“And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:11–14, ESV)
The scripture above from Matthew 24 describes what will happen in the end times. “False prophets will arise and lead many astray” (Matthew 24:11). This will cause godlessness to increase. People will no longer want to be holy. Instead, their “love will grow cold”, despite the proclamation of the gospel (Matthew 24:12-13). Not long after this, “the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). Jesus will return. People will be judged faithful or unfaithful. Heaven will be filled with the righteous. Hell will be filled with the unholy.
I find it interesting in the scripture for today that before the end times, the scripture predicts that the “love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). Even people who should know God will cease to be loving. They will be driven by hate, ideologies that are unholy, faithless self-indulgences, and self-interest. Before the end of times, God’s kind of love will be rare. The love of God will not rule in the hearts of all too many people.
Before Noah was asked by God to build the Ark, there also existed a time of lawlessness with the absence of love. In the “days of Noah”, people were described as “corrupt”, “wicked”, and “evil” (Genesis 6:5-12). Violence, not love, ruled over the earth (Genesis 6:11, 13). In response, God sent the floods over the earth to wipe out evil. In essence, when love left the hearts of faithful people, they became faithless, unholy, wicked, and corrupt. The only option left for God was to bring swift punishment and the end of their evil ways. Their end came with the waters of the flood. God’s kind of love (not worldly kinds of love) separates out the faithful from the faithless. It is a hallmark of God’s righteousness. Its absence breeds all kinds of evil…. even in churches.
You might think that churches could never be havens for evil. Untrue! You might think that love would reign supreme where God is worshipped. Not necessarily! It was the religious leaders that led the prophet Jeremiah to the stockade for preaching God’s truth. The religious elite of Jesus’ day led the charge to crucify our Savior. Sadly, people who are religious can even be manipulated by evil forces to perpetuate unloving and unholy ways!
“For more than a year a little old woman who lived on the wrong side of the tracks had been trying to join a fashionable downtown church. The preacher was not eager to have a seedy looking person in faded, out-of-style clothes sitting in a pew next to his rich members. When she called for the fifth time to discuss membership, he put her off for the fifth time. “I tell you what,” said he unctuously, “you just go home tonight and have a talk with God about it. Later you can tell me what He said.” The poor woman went on her way. Weeks moved into months, and the preacher saw no more of her, and his conscience did hurt a little. Then one day he encountered her scrubbing floors in an office building, and felt impelled to inquire, “Did you have your little talk with God, Mrs. Washington?” he asked. “Oh, my, yes,” she said, “I talked with God, as you said.” “Ah, and what answer did He give you? “Well, preacher,” she said, pushing back a wisp of stringy hair with a sudsy hand, “God said for me not to get discouraged, but to keep trying. He said that He himself had been trying to get into your church for 20 years, with no more success than I have had.” (pp. 161-162, The Best Sermon Illustrations)
Churches should be havens for God’s kind of love. Sometimes, they fail miserably to be examples of holy love. Preachers in unholy churches will even preach and teach of Christian love. However, they often replace God’s kind of love with various worldly kinds of love. These unholy places even promote worldly kinds of love as examples of God’s love, when it is not. The world does not know God’s kind of love. 1 John 2:15 even carries this warning: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” Worldly kinds of love can never replace God’s kind of love.
One example of Godly love is the desire to bring people into God’s fold. The scripture for today even urges us to keep preaching in this world, even if the people of the world lack Godly love (Matthew 24:14). Out of love, God hopes to save every soul possible (John 3:16!). God’s love exists to drive out evil and bring hope to the hopeless. Sadly, when the love of God grows cold, often churches display this lack of love. How? They do not strive to bring the gospel into the hearts of the lost and save the souls of those who are perishing (2 Corinthians 2:15)!
“An elderly woman was being conducted through a great cathedral in Europe. The guide spoke of its beauty of design, calling attention to the statues and paintings. The woman was unimpressed. At the conclusion of the tour she asked the guide, “How many souls have been saved here this year? How many people have drawn near to God here?”
“My dear lady,” said the embarrassed guide, “this is a cathedral, not a chapel.”
That’s the trouble. Unfortunately, we have too many cathedrals and too few chapels where the warmth of the Spirit of God is felt, conducive to a spiritual life that enhances our knowledge of God.(p. 167, The Best Sermon Illustrations)
And thus, God’s love goes missing….
