Two End times Dangers Jesus Warned Us About

Dear Father, I pray that there's to hear what your Holy Spirit is saying to the church. When your Holy Spirit speaks, we know the devil wants to distract and confuse and get us taken up with other thoughts. I pray that every one of us will listen, including myself, Lord.

You have something to say, you have something you're speaking. And what you have to say is far more important for our lives than anything else anybody else could say. I pray, Lord, that there will be a reverence as we listen to your word, as we listen to you.

In all of our hearts, even the little children will have a spirit of reverence because you're speaking. The world gives reference to presidents and kings and queens when they speak. Our allegiance is to you and we give you reverence, Lord, because you're here and you're speaking.

So may we listen, Lord, with all of our hearts. Thank you. In Jesus' name, you will help us.

Amen. I wonder what goes through your mind when you think about what we just heard from the children. And I want to encourage you, dear family, that a good habit to get into is, with our memory verses, to read the passage, to read what God has actually said.

As you know, we memorize a small portion of, often just a small portion of the verse, not even the whole verse. That's so that we can know the key part of that verse. But you must go back and read that regularly, and not because I'm saying so, but because it'll benefit you.

And read not just that verse, the verses around it, the chapter or that context, as much as you're able to, and let God speak to you through the memory verse. It's a habit I've tried to develop from the moment we, from the time we started memorizing memory verses here many years ago, and it's helped me tremendously. So I want to encourage you, I think it'll help you as well, that it's not just memorizing the verse, but also knowing what God's saying.

So let's turn to Matthew 24. I wonder what goes through your mind when you hear this, what the children told us many times, the one who endures to the end will be saved. And I've been thinking about that for the last couple of weeks actually, this past week and even the week before that when I knew that that was going to be our future memory verse.

Because whenever God says something, the devil immediately comes in with a lie in the form of a question. You see that all the way back in Genesis chapter 3 when God said, you shall surely die. The devil came and said, will you really die? He put a question to Eve and to Adam.

They believed the question and they were deceived. And now when God says, the one who endures to the end will be saved, the devil has come with a question and he has succeeded in deceiving the majority of Christians today that once you are saved, you are always saved. Even though Jesus plainly said, the one who endures to the end will be saved.

And I wonder what goes through your mind when you hear a memory verse like that, the one who endures to the end will be saved. I wish more revival meetings and gospel meetings and tent revivals preached this, yes, you must begin your life, you must give your life to Jesus, do it today if you haven't, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. And a decision you make on a given night or a given day, while it's the best decision of your life, it's a decision that you must continue to make.

The one who endures to the end will be saved. And Jesus said this in the context of His coming, His second coming, and I want you to see two things that He warned us about in this context in regard to His return in Matthew chapter 24. He says in verse 4, first of all, see to it, see to it, be absolutely certain, make absolutely sure, see to it.

In other words, He's saying, I'm going to give you some warnings, I'm going to give you some instructions, make sure you don't forget it. Even though, as it were, Jesus was predicting what 2025 would look like, and what 2030 will look like if He tarries, and however long it is until Christ's return, what that looks like, He was predicting, He was warning us, and He's saying, see to it. This was written 2,000 years ago, almost 2,000 years ago it was written, and yet most people are deceived, even though Jesus warned us against it.

He says two things here that I'd like us to meditate on today in the light of His coming. So let's read Matthew 24 beginning in verse 9, thus, remember the verse we memorized was verse 13, the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. That was verse 13.

Let's just read a few verses before and after it. Verse 9, then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name, and remember He's speaking to His disciples. Because it says in verse 3, the disciples asked Him a question, who are you speaking to? And to Him, to them, He replied, and He says, you disciples, you at RLCF, be ready that 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, that means these were disciples who were walking with Jesus, who were part of churches planted by the apostles and planted by Christ Himself, and they will fall away. They were once upon a time walking in the truth and they fell away. Many will fall away, and I again, I wonder what goes through your mind when you read the Bible exactly, when Jesus said many will fall away.

If Jesus was sitting here and saying RLCF, many will fall away. The devil will immediately come in and say, yep, you won't be one of those many. And that's, the devil wants us to dwell in coziness.

