Signs of the Times?

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

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I’ve always enjoyed studying history because history has shaped today. This is precisely why actual history is not generally taught anymore. People who study and understand history are those who are not doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.

G. H. Pember was a Christian author who lived in the late 1800s and published numerous books that most people today have never even heard of, much less read. One of his books, Earth’s Earliest Ages, outlines several very important aspects of history and what occurred during his lifetime with respect to the rise of many forms of spiritualism (paganism), and how he believed it connected with the days of Noah and ultimately to the current end times.

Pember noted a growing movement during his day pushing theosophy and spiritualism into the mainstream. He writes of the attempts to make God little more than a man-created social construct in the pursuit of spiritual evolution.

…And in no point, perhaps, is its real unity more easily discerned than in the main object of its teachings, which is, to set aside the salvation of the Lord Jesus, and to substitute the doctrine that sin must be gradually worn away by our own works and sufferings, either in the spirit-world or in a series of reincarnations upon earth.[1]

Apart from Christianity, every other religious system is based on some form of salvation by works. Christianity is the only system that has nothing to do with our works to gain salvation and everything to do with absolute faith in the finished work of our Lord Jesus. Nothing compares with Christianity, yet since Jesus walked this earth, people have endeavored to add to or take away from the cross work of Christ consistently.

Pember shows how humanity through the ages and especially during his day, did their uttermost to teach that a “salvation” came only to those who sought it through many forms of self-debasement. This continues today through the various teachings of the New Age in all its forms.

There is a huge difference between embracing increasing biblical humility as Christians face daily situations, trials or tribulation, versus deliberate self-abasement for the purpose of allegedly reaching greater heights of spirituality. This latter type of “spiritual evolution,” is directly opposed to the truth of Scripture.

The one thing that shapes the world’s “spiritual evolutionary” systems is that they are all built on sets of rules; do this, don’t do that, eat this, don’t eat that, enjoy this, but don’t enjoy that, etc. Christianity is not based on rules, but on the reality of the living Christ, who dwells within us via the Holy Spirit, by faith and the life that flows from His Presence within us. This results in an exchanged life, a life of growing love for God and for others (against such, there is no law; Galatians 5:23), versus a life of conforming to and glorifying Self.

Paul deftly deals with the error related to rules in his letter to his readers in Colossians 2:21-23 NKJV.

‘Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,’ which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Paul notes those rules do nothing apart from having “an [outward] appearance of wisdom” but ultimately create a false humility within based on a reliance on works. These rules do nothing to help the flesh ignore living by Self, but actually feed the flesh.

Pember notes clearly that Satan ultimately works to imprison people into a system of pantheism, which at its root, is paganism. Many who embrace these systems do so because there’s an air of philosophical intellectualism and superiority within those systems. However, these philosophical systems remove the One, true God from the picture, replacing Him with Self (or Satan). People believe they are truly achieving something when they have only succeeded in turning away from God to embrace Satan.

How was this accomplished during Pember’s day? He witnessed the clear rise of two main religious systems in England:

1. Theosophy
2. Buddhism

Theosophy is from the Greek meaning “divine wisdom.” [2] That and Buddhism (as well as all forms of New Age), claim to embrace the so-called “wisdom of the ages.” This wisdom is, as James says in James 3:15-17, something directly opposed to God and His truth because of its origins.

15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Ultimately, religious systems based on “divine wisdom” are nothing more than Self–placating. Anything to do with Self is anathema to God because Self is completely opposed to God’s rule in us. Self must be destroyed and pagan religious systems glorify it.

Pember warned of the fact that he had begun seeing an increase in acceptance of Theosophy and Buddhism in society through books, magazines and newspaper articles. He states that even though the subjects were often presented with a bit of skepticism by an author, those same authors would “…often evince a curiosity and interest in their theme which bear testimony to its fascinating power.” [3] He also notes how numerous clergymen and society women then took the “five precepts” publicly as induction into Buddhism.

It would appear that the “falling away” (2 Thessalonians 2:3), spoken of by Paul began some time ago. It is merely continuing at an increasing pace now. Society has become far more base and animistic in nature; a true spiritual devolution has begun in earnest and will continue to grow, laying the groundwork for the coming man of sin and final world order.

Some of the very same tenets pushed by those who had embraced either Theosophy or Buddhism during Pember’s day (more accurately reflected today as New Age), are the exact same tenets being pushed today. This is not by accident, but by design.

