The Lord Jesus Christ said in Matthew 25:3-12... “Because of the increasing of lawlessness the love of the greater number will cool off.” Who does this apply to and does it have anything to do with the closing of many churches in recent years?
IF YOU could analyze empathy... the ability to understand and share the feelings of another, to care about another person’s problems and the moral standards of today, what would you discover?
You would see a steady downward trend. A growing permissiveness in societies. Without a doubt, moral standards are being increasingly undermined by cultural and attitude changes. What bothered people 25 or 50 years ago, has little impact today. As for empathy – caring about another person, well that seems to have gone as well. You may from time to time briefly see examples of caring for others, maybe in response to a natural disaster, but generally, humanity shows little concern for the well being of one another. Why is this happening? What is the real significance of this?
Does it mean, as some individuals claim, that our entire civilization and all mankind are doomed, nearing self-annihilation? Or are such changes just part of the normal ebb and flow of human relations throughout history?
The latter is what many people think. They view the moral breakdown of our time as just a trend, one of many that have come and gone throughout history. They fully expect that the pendulum will eventually swing back and that higher moral standards will return. Are they correct?
Consider the reality of today’s world and human relations in the light of a book that for centuries was a widely accepted authority on moral issues—God’s Word, the Bible. It is very enlightening to compare today’s world with the prophetic description that the Bible gives of the most decisive era in human history. This is the time period it calls “the last days” or ‘“the end times.” (2 Timothy 3:1; Matthew 24:3) As these passages suggest, this time in human history may well be the end of one world and the birth of another new one.
God’s Word provides insight into what we can expect in the last days. The time period before the return of Christ would be difficult for people deal with. To help watchful observers to identify these times, the Bible gives a number of details that together provide a clear description, or composite sign, of this unique time in human history.
One of the clear signs that this age is marching to confrontation with God is recorded in 2 Timothy 3: 2-5 where Paul says this… “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” No other period in history has been characterized by such powerful and complete secularization. God has been widely rejected as the legitimate authority on matters of living and morality, and even worse, most people reject the Bible as the only authoritative and absolute source of truth. Of course, many religions still exist, but most have little influence on human behavior and attitudes. They only serve to sooth and tickle the ears of so-called Christians who have no real commitment to God and certainly do not wish to be governed by Him. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
The Bible mentions another aspect of humanities decline… “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:12) The Greek translation here means, among other things, “lacking human sympathy and feeling.” Is that not the case in almost every sector of humanity? People do not care for one another and when faced with adversity, lashing out is the common response.
People today are self-centered; self-willed; self-absorbed; just plain selfish. Greed is no longer an unsavory human quality, its held in high esteem. Without regard for others, people with means and opportunity, even dishonest ones, grab as much personal gain as can be had to satisfy their selfish desires. The pursuit of money is the most important thing in many people’s lives. In this selfish pursuit, other values are ignored.
Besides describing the breakdown in human values, the Bible also speaks of the last days being marked by extraordinary upheavals that would affect the human family. It says, for example… “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven” (Luke 21:10-11).
With the exception of for the 20th century, there has never been a period in history when so many people have been involved in so many world-shaking catastrophes during such a limited span of time. The 20th century gave us two wars so different from any others that they are known as world wars. Wars in which well over 100 million people were killed, a figure many times greater than the casualties in several previous centuries combined. Global conflicts like these had never occurred before
Humanity has been and continues to be under the influence of God’s adversary… Satan. The Devil is described in the Bible as ….the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. (Ephesians 2:2) This implies that the Devil exercises a powerful influence on many humans, usually without their noticing it, just as we sometimes may not notice an unhealthy pollutant in the air.
For example, Satan’s influence is seen in many modern means of communication: videos, gaming, movies, television, the Internet, advertising, books, magazines, and newspapers. It’s not the devices or the methods of communication, but the lurid content and suggestive influences of various themes that are threatening. Much material, especially that focused on unsuspecting youth, is filled with extreme and repugnant trends, such as racism, occultism, immorality, and sadistic violence.
Things have to change or humanity will continue to spiral downward. One cannot ignore the similarities between the description the Bible gives of the last days and the actual circumstances we see in the world today. There is no arguing that there have been events in history before the 20th century that in lesser ways seemed to fit the Bible’s description of the last days. But it is only during the 20th century, and now the 21st century, that all the elements of the Biblical signs can be observed happening at the same time.
What is to come? Neither those who believe that mankind will be destroyed nor those who claim that things will continue the way they always have are correct. Instead, the Bible clearly shows that the present world, societies and governments, dominating the earth will be swept away and “all things will be made new.” (Revelation 21:5; 21:1-8)
Christ returns… cleanses the earth of wickedness, eliminates the negative powers of Satan and restores man to God’s original purpose… eternal life in a paradise!
That day will not be the end of the story… just the beginning.
