CULTURAL MELTDOWN


The World, the Word & You! Broadcast
Commentary by Dennis L. Finnan

WHEN THE FOUNDING FATHERS OF AMERICA MET IN 1787 THEY DID SO TO INVENT A NEW NATION. YET, NONE OF THEM EVER CONSIDERED WHAT IT WOULD BECOME THREE CENTURIES LATER…

I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about the biblical teachings that surround the "Last Days."…

… Are you aware that we who live in America, and many of you worldwide too, are facing a crisis of immense proportions? It's a force that could topple our monuments and destroy the very foundation of civilization and society as we know it. Now for decades, many thought this enemy was Communism. Yet we've lived to see the monuments of Stalin and Lenin thrown down in the dust. However, the crisis we face in the Western world today is not far different. You see it is a crisis of culture, where the values that restrain inner vices and develop inner virtues are eroding so fast, that we may witness its total demise in our lifetimes. Today we witness unprincipled men and women, disdainful of their moral heritage, and skeptical of Truth itself, laboring to destroy the civilization our forefathers built.

Indeed, our nation's cultural drift has brought us, as we're about to enter the third millennium, to a serious crisis that can now literally be called a CULTURAL MELTDOWN! This is a war for the "soul of America" and of course, the world! As such, this brings us to the "BIG" question ¾ "WHO WILL DETERMINE AMERICA & THE WORLD'S FUTURE?" Well, the answer lies my friend, in which culture you and your children will embrace.. Permit me now to try to make simple the issue we face, and some conclusions to them.

First of all, if we go to the Bible we discover that Jesus Christ had some compelling things to say about the future…One day while Jesus was teaching His disciples and the crowds listened in, the unbelieving Pharisees criticized him and demanded that Jesus present them with a "sign" by predicting the future… Jesus answered with these words,

Mat 16:1-4 (NIV) "The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He replied, "When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times… Jesus then left them and went away."

How insightful! The Lord Jesus said these experts of religion and the Law had no foresight for they could not even predict the future from the Word of God. It hasn't changed friend. Many today do not see the relevance of the Bible as we enter what is called the "LAST DAYS" before God intervenes in the affairs of men. In order to understand the cultural meltdown we are experiencing today, we need to go to the Bible where we are given the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, that reflects what life will be like, just before Christ returns to take possession of the world we are now living in as His tenants. We read in,

Mat 24:3 (NIV) "As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?""….

Mat 24:36-39 (NIV) ""No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."

Amazingly, Jesus told His disciples and the world of Christians to come, that there was actually going to be "signs" in the Last Days to depict what would happen to the "CULTURE," of society just before God planned Christ's return. It is described for us as.. "THE DAYS OF NOAH!" (Mat. 24:37). So if we can discern what the culture was like in the days of Noah prior to God's worldwide catastrophic judgment of the Flood, we can discern the "sign of the times," for us today. Let's do it! Now going to the Book of Genesis we discover the problem of Noah's day and ours. First we see it was,

1. AN AGE OF GROWING SOCIAL DISORDER - As Noah's day saw a rapid increase in population, along with it came a corresponding increase of sinful living. There is a parallel here in our nation and even the world today. We see world's population bulging at over SIX BILLION people! With this rapid increase in population we've seen an accompanying increase in all forms of suffering. Why disease, poverty and starvation are worldwide problems. Why even in America, poverty and disease are rising at frightening rates. Before Christ would return then, it is predicted that a massive population growth would be experienced by the world. Why even logistical experts predict that within ten years ( 2010AD), the world population may increase to 10 billion! So it was in the days of Noah. We read in,

Gen 6:1 (NLT) "… the human population began to grow rapidly on the earth,"

Now a second sign of the "Days of Noah," was,

2. AN AGE OF SCIENTIFIC ADVANCEMENT & INCREASED KNOWLEDGE - Again, the last century has brought us this unprecedented increase in scientific knowledge and advanced technology . However, with all the advancement in our culture technologically, it has not brought us the peace of a moral advance. We see in Noah's day in,

Gen 4:16-17 (NIV) "So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 17 Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch."

Gen 4:20-22 (NIV) "… Jabal was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute. 22 Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron…"

What the text tells us is during Noah's day mankind became skilled in the building of vast cities coupled with developments in metallurgy, the arts and other skills. Although they had not the technology we've developed today, history and archeology reveals our ancestors had more intrinsic brilliance than we display today. It was characteristic of their age. Sadly, they used it not for God's glory but for their own depraved way of life. Now here's a third characteristic of Noah's Day it was ….

3. AN AGE OF WICKED AND SHAMELESS DEPRAVITY - Yes, in addition to the increases in population, luxury, knowledge and scientific development, there was a corresponding rapid acceleration of vice and lawlessness. Listen again to God's Word,

Gen 6:5 (NIV) "The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time."

Gen 6:11-12 (NIV) "Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways."

