The Depth Of Our Apostasy...the West in prophecy to 5

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,( 2 Timothy 3:1-6)

Paul warned us, and has been warning us for centuries through the Epistles of the perils of the last days.

According to Paul, the peril comes about, because of what happens in the souls of people. “Men shall be Lovers of Self…”, and all that flows out of that position.

I believe that all of scripture has a universal application, unless otherwise noted, these particular warnings are descriptive of all men from all walks of life.

However I also believe that scriptures such as these are uniquely applicable to a specific group of people, ones who had formerly known a better way, (otherwise it would be unremarkable to say that they “Loved Self…” and all of the rest of this description.)

The people he is describing here are people who would have at one time known that excessive love of Self is a vice, not a virtue. The description seems to presuppose that at one time this people knew better, but turned away from their former knowledge.

Another clue is that in spite of this list of reprehensible vices and ominous characteristics, the people He is talking about still hold to a “form of godliness” though they deny it’s power. This people he warns of, come from people who once knew something of piety and devotion to God. They may still go to church, but they do not believe in the power of God to change a life as their forefathers once did.

To me this is an apt prophetic warning which is a description of much of the characteristics of people of the West. (I am sure this passage is broader in scope, but that is partly because the West has been so influential in the modern world, the rest of the World imitates our fads, modes of entertainment , love of Sports, and even our coarsened, “in your face” kind of culture.

It was only within the last 100 plus years or so, that the pseudo science of Psychology began to develop in Europe and then eventually to spread over to America. Psychology claims to be the study of the soul, which traditionally in the west, was considered the province of religion.

Psychology’s earliest proponents were atheists and in some cases were avidly antiChristian. However their claims to “scientific insight” into the soul were widely accepted by millions, who submitted to psychological counseling, or who enrolled in the new courses on Psychology and Psychiatry which were springing up at every college and University in the Western world.

The Psychological teaching on the Self, was in direct conflict with Christian teaching.

Christ taught that inordinate self love stood in the way of Loving God, and love of neighbor.Self, as an independent entity before God, was to be denied, chastened, not trusted, sought or exalted.

Psychology teaches the opposite; the great goal of life is to “discover ourselves”, “find ourselves”, develop “Self Esteem” , Put others ahead of self, and love others as much as you already love yourself. We are to seek God, and the will of God, not self.

But various schools of Psychology teach that all men have deep issues, maladies, even psychosis’ because of early trauma, and a subsequent lack of self Love and esteem.

Man has always been selfish, but western man and any others with any exposure to the gospels, have known that it is utterly wrong to put Self first or to seek “Self Esteem”. Self pampering or self preference was something discouraged and even seen as shameful, something to hide, downplay or even to eschew.

It has only been recently, in our lifetimes, due to the overwhelming acceptance of the heresy of Psychology, that open Self Love has been celebrated and encouraged. Humility was seen as a virtue, something to be cultivated. It is hard to calculate how toxic this has been to the West and even to the church in the West.

What happens when men are encouraged constantly, to indulge in Self Love,to openly pursue selfish aspirations and told to always remain true to self at any cost? Something like Paul’s description in 2 Timothy 3.

Even the church collapsed against the onslaught and so called “respectability” of Psychology, referring counselees to certified Psychological professionals, and opening Psych departments in Church Universities.

Apostate ministers acted as though godless humanists such as Freud, Maslow, Adler, and Erickson, were going to be able to give us insights into human personality that even Jesus and the Apostles didn’t know. This is how the Western church seriously denied Christ, in the face of “academic” respectability, just as they denied Him earlier in the days of Charles Darwin’s evolutionary heresy.

We see this in the “Church Growth Movement”, which on its own terms has been a wildly successful endeavor, building “Mega Churches” by virtually creating a “the customer is always right” mentality in Church, deliberately catering to the Self Love of Modern (carnal) churchgoers. Everything about this movement is calculated to appeal to the constituency, the churchgoer, who is treated as a religious consumer.

But what is a church? Isn’t the primal directive of the LORD of the church, to “Take up your cross and deny Yourself”?

We have seen Western entrepreneurial and advertising genius (mis)applied to Christian worship, and though on worldly terms it is a smashing success, in terms of the Kingdom of God, it is a disaster!

We in the west have undergone a real revolution, something as radically antiChristian as any we have ever seen, it is the “Self Revolution”, men now Love self, they “seek themselves” , take “Selfies” and broadcast all of their thoughts no matter how trivial, on Social Media.

This “love of Self” has caused some men to become feminine, in their inordinate concern for their looks and clothing. It has emboldened the perverse and resentful as they throw off the shame which once inhibited them, and flaunt their shame in public.

