Love Waxes Cold: Prophetic Warning (Matt 24) :: By Dr. Donald Whitchard

Published on: by RR10 Category:General Articles

Matthew 24:12, 2 Timothy 3:2-5,1 John 3:17, Revelation 2:2, 2 Corinthians 5:10

Summary: The Bible says that in the last days, people’s love and concern for one another will “wax cold.” Self-centeredness, worldly pleasures, and apathy will increase. This problem is not just the world’s problem. It has become embedded in the church as well.

For the past several months, I have been submitting messages based on Matthew’s Gospel. After much prayer and thought, I have decided to bring these messages to a conclusion. Godly men such as the late John Walvoord, John MacArthur, James Boice, and others have written excellent messages and commentaries on Matthew that I highly recommend to any serious Bible-believing and Christ-loving believer. There are websites dedicated to God’s Holy Word as well, such as “Study Light,” that have many commentaries from a variety of scholars, pastors, and teachers who love the LORD and want to glorify Him by sharing what they have learned over the years with others.

What I want to do is “shift gears” and specifically concentrate on a passage from Matthew 24, where the Lord Jesus is talking with His disciples about the last days and what to expect as the days draw nearer to His return. This will be my final message on Matthew unless the LORD has other plans for me later.

One trait Jesus mentions about the last days is found in verse 12, where He says, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow (wax) cold” (NKJV).

The Bible says that love for others will decrease to the point where no one cares about anyone but themselves. In a time like ours, when it seems that everyone’s face is glued to their phones while the world around them sinks into tragedy and terror, this verse is more relevant than ever.

An online animated presentation illustrated this so clearly by showing how a suicide victim, instead of being helped, is instead the focus of attention for everyone’s cell phone as the victim falls to his death. Afterwards, the crowd shares their pictures as the victim is left on the ground, forgotten and relegated to an obscure name in a graveyard.

Loneliness is epidemic, yet no one bothers to take the steps to make a difference. We have become too self-absorbed in our own “problems” to concern ourselves with the needs of others. Indifference has turned into abject cruelty and selfishness.

I live in a senior adult community where I know that many of the residents are here because their families see them as a burden that the Oklahoma Baptists can handle better than they can. My wife and I spend a lot of time visiting with them, and for many, it is the only company they have. Families, for the most part, are aligned only by last names and bloodlines, not intimacy and love.

Another verse that shows the increase of lovelessness and disdain towards others is found in 2 Timothy 3:2-5:

“For men will be lovers of THEMSLEVES, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, slanderers without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, naughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power, and from such people turn away” (NKJV).

The apostle John writes, “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in Him?” (1 John 3:17, NKJV).

Look closer at these verses. While these characteristics are a part of the world’s depraved nature (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 1:28-32, 3:10-20), the problem is that this same curse of love “growing cold” has crept into the church.

I have heard it said that the church of the last days is good at two things: polishing their armor and shooting their wounded. As a former pastor who has seen the worst of “church folks” behavior, I concur. But is this something that the bride of Christ has to contend with now, or can we change course and return to the task to which He has called us?

I will grant that people have gotten meaner, more vicious, egotistical, wicked, stubborn, and fiercely resistant to the Gospel, but that is no excuse to just “throw in the towel” and mutter under our breaths, “Fine! Go to hell, then! See if I care!” Love for our brethren and for the lost has grown cold in our hearts. I must face this reality, and so must you.

Jesus’ prophecy about the coldness of our hearts is just as much an issue with which to deal as the certainty of His return and the Gospel message that we are obliged to share.

I want to present some ideas and concerns I have about “love growing cold”:

1) We have grown cold because we have forgotten about the love of Jesus Christ that bound Him to the cross to rescue us from our sins and the hell each of us rightly deserves.

2) We have grown cold because we have forgotten about the state of our own wretched souls before a Holy God and the fact that we were headed to hell like the very people whom we now scorn and ignore.

