. THE SPREAD OF LAWLESSNESS.
"There will come a time when the
inhabitants of the earth will be seized with panic. The way of the truth will be
hidden from sight, and the land will be barren of
faith. There will be
a great increase in wickedness, worse than anything you
now see or have ever heard of."
(2 Esdras 5:1 "As lawlessness spreads, men's love for one another will grow cold." (Matt 24:12 NEB). "The final age of this
world is to be a time of troubles. Men will love nothing but money and self;
they will be arrogant, boastful, and abusive; with no
respect for parents, no gratitude, no piety,
no natural affection; they will be
implacable in their hatreds, scandal-mongers, intemperate and fierce, strangers
to all goodness, traitors, adventurers, swollen with self "In the last days there will come men who scoff at religion and live self-indulgent lives, and they will say: 'Where now is the promise of his coming? …everything continues exactly as it has always been since the world began.'" (From 2 Peter 3:3,4 NEB). "Many will seek (understanding), but not find her; the earth will overflow with vice and wickedness. One country will ask another, "Has justice passed your way, or any just man?", and it will answer, "No." In those days men will hope, but hope in vain; they will strive, but never succeed." (From 2 Esdras 5:10-12 NEB).
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