Now before I go on any further, I want you to know this is a message of hope. This is a message of commitment to the Lord, and I also will say that I have an assurance that I am saved. It's an interesting thing that even though Jesus said the one who endures to the end will be saved, it is possible, in fact you must have, every one of you, an assurance of your salvation.

It's a mystery how we can have both. But my assurance that I am saved by the blood of Jesus Christ comes from the fact that I believe what Jesus said, that the one who endures to the end will be saved. I believe Jesus Christ is keeping me.

And I believe that Jesus Christ will keep me. But that assurance that I have of my salvation comes from the fact that today I am trusting Him fully. It's not based on something that happened 40 years ago in my case, when I first committed my life to Christ.

My assurance of my salvation is not based on what happened then, but who Jesus is today to me. And if you're walking with Jesus today, and if Jesus is reigning in your life today, then you too, not only can have an assurance, but must have an assurance that you are saved. And you too can say, the one who will endure to the end will be saved, and I say Lord, by your grace, I too will endure to the end, and I will be saved.

Not by my own power, not by my own grit and determination, but because I'm trusting the one who is able to keep me from falling today. Not even as much as I first trusted Him many years ago, but even more. I trust Jesus today more than I did when I first gave Him my life to forgive my sins.

That trust is growing. And it's because I'm leaning on Him more and trusting on Him more, that I'm absolutely certain I am saved and will be saved for all eternity. That trust in Him is only going to increase.

And when He comes, parts the clouds and the trumpet sounds, and we see Him face to face like we sang, that trust will be complete as it were. Because it will have grown to its fullness. So, we can't have an assurance of our salvation, we must have an assurance of our salvation while saying that the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Let's endure in this leaning on Christ, in this trusting on Christ. That's the essence of what I'd like to share with us today. So, verse 10, At that time, many will fall away and, listen to this, will betray one another and hate one another.

Do you believe Jesus' words that there will be many who once upon a time said, I love you brother, I love you sister. We're walking in the truth. We'll betray one another and hate one another.

Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. And because lawlessness is increased, most people, again He says most, most people's love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end 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. So, there's two things that I see Jesus warning us about today.

Two dangers that He warns disciples and two dangers that I've taken to my own heart to be careful about. The first is the danger that disciples will be misled from the truth. He says that many will come and mislead.

See verse 4, that no one misleads you. For many will come in my name and will mislead many. Many will do the misleading and many will be misled.

That's what you read in verse 5. So, the first warning I see for the disciples, not for the world. For the disciples, the first warning for us RLCF is that many will come misleading others and many will be misled. And that's a warning I want to take to heart.

Let's not be misled from the truth. The second warning is in verse 12. Many people will cool off in their love.

Many will be misled from the truth and many will cool off in their love. And again, the devil will immediately come and say, Ah, that's not going to be you. You're not going to be misled.

You're not going to cool off in your love. Even though Jesus said many will be. So, let's look at those two things briefly.

First of all, misled from the truth. We'll continue reading in verse 21. Matthew 24 verse 21, For then there will be a great tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.

He says in verse 22, 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. And again, immediately the devil is convinced most of Christendom that there will not be a great tribulation for the disciples.

Even though Jesus said that the great tribulation will actually be shortened for the sake of the elect. Which means the elect are here on this earth during that time. And today you have a gospel that says that, No, Jesus will come and rapture his church before the great tribulation.

Many will come and mislead others. Some of the greatest preachers in this country, preach that Christ loves his church so much that he will somehow take her up before the tribulation. Even though Jesus said, I love you so much that I'm going to preserve you through the tribulation.

That's a greater act of God's love. A greater mark of his power. So, let's not be deceived.

And he goes on to say, verse 23, Then if anyone says to you, behold, here is the Christ. This is what Christ is. 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. So it's such plain words.

Jesus has said that the false Christ and the false prophets will arise and God will allow them to show great signs. They will do miracles. Now most of the miracles I think we're seeing today, I don't believe it at all.