3) We have grown cold because we no longer really care about the fate of the wicked and the reality of eternity apart from the sovereign mercy and grace of God.

4) We have grown cold because we have forgotten about the joy we had when we saw someone for whom we prayed come to the Lord Jesus for salvation. We have forgotten about the joy of soul-winning.

5) We have grown cold because we have neglected our spiritual health and walk with the LORD. We no longer have the close relationship we had with Him, and no reason or excuse is valid or acceptable in His sight.

6) We have grown cold because we have our eyes more upon the temporary things of the world than on the permanency of heaven and eternal life.

7) We have grown cold because we have allowed the attitude of the wicked to deter us from what the eternal God has called us to do – tell the world about Jesus.

8) We have grown cold because we have allowed the devil and his lies to tell us that we make no difference in the world or in the lives of those around us.

9) We have grown cold because we have chosen to live like someone who wants it both ways – living in the world but still wanting to give God His due. We cannot have it both ways. Jesus demands our full attention, obedience, and love. Who gets your attention now?

10) We have grown cold because we have allowed past hurts and unforgiven issues to remain unsettled and left to fester in our souls, making us ineffective until we give it all to the LORD, forgive others, and move on with our lives. The past and its excuses should never hold us back from achieving the goals for which Christ has called us.

So, what do we do? The answer is to first examine ourselves to see whether we are truly in the faith as the Bible teaches. Are we true followers of Jesus, or just “church members” who show up every so often and make a pious appearance?

Read Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 14:25-33; Romans 3:10-20, 23, 5:6-11, 6:23, 10:9-10, 13; 1 Corinthians 6:20; 2 Corinthians 5:10, 17, and take an honest look at where you stand before the LORD.

We need to wake up and strengthen what remains (Revelation 3:2). We are to break up our hard (fallow) ground (Jeremiah 4:3; 1 John 2:1-2) and rededicate ourselves to the call and commission of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our love for one another and for the lost cannot afford to be quenched.

We need to remember that an eternity in hell is not worth any type of temporary animosity towards the lost (Matthew 25:41, 46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-31; Revelation 20:11-15). If I had no other message to present, I would be content. However, I am still breathing, still here, and so are you. We have a job to do.

Yes, people are going to get more nasty as the days grow closer to Jesus’ return. Do not let your heart retaliate by silence, indifference, or other excuses the devil would like to throw at us. In terms of eternity, let your heart be warmed and awakened by the power and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. I will see you at the throne.

donaldwhitchard@gmail.com

www.youtube.com/@drdonaldwhitchard

 

The First and Last Principle: Matt 19:30, 20:16 :: By Sean Gooding

Published on: by RR10 Category:General Articles, Sean Gooding

“But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

“So, the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”

Over the past few months, we have been exploring Jesus in the Old Testament, and we will get back to that in a bit. But for now, we will take a bit of a break and look at some other things.

Last Friday night, I had the chance to attend a ‘lock-in’ hosted by one of our sister churches in Michigan. As the kids played and hung out, I had the chance to chat with one of my dearest friends for hours. He is a pastor like me, and we often spend time chatting about things we are learning in the Bible as we study. He is also preaching about Jesus in the Old Testament in his church.

In the course of that, he observed this pattern, and we explored it for about an hour or so in our discussions. We are familiar with the verses quoted above; they remind us to be humble and to put ourselves last.

In one text about the man hiring workers in Matthew 20, the man hires workers at different times of the day and pays them the same at the end. The men who worked 12 hours got paid the same as those that worked one hour. The ones who worked longer were upset and complained. The man makes the statement that he had honored their agreement and that he had the right to pay people whatever he wanted.

There is a law to be learned here that those who served God all their lives and those who served God for a few minutes are all going to get the same reward. We are not rewarded on merit, BUT by the grace and goodness of God. This is the surface lesson to be learned here. But if you are a student of the scriptures, you will know that the ‘milk’ of the Word is just that and if we keep reading, looking, asking, studying and talking to each other, we will find that there are layers to the truths and the verses. This is one of the occasions.

