FOOLISH HEARTS DARKENED

by Kevin Rutherford

When men turn away from the God of the Bible, terrible things happen (Romans 1:18-32). Charles Darwin’s book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life, was published in 1859. This book turned many people toward a naturalistic view of life. That is, people began to believe that life on earth came from natural causes only. The logical conclusion from all of this is that man is nothing more than an animal and has little value. In addition, war is viewed as the natural struggle between races to see which race is fit enough to survive. Such a view of man was the underlying philosophy that led to the death of millions of people in Word War I, and especially World War II.

After World War II, communism grew rapidly. Communism is an anti-God political philosophy. Communism hates and opposes Christianity. Through the influence of Darwin’s writings, Marx’ writings, and others, millions more people were brutally killed in the name of communism. People were told this was all for the good of the state. The Korean and Vietnam Wars both involved communists as ungodly aggressors.

The fascist were defeated in World War II. The communists were partially defeated during the cold war. Now we are facing another war. It is a war against violent Muslims. Not all Muslims are violent, but those who are would like nothing more than to see our nation fall and all Christians killed. Islam is itself a rejection of faith in the One True God. Muslims claim to follow God and call Him “Allah,” but the god they serve is not the God of the Bible. Nearly three thousand people were killed on September eleventh by Muslims who hate anyone who is not a Muslim.

This brings me back to my original statement. When men turn away from the God of the Bible, terrible things happen (Romans 1:18-32). What are societies like when they turn away from God? Romans 3:10-18 shows us that societies which reject God become violent societies.

Now, even as we face the threat of Islamic Jihad, our nation bears within it the seeds of its own destruction. Many in our nation promote the anti-god, anti-Christian philosophies that naturally stem from faith in Darwin. Many in our nation believe and practice views that more closely resemble fascism and communism, than Christianity. So many now promote tolerance of everything except Christianity. All of these influences in our nation are from Satan. All such views will eventually lead to our destruction if something doesn’t change (Romans 1:18).

What are we to do in “perilous times” such as these? The Bible gives the answer. Paul spoke to Timothy of “perilous times” coming in Timothy’s day (2 Timothy 3:1-9). When such times come Christians will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). However, Christians must continue in the things they have learned, and remain faithful to the inspired Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:14-17). We must preach and practice the truth in good times, and we must preach and practice the truth in perilous times (2 Timothy 4:1-4). Let us preach, practice, and pray, and let God take care of the rest.