"Are You Growing Cold"

Are You Growing Cold?

“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” Matthew 24:12 (NKJV)

Most people don’t even realize their hearts are growing cold; it happens so gradually in such subtle ways.  The church of today is coming to the place that we read about in the above scripture.  How can that be?  It was prophesied in the Old Testament by Isaiah and found in Matt. 13:14-15, “The prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull.”

Things of the Spirit of God are still happening today, but in America we seem to have become more sophisticated.  When the Holy Spirit does a work in a church service, there are those who are sitting in the pews looking bored to death.  Perhaps at one time in your life you were on fire for God, but the flame has gone out and only ashes remain

Let me tell you that in other parts of the world, the flame is burning bright and people are flocking to churches where the Holy Spirit is still welcome.  Even Israel is rising up and they are worshiping the Messiah.  I don’t have the space to explain why this is happening, except to tell you this would never happen unless we are in the ‘end times’.

However in this country, Christians have a hard time being satisfied with where they are; they want something more.  The problem is, many have turned to the ‘Hyper Grace’ movement. This is a reaction against holiness, such reaction against hunger for God and thirst for God, because that's “doing” something. According to these preachers and some are popular on TV, we don't have to do anything.  They say that Jesus has done it all. The finished work of the cross means there's nothing left for me to do. So they preach against repentance. They preach against conviction of sin. They preach against the need to confess our sins. They preach against real accountability in your own life.  

They preach that when you get saved, God not only forgives your past sins and your present sins, but all of your future sins. He forgives in advance. So that means if you go out and blow it tomorrow, you don't have say, "God, I'm sorry, I sinned, wash me, cleanse me, forgive me," because you're already forgiven. That means that the Holy Spirit will never convict you of sin because God has already forgiven that sin. That means no matter what you do, it cannot even affect your relationship with God, or your standing with God, because you've already been pronounced forgiven. That means that if you or I do some terrible sin, God doesn’t even see it.  He only sees you as perfect; you never have to deal with sin at all. Could this be the End Time deception that will cause millions to walk away from the Lord in the last days, as the Bible says will happen? 

If your heart is cold and doesn’t respond to the things of God any longer, or a move of the Holy Spirit of God seems foolish to you, or you think you’re too wise to believe it, you better think on this scripture and pray long and hard over it.  “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.” I Cor. 1:27 

My friends, this is the time to do all you can to draw closer to God; to take a look at your priorities and put aside all the things that draw you away from God. Other priorities will take second, third or fourth place from Him until you and God don’t even know each other.  Proverbs 28:14 says that, “Happy is the man who is always reverent, but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.”  Are you going through some hard times right now, then draw close to God?  Are your finances, worldly pressures, or your marriage problems pulling you down?  Draw close to God.   

It doesn’t matter what other people see or think, but God knows all about it.  “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth.”  [Revelation 3:15-16]  Have you shut off your feelings? If you have no reaction at all to a move of the Holy Spirit, Your heart is growing cold.  You may not even be aware of the changes in you so ask God to reveal this to you. Remember, if you are growing cold, Satan is laughing his head off and doing everything in his power to encourage you to pull away from God.  Read your Bible and pray always, because God hears your prayers, but you must turn your heart back to him. 

(Next week’s Blog is ‘Fuel for the Fire’; don’t miss it.)