If we read our Bible correctly, the source of God's judgment on Noah's world was this rapid decline in the culture. Yes, a "CULTURAL MELTDOWN," if you please, was being experienced by the world of Noah's day! I believe this is exactly what we see today. As anyone looking around will see,

(1) THE BATTLE FOR ABORTION RIGHTS - To date in America alone we have passed the death rate of any megalomaniac who destroyed innocent human life. Adolph Hitler killed 12 million Jews and others whom he considered not worthy of life in his society. Yet, America in the year 2000 has killed more than 40 MILLION CHILDREN by abortion! Today, the majority of Americans have grown up to believe that it is morally right to kill our unborn children to satisfy our greed for an unfettered life. This sin will not go unpunished by God, for His word promises this (Exo. 20:13;Psa. 127:3; 139:14-16; Jer. 1:5). Then there is,

(2) The BATTLE FOR HOMOSEXUAL RIGHTS - Perhaps the greatest moral depravity of our time is the unprecedented push to legitimize the depraved culture of homosexuality. Of course homosexuality is as old as man, but we also know God has warned us that any society that approves and condones this wicked immorality will be destroyed! America today and other nations too, are now approving, promoting and protecting the right for homosexuals to publicly practice their sin and seek others to do the same. It won't be long before God steps in, in judgment, unless we do so ourselves (Lev 18:22-23;20:13;;1 Cor. 6:9-10; 1 Tim. 1:10). Moreover, we see,

(3) THE BATTLE FOR HETEROSEXUAL RIGHTS - hand in hand with homosexual rights is our humanistic society's push for freedom from the restraints of biblical morality. As a result, an entire generation has arisen that has been taught the Bible's ways of morality and social order of family life, are outdated and wrong ¾ in its palace the godless crowd has substituted a new morality that has cast off the traditional family, the roles relationships and distinctives of men and women, and opted for a life style that had brought us the AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Disease CRISIS. Although it is often kept from the news, this worldwide death sentence for Biblical immorality is pandemic, and unless mankind returns to God's cultural principles for life and relationships, we may witness the coming decimation of the human race as we know it today. Isaiah the prophet reminds us,

Isa 5:20 (NLT) "Destruction is certain for those who say that evil is good and good is evil; that dark is light and light is dark; that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter."

Isa 5:24 (NLT) "Therefore, they will all disappear like burning straw. Their roots will rot and their flowers wither, for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty. They have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel."

God promises every nation that forgets God's Laws for life (Psalm 9:17), that they will inevitably face two judgments. First the judgment of His natural laws, and second, the judgment of His intrinsic righteousness. Friend, we are seeing the beginning of this today. Why hundreds of millions of people worldwide are coming down with lifelong, incurable and destructive sexually transmitted diseases. Many are dying of them and before they do, they infect others with the same deadly diseases. What was it like in Noah's day?

Gen 4:19 (NIV) "Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah."

Gen 6:11-12 (NIV) "Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways."

Polygamy began with the godless crowd, and all the people of the earth had accepted the immoral cultural trends and began living that same way! Indeed, it brought God's judgment. Now there was a fourth "Sign of the Times," of Noah's day for we see it was,

4. AN AGE OF SPIRITUAL DECEPTION & DECLINE - In Noah's day the world turned away from te worship of the true God, but not religion! The pre-Noahic peoples turned from the living God to the worship and adoration of false gods, and demonism itself. This is one more characteristic of our times. We witness the rapid rise of spiritual deception and false religious teaching. Listen to God's Word that warns us of this dilemma,

Gen 6:1-2 (NIV) "When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose."

Gen 6:4 (NIV) "The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown."

Now a goodly number of Bible scholars believe that the phrase, "sons of God," is a reference to fallen angels better known as demons. If this is so, then there was a worldwide invasion of demons that created a race of ghastly humanity that as half demon and half human. Some believe this is why God destroyed the entire world, except for those human beings unaffected by this spiritual and physical corruption. This may well be, and I don't discount its possibility. However, I tend to follow the other camp that believes the "sons of God," in Genesis 6:2, were not fallen angels but the godly crowd who became apostate! They turned from God's truths and bought the lie of the devil that you can have it all here and now. Apparently, the godly parents of that day had not passed onto the next generation, the faith once delivered to the saints. As a result, "APOSTASY" formed and took the next generation away from God. Notice the "sons of God," it says saw the "daughters of men," a reference to the unsaved and secular world that denied and rejected God. As such they married whom the pleased, another reference to marrying, divorce, and remarriage. Indiscriminate abuse of God's principle of a monogamous lifetime marriage of one man and one woman, was another great sin! What do we see today? Much the same, even among Christians.

Moreover, we also see the cults of religious apostasy growing leaps and bounds in our nation. Why, false religions such as ISLAM, HINDUISM, and other Far Eastern philosophies are infiltrating America today. In addition, liberalism and secularism and now the NEW AGE religions are taking over everywhere.