It is also interesting to note that Madame Blavatsky, co-founder of the Theosophical Society, lived during the same time as G. H. Pember so he was witness to the changes that occurred throughout society because of her efforts. Seguing to today, consider just how much is out in the open throughout society with respect to Satan. Satanism, talk of the demonic, other-worldly apparitions, space aliens and wisdom from ascended masters reaching into our realm are all discussed openly and believed. It’s believed that in order to be enlightened today, one must engage in New Age practice and discussion.

New Agism in all forms is creating an ever-increasing gap between Christians and unbelievers in the world. That gap will become much larger as this world moves closer to the start of the Tribulation period. That coming seven-year period of the Tribulation will be Satan’s time to deceive and capture as much of the world as God allows. It will be Satan’s time to control and destroy through his spiritual son, Antichrist, who will be the visible manifestation of Satan himself.

During Pember’s day, several tenets came to the fore that not only remain today, but are being extravagantly pushed by controllbalists under the guise of “saving the planet.” One of these tenets during Pember’s day had to do with our Lord Jesus and His deity/humanity. The second had to do with vegetarianism, or the avoidance of meat. The third had to do with celebrating a vow of chastity. Let’s consider them briefly.

The Lord Jesus
With respect to our Lord Jesus and beliefs about Him, the theosophical or New Age version of Jesus goes like this:

Christianity is Christianity by this one fundamental truth, that as God is the Father of man, so truly, and not poetically or metaphorically only, man is the son of God, participating in God’s very essence and nature, though separated from God by self and sin. This oneness of nature between the Divine and the Human does not lower the concept of God by bringing it nearer to the level of humanity: on the contrary, it raises the old concept of man, and brings it nearer to its true ideal. [4]

If you read the above statement quickly, you might come away asking, “What’s wrong with that?” Truth is, as Pember notes, that statement precariously paves the way for the coming Antichrist. It argues that “…any man may become a Christ, and affirms that our Lord was the ‘Firstborn’ Son of God in the sense that He was the first to fully realise (sic) the common relationship between God and man, and to proclaim it ‘in clear and simple language.’” This is essentially, to some degree, at the root of every system opposed to Christianity.

This is the real aspect of everything New Age. Truth is always mixed with error and if we are not careful, we will not notice the error and could easily end up embracing it. Studying His Word to show yourself approved, able to rightly divide that Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15), is the only way to avoid this problem.

Vegetarianism & Chastity
During Pember’s day there was pressure put on society to avoid meat as not being good for you spiritually because of how it “blocked” certain things. Today, the same attitude (with a different reason), exists and is growing through the argument that eating meat is just too dangerous for the planet because there are too many cows (or chickens or pigs, etc.). The carbon footprint from those animals is allegedly killing the planet. Therefore, in order to save the planet, we must stop eating all meat. Even though the stated reason for avoiding meats today is different from Pember’s day, the end result is the same.

Pember noted that within Hinduism, there is a belief that the “…success of either medium or adept depends on the presence in his body of a subtle fluid, called akasa [or akasha – ed], which is soon exhausted, and without which the demons are unable to act. This fluid, it is said, may be artificially generated by a vegetarian diet and chastity—an ominous sign to the student of prophetic Scripture.” [5; emphasis added]

Systems opposed to God are built on sets of rules designed to exert pressure on Self, increasing demonic influence. While those rules outwardly appear to have spiritual value, they actually work against biblical spirituality and growth, turning people inward and toward the demonic realm. Could it be that our friendly neighboring controllbalist overlords know that if people stop eating real meat, they will be far more susceptible to suggestion and control by demons? They want Satan to rule (as Lucifer), so they work toward that end.

What Pember saw in his lifetime was the earnest beginnings of the falling away that is one of the big signs of the times leading up to the Tribulation and eventual return of our Lord. Over 200 years later, we see what society now blindly embraces and its results. Everything demonic is rising to the surface, encouraged by Satan’s prophets.

None of this should alarm us because God’s Word warns us of it. It should instead cause us to realize our need to continue to draw close to our Lord and to hide in the shadow of His wings (Psalm 36:7; 91:4), as we continue to worship, serve and cling to the Most High God.

[1] Earth’s Earliest Ages, pg v (Preface), fifth edition

[2] https://www.theosophical.org/about/theosophy

[3] Earth’s Earliest Ages, pg viii (Preface to the Third Edition)

[4] Ibid, pg xiv

[5] Ibid, pp xii-xiii

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective