa. 139:22Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. (Psalm 139:2)) is all open before Him. May Christians remember that “Thou God seest me.”
There is the government of God here and now, for “God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal. 6:77Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Galatians 6:7)). Then for those who die in their sins, there is the great white throne of His judgment, where the books will be opened and they judged according to their works (Rev. 20:1212And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Revelation 20:12)). And for those of us who are saved by the precious blood of Christ, all our works will come before Christ at His judgment seat, when our lives pass in review before Him. These are solemn realities.
Past Examples
Romans 1 gives a true account of the debauched condition of the heathen world. God had given them over to their sordid life with all its frightful consequences because they turned their backs on Him. This then led to the dissolution of the Roman Empire and nearly to the breakdown of all society. Now, in so-called Christian lands, these conditions are coming back, or are already here, with the shocking addition that they are allowed while professing the form of godliness. And a worse judgment is now on the way, for God tells us that a time of trouble is coming which is worse than anything the world has ever known.
Every day brings it closer. The world’s entertainment — movies, television, books of horror and filth — almost every means of news dissemination glories in man’s shame. Books that were banned by unbelievers a few years back now are sold by “respectable” merchants, and sin is made to appear appealing, and stolen waters seem sweet indeed. Proverbs 14:99Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favor. (Proverbs 14:9) says that “fools make a mock at sin.” Is not this largely true of these forms of thought dissemination? Even what were considered staid and respectable magazines now make excursions into the defiling filth of fallen man. And why? Because there is a demand for it and money to be made by pandering to it.
Beware
Christians, beware, lest we walk in the counsel of the ungodly. If we form our lives after the pattern of this present evil world, we are apt to be snared in the devices of the god of this world. Many dear young Christians have spoiled their testimony for Christ and blighted their whole lives by carelessness in this regard. The rocks, the reefs and the shoals abound with historic wrecks of lives. The Word of God is a sure chart to keep us safe. We need to cry, “Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe.” Do not trust your cleverness; you are no match for your wily foe. People with more human sagacity than you have been trapped by him. Keep away from evil companions — “avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away” (Prov. 4:1515Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. (Proverbs 4:15)).
Dear young men and women who know the Lord, even when you are in the company of other young Christians, beware how you behave. Keep your hands to yourself. What if even some Christians call you disdainful names — will they answer to God for you at the judgment seat of Christ? Will they bear all the shame and reproach of a shattered testimony after you make the shipwreck? Perhaps some of them may be doing what you and they should not do; “choose you this day whom ye will serve.” Would you not rather have the Lord’s blessing than the pleasures of sin for a season — with all its regrets, sorrow and remorse, and then have to answer to the Lord for your conduct? Do not trifle with even the borders of sin.
P. Wilson