The love of many will grow cold

We’ve seen lawlessness increase exponentially in the world lately. Because of this, the love of many people has already grown very cold. We shouldn’t be surprised by this, because Jesus said that in the last days “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (Matthew 24:7 NKJV).

And because lawlessness will abound,
the love of many will grow cold.
Matthew 24:12

The term “nation” in verse 7 refers to people groups. The violence and outright hatred that recently occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia is a stark example of a love that’s grown very cold between groups of people. But what is the root cause of the conflict?
Pastor John MacArthur offers a biblical perspective. He points out that “the problem is that the human heart is desperately wicked, hostile toward God, self-centered, proud, selfish, and angry. What Charlottesville demonstrated is that fallen humanity is corrupt”.
Of course, humanity was corrupted when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden. But God, in His great wisdom, built three restraints into society to keep our corruption in check. When these restraints are removed, all hell breaks loose, as we’ve already seen.

Restraint #1: A conscience that reacts to a moral law

Your conscience can only function the way God intended it to when it submits to the moral law that God has written in your heart. Everyone instinctively knows right from wrong, even if they choose to fight against it. This is because God writes His moral law in every human heart. But we still need to learn how God expects us to behave and do our best to live according to God’s will and not our own.
Pastor MacArthur explains why tragedies like Charlottesville keep happening:

We have an entire generation of young people who’ve been taught a twisted and perverted moral law, so their conscience can’t function the way God intended… and the dominant part of this new morality is, “I’m the most important person in the world, it’s all about me.” It’s the selfie culture. So, the conscience of this generation is now crippled.

It's clear that the world hasn't gotten any less evil since the Charlottesville shooting. As it was centuries ago, people never cease to invent new ways of doing evil and they won't stop until Jesus returns and sets up his kingdom on the Earth.

We’ve removed the bible and even prayer from our schools. We’re forcefully removing the ten commandments from our courthouses and from our public square. We call good evil and evil good. What did we expect would happen?

Restraint #2: God put fathers and mothers in a family to discipline their children

He who spares his rod hates his son,
but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.
Proverbs 13:24

The idea of even spanking a child is seen as cruel in today’s society. In some places, spanking your child is considered child abuse (especially when you spank them with anything other than your bare hand). After all, according to the late Dr. Spock, we should never spank our children, right?
Believe me, I understand the importance of protecting our children from physical abuse, because I grew up with a stepfather who didn’t seem to know the difference between discipline and brutality. Either that, or he just didn’t care.

But I also understand full well that the primary reason we have a young generation that rejects authority is that they lacked Godly discipline as a child. God’s intent was for parental discipline to subdue evil and to teach our children discipline and respect for authority. When families don’t function the way God intended, self-discipline isn’t learned, and the child doesn’t gain a sense of what’s right and acceptable behavior.

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons;
for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
Hebrews 12:7

Restraint #3: God gave governments authority over you

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.
For there is no authority except from God,
and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God,
and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
Romans 13:1-2

Civil governments act as God’s agents of justice. Romans 13:4 says, “For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil”. Governments rightfully maintain a police force to protect their law-abiding citizens and to punish criminals.

But the authority of the police in the conscience of our society has been diminished to the point that all hell is breaking loose. I heard one policeman acknowledge how vulnerable the police really are today. In the past, the police were relatively safe because most people obeyed the moral law that God wrote on their hearts, and because they learned self-discipline and respect for authority. This was the only thing that kept the police from being overpowered by the sheer number of people they were sworn to protect. But today, the police fear for their safety, and rightfully so. Just think about all the cops who’ve been murdered in the line of duty just because certain people groups resent and even hate the fact that they have authority over them.

Friends, I don’t think the violence we’re seeing in the United States today is going to go away until Christ returns. I believe it will only get worse as the end of this age draws to a close and the millennial reign of Jesus Christ begins.

Maranatha! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

This message was inspired by this John MacArthur on Charlottesville video.