"Real Wickedness"

 "If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father." (John 15:24 KJV)

  "Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do the things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabber's, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God's justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too." (Romans 1:28-32 NLT)

 Nothing could make more sense right now, then what we are witnessing today. To break down what Jesus is telling His disciples, there are three basic principles of real wickedness being explained here. The first of which, is that they saw the true evidence, yet refused to accept it was true. Secondly, they knew in their hearts that they were not doing right, yet they continued to do that which was wrong. And thirdly, they became obsessed with what they were doing, hating the One that is going to judge them for their sin. 

 As much as it looks very familiar to some of what might be happening now, there are deeper, darker forces working throughout almost every form of government and commerce. This is surely the last days, but there are many who believe, that refuse to believe it. I don't think it is necessarily because they just can't see it, but their vision is blocked off by their cares for this world. 

 In the case of the Jewish leaders that Jesus is referring to, they knew the prophecies and the Scriptures, so they really should have been able to connect the dots; but they had their own power and authority, within standing and practice, preventing them from seeing the truth. Even when they did see glimpses of what was true, they refuted it, making a stronger case towards the opposite. 

 In the case of what might be happening now, it is the same! The refute that which is true, anyone that refuses to accept the lie, is the culprit, and is going to suffer for opposing the lie...

""Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings. O Israel, if you would only listen to me! You must never have a foreign god; you must not bow down before a false god. For it was I, the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things. But no, my people wouldn't listen. Israel did not want be around. So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas."" (Psalm 81:8-12 NLT)