What Does It Mean The Love Of Many Will Grow Cold?

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Jesus prophesied that the love of many will grow cold in the end times. What does this mean and what does it look like?

The End Times

The Apostle Paul, in writing his very last letter, warned Timothy “that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good” (2 Tim 3:1-3). That sounds very much like a lack of love in people, and we’ve seen that in the last few years. It will not get better but only grow worse. As violent movies and video games increase, we are becoming desensitized to violence. Some of the video games and movies are so heinous now that we are becoming accustomed to it…now we want more, even worse violence, and try to top the last grossness. Today, human life is seen as disposable (i.e. abortion). The graphic nature of some of these movies and video games is hard for Christians to stomach, but for those who play them and watch them, it’s “normal.” Even worse, Paul said that the time is coming, perhaps the time has already come, “when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Tim 4:3-4). Since they are following “their own passions” of sex, violence, and hatred, they will turn away from the truth and live a life devoid of God.

The Days of Noah

Jesus prophesied of the end times that “as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matt 24:37), so what were the days of Noah all about? It sounds very much like today when “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6:5). Notice that “every intention of the thoughts of [mankind] was only evil continually.” In other words, violence was all they imagined or ever thought about, and if they thought about violence, they surely carried it out. Humanity had become so corrupt that God had to start over with mankind and did so through Noah and his descendants. Today, there is evil, violence, and sexual immorality so rampant that all it seems they do is to think of something even worse than before. If that is not the love of many growing cold, I don’t know what is. This is why Jesus said that it will be just as bad as it was in “the days of Noah,” and it will be that bad when “the coming of the Son of Man” comes.

Growing Cold

Maybe it’s me, but it appears that manners or politeness are disappearing from our society. The days when people held the door open for others, or when they said, “Thank you sir” or “ma’am” are gone. People looked shocked when I call someone sir or ma’am, but that’s the way it used to be, but apparently not anymore. The Apostle Peter writes of the latter times when “scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires” (2 Pet 3:3). They refuse to believe in God; they mock those who do; and they laugh at the thought that Jesus will be coming again, for ages of believers have been saying that, but surely it will come (Rev 1:7). Today, as Jesus said, evil is being multiplied many times over than what it used to be. The Lord said that “because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold” (Matt 24:12), and can anyone argue that our love has grown cold today in relations to how we used to treat others just a decade or so ago? It has come to the point that we are “heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good” (2 Tim 3:3). There is no natural affection in the world as there was at one time. Sons turn on parents, parents sexually abuse their children, abortions have taken millions of lives, and parents allow violent video games and movies to be watched by their children, so is it any wonder that our world is growing colder and there is less love today and more violence?

Be Ready

Jesus warned us many times over that the world would grow worse and worse, like the days of Noah, so we “must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matt 24:44). The state of the present evil world is like a red flag about the nearness of the Lord’s return. That’s why we’re told to “stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (Matt 24:42). We know that our “salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed” (Rom 13:11)…drawing nearer with every passing minute. The Lord’s return will be swift and sudden, and catch many by surprise. Those who have failed to repent of their sins and place their trust in Christ are held captive by their own passions and desires, so the Lord’s return is the very last thing they want to see. The Apostle John writes of a time when “he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen” (Rev 1:7). When He does return, whether it’s sooner or later, they will mourn and wail on account of the Lord’s appearance because they know their judgment will follow swiftly (Dan 12:2-3; Rev 20:12-15).

Conclusion

The love of many in this world has grown cold, and it will grow even colder. The numbers of mass shootings, the heinous nature of brutal murders, and the loss of natural affection between mankind and his family and those around him is ramping up, and it will only get worse as the Lord’s return draws near. Brothers and sisters, we are headed for some very hard times in this world. Perhaps this evil world will be good in the sense that many will put their trust in the Savior. This is why today is the day of salvation (2 Cor 6:2), and not tomorrow or next week. Tomorrow may be too late. Be ready; watching always, and expecting His return when nobody else is expecting it. We don’t know when that day will be, so we must be “fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thess 5:2).

Here is some related reading for you: Do Christians Go Immediately to Heaven After Death?

Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Tagged as: Days of Noah, End Times, Jesus' return, Violence