Because they're miracles like my foot pain got healed. And this other back thing I had got healed. Not the real miracles that we see in the book of Acts and the gospels.

Where people were raised from the dead. And the blind had their eyes opened. And the deaf had their ears opened.

That's true miracles. So don't fall for the fake miracles that are going on in Christendom today. But Jesus warned us that the deceivers will actually be able to do real miracles.

What if you actually saw somebody raise their ears open. And they're 24 that they will arise and show great signs and wonders. Because the devil wants to mislead even the elect.

Sadly there will be some among the elect who will say, Oh this has to be the Christ. Because look at what he did. Look at what she did.

Misleading many through their signs and wonders. For false Christ and false prophets will arise. And will show great signs and wonders.

So as to mislead if possible even the elect. Why does God allow this? Why will God allow this? To see if you really love the truth. Or are you more taken up with signs and wonders and miracles? Do you love the truth? So what he says here is that there will be many who will say, This is what Christ is.

Here is the Christ. And if somebody comes and preaches a gospel saying, This is Christ. This is Jesus.

Will you fall for it? Or do you know your Bible well enough that you know what Christ really is? Who he really is? What is he really like? See in Jesus day there were many who thought they knew that they would be able to see the Christ. The Pharisees studied the scriptures. Searching.

They were waiting for the Messiah. Let's turn to Matthew 16. I believe our days, the days of Christ's return, will be very much like it was when he first came.

That there will be many who were waiting for the Christ. But God allowed them to be deceived. So in the midst of all of these people who were looking for the Christ.

There was somebody who actually saw and knew who the Christ was. We read about him. Matthew 16.

Verse 15. Jesus asked his disciples, Who do you say that I am? And an unlearned, uneducated, poor fisherman named Simon Peter said, You are the Christ. The son of the living God.

How did Peter know it? Have you wondered? How did Peter know? He didn't have RLCF. He didn't have a Bible in his hand. He listened to the Pharisees preaching.

And when he was a young boy, I'm assuming he got tired of their boring sermons and the hypocrisy he saw in them. And so he became a fisherman. And he was a sinful man.

In Luke 6 he says to Jesus when he first met him, Lord, I'm a sinful man. Get away from me. How is it that this sinful Peter who would one day betray Jesus, saw that he was the son of God, the Christ.

Jesus told us how. Verse 16. Verse 17.

Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. The question that the Holy Spirit's been asking me, and I hope he'll ask you as well is, How will you know who is the Christ? Because Jesus said, in the last days there will be many saying, This is the Christ. This is what Jesus is like.

Our teachings proclaim Christ. And unless we have a revelation from God, like Herman, through some preacher, but my Father who is in heaven has actually revealed this to you, unless the Father himself has revealed Christ to you, you will be deceived. And the Pharisees, you read in John 5, they searched the scriptures.

They studied the Bible more than Peter did. And even though we must read the Bible and meditate on God's word, ultimately you can reveal Christ. And that's why, the teaching we hear, are you hearing from the Father in heaven? Are you actually hearing from Him? Or are you waiting for Sunday morning to hear a sermon, and say, Oh, this is the word that the Lord gave me for this week.

It's through the sermon. No. If you're relying on the preacher on Sunday morning to give you a message, to tell you what the Lord is saying, one day you will be deceived.

So, develop the habit of hearing from your Father in heaven. He's your Father. We're not.

As elders, we're not your Father in heaven. We can't reveal Christ to you. We can point you to Christ.

We can tell you this is what it's like based on God's word. But ultimately the Heavenly Father, through the Holy Spirit, must do some work in your heart that will reveal, so that you know this is the Christ. And nobody else can deceive you with saying, No, this is the Christ and that's the Christ.

When you read what we read in Matthew 24, that people will come and present some other Jesus, some other Christ, do you think you won't fall for it? Even though Jesus said many will fall for it. I say, Lord, there's a great danger that I could be one of those that falls for some other gospel. 1 Timothy 3, what is Christ? Who is the Christ? 1 Timothy 3, this is church.

Proclaim. This is where we learn and support of. This is the truth.

