CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER

Matthew 24:12 "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. NKJV

The preceding verse is for me, perhaps one of the most frightening verses in all of Scripture! Jesus here is speaking of the days that you and I are living in! Read Matthew 24 and see clearly He was talking of our time! He says that because of iniquity, or lawlessness, it will cause most people to grow colder in the area of love. The word “many” can be defined as the majority. That means that most of us will cool off. Cooling off is very subtle. A great parallel is hypothermia! Hypothermia can set in gradually, and victims often don't realize how impaired they are because it affects judgment. Early recognition saves lives.

Lawlessness and exposure to it will diminish love. Once your love for Jesus begins to cool, your love for the world begins to grow! Jesus said, in the sternest terminology, that He would reject the lukewarm because they make Him nauseous! (read Revelation 3:16) This is a more serious problem than most people consider! Love of the world quenches your fire for God!

Acts 28:2 And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, BECAUSE OF THE PRESENT RAIN AND BECAUSE OF THE COLD. (Read Acts 27:37 - Acts 28:2 - All of those 276 souls were subject to hypothermia.) …They kindled a fire to remedy hypothermia! SELAH

Hypothermia is a potentially dangerous drop in body temperature, usually caused by prolonged exposure to cold temperatures. The risk of cold exposure increases as the winter months arrive.

[[[THIS IS A TREACHEROUSLY COLD SEASON THAT WE ARE IN TODAY!]]]

Let's look at some symptoms:

1) Shivering. Shivering is typically the first sign of hypothermia. This is because shivering is the body’s automatic defense against cold temperatures in an attempt to warm itself. Shivering is a natural body function in response to cold surroundings and temperatures where skeletal muscles start to shake in small motions, trying to produce warmth.

||| WHEN A BELIEVER FIRST BEGINS TO COOL SPIRITUALLY, THERE WILL BE A REACTION IN THEIR SPIRIT. A TREMBLING IF YOU WILL, OR A FLUSHED FEELING IN THE FLESH. THE HUMAN SPIRIT IS STRIVING TO KEEP THE AFFECTIONS FOR THE LORD STRONG ENOUGH TO WALK AWAY FROM TEMPTATION, AND THE DRIFTING THEN ENSUES IN SPIRITUAL DEPARTURE....

2) Lack of coordination. Coordination requires the brain, nerves, and muscles to work together smoothly. However, a lack of muscle coordination or poor limb coordination may become apparent in individuals suffering from hypothermia. When body temperatures are in the normal range, resulting body movements are also smooth, coordinated, and seamless. However, when body temperatures drop increasingly, the communication between the brain and other parts of the body becomes disrupted, and movements may become sudden, unsteady, and jerky.|

|| WHEN THE COOLING BELIEVER KEEPS GOING THE WRONG DIRECTION, DISORIENTATION SETS IN. IT BEGINS TO TELL ON THEM. THEY CANNOT WALK A STRAIGHT LINE SO TO SPEAK! THEIR SPIRIT AND THE HOLY SPIRIT LOSE THE FLOW OF COMMUNION, AND THE ANOINTING BEGINS TO DEMINISH!

3) Slurred speech. Common causes of slurred speech can include impairment of the nervous system, when speech becomes hard to understand. When body temperatures start to decline in a state of hypothermia, the nervous system is affected as well, and impaired communication between the brain, nervous system, and speech can be observed as slowed, incoherent speech that comes out as a mumble.

||| SPIRITUAL HYPOTHERMIA WILL CAUSE THE LOSS OF CLARITY AND BOLDNESS OF SPEECH AND WITNESS OF CHRIST. COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE TEPID BELIEVER BECOMES IMPAIRED, AND WHAT SHOULD COME OUT AS A CLEAR TESTIMONY BEFORE LOST PEOPLE SOUNDS MORE LIKE MUMBO JUMBO!

4) Mental confusion. One of the more noticeable changes brought on by Hypothermia is increasing mental confusion, which aggravates as the individual’s body temperature continues to decline. As the condition progresses, logical thinking becomes more challenging and eventually impossible for the person. In some cases, the person may even become completely disoriented and have their memory affected where things otherwise familiar may become forgotten.

||| WHEN A BELIEVER COOLS OFF SPIRITUALLY, THEY BECOME CONFUSED, AND THEIR CONVICTIONS BEGIN TO FADE. WHAT WERE ONCE CLEAR LINES AND BOUNDARIES THEY WOULD NOT DARE TO COMPROMISE, NOW THEY FORGET, AND THEIR STANDARDS BEGIN TO CRUMBLE!

5) Skin changes. A person suffering from hypothermia will exhibit skin that is

cool or cold to the touch. In addition, the skin will also lose its color becoming rather pale.

||| AS THEIR LOVE FOR GOD BEGINS TO COOL, THEIR WARMTH AND COUNTENANCE GROWS COLD AND DIM TOWARD OTHERS... BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND PEOPLE WHO NEED TO SEE JESUS IN THE LUKEWARM BELIEVER ARE TURNED AWAY BY THEIR DEMEANOR AND PERSONA!

