Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.

Acts 12:24-13:15 from the daily reading in the One year Bible

But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.

²⁵ And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.

13 Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

⁴ So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵ When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper. ⁶ When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹ But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, ¹⁰ and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord? ¹¹ Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. ¹² Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.

¹³ Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵ After the reading of the Law and the Prophets the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, “Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”

In today’s text it says:  So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper. When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him,  and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?  Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.  Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.  If only those who are trying to deceive and lead people away from the faith could be silenced in our day. The enemies of righteousness, those who do not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord abound in our time.

In the text, the deceivers name was Bar-Jesus.  In Matthew 24:4-21 Jesus warned us about the times we are in saying:  “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.  Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come…  then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.”   There are basically three types of deception regarding Christ. There are those who say Jesus is the Christ, but they deceive by saying that Jesus would be different if He were here today than He was before. They deceive by promoting the idea that Jesus would not only tolerate, but embrace immorality and unrighteousness. They say Jesus is the Christ, but it is a Jesus that has evolved to the whims of the culture. The second deception is those who deny Christ entirely. They believe and proclaim that God and His Son are just a myth or a fairy tale. Psalm 14:1-3 says:  The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.  They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.  In truth, the foolishness of denying that there is a God is rooted in the desire to continue in and justify the corruption and wickedness of the human heart. By eliminating righteousness, they justify wickedness. By eliminating light, they justify darkness.  In Isaiah 5:20 God says:  Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!   The final deception is those who are false Christs and false prophets; those who claim that they or someone else is the messiah.

Surely, we can see the evidence of the times we are in. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.  The racial and ethnic division that is being escalated here and around the world is the nation (ethnos) against nation (ethnos) that Jesus warned of. We have seen the media promote and proclaim that the next great war would be started against Russia, China, North Korea; or Iran. Rumors of war abound. Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.   Overlooked or denied by the media and the liberal left, Christian persecution and hatred toward believers is at an all time high both here and around the world. Criminals are glorified and believers are vilified.  Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.  Lawlessness has become the solution to our problems according to progressive thinkers.  In the name of love and unity, they reject law and order. Lawlessness creates disunity and fosters a cold and disingenuous love. In essence, lawlessness makes each person their own god or subjects them to whoever has the power at that time. The love promoted and proclaimed today is cold love. It is based in tolerance. Tolerance is defined as:  the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with. - the capacity to endure continued subjection to something.   We don’t show love through tolerance. We tolerate what we despise. Tolerance is the opposite of love. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 says:  Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,  does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,  does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails.

This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come… The gospel is the proclamation of love. John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  Romans 5:8:  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. John 15:12-14:  “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you.”  1 John 4:19:  We love, because He first loved us.   True love can only be experienced and expressed as a response to the love of God.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, that You reveal love and truth. You are righteousness and light. May I never be deceived because of the knowledge and revelation of truth and may I love because You first loved me.  Amen.