"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." (Matthew 24:12). 

We are living in a wicked day where injustice "abounds" (it's everywhere) - a day when men and women are lovers of pleasures, more than lovers of God (2nd Timothy 3:4).  "Iniquity" means "the condition of without law."  For many years I had thought Matthew 24:12 was referring to sin in general.  Then one day I looked up the meaning of the word "iniquity" in Strong's Concordance and realized I had been mistaken.  The word "Iniquity" wasn't referring to sin, it was referring to those who GET AWAY WITH SIN.  In other words, injustice!  There is injustice everywhere these days.  A perfect example is Enron.  Nothing is more unjust than what Enron did to it's employees - cheated them out of their pensions and life savings.  What's worse, the government let them get away with it - every executive involved should have went to prison, but they didn't.  Perhaps it's because Enron Execs donated so much money to the political coffers of many Washington politicians.   Sure it was!   You see - Injustice!   Add to that the fact that Arthur Anderson, the accounting firm which was supposed to prevent corruption, aided the scandal by helping Enron doctor their books.  It's all very sickening.  Some victims lost over a million dollars which has been earned over a lifetime.  Crooks!  Liars!  Evil men!  Enron is just the very tip of the iceberg friend.  The unholy alliance between government and big business is really starting to stink to high heaven.  I could go on for hours about corruption in America, but that is not the purpose of this article.   White-collar crime is running rampant and will only get worse.    "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived" (2nd Timothy 3:13).   Evil people will get worse and worse, cheating and being cheated.  Don't expect much justice - with the kangaroo court system and puppet judges - there is little justice anymore.  But God will judge!

       Much of what we call "justice" nowadays is no justice at all.  If the scales of justice aren't balanced, there is no justice! (e.g., when the lawsuits were through, many states had made a killing (billions) sharing the filthy lucre made by the cigarette companies, but what did the VICTIMS get - cancer and death!).   Justice?  For who?  There is a growing spirit of apathy and indifference in America because of the abundance of corporate corruption and injustice.  As believers, we must be understanding as to why so many people are cold-hearted nowadays - because of injustice, corporate crime and government corruption!   It's NOT the sin that's upsetting people, it's the fact that so many criminals are getting away with it - LEGALLY!  People are totally disgusted and fed up with convicted criminal politicians who get sentenced to prison at the club fed.  They live like kings and queens while in prison at the taxpayer's expense - this is injustice.  We vote these politicians into office, into a position of power and much trust - they violate our trust, break the law and then try to cover it up with lies and more corruption - when they do get caught red-handed, they get minimal prison sentences at beautiful college-campus like facilities.  It's sickening to any decent citizen.  Corruption, corruption and still more corruption.  How about this one - a bunch of crooks rip off HUD for $59,000,000,000 (that's correct, fifty-nine billion) - The main guy at HUD is convicted and then President Clinton pardons him!!!  Talk about a cover-up!  Of course, the money was never found (taxpayer's money!).  Hell will be hot!

       I wrote this article to encourage those believers who are disgusted with the coldness of society and the meanness of many people nowadays.  God tells us why this is happening - because injustice abounds everywhere we look in the world.  Criminals have more rights than the victims!  I meet frustrated people every day who are very concerned about being cheated out of their social security, pensions, etc, etc.   I continually remind myself that we are living in a crazy, confused and corrupt world and very few people know the Lord Jesus Christ.  "And of some have compassion, making a difference" (Jude1:22).  Most people are woefully ignorant of the Bible.  It's important that we be patient with people because everyone's having a tough time nowadays.  So let that impatient car pass you on the roadway - don't honk your horn at others in anger - be patient with slow employees in the store - relax!  We're living in PERILOUS TIMES (2nd Timothy 3:1-7) and must be wiser than the rude, insulting, hot-headed, frustrated, angry and foolish people that so often cross our daily path.  They're not angry at just you, they're angry at everything and everyone.   With all the horrible things going on in the world today, I don't expect people to be happy.  An unsaved man once told me that he lived by the motto, "Be nice to everybody, trust no one!"  This is the way many people feel nowadays.  We must continually remind ourselves about Matthew 24:12.  Why are some people so cold and heartless? - Because of the overly abundant iniquity (injustice) in our society.  As Christians, we must be smarter than the average bear.  The devil is working round the clock to kill, steal and destroy.  We must be sober and vigilant as 1 Peter 5:8 warns.  The love of many people has grown ice-cold, we must be patient with them and not become cold ourselves. 

May God bless you,

David J. Stewart