Indeed, as it was in the days of Noah, we are seeing the rise of apostasy and the dwindling of those who will worship the One true God, Jesus Christ. As a result, one more "sign-of-the-times" can be found in Noah's day that parallels ours. It is that we are in an,

5. AGE OF GREAT DELUSION & A FALSE DESTINY! - What one thing is on the minds of most everyone in our nation of America? Well, just look at your TV and Hollywood entertainment and you'll see it is ¾ EXTRATERRESTRIAL INVASION! Yes, we are consumed with the idea that evolution is soon to introduce our world to extra-terrestrial or alter-dimensional life forms that are greater than us and wanting to help guide us to a perfect peaceful future. However this strong delusion that has enveloped almost everyone these days was predicted in the Bible. We read in,

Jer 10:2 (NLT) "This is what the LORD says: "Do not act like other nations who try to read their future in the stars. Do not be afraid of their predictions, even though other nations are terrified by them."

1 Tim 4:1 (NIV) "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. .."

One cannot deny that today millions of people, many credible witnesses have seen what they all UFO sightings. Others claim to have had "close encounters" with extra-terrestrial beings. As the NEW AGE religion moves in, and God's Word is cast out ¾ we see this strong delusion consuming the world. Again, God's Word predicted this would happen when Christ would be rejected from human life. We read in.

2 Th 2:11 (NIV) "For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie"

What reason? For rejecting the faith of the One true God, Jesus Christ, all who do so will believe "the lie." Again, what lie? The lie that man is a god, that man has evolved from a meaningless past, and that he is not accountable to anyone but himself. And, this process of evolution is raising man to his highest levels. Now with the help of these advanced alien creatures, we will rise to even greater heights! Sounds good, but it is the STRONG AND POWERFUL DELUSION, God predicted will come on those who turn from the morality and culture of the Judeo-Christian heritage.

Now I'm not a prophet nor the son of a prophet. But I do read my Bible and these things are there and Jesus' timeless words are too. We are indeed witnessing a CULTURAL MELTDOWN, and unless it is stopped and reversed, the end of the LAST DAYS will be upon us as Christ predicted in the Bible in Matthew chapter 24.

Now what's the answer, the hope we can have in times like these? The answer my friend has always been in turning from the false religions, practices and beliefs of the world without God, and turning back to Christ and the Bible. Jesus Himself said,

John 14:6 (NIV) "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

John 11:25 (NIV) "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;"

John 8:24 (NIV) "I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.""

Mat 11:28 (NIV) "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

Paul the great apostle in the New Testament reiterated,

Acts 20:21 (NIV) "I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus."

Acts 16:31 (NIV) "… "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.""

Rom 10:9-10 (NIV) [SO] "… if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

Well friends, there you have it. God's predictions for what will be the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, and the preliminary before God begins His planned return to the earth. Now, the question is will you be ready? Have you taken Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord? Have you believed the Bible's teachings that, Christ died for your sins, and that God the Father accepted His substitutionary death as payment for your sin penalty? Have you believed God's Word that living in disobedience to His morality and cultural teachings ¾ you will suffer temporal and eternal judgments? Have you also believed that obedience to His ways and will, always brings inner peace, happiness and contentment? This is God's promise to all who come to Him, and for all who like in Noah's day turned to the humanistic secularism of their day ¾ well, they perished in the judgment of the Flood and for all eternity in a place called Hell.

Friends, we are witnessing a massive cultural meltdown, but it can be reversed and cancelled, first in your own heart and life and then in your family and children's lives by your faithful example and teaching, and then in the society in which you live. Stand up, be vocal, be political where possible too and vote for candidates and leaders who will uphold biblical standards of morality and truth. This is our only hope for a future for our children and grandchildren. But apart from Jesus Christ ruling and reigning, there remains only judgment. Here God's Word stands and so do I…

Friends… America has always been a great nation. It has not been a perfect nation, nor have its people and rulers been so either. However, God has chosen to bless this nation because in the past it honored God's Word for life and living. But friend, we cannot live on the checkbook of our past, for the funds are running out. And, unless we make spiritual deposits today by a massive turning back to God and His Word, we cannot expect the survival of this nation. Well… barring this, the SIGNS OF THE TIMES surely will come about, and who knows, God may come soon to bring His Son and His righteousness to rule and reign forever and ever… May you be ready now and today!

The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries are not exhaustive studies of any particular subject due to the time limit of broadcasting. Actual broadcasts can be heard in selected areas around the nation, as funding provides. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for over 18 years, and serves as General Director.

These transcripts are available free of charge to all who desire them. Also available are actual radio cassette tapes and printed booklets of each message. A free listing of recent messages is available upon request also.

For further information, reprints, or a listing of all topics, please write to our speaker, Dennis L. Finnan(dennis@wwy.org),or visit our webpage at http://www.wwy.org/