Greetings, family of God. It is such a privilege to stand before you this morning to bring forth the Word. As I look around and see your faces, it warms my heart because the body of Christ truly is a family—the family of God. We want to extend a special welcome to those visiting us today; we are so happy you chose to spend your Sunday morning with us.
The Process of Transformation
We often talk about the coming of the Lord being near, and I remember being so excited about His return when I first got saved in the 90s that I didn't even want to go to college. Yet, here we are 2,000 years after the apostles first spoke of His nearness. Why the delay? It is because the Lord is doing something great: He is bringing many sons to glory.
While our ultimate glorification may be instant, there is a daily process of walking with Him, learning, falling, and being picked back up. He has kept us in this world for a purpose—to instill His nature into us so that we become more like Him before we enter His presence.
A Warning for the Last Days
Today, I want to focus on a specific sign of the end times. When Jesus spoke to His disciples about the end, He gave us a sobering warning:
"Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved" (Matthew 24:12-13, NASB 1995).
We see this lawlessness—this lack of restraint and iniquity—abounding today. The natural result of this environment is that the love of many begins to freeze over.
The Goal is Agape
In the Greek New Testament, there are various words for love, such as phileo (friendship), storge (family), and eros (romance). But God’s love is described as Agape. This is an unselfish, sacrificial, and giving love.
We sometimes get distracted by complex doctrines or "myths and endless genealogies," but we must remember what Apostle Paul told Timothy:
"But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith" (1 Timothy 1:5, NASB 1995).
The goal of our faith is not just a perfect understanding of theology; it is to have God’s nature, which is love, dwelling within us.
The Three Loves of a Dying World
Paul warned that in the last days, "difficult times will come" because the object of people's love would shift away from God and toward the self. We see three specific "degraded" loves taking over:
Lovers of Self: Modern culture is obsessed with "self-self-self"—self-image, self-care, and self-love. However, Jesus said, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me" (Matthew 16:24, NASB 1995). True Agape love ends where the boundaries of the self begin.
Lovers of Money: You cannot serve both God and money. The world glorifies greed, but for the Christian, "godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment" (1 Timothy 6:6, NASB 1995). We must be thankful for what we have rather than letting comparison steal our joy.
Lovers of Pleasure: The world believes that if it feels right or satisfies an urge, you should do it. We are often tempted to rationalize our weaknesses, but we are called to be like Moses:
"...choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin" (Hebrews 11:25, NASB 1995).
Keep the Fire Burning
Love can grow cold through disuse or indifference. It can become "unpalatable" and lose its fervor. This is why we must heed the call:
"Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8, NASB 1995).
This fervent love is not something we can manufacture with our own willpower. It only comes because "the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:5, NASB 1995).
As we move forward, let us ask the Lord to fill our hearts with this Agape love. Let us love unselfishly and sacrificially—not just in word, but in action—reaching out to the broken, the hurting, and even those who are difficult to love. May we be a family that remains warm and fervent, no matter how cold the world around us becomes.