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

A retired school teacher was walking home after taking her car to have it serviced at a local service station. A young man on a bicycle rode up behind her and snatched her pocket book and raced off. A young man of twenty two was going to the mall to purchase a gift for his girlfriend and suddenly two young men approached him without warning beat him severally, and stole his money. A police officer spotted a man who was wanted and started to arrest him and was fatally shot. And more recently one of the most horrific, if not the worst, that most of us have ever heard of, 20 innocent children ages 5 and 6 years old, and 7 adults were slaughtered by a machine gun at the hands of a wicked, evil young man.

These scenes are being replayed over and over in our society now. Evil men taking advantage of someone else whenever and wherever they can. What is going on in our informed and educated society? Too many have no respect for their fellow man. Greed, selfishness, evil and wicked people prey upon the helpless to satisfy their own lust.

Satan’s Tools: The word wicked is in our King James Bible 325 times, the word wickedness 119 times and the word evil is found 569 times. The two words go together and they are the works of Satan who is known as the wicked one. By the way, the wicked one is mentioned six times in the New Testament.

Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. 1 John 3:12

It appears that people do not stop and think about how Satan uses them when they commit crimes of any nature. They become his tool to hurt and destroy others and their property. Satan himself is not allowed to personally attack or steal from someone, but he uses other people to do his dirty work. It seems to me, however, that wicked people are not concerned with who, or what they serve. Many seem to focus only on their own present self-interest, never believing they will ever have to answer for their crimes of the here and now. BUT! The scriptures show us the true picture;

Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it. Psalm 10:13

Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, “He won’t hold me to account?” But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; Psalm 10:13 NIV

How can someone think they can continue to escape the judgment awaiting them. Is man this ignorant or dumb? I suppose he is just that deceived by the wicked one. Actually, even Christian people are involved in things that they will not get by with and some fail to be involved in the things they should be involved with. But if we were wise at all, we would think twice about how we are living. Folks, there really is going to be a judgment day when we all will stand individually before our Creator and give an account of how we lived our lives in this world.

For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Romans 14:11-12

The Psalmist gives us the answer as to why the wicked do not turn from their evil ways;

The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. Psalm 10:4

A mind under the influence and control of Satan is a slave to him to do his bidding. And that person is unaware that they are being deceived out of their very soul for eternity.

Wickedness Will Increase: Since the days of Cain, people have preyed upon people. It is the result of man’s sinful heart. This is what sin does and is doing all around us. According to the Bible evil men will continue to increase along with their wicked plots. As people become more educated it does not reduce wickedness, but it increases their abilities to make sin even more vile and gross. What horrible crimes we hear about in our daily lives, but as each day goes by we hear of others even worse. Education will not fix this problem, and it will not fix the human heart. Rehabilitation will not take care of the sin problem either. The only remedy is the spiritual remedy and that calls for a new birth. Jesus said it best;

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. John 3:5-7

Do my readers today know what I am talking about? Have you been born again and received a new heart? Do you know for sure? Only people that are born again ones will be in heaven according to our Savior. And, even though law enforcement may improve, wickedness will still continue to increase. People out of work, low paying jobs, evil habits (drugs, alcohol, pornography etc...) hate and biases will continue to keep the crime rate rising. There is also something else that will add to an increased crime rate. The fact that many of those taken to court are released with little or no punishment. Penalties and sentences are too light. Shrewd lawyers and judges get reduced sentences or small fines for their clients and then the lawbreakers are back on the street again to continue their lawless ways against the public. Also, if you think the number of people in prisons, or out on probation is terrible, think about this for a moment, and this is what is scary; all those that need to be behind bars somewhere. There are some out of prison now who are just as wicked as those in prison. Some may never be imprisoned in this life; but one day they will be incarcerated in the depths of the fire of hell. AND THIS DESTINATION IS FOREVER!

In our country we have; “according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics 2,266,800 adults were incarcerated in U.S. federal and state prisons, and county jails at year-end 2010 – about 0.7% of adults in the U.S. resident population. Additionally, 4,933,667 adults at year-end 2009 were on probation or on parole. In total, 7,225,800 adults were under correctional supervision (probation, parole, jail, or prison) in 2009 – about 3.1% of adults in the U.S. resident population. In addition, there were 70,792 juveniles in juvenile detention in 2010.” Copied

Now what makes this more grievous is to think of all God’s ministers preaching on radio, television, churches, papers, and internet sharing God’s word. Folks, the gospel does change lives when given the chance! Multitudes of peoples have had their lives dramatically changed because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16

The life transforming Word of God is available to all who would only avail themselves of it. This in turn would give them a better life and promise of heaven one day.

Fate of the Wicked: The Bible is very clear on this matter concerning the wicked. And according to God’s word the wicked, in His sight, are all who are unsaved. They are wicked because they have rejected the Son of God. That is the only unforgivable sin. It is the only sin that will cause a person to miss heaven. Jesus has paid for all of our sins. But, to experience that forgiveness we must repent of our sins and ask him to be our Savior. Our forgiveness is based only on him paying our sin debt.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ... He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. John 3:17-18, 36

So in the here and now, some of the unsaved who society calls wicked will go about scheming, robbing, and abusing other peoples of the population. Their hope is that they won’t get caught, but if they do, some tax payer’s lawyer will help get them a light sentence for their crime. Then many of them that are imprisoned will make the claim they were not guilty of their crimes. By the way, that is just like the wicked, they take no responsibility. But God’s word says this about the wicked;

When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth. Proverbs 11:7

The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. Psalm 9:17

DO YOU KNOW THE ATTITUDE OF GOD

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4

How Does God See You: God knows all of our hearts, my friend. If we are honest we would agree with the following sripture;

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9

In some countries there are people who are being taught to hate people who do not believe like they do. This is their religious belief. It is bad enough that people are evil and wicked because of their sin, but to be taught to be evil and wicked is even more alarming to us. So as we head toward the end of this age, (the church age) we will continue to see more and more lawlessness. The liberal policies of the government and the liberal mind set of the public along with the un-churched peoples of the world will contribute to more and more lawlessness in our own society.

"Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy." "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. Revelation 22:11-12 NAS

My friends, I suggest you make sure you have repented and trusted Jesus as your own personal Savior. Again, in the sight of God all who have rejected his son are wicked.

For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. John 5:22-24

Father, thank you for saving vile, sinful people and making us your children. Our prayer today is that many in our society who do not know you will repent of their sins, and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Preacher