What does Jesus mean in Matthew 24 when He says that in the end of the age lawlessness will increase – and the love of many will grow cold?
Phil Hotsenpiller is the author of and he shares what he thinks this statement means.
“Lawlessness is when those who are responsible leave. They leave their position of conviction; they leave their position of authority, they fail to do what is good in order to self-protect. So self-protection, in essence is an act of lawlessness.”
What does lawlessness look like in real life? Phil shares his experience of lawlessness on September 11, 2001.
“We were living on the East Coast at the time and we were flying out of LaGuardia airport on 9/11 and as we passed by the Twin Towers, the first plane had already entered into the towers, we actually saw it on fire, from the air. We were one of the last planes to be downed in Detroit, not really comprehending all that was happening.”
As soon as Phil had landed and exited, he knew something was different.
“There was no police in the airport. There was no one to take your bag. There was not a single taxicab to hop into. There was not a bus anywhere to be found. It wasn’t just a terrorist attack. It was a shift in the way that we looked at life so that even those who were responsible for that airport had left.”
What does it look like to stand up against lawlessness?
“We think about somebody like Dietrich Bonhoeffer who returned back to Germany after leaving to come to America because he realized that it would be a lawless or ungodly act to not confront the evil of his day.”
Standing up to lawlessness is avoiding the desire to self-protect and abandon our post when we are confronted with evil. As Christians, we should ask God to help us stand on our convictions when we are faced with evil.
Phil Hotsenpiller is widely considered an expert in the field of end-time prophecy, has been interviewed by The Washington Post, USA Today, CNN, The Telegraph, The Blaze and The History Channel on the subject of Armageddon and the post-apocalyptic world. He is the founder and Senior Pastor of Influence Church in Orange County, California. He is married to Tammy Lynne Hotsenpiller.
Key Scripture: Proverbs 22:29
Featured Songs: The Same Power – Jeremy Camp; The Lion and the Lamb – Leeland; Redeemed – Big Daddy Weave
One nation without law with Phil Hotsenpiller