6) Progressive loss of consciousness. As an individual’s body cools down their consciousness also suffers.

||| WHEN ONE’S SPIRITUAL TEMPERATURE DROPS, THERE IS A DEFINITE LOSS OF THEIR CONSCIENCE, AND SPIRITUAL CONSCIENTIOUSNESS AND SENSITIVITY TO THE HOLY SPIRIT.

7) Heart rate. Cold surroundings or a decline in internal body temperature can put immense stress on the heart. In essence, low temperatures cause the arteries and blood vessels to constrict, limiting blood flow and reducing the supply of oxygen to the heart. In an attempt to keep the circulation going through the narrowed blood vessels, the heart tries to pump harder, resulting in an increase in the heart rate and blood pressure.

||| TO COMPENSATE FOR THE SPIRITUAL DECLINE, THE RELIGIOUS FLESH WORKS HARDER TO MAINTAIN A FORM OF GODLINESS. PEOPLE MAY DO ALL KINDS OF SEEMINGLY GOOD THINGS BUT THE HEART QUICKLY TIRES BECAUSE THESE TYPES OF WORKS WILL NEVER PRODUCE LIFE AND VITALITY. UNLESS PROPER MEASURES ARE TAKEN TO GET THE SPIRITUAL TEMPERATURE BACK TO NORMAL, THE HEART WILL EVENTUALLY STOP.

8) Slow, shallow breathing. Like the heart rate, breathing patterns will also change in the different stages of hypothermia.

||| IN THE VERY SAME WAY, THE BREATHING OF HEAVEN’S AIR BECOMES VERY SHALLOW AND EVENTUALLY RESULTS IN A SPIRITUAL RESPIRATORY ARREST!

9) Drowsiness. As body temperature starts to slip, the brain does not work as efficiently as before. While this naturally causes symptoms like slowed reaction times and impaired judgement,

||| SPIRITUAL SLUMBER SETS IN, AND THE PERSON WILL LOSE DISCERNING AND FORGET THAT THEY WERE ONCE WASHED FROM THEIR SINS. THEY RETURN TO THEIR WALLOWING IN THE MIRE! (2PE. 2:22)

2PET. 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and ofJesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

10) Denial and apathy. Apathy is a suppression or absence of emotions, concerns, or feelings. The individual expresses little or no interest in surrounding events and often feels numb to events happening around them.

||| WOW WHAT A COMPLETE PARALLEL! IN THE VERY SAME WAY A PERSON WHOSE LOVE HAS GROWN COLD IS UNMOVED BY THE WORD OF GOD, THE MOVING OF HIS SPIRIT, THE DESPERATE NEEDS OF LOST HUMANITY

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HOW CAN WE TREAT SPIRITUAL HYPORTHERMIA?

Hypothermia is treated by preventing further heat from being lost and by gentlynwarming the patient.

||| THE UNDERSTANDING AND WARM COMPASSIONATE LOVE OF GOD THROUGH DISCIPLES CAN HELP A WILLING HYPOTHERMIC CHILD OF GOD BACK TO NORMAL SPIRITUAL TEMPERATURE!!

You should seek immediate medical attention if you suspect someone has hypothermia, as it can be life-threatening.

||| IN THE SAME WAY CHRISTIANS SHOULD PRAYERFULLY SEEK TO WARM THE FRIDGID CHRISTIAN BACK TO HEALTH!

To treat mild or moderate hypothermia, move the person indoors or somewhere warm as soon as possible.

||| PRAY WITH AND FOR THE FADING PERSON AND HELP THEM TO GET BACK INTO THE PRESENCE OF GOD!

Once the person is in a warm environment, carefully remove any wet clothing and dry them.

||| AFTER THE CHILLED PERSON IS BEGINNING TO WARM BACK UP TO THE LORD, IT IS IMPORTANT TO HELP THEM UNDERSTAND HOW THEY GOT INTO THIS DREADFUL POSITION. GET THEM OUT OF THE COLD AND DAMP WAY OF LIFE. THEY WILL BEGIN TO WARM BACK UP!!

Wrap them in warm blankets, towels, or coats (whatever you have available), protecting their head and torso first.

||| WRAP THEM UP IN THE COMFORTING WARMTH OF GOD'S WORD AND THE REASSURANCE OF HIS LOVE, FORGIVENESS, AND ACCEPTANCE OF THEM. THEY NEED THIS ESPECIALLY IN THEIR MIND AND HEART!

Encourage the person to shiver if they're capable of doing so.

||| ENCOURAGE THEM TO SHAKE OR STIR THEIR SPIRITS UP BY PRAYER AND STUDY OF THE WORD DAILY!

If possible, give the person warm drinks (not alcohol) or high-energy foods

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR STRONG BROTHERS AND SISTERS TO HELP THESE EAT AND DRINK SPIRITUAL FOOD AND TO TAKE THEM INTO THEIR REGULAR FELLOWSHIP!

It's important to handle a person with hypothermia gently and carefully.

THE SPIRITUAL PARALLEL IS THE SAME

Every blessing!

Tom