Dear BPCWA worshipper, Our Lord Jesus made clear that man would love darkness rather than light in John 3:19 “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” As October arrives, shops and catalogues start to feature and promote Halloween merchandise. In it, you have pictures of witches, pictures of skulls, ghosts, skeletons, haunted houses, with children and adults making it look fun to be made up with blood splatters, fanged teeth, horns, and ghoulish eyes. This infatuation is not limited to Halloween. At the recent AFL finals, the highlight of the pre-game show was a performance by KISS – a rock group that lives up to its devilish reputation. How could anyone enjoy a show that has the artistes’ face paint and dress glamourising death, carrying an electric guitar resembling a giant axe, feet covered with what looks like an animal with claws, prancing on stage between columns of flames bursting from the ground? What is perhaps the greatest wonder is how parents would proudly allow their children to dress up in Halloween costumes and as mini-KISS band members, following the steps and even the hand signs of the band with fingers raised like the devil’s horns. Evil is promoted and celebrated. Death, with the suggestion of hell as a backdrop at such events, is no big deal and nothing to be frightened of, but merely a continuation of the “fun” that is celebrated at such events. Such celebrations and blatant promotions of darkness would have been unheard of decades ago. Who would have thought then that things would have accelerated to such a stage now in 2023? What would have been considered devilish and to be shunned back then is what epitomises fun today. What used to be considered “ungodly” by the then more conservative population is now attractive to masses. Just at our doorsteps has been the AC/DC rock band inspired event. “It comes after the huge success of 2020’s Highway to Hell, which was dubbed the world’s longest stage after Canning Highway was transformed into a 10 kilometre music route. Highway to Hell attracted nearly 145,000 people with a $6.1 million direct impact on the economy, and brought more than 1000 out-of-state visitors to WA, who spent nearly $1.7 million in the State” (WA sport and culture industries website). Many professing Christians would freely participate and attend such celebrations and post them on their social media.  How did the love for darkness start and will it get worse? Why must the Christian be aware?

Death in the beginning. God tells us where it all started that one day, thousands of years ago in the tranquil Garden of Eden, when the serpent, the Devil, tempted Eve to disobey God. When God warned Adam in Ge 2:17 that “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”, Satan instead convinced Eve to disobey God. He lied that even if she took of the fruit “ye shall not surely die” (Ge 3:4) and that God couldn’t be trusted, because “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Ge 3:5). Satan, who rebelled against God in heaven and had been cast down with the fallen angels who chose to follow Satan, now had fallen man join his army in his rebellion as God. Satan continues to promote his lies. The lies that the judgement and punishment that God said would come upon man for disobedience just aren’t true, that God is a “killjoy” and “party pooper” who spoils the fun in life and doesn’t want us to enjoy ourselves. Moreover, death is no big deal and is instead something to be lightly dealt with, and that hell is not to be feared because it is just like that fun rock concert that simulates a hellfire that won’t hurt you. Satan has been propounding his lies so convincingly and rapidly in society to the stage that it is at today, such that his lies are now commonplace thinking and even an attraction. People “play act” the devil and even say that they would rather go to hell if there is a hell because every day in hell is a free rock concert and partying.

A rebellion continued. You’d think that, living in the miseries of a sin-filled world, man would have learned his lesson over the thousands of years of the Old Testament. We read of accounts of the misery and turmoil through mankind’s history caused by sin. Yet, man refuses to attribute the wars, murders, adultery, incest, and treacheries to sin. One would think that in the times of the New Testament, when people were “more virtuous” than they are today, they would welcome the Son of righteousness. But as Christ taught in a parable, this would not be so. After rejecting the prophets that God had sent His people to call them to repentance, “But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. 38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. 39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him” (Mt 21:37-39). When Christ, the Light of the world, came teaching God’s truth, they stoned Him for the very light He brought to them. Attesting to His righteousness, He asked them “Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?” (John 10:32). In the lead-up to the very popular verse we use for evangelism in John 3:16, Christ said “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness” (John 3:11). The reality is that when Adam fell in the Garden of Eden, all mankind that would follow had a depraved heart that resists the authority of God’s light. Even in what we probably consider a “more conservative society” over 2000 years ago, yet man would already reject the Light of the world who was sent to be their Saviour.

Why do men hate Christ, the Light of the world? Because, as stated earlier, “light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” (John 3:19-20). God tells us that it is because fallen man was “pre-tuned” to reject God’s light and truth. They would not be simply indifferent to the truth. Man would reject God and even crucify the very Son of God – simply because He was of God and spoke to them the truths of God which they hated. The fall which began in the Garden of Eden continued to plague mankind and crucified the Light of the world.

Will the love for darkness increase? Unlike evolution’s lie, that man evolved from apes, i.e. a process of improvement, man does not get better with time.  Conversely, man will only get worse. Every child that gets born is subject to the same original sin, with natural aversion to light.  As Christ taught in John 3, man would naturally hate God and reject everything about God – what God says is good and His goodness. Instead, man would naturally love darkness, evil, and everything that is against God. Dear reader, is this your heart today? Do you secretly love the things of darkness and you refuse to accept Christ as God and the only Saviour, and that God’s way is the only way? If so, don’t be foolish but instead, humbly submit to God today and believe Christ as the only way out of God’s judgement, which is real and certain. We may live today in what we think is a technologically advanced age of culture or the sciences, but the problem of the sinful human heart remains. As time approaches an end, things will not get better, because everyone is born with this inherited nature. Let Christians brace ourselves with this mind then, that with time, we will live in the years to come where

2Ti 3:13  . . . evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving,
and being deceived.

Yours in our Lord’s service,
Pastor