The final sign that Jesus gives His disciples concerning the end times is as follows:
And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.But he who endures to the end shall be saved.And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:12-13
Jesus warned about the season of lawlessness that will take over the world. The word “lawless” means contempt for law. We see some of this happen in our world right now. Some don’t want to follow the law because they think the government has unjust rules. Others don’t trust the government and don’t believe they should be obligated to follow the law. There are some who in the name of love want to throw away all restrictions and regulations.
One of those current examples of lawlessness is the illegal immigration issue. The President-elect plans to deport those illegal immigrants who have criminal records. Unfortunately, some states and cities want to stop this process and want to become a sanctuary place for those deported by the federal government. Please see below link that depicts this situation:
It is interesting that those who are willing to follow through with lawlessness, are doing it in the name of love and compassion. However, Jesus is telling us the opposite is true. He warns that when lawlessness comes, the love of many will grow cold. There will be no respect for law and no patience with the judicial system. Lawlessness will cause all sorts of fears and insecurities in people’s hearts. It will lead to self-preservation and taking justice into one’s own hands. Lawlessness for a society is a bleak picture.
One of the important lessons to learn from the these last few devotionals is that offense and lawlessness will lead people to hardened hearts and even hatred towards others. The encouragement for God’s people is that God’s laws are written on our hearts. We know what need to do. We are called to forgive offenses, so our hearts stays soft. We are called to not jump on the bandwagon of lawlessness in the name of love. This will help us endure to the end, and Jesus expects us to do so.
We will need great wisdom on how to fight injustice in the last days. In some cases the best fight could be to tell every person about Jesus. This will ensure that whether people live or die they will be ushered into the presence of the Lord one day. One thing a believer cannot lose, is their love for other people. We must guard our hearts or we will lose the desire to share the gospel with others.
