LOVE GROWN COLD

I just want to touch on one point that Jesus made about the end of the age. This is in Matthew 24:12, “And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall grow cold.” A parallel to this is Paul’s statement in 11 Timothy 4:3, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.” Jesus said that “iniquity would abound.” This is not hard to see today. I think it is so obvious that I need to say little about it. Things are happening today that were not even mentioned in the past. It is because of this that the “love of many grows cold.”

One of the complaints I hear from those who lead Bible studies is that it is difficult to find men who have the desire to study and obey the Bible. The very word “commandment” has almost become a negative idea. But Jesus Himself said, “Not every one that saith, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of My Father, Who is in heaven.” One of the causes of this is the emphasis on “rights” but at the same time there is no clear understanding of right and wrong. The result of all this is that as sinfulness is becoming more acceptable the love for God and His laws is fading away.

Here is a quote from Thomas Vincent who lived in the seventeenth century: It is the folly of our day that we think we can have none of His Kingship in this life, yet have some claim to part of His Kingdom in the next. But for those who reject the rule of the Lord Jesus now, there is only the fearful expectation of the fury of the wrath of God, the Judge of heaven and earth.

Finally, we must remember that the entire purpose of the Scriptures is that God wants to save us from our sins. I think the key passage in the Old Testament is Exodus 25:17-22 where we are told that God will meet His people at the Mercy Seat.

A passage that stands out in the New Testament is in John 5. In verse 18 we read: “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him.” In the verses that follow He seems to be very severe, even to the point of warning them that “they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” But in verse 34 Jesus tells the Jews His purpose when he says “but these things I say that ye might be saved.” And this was to men who were out to kill Him. So, too, Jesus prophesies about the unpleasant things that will happen in the end times, but His purpose is to keep us from being drawn into the deception and the consequences. Remember, men do not hate and fear God because they are good and God is evil but because men are evil and God is good. I think it was Finney who first pointed that out.