Watch! For The Love of
Many Shall Wax Cold
Kato Mivule
June 3rd
2007
Matthew 24:11-13
(11)
And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
(12)
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.
Watch and be not taken by the
love of this world…
As we approach the
Tribulation Period, many Christians are being led astray by
focusing on the perishable things of this world and as such they
are chocking their love for Christ Jesus. We sadly have many
Christians setting their affections not on Christ Jesus but the
material things of this world.
Jesus Christ gave
us a very clear warning that in the last days, the love of many
would grow cold. This warning is very imperative that we all
watch and take heed that we don’t become part of those who
fulfill this scripture. Regardless of who you are spiritually,
the Devil is all out attacking Christians, right at the cravings
of their hearts.
The Devil is
simply giving Christians a fake love, a love for this world and
as such killing the love of Christ in the believers. We are to
take heed because those who loose their love for Christ and
those whose love for Christ grows cold in these last days are
not destined for good but have their reward with Satan in Hell.
So, in this
article we take a look at how one comes to loose their Love for
Christ or how their love for Christ grows cold. Also, what type
of love does the Bible speak about, is it Man’s love or Christ’s
Love? The Bible is very clear and shows this to us.
We are therefore
to be aware of the traps that Satan would set in order to cause
us to loose our love for Jesus Christ.
The Rise of
False Prophets…
Matthew 24:11-13
(11)
And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
(12)
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.
-
We see that
there was a rise of False Prophets…
-
They shall
deceive many…
-
Iniquity shall
abound…
-
…As a result
the love of many shall wax cold…
The rise of false
teachers and prophets has been and is a catalyst to the coldness
among many Christians today. Simply feeding at the feet of false
teachers will certainly bring about coldness to the love of
Christ Jesus in many Christians.
So, this is a
warning that we awake and use scripture to discern what is right
from what is wrong so that our faith and spiritual eyes will
stay focused on Jesus Christ and not man. Those who continue to
feed at the feet of false teachers and prophets risk having
their love for Christ grow cold.
The Bible clearly
speaks of a time when the love of many will grow cold. This
coldness is in context with the rise of false prophets who come
to deceive many. Always deception will be accompanied by a
coldness and lukewarmness of a Christian. Truth in Christ Jesus
will always set us free from satanic bondage and set us on fire
for God.
So, it is
imperative that Christians today take discernment based on God’s
Word very seriously as not doing so will certainly cause one to
feed on leavened bread and adulterated word which in turn will
cause you to set your spiritual affection after things of this
world – idols of this day and age.
Deception in
the last days…
Deception will not
come upfront as ‘deception’ but rather a cover-up. Many times
deception comes with half truth and half lies. The devil will
use the half truth as a packaging mechanism to sell his lies to
the church. However, we are to reject all false doctrines and
expose them as false, having nothing to do with them.
The deception in
this day and age is to sell sin, lies, and evil as being ‘okay’
and normal, not just in the world but in the Church too.
Remember, it takes little poison in food or a drink to kill you,
having a preacher teach 70 per cent truth and 30 percent lies
will kill you spiritually. The 30 per cent poison is enough to
put you to sleep as they say…in other words to kill you…
Iniquity shall
abound…
The Bible
identifies the period of time in which iniquity shall abound
thus the love of many growing cold. We live in a time when evil
abounds… The Lord Jesus Christ was referring to the end time
saints and giving us a warning that when we see the rise of
false prophets and the abounding of iniquity, then we are to
take heed that we don’t get caught up in false doctrines from
false prophets and thus participation in the abounding iniquity,
leading to a coldness of heart and lack of love for Christ but
instead an increase in the love of the world.
If You Love Me,
Keep My Commandments…
However, knowing
Truth alone is not enough, we must act on that Truth we know; we
must be doers of God’s Holy Word.
John 14:15-18
(15)
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
(16)
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another
Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
(17)
Even
the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it
seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
(18)
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
The Lord Jesus
Christ says that if we love Him we should keep His commandments.
