“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” -Galatians 6:9.
Jesus told His disciples of conditions they'd see at the end of the world in Matthew 24, and in verses 12 &13 He said; “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
The Bible tells us here that “iniquity shall abound,” and it's hard to deny the evil we're seeing today which surrounds us on every side; there's so much violence, theft, and deception, that we tend to naturally distrust anyone we don't have long experience with; even to the point where we expect LIES from the leaders we elect, so how can we then trust those who elected them? The promotion of evil men & women into leadership only encourages those governed to take up wicked practices;
“The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.” -Psalm 12:8.
But these conditions present more than merely an external problem for Christians, because the exposure to them tends to corrupt us, even against our will, for the scripture says, “evil communica- tions corrupt good manners.” AND “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (see 1 Corinthians 5:6, 15:33).
The scriptures tell us of mankind's spiritual condition in several places, such as Romans 1:18-32, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, and 2 Timothy 3:1-5; I do pray that you'll study these for yourselves and receive discernment of their fulfillment today. For now, I'll go over these only briefly.
The passage from Romans notably refers to the rise of evolution theory, and several references to homosexuality, which is the base behavior for the LGBTQ movement. There are 3 times in this pass-age that we're told God “gives them up” to their vile affections, in verses 24, 26, & 28;
“26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; ” -v. 26-28.
The verse from 2 Thessalonians tell us that God will send strong DELUSION at this time be-cause there's been a rejection of truth, and the embracing of lies; if a man can actually think he's a woman, or a woman believe she's a man, I can think of no better example of replacing the truth with lies, or the strong delusion which promotes and maintains it! 2 Thessalonians 2:11 reads;
“And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:”
For the passage from 2 Timothy 3 opens by declaring that in the Last Days perilous (dangerous) times would come, telling us that “men shall be lovers of their own selves”, with the specific character-istics of this quality being listed in the next several verses, concluding with v.5 which says;
“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”
We should remember that religion will continue to flourish, but the spiritual fruit of these lives will prove it's only form of godliness which really denies Him, and we must turn away from such people.
“Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.” -2 Thessalonians 3:6.
And so our reaction to dealing with such great iniquity around us leads to our love waxing cold, losing sensitivity, and often what remains has an edge of selfish defensiveness, not the love of sacrifice which reaches out to the unsaved; it is really the true love of CHRIST, that's begun to wax cold.
This coldness generally shows itself in varying degrees within TWO main types of corruption we must strive to avoid; one shows itself as a strict stance against evil behavior, and avoiding it, yet in so doing compassion is lost for those trapped by it, who need to be saved; something that may have been the snare the church of Ephesus fell into when Jesus said they had “Lost their first Love.” See Revelation 2:1-4 for this.
The second type goes the opposite way of the first, and becomes overly permissive in their efforts to promote “God's love” to the world; a way which gives new converts a false sense of peace with God, and will even lead many true converts into falling away, a condition described near the end of 2 Peter chapter 2. It is most common to find some combination of these two corruptions, but I think the majority will fall toward greater permissiveness. Referring to the false teachers in 2 Peter we read;
“18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.” -2:18-20.
My brethren, the scripture calls on us to examine ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5A), to be sure we are in true Christian faith. Part of this means that we need to be watchful, lest the love of God in us should wax cold, and we become unfruitful; for we never intend to fall into this state. The winning strategy in this fight will be one of endurance (Matthew 24:13), strengthened by God's Word, and in the end it will mean eternal joy with our Savior.
In the words of the last blog written by the late David Wilkerson, I admonish you to, “Hold fast to your faith; hold fast to His Word; there is no other hope in this world.”
“2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” -2 Timothy 4:2-4.
Here is a link to a YouTube video Keeping Love Warm that I did on this subject, and also a video Short titled When Love Grows Cold.
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