The Cold Within...
... and why it happens.
We live in troubled times. There is the possibility of real danger to the Church of Jesus Christ. Jesus foretold a time when people’s hearts would grow cold, and it would herald the world’s tumultuous preparation to receive Him as the Conquering King.
(4) And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. (5) For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. (6) And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. (7) For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. (8) All these are the beginning of sorrows. (9) "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. (10) And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. (11) Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. (12) And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. (13) But he who endures to the end shall be saved. (14) 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 24:4-14
Let’s examine His words more closely;
· Jesus said to pay attention so that nobody can deceive you.
· Many will come in His name, claiming to be Christ, and many will be deceived because they didn’t pay attention.
· People will spread rumors of wars, and people will jump to conclusions that the end has come – Jesus said not to be troubled, but to expect these things to happen.
· Nations and kingdoms will rise up and go to war against each other, there will be famines and diseases and earthquakes all over the world – this is just the beginning of sorrows for the earth.
· People will turn against the disciples of Jesus; they will deliver them up for trials and punishment and death – Jesus said all nations would hate His disciples for the sake of HIS name.
· Many in the world will be offended, and they will betray and hate each other.
· False prophets will stand in the limelight and they will deceive many.
· Lawlessness will be widespread, and the love of many will grow cold.
· The one who endures to the end of all these things shall be saved.
· The gospel of the Kingdom of God will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then...
· The end will come.
How many of those bullet points describe current events? The shortlist is the bullet points that have not yet occurred.
The poem, The Cold Within, elegantly describes the state of the hearts of six people trapped in the bitter cold, each one possessing the tools necessary to get warm, but for various private reasons, they would not work together.
The Cold Within
Six humans trapped by happenstance
In bleak and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood
Or so the story’s told.
Their dying fire in need of logs
The first man held his back
For of the faces round the fire
He noticed one was black.
The next man looking ‘cross the way
Saw one not of his church
And couldn’t bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.
The third one sat in tattered clothes.
He gave his coat a hitch.
Why should his log be put to use
To warm the idle rich?
The rich man just sat back and thought
Of the wealth he had in store
And how to keep what he had earned
From the lazy shiftless poor.
The black man’s face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from his sight.
For all he saw in his stick of wood
Was a chance to spite the white.
The last man of this forlorn group
Did nought except for gain.
Giving only to those who gave
Was how he played the game.
Their logs held tight in death’s still hands
Was proof of human sin.
They didn’t die from the cold without
They died from the cold within.
(By James Patrick Kinney, Public Domain)
· The first man was racist against the black man.
· The second man was a religious snob.
· The third man was poor and resented the rich.
· The fourth man was rich and resented the poor.
· The fifth, the black man was spiteful toward the white man.
· The sixth one was stingy, he only gave back in proportion to what others gave him first.
According to the poem, then, indeed it was sin that killed them when they could have lived.
What should we do to keep our hearts from growing cold? We find another clue in the Apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy:
(3) But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: (2) For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, (3) unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, (4) traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, (5) having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 2 Timothy 3:1-5
Perilous times will come
Men will be:
lovers of themselves
lovers of money
boasters
proud
blasphemers
disobedient to parents
unthankful
unholy
unloving
unforgiving
slanderers
without self-control
brutal
despisers of good
traitors
headstrong
haughty
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God
having a form of godliness but denying its power
Paul’s clear warning was to TURN AWAY FROM SUCH PEOPLE!
Some will say to me, “Pastor, are you saying all I need to do to keep my heart from growing cold is to stay away from cold-hearted people?”
The simple answer is YES.
Someone else will say: “But what about lovers of pleasure? How is that hard-hearted?”
Anyone who loves pleasure more than God has a cold heart. God created pleasure, and many forms of pleasure are pleasing and acceptable to Him.
In fact, God takes pleasure in working with us!
(2) “... for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13
The fault lies in loving pleasure until it is a form of idolatry; a person installs this false god on the throne of his heart where only God should reign.
An indignant Christian will say: “Now you’ve gone too far! You’re saying to stay away from a GODLY person?”
If that person has a FORM of godliness but denies God’s power and righteousness, then YES. Stay away from him. You can’t fix him, but he can influence you.
The Apostle Paul wrote this admonition in his first letter to the Church at Corinth;
(33) Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits." (34) Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. 1 Corinthians 15:33-34
It’s not metaphysical. It’s not rocket science. It’s not beyond the ability of the newest believer to understand, and it’s not too elementary for the oldest saint. God made sure the scripture was attainable for us! Not only must we be alert to the corruption possible when we keep company with evil people, but we must also instead AWAKE TO RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND DO NOT SIN!
As the world grows darker, we must let our lights shine brighter. We bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ!
But how do we do that?
Light doesn’t have to squeeze out its rays, it just burns the fuel provided to it and does what it was designed to do.
Trees don’t pop out their fruit by painful contractions, but fruit develops as the tree uses the resources provided to it right where it stands.
We who believe in Yeshua Jesus do not strain to shine our light, but we invite Holy Spirit to work in us and through us so that we may become the living gospel of Jesus, spreading His truth to everyone as He intends.
The interesting thing about this battle between light and darkness is that they will clash, but darkness can never overcome the light!
Jesus said we are the light of the World. As we allow His light to burn, we will also keep our hearts clean of sin.
The heart that stays close to Jesus will never grow cold.
Pastora Cate Covert
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Pastora Cate Covert