So, it is very important to know that loving Jesus Christ in
Truth involves us keeping His commandments. It is in this
context that The Lord says that “and I will pray to the Father
and He shall give you another Comforter that He may abide with
you forever…”
The Lord will pray
to the Father that we get the comfort of the Holy Spirit but in
context of keeping His Word and that means keeping His Doctrine.
The Love of many is growing cold today simply because they keep
not the Commandments of The Lord. They abide not in the Doctrine
of Jesus Christ. Therefore they abide in the false doctrines of
false prophets and false teachers filled with the love of this
world.
Loving Jesus
Christ means obeying Him…
John 14:21-24
(21)
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that
loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father,
and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
(22)
Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou
wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
(23)
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep
my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto
him, and make our abode with him.
(24)
He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which
ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
Brethren, The Lord
Jesus Christ is very clear that if we truly love Him, then we
shall keep His sayings, we shall keep His Word, and we shall
keep His commandments. You cannot separate your love for Christ
from obeying and Keeping His commandments.
Don’t be deceived
by Christians who claim that they Love The Lord yet don’t keep
His sayings… Brethren, such Christians don’t love The Lord
enough to keep His sayings. They simply like The Lord but Don’t
Love Him! As a matter of fact The Lord Jesus Christ says that
those who keep not His Commandments are NOT His! Brethren, if we
truly belong to The Lord Jesus Christ, then lets keep His
sayings and Doctrine.
I have of recent
been visiting some Pastors and Churches here in Uganda and found
out that most Christians are not up to keeping The Lord’s
Commands. They pick and choose what they want to believe in and
reject all sayings of Jesus Christ that call to carry our cross
and follow Him. Many Christians simply want messages that will
have them get material prosperity in the world. Brethren, this
is clear deception and one which is currently causing the love
of many to wax cold.
The Rich Young
Ruler and His love for the world…
Luke 18:18-25
(18)
And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I
do to inherit eternal life?
(19)
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none
is
good, save one,
that is,
God.
(20)
Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not
kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father
and thy mother.
(21)
And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
(22)
Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest
thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the
poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow
me.
(23)
And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very
rich.
(24)
And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How
hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of
God!
(25)
For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than
for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
From the above
scripture we see that this Young Rich Ruler loved his riches
more than he loved The Lord. Though he obeyed some of The
Lord’s Commandments, he became very sorrowful when it came to
forsaking the love of this world and love for riches in this
world. Many Christians today are likened to the Young Rich
Ruler who loved his wealth more than The Lord.
Love for the world
and the things of the world are the greatest cause of love
growing cold among Christians today. Many false Church
doctrines are engineered toward making Christians conform to
this world and love the things of this world.
The Prosperity
Doctrine, Dominionism Doctrine, Doctrine of Balaam, Jezebel
Doctrine, are set up to conform Christians to the Love of this
world. As Christians living in these last days, we must watch
out for this. If your love for Christ is growing cold, then
certainly there must be an increase for the love of the things
in this world and disobeying The Lord’s Commands.
The Greatest
Commandment…
Matthew 22:35-40
(35)
Then one of them,
which was
a lawyer, asked
him a question,
tempting him, and saying,
(36)
Master, which
is
the great commandment in the law?
(37)
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
(38)
This is the first and great commandment.
(39)
And the second
is
like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
(40)
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
The Greatest
commandment that Jesus Christ spoke about in this verse above
talks about our Total Love for Jesus Christ and then love for
our neighbor. It is interesting to note that we don’t love our
neighbor with our own fleshy love that is so limited and
selfish.
However, when we
love The Lord with all our total love then being filled with The
Love of Christ we can truly love our neighbor. The Love spoken
about here involves our obedience to Christ and our keeping of
His Commandments, for those who love Jesus Christ keep His
sayings and obey His commandments.
This is the Love
that the Devil hates and wants to destroy in our lives by
enticing us with the Love of this world. Brethren, we are to
watch against this and make sure that we are not being enticed
from obeying The Lord’s Commands.
You Abide in
His Love If You Keep His Commands…
John 15:9-10
(9)
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in
my love.
(10)
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I
have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
Jesus Christ is clearer here when
He says that if we keep His commandments, we abide in His love.