God has a habit of choosing the second or the last over the first. The most obvious of that is with Adam. In 1 Corinthians 15:22, we are told this: in the first Adam, all men die, but in Christ, all men can be made alive. In 1 Corinthians 15:45-47, we see that the Last Adam was a life-giving spirit. So, the first Adam was not the one God sent to redeem us, but the second one, Jesus.

All the way through the Bible, this principle continues. In Genesis 25:23, we see this verse, “And the Lord said to her: ‘Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.’”

God chooses the second over the first. Later, we see in the New Testament in Romans 9:13 that God chose Jacob over Esau. As we move further into the scriptures, we find this second over the first in places that we did not even recognise.

In Exodus 1, we see the birth of Moses. We know that Moses becomes the man who leads Israel out of Egypt and to the edge of the Promised Land. But many of us may not put together that Aaron was actually born first. Thus, God chose the second over the first. In Exodus 7:7, we see that Aaron is 3 years older than Moses to lead Israel. This is not to diminish Aaron’s part, but Moses obviously was the leader, and the Torah is called the Book of Moses, not the Book of Aaron.

Back in Genesis 14, we meet a man named Melchezidek, who is the High Priest of Salem, and in Hebrews 7:3, we see that this Man has neither mother nor father, and He does not have a beginning nor an end of life. Jesus, we are told in Hebrews 6:20, is a High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Notice that Jesus is not a priest after the order of Levi under the family of Aaron, but rather the order of Melchizedek. Not the priesthood of Aaron; his could not offer eternal life, but the High Priest Melchizedek can (Hebrews 7:22-25); only the priesthood of Melchizedek can offer salvation to the ‘uttermost.’

We are told in Hebrews 7:11 that the priesthood of Aaron could not offer perfection; it could not offer eternal life. Back in Exodus 34:33, we see that Moses needed a veil to cover his face because his face shone every time he came down from meeting with God. The people asked him to wear a veil so that they would not see the shine on his face, but the shine faded.

In 2 Corinthians 3:13-16, we see that the veil was to cover that which was fading away; in contrast, Jesus removed the veil. So, the covenant that came with the first veil was passing away, but the covenant that came with the second veil is eternal. The law could not offer eternal life, but the cross can and does.

In Hebrews 12:18-29, we see a tale of two mounts; the Law was given on Mount Sinai, and Jesus died in Jerusalem on Mount Zion. God rejected the first; no flesh can be justified by the Law. Justification can only come from Jesus’ death on Mount Zion.

Even as we look at Jesus’ first miracle that is recorded in John 2:1-10, we see that the first wine offered during the wedding is inferior, and when Jesus sends His wine to be accepted, the governor of the feast is astonished because the last is better than the first.

God chose David, the second king, over Saul to bring the kingly line and promise. Elisha performed twice as many miracles as Elijah (2 Kings 2:9). Elisha had a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.

Israel was given Jerusalem, but we await a New Jerusalem, which is the second over the first. The Jews are currently blinded by the first covenant, but in Hebrews 10:16-17, God promises a new covenant with Israel where He will remember their sins no more.

We can go on and on; I hope that you will begin to look for this pattern as you read and study.

Finally, we see in Hebrews 9:11-12, not by the blood of goats and calves, BUT by His own blood. “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”

When we read in Exodus through Leviticus and all the way to even Jesus’ day, we see the blood of animals is shed for the temporary covering of sins; the High Priest had to enter the Holy Place yearly to offer a sacrifice, and daily that priests had to kill millions upon millions of animals as a picture of the blood that Jesus would shed one day. But here in Hebrews, we are told that with Jesus’ own blood, He died once for our eternal redemption.

I am so glad that I am under the second covenant, the one that Jesus paid for in His own blood. Nothing in my hands I bring; simply to the cross I cling. I pray the same for you.