A CULTURE WITHOUT GOD!

A CULTURE WITHOUT GOD!

Rom 1:28

28 And so, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or approve of Him or consider Him worth the knowing, God gave them over to a base and condemned mind to do things not proper or decent but loathsome,

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Phil 3:18-4:1

18(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:

19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Philippians 4

4:1 Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

           Our government is corrupt, our world is nearly bankrupt, and our church members are often compliant with the evil culture around them. We forget that Christianity was born during a time of great evil and, in fact, thrived in a culture that was antagonistic toward God. Churches, which at the first were simple assemblies of the faithful, were disrupted regularly. They met in secret using codes to announce meetings. They sung hymns in whispers and read from patches of torn scripture. They helped each other; relied on each other and trusted in God.

           It seems to me that verse 1 of Philippians chapter 4 rightfully belongs at the end of chapter three. Paul described a culture that gloried in their shame and whose mind was firmly set on wicked things. He also reminded the Philippians that their destiny was heaven and that they lived as expatriates in a foreign land. Then he urged them to “stand fast” in the Lord. The two English words “stand fast” is translated from a single Greek word, steko, which is the perfect tense of “to be stationary.” It is clear that we are not to be moved from our faithfulness to Christ even during evil times. I think Christians should stop blaming God for being absent when they themselves are not present.

           George Orwell, writing regarding Europe’s rejection of God, said: "For two hundred years we had sawed and sawed and sawed at the branch we were sitting on. And in the end, much more suddenly than anyone had foreseen, our efforts were rewarded, and down we came. But unfortunately there had been a little mistake: The thing at the bottom was not a bed of roses after all; it was a cesspool full of barbed wire.”

1 Cor 15:58

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast , unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Dear Lord, let my faithfulness and steadfastness be equal to the world’s wickedness. Let me not be overrun. AMEN