Brethren, don’t believe in those who lie and deceive that Once
Saved You are Always Saved regardless of how you live. If you
really love Jesus Christ then you are going to keep His sayings
and obey His commandments.
Many today are ashamed of the
Words of Jesus Christ, they are ashamed of the cross, they are
ashamed of words of Christ that call for death to self and
enduring shame and suffering for His Name.
I know Pastors and Church leaders
who don’t want to hear anything message they deem ‘negative’…
They don’t want to hear any message that speaks about suffering
for Christ…all they want is messages that speak about getting
rich, church growth and having dominion over this world.
Brethren, this we are to watch
out for, the devil will use the love of this world and the
things of this world to kill the love and obedience for Christ
in the undiscerning believer.
Be Grounded in
The Love Of Christ Jesus, in His Doctrine…
Ephesians 3:17-19
(17)
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being
rooted and grounded in love,
(18)
May be able to comprehend with all saints what
is
the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
(19)
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye
might be filled with all the fulness of God.
We are to be grounded in The Love
of Christ, with Christ dwelling in our hearts fully, that we may
be filled with all the fullness of God. The love of Jesus
Christ involves our keeping of His sayings, sayings being His
teachings and Doctrine, and also obeying His sayings and
Teachings. This love of Christ that fills our hearts then
overflows in obedience to Christ to love our neighbors as we do
ourselves…
2 Timothy 1:13
(13)
Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me,
in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
We are to hold fast to the sound
words of our Lord Jesus Christ, the sound Doctrine of Jesus
Christ, this is what will keep our hearts from growing cold.
Love towards
Jesus Christ and All Saints…
Philemon 1:5
(5)
Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord
Jesus, and toward all saints;
We see here again a similar
pattern in which Paul speaks about the love and faith first
towards our Lord Jesus Christ and to all saints, or for that
matter to our neighbor. So, the more we relate deeper to Jesus
Christ and get grounded in Him, in His word, then certainly we
shall love the brethren and our neighbor…
This love for Jesus Christ
involves fully obeying His commandments, and this is what will
keep us from growing cold.
On a side note, some Christians
claim that they are on fire for God because they shout and
scream a lot in prayer meetings and when preaching. Yes, one
could be totally charismatic in their preaching but their love
for Christ Jesus is all dead cold.
Simply being a ‘preaching
machine’ or an eloquent preacher does not mean one is on fire
for God. For most part, it is the opposite; such folks tend to
be cold hearted towards the commandments of Jesus Christ and
love for the saints, only seeking accolades and vain glories
from man.
Love for the world is enmity with
God…
James 4:4-6
(4)
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship
of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a
friend of the world is the enemy of God.
(5)
Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that
dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
(6)
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the
proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
James warns us against love for
the world. This is total enmity with God. So, if one does not
love Christ Jesus, then they certainly are in love with the
world and the things of this world. The devil will try as much
as possible to entice undiscerning Christians into this kind of
love…the love for the world, which is friendship with the world.
Brethren, this is what we are to
watch out for, in our jobs, homes, children, friends, etc there
is always a pull towards loving the world and being a friend of
the world, so we don’t offend them. Brethren, flee from such
worldly love, this type of love is worldly and deadly, only
causing you to grow cold hearted towards The Lord.
God’s Love in us perfected when we keep His
Commands…
1 John 2:3-6
(3)
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his
commandments.
(4)
He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is
a liar, and the truth is not in him.
(5)
But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God
perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
(6)
He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk,
even as he walked.
We are warned and exhorted again
that if we say that we know Jesus Christ and don’t keep His
commandments, then we are liars and truth is not in us. However,
if we keep His word then is the Love of God perfected in us…
Brethren, if you have read this
article this far, you are sure now that our love for Christ
Jesus requires us to obey His commandments and also keep His
sayings…and this is what will keep us unstained from the world
and on fire for Jesus Christ.
Love not the world, neither the
things of the world…
1 John 2:15-17
(15)
Love not the world, neither the things
that are
in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father
is not in him.
(16)
For all that
is
in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
world.