As we have seen many verses in Matthew 24 already saying, No, deceivers will come saying, This is the Christ. No, that is the Christ. This is what Jesus is.

The truth about who Jesus is, is given to us very clearly. 1 Timothy 3, verse 15. I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.

By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness. And this is the truth that we proclaim, the mystery of godliness. He who was revealed in the flesh.

Christ revealed in the flesh. Christ, our example. This is the mystery of godliness.

And if you hear a gospel that says, No, Christ just wants to forgive you your sins. And you can live a life of constantly falling into sin and never becoming more like Christ. And Christ will forgive you.

And Christ's blood will wash away your sins. That's another Christ. It's an incomplete Christ.

A Christ who hasn't been manifest in the flesh whom you can follow. A Christ who says, follow me. And let me conform you into my image.

He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the spirit, was proved to be true by the power of the Holy Spirit, was seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. And I believe that the Christ, the other Christs who will come, as Christ's return draws near, will be a Christ who is incomplete. See, the deception is not in that it looks the exact opposite.

If you see a fake $100 bill, it doesn't look exactly the opposite of a real $100 bill. You know, if the real $100 bill is green, the fake $100 bill isn't red. If you see a red $100 bill, you know it's fake.

Right? Yeah, it's red. Come on. Everybody knows US currency is green in color for the most part.

So you see a red $100 bill or blue $100 bill, you know that's not real. It's green. It looks very much like it.

In fact, if you don't have a trained eye, you will fall for the deception, because outwardly and in a very quick glance at it, the fake $100 bill looks exactly like the real $100 bill. And if you only glance at the Antichrist, he looks exactly like Jesus. If you don't know your Bible well enough, and you're not having Christ revealed through the Holy Spirit, the Antichrist looks exactly like Christ.

But he is not Christ. He's incomplete. And an incomplete Christ is the Antichrist.

And if the Christ that you're following today is only good enough to forgive you, and forgive you, and forgive you, and forgive you, and you're living in the same defeated life, he is the Antichrist. And that's the gospel that will mislead many. The false gospel that will mislead many as Christ's return draws near.

So, the first thing we read here is, the first warning is, don't be misled from the truth. The truth that we have proclaimed, sought to proclaim, from the very beginning that I've been here at least, has been this. Christ is our example.

Yes, He forgives our sins. Yes, He's the baptizer. Yes, He's the baptizer in the Holy Spirit.

But He's our example. He's our forerunner. And Jesus calls us to be His disciples, those who follow Him.

The second warning is the cooling off in love. Let's turn back to Matthew 24, verse 9. Have you thought it possible? This is a question the Lord asked me when I read this again over the last couple of weeks. The Holy Spirit asked me, Santosh, have you thought it possible that you would be the one that would betray others, according to verse 10.

You know, I used to read that verse and think, oh, people will betray me. I'm going to be one of those disciples of Jesus and other people will betray me. Even though Jesus said, many will betray.

Many will do the betraying. And so, over the last couple of weeks, I've imagined that I could be one of those that will do the betraying of one of you, brothers and sisters, whom I've said I love so much. That I could be the one that will do the betraying because He says, they, that is, I could be the one who will deliver others to tribulation and kill others and hate because of Jesus' name.

Many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. And I thought, but how does this start? How does one reach a point where I start to hate somebody else and betray somebody else? It starts with a little cooling off in love. I do love you all, dear brothers and sisters and children.

I love every one of you. I really mean it. But the moment I allow a little cooling off in love, a little bit of, oh, I'm not going to love you as much.

The devil has already started me down that pathway of hatred. A little cooling off because you did something. Maybe I had some expectation of you that you didn't meet.

This happens in churches all the time. I imagine that body life, family life in the church would look like this. But somehow that expectation was not met.

It didn't feel a particular way. When I was in a particular place of need, somehow you didn't meet my need and so a little cooling off happened in love. The end of that road is hatred and betrayal.

And that little cooling off in love because... This is how divorces happen. People don't get divorced overnight. After a few weeks or a few months of marriage, a little cooling off happens.

