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THE LOVE OF MANY SHALL WAX
COLD
R C Oliver
I
want to begin by examining Matthew 24:12. “And because
iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” This
statement was uttered by our Lord, and He made the
statement anticipating the destruction of the city of
Jerusalem.
Turning
back to the first two verses of this chapter, we find Jesus speaking
to His disciples, and saying unto them: “See ye not all these
things?” This question He asked upon being shown by His
disciples the buildings of the temple at Jerusalem. Then He said to
their utter astonishment, “Verily I say unto you, there shall
not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown
down.” This was truly a hard saying for His disciples, and
they later enquired of Him: “Tell us, when shall these things
be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the
world?” then Jesus commenced to tell them some things that
should happen before that event should occur that would not leave one
stone upon another. He first cautioned them against being deceived by
men. He then pointed out that many false christs would arise, and
that they would deceive many. He also told of “wars and rumors of
wars”. He told how nation shall rise against nation, He told of
famines, of pestilences and earthquakes, which would occur in diverse
places. Neither did he fail to point out the fact that there would be
great persecution: men would betray one another, and hate one
another, and then he said that because of the presence of so much
iniquity, that the love of many would grow cold. While all of these
things were fulfilled during that very generation to which he was
speaking (“Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not
pass, till all these things be fulfilled. – Matthew 24:34)
and before, and during the time of Jerusalem’s destruction, yet it is
not to be overlooked that these things occurred as the result of
cause.
Though
we are dealing primarily and exclusively with the destruction of
Jerusalem, and the natural signs announcing that event, here in these
verses of Matthew 24; yet we are not to overlook the fact that
whenever and wherever these, or like causes might arise, we may
expect a similar reproduction of these dreadful effects! While it is
true that Matthew 24:12 is speaking exclusively of affairs as they
would occur before the destruction of Jerusalem, yet it is as true
today as it was then that when “iniquity abounds, the love of many
shall wax cold.” In view of the fact that this is a most undesirable
condition, and one we do not wish to exist, I want now to study the
general subject of love, and the ways in which it may be inflamed or
the way in which it may be made to grow cold. Observe the true
meaning of love.
WHAT IS LOVE?
Love,
being an abstract quality, is not easily defined; however, such
attempts as the following have been made by Webster. “A feeling of
strong personal attachment induced by sympathetic understanding, or
by ties of kinship; ardent affection.” While we may recognize this as
a good definition, yet it is not altogether a satisfactory one, for
the very nature of the subject defies definition. However, one thing
is certain, one thing is sure. When the Bible talks about love, it is
not talking about some silly, emotional sentimentalism that refuses
to stand for anything and therefore falls for everything; rather, it
is talking about that quality in man that makes him a better man than
he could otherwise possibly be without it. While we may never be able
to state exactly what it is, yet we can understand what it is by
allowing Paul to tell us what it does. In 1 Corinthians 13:4 “Love
suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself
unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of
evil; rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the
truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all
things, endureth all things. Love never faileth:” I
have used the American Standard Version in that the word rendered
“charity” in the King James Version, is properly rendered “love” in
the American Standard Version. The meaning is the same, but the word
“love” will come nearer conveying to the popular mind the true
meaning of the apostle than will the word “charity”.
Here
then Paul has told us what love does, as well as telling us some
things that love does not do. While I would like to take the time to
discuss each of these characteristics of love, I do not have the
space to do so; however, in view of the false concept that some have
of this subject, I do what to call attention to this one
characteristic, namely: “Love…rejoiceth not in iniquity or
unrighteousness, but rejoiceth in the truth.” Love stands up for the
truth. It therefore stands for something, and standing for the
something, it is not subject to fall for everything. There are those
who would have you believe that when a man is a man of love, that
such a man will give his support to everything that comes along in the
guise of religion. This, however, is not the case for it is a
perversion of the gospel that Paul preached! If a man really
possesses true love for Christ and his church, he will rejoice
whenever Christ and his church are lifted up, and he will further use
his influence to destroy every object that stands in the way of such
exaltation. A man who really loves Christ will not feel that he is
building his own cause, when he is engaged in building the cause of
Christ. Neither will he confuse the cause for which our Savior died
with such efforts as have originated within the minds of men. Such
therefore is an essential characteristic of love that should not go
unnoticed, that is, love does not rejoice in unrighteousness but it
does rejoice with the truth.
