Mat. 24:12-13 ... "Because lawlessness shall be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved."
In Matthew 24 Jesus looked forward through the long scope of human history toward the time when He would come again and end all things. His special emphasis was upon His own disciples and their state of affairs in the world. He foretold that the way would often be very difficult for them, since they would be hindered by war, famine, pestilence, persecution, false messiahs, and false prophets. He expressed the hope, however, that they would endure all these opposing forces unto the end, for then He would reward them with the incomparable gift of salvation. The hardships that await Christians are too formidable for many, who turn back into infidelity to escape them. When one compares the suffering of loyal disciples with the rewards God will return for it, he must conclude that the suffering is more than worth it. This conclusion has already been drawn for us in the declaration, "The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us," (Rom. 8:18).
As Jesus previewed the future with respect to Christians, He stated that "because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold." We wonder what aspect of love He meant -- love of God? love of brethren? love of truth and righteousness? Probably all of these are included in Jesus' meaning. Christians are to be devoted in their love for God, for His children, for lost mankind, for truth and righteousness, and for all things good and virtuous. God is love, and God's people should be filled with that same divine quality as it flows from the Father through them out into the world. But the tragic thing Jesus foresaw is that "the love of many will grow cold." Many of His disciples will gradually cease to be a channel through which His love will enter the world with all its positive benefits. Something will occupy the lives of Christians that will constrict their spiritual output and make them ineffective in God's vital ministry.
The agent that will cause this disastrous constriction is identified by Jesus as lawlessness. The word in the original is anomos, which contains the word for "law" (nomos) and the negating prefix a-. It expresses the idea of having contempt for law, so that one sets it aside and proceeds in life with no further consideration for it. People commit themselves to lives of lawlessness when they decide to do as they wish without caring what the law of God says to them.
With this observation we must conclude that Jesus' forecast has already come to pass. Our society has now reached the point where there is obvious public contempt for the law of God with its high standard of purity, justice, and personal accountability. Immediate ridicule is directed toward the individual who counsels his community to desist from some activity or enterprise that violates the law of God. Great pressure is exerted upon Christians either to remain silent or join the public in the thing that is beyond the limits of God's law. Many Christians are intimidated by this pressure so that they refrain from speaking out and fail to act as the conscience of society as they should. Some Christians respond to the appeal to accept the forbidden thing and abandon their subjection to God as they indulge in the pleasure. If these people could only see (or care) that they are trading their soul's salvation for something which is restricted to this earth and shall perish with it when Christ returns.