How can you bring God’s love to your world? Has your church lost its desire to be a haven for the love of God? How might you bring God’s love and light into the lives of others? Who might benefit from the love of God today?
I find it interesting in the scripture for today that before the end times, the scripture predicts that the “love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). Even people who should know God will cease to be loving. They will be driven by hate, ideologies that are unholy, faithless self-indulgences, and self-interest. Before the end of times, God’s kind of love will be rare. The love of God will not rule in the hearts of all too many people.
Before Noah was asked by God to build the Ark, there also existed a time of lawlessness with the absence of love. In the “days of Noah”, people were described as “corrupt”, “wicked”, and “evil” (Genesis 6:5-12). Violence, not love, ruled over the earth (Genesis 6:11, 13). In response, God sent the floods over the earth to wipe out evil. In essence, when love left the hearts of faithful people, they became faithless, unholy, wicked, and corrupt. The only option left for God was to bring swift punishment and the end of their evil ways. Their end came with the waters of the flood. God’s kind of love (not worldly kinds of love) separates out the faithful from the faithless. It is a hallmark of God’s righteousness. Its absence breeds all kinds of evil…. even in churches.
You might think that churches could never be havens for evil. Untrue! You might think that love would reign supreme where God is worshipped. Not necessarily! It was the religious leaders that led the prophet Jeremiah to the stockade for preaching God’s truth. The religious elite of Jesus’ day led the charge to crucify our Savior. Sadly, people who are religious can even be manipulated by evil forces to perpetuate unloving and unholy ways!
“For more than a year a little old woman who lived on the wrong side of the tracks had been trying to join a fashionable downtown church. The preacher was not eager to have a seedy looking person in faded, out-of-style clothes sitting in a pew next to his rich members. When she called for the fifth time to discuss membership, he put her off for the fifth time. “I tell you what,” said he unctuously, “you just go home tonight and have a talk with God about it. Later you can tell me what He said.” The poor woman went on her way. Weeks moved into months, and the preacher saw no more of her, and his conscience did hurt a little. Then one day he encountered her scrubbing floors in an office building, and felt impelled to inquire, “Did you have your little talk with God, Mrs. Washington?” he asked. “Oh, my, yes,” she said, “I talked with God, as you said.” “Ah, and what answer did He give you? “Well, preacher,” she said, pushing back a wisp of stringy hair with a sudsy hand, “God said for me not to get discouraged, but to keep trying. He said that He himself had been trying to get into your church for 20 years, with no more success than I have had.” (pp. 161-162, The Best Sermon Illustrations)
Churches should be havens for God’s kind of love. Sometimes, they fail miserably to be examples of holy love. Preachers in unholy churches will even preach and teach of Christian love. However, they often replace God’s kind of love with various worldly kinds of love. These unholy places even promote worldly kinds of love as examples of God’s love, when it is not. The world does not know God’s kind of love. 1 John 2:15 even carries this warning: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” Worldly kinds of love can never replace God’s kind of love.
One example of Godly love is the desire to bring people into God’s fold. The scripture for today even urges us to keep preaching in this world, even if the people of the world lack Godly love (Matthew 24:14). Out of love, God hopes to save every soul possible (John 3:16!). God’s love exists to drive out evil and bring hope to the hopeless. Sadly, when the love of God grows cold, often churches display this lack of love. How? They do not strive to bring the gospel into the hearts of the lost and save the souls of those who are perishing (2 Corinthians 2:15)!
“An elderly woman was being conducted through a great cathedral in Europe. The guide spoke of its beauty of design, calling attention to the statues and paintings. The woman was unimpressed. At the conclusion of the tour she asked the guide, “How many souls have been saved here this year? How many people have drawn near to God here?”
“My dear lady,” said the embarrassed guide, “this is a cathedral, not a chapel.”
That’s the trouble. Unfortunately, we have too many cathedrals and too few chapels where the warmth of the Spirit of God is felt, conducive to a spiritual life that enhances our knowledge of God.(p. 167, The Best Sermon Illustrations)
And thus, God’s love goes missing….
How can you bring God’s love to your world? Has your church lost its desire to be a haven for the love of God? How might you bring God’s love and light into the lives of others? Who might benefit from the love of God today?