These are days in which a tidal wave of iniquity seems to be breaking upon our world. Western civilization faces the prospect of being overwhelmed by hordes of heathen armies from without and mounting waves of pagan principles from within. One could argue, that, as Churchill said during the depths of World War II, “A cataract of ruin has come upon us.” The rise of crime rages in our streets, our prisons are overcrowded, the AIDS contagion ravages our youth, venereal disease grows exponentially, divorce cancels one half of our marriages, staggering debt consumes our patrimony—the list of morose developments goes on and on. A generation ago, hardly anyone conceived of the quick and precipitous degeneration which has come upon us now. There can be no doubt that sin abounds in our world.

The rise of iniquity is made more dangerous by the shamelessness of our time. People boast of iniquity and the promoters publicize it in modern insults to the intelligence called “soap operas” and “adult movies.” What men were and once ashamed to do by the darkness of midnight they now practice under the noonday sun. Sin, which is followed by shamelessness, is the prelude to cultural reprobation.

But wait—we have a marvelous promise in Scripture which applies to times like these. It is given to us by the Apostle Paul in his magnificent treatise, the book of Romans, when he says, “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom. 5:20). Here we have a promise that should cause the Christian heart to leap with delight in the midst of the burdens of this world. The promise of this Word from God is wonderful indeed.

It is the promise that God sees, God understands and God responds to a situation such as we see in our time. How does He respond? He responds with an outpouring of grace which is greater in quantity and quality than the sinfulness of our world. It is the promise that, in this period of history, God continues to deal with our world by grace. Despite man’s awful iniquity, He gives him “space to repent.” Stronger than the moral diseases which have come upon our world, larger than the problems before us is the marvelous grace of Jesus Christ. It is indeed, grace that is greater than all our sin.

More than often, the Bible promises the powerful response of God against a tide of iniquity. Isaiah gave us the promise “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him” (Isa. 59:19). What a promise! That standard, of course, is not simply a flag on a pole. No indeed, it is the lives, the prayers, the sacrifice, the godly living and especially the testimony of believing Christians. We are the divine representatives whom God uses in a world like this to stem the tide of iniquity. Knowing Christ, we are made stronger than all that the world may press against us. “Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (I John 5:5). Therefore, we have the wonderful promise which should be the object of our daily confidence: “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” (I John 4:4).

Therefore, in these days of mounting iniquity, the Christian must not succumb to discouragement or depression. The false lights of our foolish world are blinking out one by one. This means that the light of the Gospel can now shine more brightly with greater effect than ever. Count on it!

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Destiny Bulletin continued:
The Ultimate Contrast • Springtime • Where Sin Abounded
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