For example, in Matthew 24:3, Jesus was asked;
“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?”
Jesus’s answer includes many things, but I want to look at verses 10-12;
“… many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,”
This passage tells us that wickedness will increase, and because of the increase of wickedness, many will turn away from the faith and even betray each other. And the reason that wickedness will increase is because people will be rejecting the truth that we live in a world in which right/wrong exist and have undeniable consequences.
Wickedness suppresses the truth. (Romans 1:18). The truth is that God is Holy and we are not. We are in a desperate situation in which we deserve death. (“the wages of sin is death”- Romans 6:23)
But because the world loves its sin more than they love God and his righteousness, they willingly deceive themselves and suppress the truth. (John 3:19)
- We tell ourselves that we can live however we want, knowing that it is a lie.
- We tell ourselves that we can kill our unborn children without consequences, knowing that it is a lie.
- We tell ourselves that we can redefine marriage without consequences, knowing that it is a lie.
- We tell ourselves that we can envy our neighbors without consequences, knowing that it is a lie.
- We tell ourselves that we can spend money that we don’t have without consequences, knowing that it is a lie.
The truth is being suppressed. We deny the consequences of our actions, as this generation clings to the motto; “We can live however we want”
Even the atheists cannot stop what they helped to start. The atheist movement used their intellect to convince the world that we don’t need God, but they were not able to convince anyone that we can create our own rules in which we should live by. No, this generation has rejected God, his rules and anyone else's rules.
The atheists want to replace God’s rules with a new set of man-made rules. They want to use reasoning to come up with a new set of restrains by which men should live by, but the world will have no part in it. The next-gen cannot be reasoned with. They reject all forms of reasoning. They are completely suppressing the truth and fully embracing the lie that we can live however we want – without restrains or limitations.
The next-gen are saying in their hearts that if God does not exist, than it does not matter how we live and therefore there are no consequences.
The only source of direction they take is from their personal feelings and desires, which is the most dangerous source to take advice from as all the evidence in the world reveals that man is inherently wicked. An unrestrained life always ends in destruction.
Following our gut instincts and natural desires without any reference to what is right/wrong while rejecting reasoning because it points out that God's Words are indeed true, is more than foolish.
The next generation is headed for a big surprise, as the coming darkness surpasses the present darkness. And it is for this reason, because they have rejected the truth that the Lord has made so plan that He gives them over to their own desires. They cannot blame God for the destruction that is coming, they are without excuse.
“28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind”- Romans 1:28
This is the progression of wickedness. It goes from bad to worse as Paul tells us in the last days.
“1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. … 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. “ – 2 Timothy 3:1-13
This would all be very scary if I didn't know that God is good and a stronghold in the days of trouble.
The only way to reverse the progression of wickedness in the world is to convince people that it is “worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God” – Romans 1:28
But the knowledge of God is not free or easy to get. You have to want it bad enough to seek it out, to study the scriptures and find people that have it. It takes hard work to gain the knowledge of the Lord, but their is nothing more valuable to gain.