(17)
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that
doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
We are not to love the world,
neither the things in the world, the lust of the eyes, lust of
the flesh and pride of life are not of the Father. Such love is
sensual and leads to hell. Such worldly love is what has
captured the hearts of many Christians today making their love
for Christ grow cold and finally leading to apostasy.
We are to watch against this
worldly love daily and examine ourselves daily according to
God’s word to see if we are still in the faith…the True Love of
Christ.
The Holy Spirit Abides with those
Who Keep His Commands…
1 John 3:23-24
(23)
And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name
of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us
commandment.
(24)
And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in
him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit
which he hath given us.
When we keep His
commands and doctrines, no matter how hard they seem to be or
sound, then we dwell in Him and as such know that His Spirit
abides in us. I have heard of preachers claiming that they live
in a “Holy Spirit Generation” but they are very disobedient to
the commands of The Lord. They forget that The Holy Spirit is
The Spirit of Truth and will abide with those who obey and keep
the commandments of Jesus Christ.
This is love
that we walk after His commandments…
2 John 1:3-6
(3)
Grace be with you, mercy,
and
peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of the Father, in truth and love.
(4)
I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in
truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.
(5)
And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new
commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning,
that we love one another.
(6)
And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is
the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye
should walk in it.
It pleases The
Lord that we walk in Truth and Love, certainly John is speaking
about The Love of Christ here that leads us in obedience to His
commands and keeping His sayings or doctrines. This is love
that we walk after His commandments. The love of the world will
always lead us to walk against the commands of Jesus Christ…as
such causing our love of Jesus Christ to grow cold…
Many Deceivers
have entered the world, they love not Christ…
2 John 1:7-11
(7)
For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and
an antichrist.
(8)
Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have
wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
(9)
Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of
Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ,
he hath both the Father and the Son.
(10)
If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive
him not into
your
house, neither bid him God speed:
(11)
For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
John finally warns the saints
that deceivers have already entered this world and confess not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh…they reject the authority
of Jesus Christ in the life of the believer today.
They reject the notion that
Christ Jesus abides in us if we abide in Him and obey His
commandments. These lairs abide not in the doctrine of Christ
and therefore they have not the Love of Christ in them because
Christ abides not in them… Their hearts have grown cold towards
The Lord and are filled with love of this world.
We are to stay away from such.
Many Pastors and Christians today abide not in the Doctrine of
Christ and as such have become enemies of Christ Jesus.
Brethren, we ought not to walk along their path that leads to
destruction…
Thou Has Left
thy First Love…Repent!!!
Revelation 2:4-5
(4)
Nevertheless I have
somewhat
against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
(5)
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and
do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and
will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou
repent.
Finally Brethren,
many claim to be part of the Remnant Church and movement, they
properly discern false brethren, and false prophets, yet, they
have lost their first love for Christ Jesus. Brethren, we are to
examine ourselves daily with God’s Holy Word to see if we still
stand in the faith.
Many claim to be
true Christians but are slowly loosing their first love for
Jesus Christ. The world is slowly eating at their souls. They
are being taken by the love of the world, lust of the eyes, lust
of the flesh and pride of life. Brethren, this is what is
causing many to have their love grow cold.
The Church at
Ephesus was had lost their first love yet continued to do the
works of The Lord, they continued in discernment and other good
ministry deeds yet they were getting cold hearted.
How can it be that
one serves The Lord yet they are cold hearted? Yes, brethren, it
can happen, that is why many will come to The Lord and say, Lord
we cast out devils in your name, we did miracles in your name,
yet The Lord will tell them to get out of His presence and that
He never knew them because they were workers of iniquity.
Brethren, this
sounds harsh and terrifying and yes, it should. We are to
workout our salvation with both fear and trembling before The
Lord. So, simply calling your self a remnant Christian and with
a good discernment ministry will not be of help eternally to you
if you loose your first love and cease obeying the commandments
of The Lord and keeping His Doctrine and sayings. Brethren, lets
watch that we loose not our first love for Jesus Christ.
In Christ Jesus
Kato Mivule
Uganda, Africa
|
|