HOW MAY OUR LOVE BE
INCREASED?
How
may our love be increased? Actually, the same cause that created love
in our hearts in the first place, I personally believe, is capable of
increasing it for us. What therefore is the source of our love for
God? John tells us in 1 John 4:19 “We love Him, because He
first loved us.” Love creates love. When one learns and
really believes that God loves him, he then will want to love God.
But, another might ask: “Is there any way that I might know as to
whether I do or do not love God?” The Bible actually answers this
question in 1 John 5:3 which reads, “For this is the love of
God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not
grievous.” Also, consider John 15:14 which reads, “Ye
are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” Notice
the “if” in this passage. Our loving God is conditioned upon our
keeping His commandments. Therefore, should one refuse to keep the
commandments of God; such is proof that he does not love God, his
thoughts to the contrary notwithstanding. Let me give this
illustration: God commands us to speak according to his oracles or
truths (1 Peter 4:11). He further commands us to neither add to, nor
subtract from what he has said. (Revelation 22:18-19). Another
passage we might select for this point is 2 Timothy 3:16-17. “All
scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of
God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” Now
in view of the fact the Lord tells us to sing in praising him
(Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16 etc.), yet He does not command us to
praise Him with mechanical instrumental music. Can’t you see, that
when we venture to go ahead and use such music anyway, that we have
disregarded the Lord’s command, and have thus proven that we do not
love Him! Churches that love the Lord will not use such unauthorized
music in their worship. No man can love God and engage in such
worship. One may think that he can, but such is “will-worship”, it is
not according to truth. Remember, love rejoiceth in truth, and for
that reason, love for God will not allow the mechanical instrumental
music to be brought into the worship of God. So, what would cause a
man who once loved God to allow his love for God to grow cold? Let us
therefore observe:
WHAT CAUSES OUR LOVE TO GROW
COLD?
In
the first place, Jesus said iniquity would cause our love to grow
cold. False teachers, betrayals, and a spirit of general disregard
for what God says, such will cause even the strongest love to grow
cold, unless it is guarded.
In
the second place, a departure from the source of heat will cause our
love to grow cold; but in that God speaks of his word as that which
is like unto fire as Jeremiah 23:29 states: “Is not my word
like as a fire? saith the LORD….”, we might well think of the
word of the Lord as the source of heat that keeps our love aflame;
hence, any departure from the Lord’s will, such as the illustration
that I have already given, would cause men to allow their love for
God to grow cold. In that we might easily allow the spirit of God to
leave us unaware, we might well ask: what are the symptoms of
cooling, or cold, love?
THE SYMPTOMS OF A COLD LOVE
When
Israel of the Old Testament began to grow cold, they desired to be
like the nations around them. (1 Samuel 8:5 “And said unto
him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now
make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”) Therefore,
we might safely conclude that when the people of God desire to become
like the people around them that their love has grown cold. Such was
the case in the history of God’s people during the late 1800’s, when
many, desiring to be like the nations, as it were, around them,
introduced mechanical instrumental music into the church, over the
protest of faithful brethren everywhere. All because someone’s love
grew cold. The coldness of which was manifest in their desire to be
like those nations, as it were, about them! I might add that all who
stand with that divisive element today do so at their own peril, for
as they now stand, they stand condoning and justifying every ungodly
deed of those ungodly men who not only corrupted the worship and
divided the body of Christ. The desire to be like others is simply
one of many symptoms. A lack of love for the brethren is a symptom of
a cold love. A disregard for what the Lord has said, this is another
symptom of a cold love. Much could also be said about absenteeism
from the assembly of the saints,
I
do trust that what I have said will cause each of you to re-examine
yourself, to see whether you be in the faith; for with what ease can
one be deceived by falsehood, and after all, falsehood effects the
mind in the same way that truth does, so be careful. In fact, it
would be well that you always prove your teaching by the Bible, and
believe what it teaches. Do not rest your faith on the words and
arguments of others, for our generation as well as previous
generations are filled with false teachers, and while they may appear
to you to be men who are the very “angels” of mercy themselves, yet
they may well be such as have rejected the righteousness of God and
such as have gone about to establish their own righteousness. For it
has been in this manner that pure Christian worship has been
corrupted through the centuries by the use of incense, the keeping of
days, the burning of candles, the use of mechanical instrumental
music, and a host of other things.
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