When you actually have to live with that person, you realize everything wasn't as pretty and hunky-dory as you thought it would be. A little cooling off. Ah! They offended me a little bit.

Happens in marriages and happens in churches as well. And it is how the devil will destroy this church as well. Unless we take the warning to heart.

A little cooling off. Because he says, further down, this hatred, many will betray one another. Verse 12, Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold.

The end result will be betrayal and hatred, but it will start with a little bit of cooling off. Ah! I'm going to step back a little bit from my commitment to the church and my love for the brotherhood. I'm going to step back, cool off a little bit.

I'm not going to plug in as much. I'm going to just step back a little bit. I'm not going to betray you right now.

I'm not going to turn against you. I'm not going to stab you in the back. But I'm just going to cool off.

And if the devil sees in my heart a little bit of bitterness, or a little bit of a jealousy, or a little bit of a lack of love, a little bit of a lowering of expectations that leads to a lack of love, that will end in betrayal. Let's turn to 1 Peter 4. I believe Peter remembered these words of Jesus when he says here in 1 Peter 4, verse 7. 1 Peter 4, verse 7, The end of all things is near. Therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.

And above all, keep fervent in your love for one another. There's Peter, hearkening to the words of Jesus and saying, Jesus warned me. He's writing to others who didn't hear the words of Jesus firsthand.

And he's warning us. He says, Dear brothers and sisters, you saints, he says, who are spread throughout, chapter 1, verse 1, etc. I want to tell you the warning that Jesus, that love will grow cold and will lead to betrayal and hatred.

So keep fervent in your love for one another. So, here's the question. I want to ask you, dear brothers and sisters, at RLCF especially, as the Holy Spirit has asked me.

Has your love for the body of Christ, this local expression of the body, the brothers and sisters and the children here, grown since the time you came, first came? Has it grown? Or has it grown a little bit and now it's sort of tapering off? And it's cooling a little bit. I want to tell you in Jesus' name a warning that Jesus Himself gave us, that you're headed towards the path of betrayal. Is your love grown? Is your love growing? Proficial, committed love.

A love that covers a multitude of sins, verse 8. This is the life that we ought to be on. And this happened to the church in Ephesus, Revelation chapter 2. Revelation chapter 2, we read about the church in Ephesus and Jesus, the same Jesus, who gave us all these warnings that we've seen, had only one sentence of rebuke to the church in Ephesus. And yet to this church He says, Unless you change your ways, unless you take this warning to heart, verse 5, I'm going to come and remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent.

Jesus had only one sentence of rebuke. There was only one sentence of rebuke to the church in Ephesus and yet that was so serious that He said, If you don't take this sentence of rebuke to heart, I'm going to take away the lampstand. I'm going to remove my presence from your midst.

And then you can continue to have your meetings if you want, and have your conferences and do whatever you want, have fun activities, but I won't be there. You'll still have your own meetings, but I won't be there. I'm going to remove your lampstand out of its place.

And what was the one sentence of rebuke? Verse 4, You have left your first love. Six words. You have left your first love.

You had a love for me, and you allowed it to cool off. You had a love for my church, for the body in which I placed you. It was my body, but you allowed it to cool off.

You have left your first love. And I went back to the letter that Paul wrote to the Ephesians. If you'll turn there with me to the book of Ephesians.

I see that the Holy Spirit had warned this church multiple times. That word love appears in the book of Ephesians almost more than any other epistle of Paul's, interestingly. I think it comes a few more times in Romans, which is a bigger book, but among the epistles to the churches, it's interesting that that word love comes more times in the book of Ephesians than almost any other epistle.

And that's the same church that he said, You have left your first love. It's as if Jesus had warned them, Remember love, remember love, remember love, remember love, don't lose that love. And they took it to heart.

They didn't take it to heart. So, what did Jesus tell them about love, first of all? Let's look at this briefly. First of all, he tells them about finding their security in the love of the Father.

This is the love, dear brothers and sisters, that the devil wants to cool off more than anything else. Ephesians 1 verse 4, he said that, In love, verse 5, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise and glory of His grace. So, the first cooling off in love that the devil wants to happen in our lives is this, that we cool off in knowing God's love for us as a father.

The moment the devil can get you to doubt the fact that God loves you as a father, God loves you more than any, better than any earthly father could have loved you. The moment he gets you to doubt that and you start to cool off in that, he can mislead you into anything else. Be watchful over that.

Don't let the devil ever get you to doubt the fact that in love, he chose you before the foundation of the world. That means today, when you fell into something or you displeased him in some way, it didn't change the fact that out of his love that started before the foundations of the world, he made a destination for you. Dear brothers and sisters, God chose you in love before the foundations of the world.

After that, millions of years after that, because the foundations of the world is billions of trillions of years ago. And trillions of years later, you showed up on this earth. And then you were born.

And then you lived your life. And you committed sin. And all these things, all of that came much later.

But his love for you began before the foundations of the world. Remember that. Don't let that love cool off.

And if today you're less secure in God's love for you, be careful, dear brother, dear sister. Be careful that that cooling off will lead you into being deceived. God loves you.

And he predestined you before the foundations of the world. Then he goes on to say in verse 15, it speaks that this love of God that's been shed abroad in our hearts results in, verse 15, a love for all the saints. Has your knowledge of God's love that's hopefully grown over the years, has that resulted in a greater love for all the saints? That's the true mark.

That the love of God has filled your heart. And you say, Lord, I'm more secure in your love for me now. The result of that is that my love for the saints has grown.

Because I've seen God's love in a greater measure. 1 Timothy 1, verse 15. He goes on to say in Ephesians 1, verse 15, chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3, verse 17.

Let's back up and read, actually, verse 14. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. So you see there, he's speaking about being rooted and grounded in love.

In this love, the Father's love for me, and my overflowing love for all the saints. To know the surpassing love of Christ. The surpassing love of Christ.

What does that love look like? Verse chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 4. Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love. This is what love for the body of Christ looks like. Making allowance.

This is how I think the Amplified Bible says it. Making allowance. And I thought about it like this.

Who is it that we make allowance for? If you come and tell me something about my children, that you saw my child do something, I want to tell you already, I'm going to make an allowance for them. Because I know them. You tell me, hey I saw your son do that, or I saw your daughter do that.

Immediately, I'm going to take it seriously first of all, because I love my children, but immediately, there's going to be an allowance I'm going to make for them, because they are my children. I know them. I live with them.

I see them on their good days and their bad days, and the ups and downs. I see them through it all, and because of that, because I'm vested in their lives, because I'm walking with them in love, the moment you tell me something negative about them, I'm going to make an allowance for them. And the Lord said, are you willing to make an allowance for my children, the others in the church? When you see somebody else's child acting a certain way, when you see another brother or another sister, in their quirks, and the way they are behaving a certain way, are you willing to make an allowance? This is love.

Making allowance for others. Making allowance for others, like you do for your own children. Think about that in our interactions, dear brothers and sisters, as we move forward as a church, as we grow in love.

When those little circumstances come up, when expectations you have of others aren't met, when somebody does something or says something that's a little hurtful, or a little careless perhaps, yes, they'll have to answer the Lord for that, let's be careful in how we speak to each other and treat each other, let's be considerate of each other, but when those things happen to you, or when things happen to us, make allowance, like you would for your own children, like you would for your own husband, or for your own wife, because you're vested in them, and you believe that God, who knit your heart together with your wife, your husband, your children, wants to do the same thing with the other brothers and sisters in the church. Making allowance for one another. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 15.

Speaking the truth in love. This is another aspect of growing in love, that we speak the truth to one another. We're not hypocritical.

Our verse for next week is, let love be without hypocrisy. That means that we really mean what we say. We ask God to change us on the inside, so that our love is without hypocrisy.

And sometimes, that love also involves discernment. Philippians chapter 1, a mark of our growing love. Philippians 1 verse 9. And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more, in real knowledge and all discernment.

Has your love grown in discernment, where you're not judging by what your eyes see and what your ears hear, but by discernment through the Holy Spirit. Where God is giving you discernment about needs in the church. Where nobody has to tell you about their need, because God has shown you the other person's need.

