As our sin-soaked world becomes darker and darker, the need for the light of the Saviour whose birth we celebrate is ever more evident. He came, as Luke 2:32 records, “A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel,” yet, we see, “that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). This past week that fact has been driven home again, as we heard of two more mass murderers, killing others, and then, realizing the enormity of their evil, killing themselves. What lowers these people to the point where they are no better than rabid dogs on a rampage? One of the elements is found in the fact that they have been raised up in a culture of pride and self-will, a culture which has been taught to laugh at the Bible and mock the preaching of God’s word. These animal-like killers have no sense of fear of death because they do not believe there is a real Hell into which they will plunge themselves. They have been convinced of the lies of the pseudo science of evolution, that we live and die like a soulless animal. They are convinced that there is no God before whom they will stand in judgment, and that there is no eternal penalty for their sins. Pulpits across America years ago responded to the demands of the “more enlightened, intellectual and sophisticated” culture, which said “Away with that out-dated hellfire and brimstone preaching!” By and large today, America’s pulpits are populated by soft-handed, soft-headed people pleasers who are anxious to give the crowd what they want to hear rather than giving them a word from God. There has never been a greater need for the light of the Lord Jesus Christ than the present hour. John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
-from December 16, 2012 bulletin