Columbus Ohio hosted a “Gay Pride” event today. More than a hundred thousand people came to watch the “Parade”, a good many of them, Parents with children. What Perversions those children were exposed to, would have been unthinkable for anyone to have to see, a few short decades ago. Several area (apostate) churches participated to show their “unconditional Love”(another Psychologucal heresy which has ruined the Western moral status) for the degenerates.

This is what happens when men are encouraged to Love themselves, without any reference to God, self denial or neighbor.

The AntiChrist, in the final expression of man’s rebellion against God, is described in these terms,

“He will exalt Self above all that is called God or that is worshipped, showing himself that he is God…”( 2 Thess 2)

Revelation 17
7 The angel said to me, “Why are you amazed? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, the beast with the seven heads and the ten horns.
http://www.usccb.org/bible/revelation/17

Romans 10
8 But what does it say?
“The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart”
(that is, the word of faith that we preach),
9 for, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
11 For the scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.”
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, enriching all who call upon him.
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

http://www.usccb.org/bible/romans/10

Revelation 2
7 “’”Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To the victor I will give the right to eat from the tree of life that is in the garden of God.”’
- - - - -
11 “’”Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
The victor shall not be harmed by the second death.”’
- - - - -
17 “’”Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To the victor I shall give some of the hidden manna; I shall also give a white amulet upon which
is inscribed a new name, which no one knows except the one who receives it.”’
- - - - -
24 But I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not uphold this teaching and
know nothing of the so-called deep secrets of Satan: on you I will place no further burden,
25 except that you must hold fast to what you have until I come.
26 “’”To the victor, who keeps to my ways until the end, I will give authority over the nations.
27 He will rule them with an iron rod. Like clay vessels will they be smashed,
28 just as I received authority from my Father. And to him I will give the morning star.
29 “’”Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’
- - - - -
Revelation 3
4 However, you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments;
they will walk with me dressed in white, because they are worthy.
5 “’”The victor will thus be dressed in white, and I will never erase his name
from the book of life but will acknowledge his name in the presence of my
Father and of his angels.
6 “’”Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’
- - - - -
7 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia, write this:
“‘The holy one, the true,
who holds the key of David,
who opens and no one shall close,
who closes and no one shall open,
says this:
8 “‘“I know your works (behold, I have left an open door before you, which no one can close).
You have limited strength, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
9 Behold, I will make those of the assembly of Satan who claim to be Jews and are not,
but are lying, behold I will make them come and fall prostrate at your feet,
and they will realize that I love you.
10 Because you have kept my message of endurance, I will keep you safe in the time of trial
that is going to come to the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.
11 I am coming quickly. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one may take your crown.
12 “‘“The victor I will make into a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never leave it again.
On him I will inscribe the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem,
which comes down out of heaven from my God, as well as my new name.
13 “‘“Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’
- - - - -
20 “’”Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and
opens the door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.
21 I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my throne, as I myself
first won the victory and sit with my Father on his throne.

22 “’”Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’”
- - - - -

* [2:7] Victor: referring to any Christian individual who holds fast to the faith
and does God’s will in the face of persecution. The tree of life that is in the
garden of God: this is a reference to the tree in the primeval paradise (Gn 2:9);
cf. Rev 22:2, 14, 19. The decree excluding humanity from the tree of life has
been revoked by Christ.

http://www.usccb.org/bible/revelation/2
http://www.usccb.org/bible/revelation/3

Some years ago I watched a vanity news item about a woman who was climbing a famous mountain, can’t remember which just now, may have been in Africa. Anyhoo, during her interview she talked more or less only in terms of what all this meant to her. Even when she mentioned her young child it was like something important to do for her fulfillment, a big check off of her bucket list.

The child, seemingly incidental to what it represented to the woman, was presently doing without its mother and would continue to do without for weeks. I didn’t get that the woman considered her absence even important to her. Also her attitude about the risks of climbing the mountain seemed to not even connect with what her death would mean to the child.

It was disgusting to watch. Enough so that it still stick with me.

Once people commonly understood that children were a gift from the Lord. Now it seems like they are far too often viewed as either burdens or achievements and little more.

Over at Hannity forums there’s a few forumites whose line is (paraphrase) it must be nice to be a Christian and be so special.

To the man I would classify them as individuals who love to justify themselves.

Time and again I resist laying into them saying that this salvation is offered to them too and yet they are the ones acting special, who know the offer is there but willfully go about rejecting it because it’s not on their terms, whatever those terms may be (it certainly varies).

Every so often I compose parodies of song verses for effect, even hymns, and one was specifically inspired by such persons (specifically specifically those who want to bring their sins into the congregations and have Christians agree that what they do is okay). It goes: “Just as I am, I’m changing not, how dare you say my soul’s got spots, I’m okay with me and that should be enough, Oh Lamb of God I’ll come just as I am.”

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