Think about in our marriages, first of all. That God gives us discernment about needs, husbands, for our wives. Wives, God gives you discernment about needs for your husbands.

God gives you discernment about needs for your children. God gives us discernment about needs for others in the church. The love that's growing in discernment.

Another area in which love grows is Hebrews chapter 12. When we're disciplined. Another mark of love is that we receive discipline, children.

When your parents discipline you. I want to tell you, I believe if you're a part of this church, that your parents discipline you out of love. Hebrews 12 verse 6, Those whom the Lord loves, He disciplines.

This is a mark of God's love. And He scourges every son whom He receives. So children, when your parents discipline you, however that might be, maybe they take away some privilege, or some other form of discipline.

That's a mark of God's love. In the church, likewise, as elders, sometimes we have to implement discipline in the church. We do so very carefully, very slowly.

But often that discipline leads to offense. People get offended over that discipline. That correction.

But to have a heart that's willing to be disciplined. A heart that says, Lord, if you discipline me, whether it's directly, or through your word, or through elders, I want to be disciplined by you, Lord. Because that's a mark of your love for me.

A love that's willing to be disciplined. Don't let that love cool off to the point where you've lost that love, that willingness to be disciplined. Go back to Ephesians 5. Sometime, maybe this week or this month, you go back and read the letter to the Ephesians.

Knowing that in the end, they left that first love. After God's repeated warning to them about love. Ephesians 5, He says in verse 2, Walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for you.

Remember that the love that God is asking of you is the love that He first exemplified. Walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for you. And then He goes on to say, Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church.

Ephesians 5 verse 25. And then again in verse 28. So husbands, love your wives as your own bodies.

Verse 33. All of us, husbands, love your wife even as Himself. And the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

I think of all the warnings that God gave to the church in Ephesus. And maybe they got taken up with all the meetings and all the ministry and all the other things that were going on. But they forgot love in the home.

Husbands stopped loving their wives as much and were more involved in the ministry that they were called to or something else. Wives stopped loving their husbands as much and got taken up with other things. Parents and children, that love in the home got lost.

Brothers and sisters stopped loving each other. But they were having lots of activity. You read in Revelation chapter 2. And ultimately, they lost their love for Christ Himself foremost.

And I think that's a danger for us. I'll close with one verse, 1 Timothy 1. Dear brothers and sisters, as the Lord continues to use us as a church and allow us to be an influence around the world, let's not forget the most important thing. 1 Timothy 1 verse 5. This is the goal of all of our instruction.

Love from a pure heart. That means that the mark that my love is growing is that my heart is purer in its love for Jesus first of all. And purer in its love for others in the church in which He's placed me.

Examine your heart, dear brother, dear sister. Don't allow the devil to mislead you from the truth of who Jesus really is. And don't allow your love to cool off in any way.

These different aspects of love that I've spoken of. Let that love grow. If your love is not growing, it's cooling off.

To another church, the church of Laodicea, he says, you're neither cold nor hot, you're lukewarm. Your heart once upon a time, I believe him saying, the church of Laodicea was another church that Paul had written a letter to. But their love cooled off.

And they still had meetings, but they were a lukewarm church. Let's take it to heart. Heavenly Father, I pray that each one of us, from the youngest to the oldest, will see Jesus for who He really is.

Open our eyes, Father, like you did for Peter. He was uneducated. He didn't listen to as many sermons as we have.

And perhaps we need to go back to that simplicity and purity of devotion to you that Peter had, that you saw, which is why you supernaturally opened his eyes to see Jesus. Do that for me. Do that for my brothers and sisters and the children here.

Open our eyes to see Jesus, the real Jesus. And Lord, I pray that you'll preserve any one of us from having our love cool off in any way. That our fervent devotion to you, first of all, will grow stronger.

And our fervent devotion to the brothers and sisters and the children in this church that you've placed us will grow stronger as well, not cooling off. Lest we be deceived. Thank you, Lord, that we have hope in you.

You've given us these warnings for our protection so that we might be saved. Help us to endure to the end. We ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.