“The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are altogether become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no not one.” Psalm 14:2-3
We are in a Noahic parallel: The earth is filled with violence, chaos, and great troubles, both natural and man-made (Genesis 6:12-13). Apostle Paul said that these things would increase and intensify as birth pangs upon a woman in labor (1Thess.5:3). While there are many variables that feed into these conditions, a major cause is the lack of the fear of God. This is a direct result of the spirit of godlessness that has infiltrated our society since World War II. The 1950s was a time of blessings and prosperity. The emphasis in America was God, country, and family.
In the 1960s, prayer and Bible reading were taken out of public schools. Families that once attended church together on Sundays stayed home to enjoy their new pleasures of life. Little by little, God was squeezed out of our lives. Then Satan made his all-out attack when he introduced the teaching of evolution in public schools. The Bible was not only removed, but ridiculed. When young people are taught that they are not created by a designer for a purpose, but are only cosmic matter that will be absorbed back into the universe, there is no incentive to live according to the Bible, which is mocked to be fables of men. They have no purpose nor future. Nor is there any restraint from doing evil, because if there is no Creator, Lawgiver, and Judge, there is no judgment. The Wiseman said, “By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil” (Proverbs 16:6).
Humanism: the Religion of Self-Determination
This generation has grown up with the mantra: “I'm okay — you're okay.” Good is whatever I make it. There are no absolutes. The 10 Commandments are archaic and irrelevant, and no one lives that way. Right is whatever I make it. Truth is whatever I make it. There is no moral compass. Christianity is deemed to be intolerant, because Jesus Christ said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6). He said: “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:9). This is totally unacceptable, because humanism maintains there are many gods, including the god in you. We are all on the same path, because man is not lost—he is inherently good and is evolving to a higher being. If this is true, why do we have an increase in violence, terrorism, and perversion, much very twisted?
When people do not want to acknowledge the God of the Bible or His Son Jesus, it’s because they would have to obey His laws, and they're not willing to do that! It would cramp their immoral, fornicating, homosexual lifestyles, even though the consequences of lawlessness are severe. When there is no fear of God in a person or in a society, the results are:
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understands, and there is none that seeks after God. They are all gone out of the way; they are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and mercy are in their ways. And the way of peace they have not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:10-18).
The Baltimore Riots
We are experiencing this now in my city of Baltimore, and it will continue to manifest, because the fear of man is not enough to stem the tide of rebellion that flows from their hearts. Whether your face is lily white or black as night, skin color means nothing to God. “He has made all nations of men from one blood,” and in His sight all men are one (Acts 17:26). But the condition of the heart does matter to God. He said, “Because when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21).
We have a generation, black and white, who has grown up without the knowledge of God or a healthy fear of God. This means they have also grown up without hope of a future. This fuels frustration, anger, and hostility towards authority. Who is telling them what God says He will do for those who follow His plan? Even in a fallen world of pain, inequity, and injustice? Who is giving them His promise: “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
We all want our children to be blessed of the Lord. Our job is to teach them it pays to walk in the fear of the Lord! “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong unto us, and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” God holds parents accountable for teaching their children His laws and His fear—a healthy respect and reverence for His Word. If we have the Spirit of God, we want to see all children blessed, but sadly, many are not, because they have not been taught the ways of the Lord.
When we see this unrest and chaos, we know that there is a systemic problem that is manifesting in despair, anger, hatred, violence, and rebellion. While there are certainly many and severe societal ills that have fostered this desperation, which must be addressed, we cannot dismiss the fact that there is a spirit of anarchy and rebellion that is straight from the war room of Hell. Satan, the supreme opportunist, is masterful at exploiting the raw emotions, inbred prejudices, and retributive desires of unregenerated (non born-again) people. “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil and the evil way” (Pro. 8:13). Where there is no restrainer, as the fear of the Lord, Satan has a free hand to spread hatred, lies, rumors, and destruction.
Fatherless & Futureless
Moreover, we have become victims of the universal law of “sowing and reaping.” Scripture says: “God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). We have disregarded God's Word and blueprint for marriage and family and have sown immorality, producing a fatherless generation. And when a generation is fatherless, it is futureless. Presently, almost 50% of American children live without their biological father—That’s 23 million kids! The primary cause is illegitimacy from mostly teenage mothers. Over 40% of births in the US are to unwed mothers. Not long ago, Baltimore had the highest rate of unwed mothers in the nation. They opened a high school just for pregnant girls. Certainly we should not abandon these kids; they are doing these things because they have been reared in homes without the instruction and blessings of God upon them.
Fatherless children are 9 times more likely to be school dropouts and a whopping 70% will become hard core criminals! Many teens have behavioral disorders, but 85% are from fatherless homes, and their rate of suicide is 5 times greater.
The wisest of men said: “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death; the fear of the Lord will prolong your days; the fear of the Lord tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil;” (Proverbs 9:11, 14:27, 19:23). This is hope we must impart to our children.
Either we believe the Bible or we don’t. Either we live the Bible or we don’t. We can’t just pick it up and put it down to our liking or disliking. It is either life or death. We are living in the end-times when “the earth is corrupt and filled with violence” and it will increase as it did in the days of Noah, just as Jesus predicted (Luke 17:26). There will be terrorism from without and from within as sleeper cells are already at work in our nation. Civil unrest and uprisings will multiply, resulting in greater government intervention and loss of freedoms under the guise of peace and safety. And if we think these scenarios are bad, what will it be like when Jesus takes His Church out of this world? Imagine the evil that will be unleashed when there are no Christians, no intercessors, no preachers of righteousness, no praying Moms and Dads and Grandmas
“For that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD” (Proverbs 1:29).
