THE RISE OF WESTERN LAWLESSNESS:
Second Edition
By Chris Winters
Steinle
FOREWORD BY
Steinle takes the reader on a journey through 3,000 years of western history exposing the deceptive spirits of humanism and deism rooted in ancient philosophy- the same ungodly influences that were reintroduced to western thought during the Renaissance and the so-called Age of Enlightenment. Along the way, discover why the modern hodgepodge of spiritism, metaphysics, and evolutionary theories are not only false, but inconsistent and self-defeating. Includes more than 150 supporting references and 26 illustrations. Excerpts: [Today's freedom represents neither the Old Testament concept of freedom from ungodly peoples, nor the New Testament freedom from the enemies of sin, death, and eternal separation from God. The new face of freedom is the liberty of self-expression - a personal freedom that perceives as its adversary every form of restriction... freedom to experiment, freedom to sin, freedom from conscience, and freedom from God.
Meanwhile, the remnant who still cling to Judeo-Christian ethics look on in dismay as the citizens of the Western nations surrender all of their other rights for the right to sin. Lawlessness is next to godlessness...The Western Church has diminished the perceived authority of God by embracing the philosophical god of goodness. An ideal god that is too good to judge. A universal goodness devoid of power to do anything.
Today's nominal Christians are disowning the Lord God and following after this theoretical god; an inanimate god who sees nothing, hears nothing, and knows nothing. The philosophical god is as unlike the living God as the idols of ancient times. "But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them." - Psalm 115:4-8 NIV.
And
those who make this theoretical god will be like it! That is, the worshipers of
the abstract god will be without discernment, without knowledge, and without
judgment. Likewise, those who imitate this god believe that it is wrong to
distinguish differences, that it is wrong to claim truth, and wrong to judge
anyone. But the True God is the living God; the Father God; the Lord God who is
the judge of heaven and earth - the judge of the living and the dead. Thus,
this freedom called lawlessness has one great and dreaded enemy - the existence
of the one true God.]- end excerpts.
FOREWORD
By
Doug
Krieger
Tracing the “mystery of
lawlessness” throughout its initial rebellion in eternity past – throughout its
outbursts in antiquity unto its convulsions in the latter days is a cosmic
crime scene investigation culminating in the final exposure of the LAWLESS ONE
himself, along with all the “earthlings” who have yielded their members as
instruments of unrighteousness . . . they, having fully ingested the poisonous
pill, wherein deception is epidemic among them, shall perish because they did
not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Indeed, “for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (Excerpts from 2 Thess. 2:9-12).
Chris W. Steinle’s updated
volume, The Rise of Western Lawlessness, has compiled a dossier of criminal
activity, now greatly expanding his original investigation—it’s as if the “categorizer
of the brethren” (Rev. 12:10) appealed his case before the Judge of All the
Earth, refusing to have his head crushed beneath the feet of them who persist
with divine audacity in the proclamation of the Gospel of Peace. Alas! Steinle’s
courtroom drama simply hammers the final nail in his sarcophagus. The fabricator’s final appeal falls flat as
the Judge throws out his contentious protestations with Steinle’s new and
insurmountable evidence . . . the stolid conviction will abide . . . now
awaiting “whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and
destroy with the brightness of His coming” (2 Thess. 2:8).
You see, Chris W. Steinle, as
many of us, follows in the train of his Forerunner—Firstborn among many
brethren—He Who was made a little lower
than the angels . . . is now displaying His human captives to principalities
and powers who gather before His throne, under His scepter. They reflect the One of Whom it is forever
declared: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of
righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom . . . You have loved
righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed
You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions” (Heb. 1:8-9).
There are no “shades of grey” in between
loving righteousness and hating lawlessness—we’re either celebrating under His
anointing with the “oil of gladness” or perishing “like a cloak You will
fold them up, and they will be changed”—changed, alright, only to manifest
as “Your enemies Your footstool.”
The choice . . . ah, yes, in Steinle’s world there are no hung juries or
mistrials—none! “Wavering between two
opinions?” You’re not going to have that
option here.
In Josh McDowell’s classic, Evidence
Demands a Verdict, he presents overwhelming proof that the myriad of
ancient manuscripts laid bare to us all from both Testaments assures the
faithful before the whole world the record stands firm with abundant evidence:
what is read today was read in the originals—you must render a verdict!
The more you delve into The
Rise of Western Lawlessness, the more you shall conclude that “the whole
world lies in the hand of the Evil One” . . . because “we know we are of
God” (1 John 5:19). Listen up:
You cannot know just how evil are the “kingdoms of this world” and what
is at the core, the source, of their unrighteousness unless and until you
demarcate by the standard of His righteousness, Who is Christ Himself in Whom we
have been “rescued . . . from the kingdom of darkness and transferred . . .
into the Kingdom of His Dear Son” (Col. 1:13).
It is from this pristine vantage
that Occidental subterfuge shall, via the Willful King in the latter days, “. .
. exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against
the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for
what has been determined shall be done . . . [even so] . . . but news
from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with
great fury to destroy and annihilate many . . . yet he shall come to his end,
and no one will help him” (Excerpts from Daniel 11).
Yes, what has been determined
shall be done . . . till the wrath has been accomplished! Know this, “. . . rejoice, ye heavens, and
ye that dwell in them! Woe to the
inhabitants of the earth and the sea!
For the devil has come down unto you, having great wrath, because he
knoweth he hath but a short time” (Rev. 12:12-KJV).
We know as well! It’s just that getting from here to there
that’s, on the one hand, altogether assuring, but, on the other hand, leaves
little or no wiggle room for the present condition of the Laodicean
Congregation . . . which brings me to my concluding remarks in this brevity:
Make no doubt about it, Steinle
does not leave us any room to “man the bilge pumps” to save the sinking ship,
as D. L. Moody once said: “The Church’s
task is to get the passengers safely off the sinking ship and into the
lifeboats”—this is a full-blown rescue operation! Case in point: If you sought for a positive confession from
our Lord’s Olivet Discourse prior to His crucifixion in His disclosure to His
fledgling Ekklesia regarding how things playout in the final wrap up known as
the “end of the age,” you know, something akin to “it’ll only get better from
here on out”—let me disabuse you of such folly!
A casual read of Matthew 23-24
concerning the stereoscopic view of world history by Jesus commences with the
total destruction of Jerusalem’s Herodian Temple (Matt. 23:37-39)—following
hard on its heels are repeated warnings of deception, false Messiahs, deceived
multitudes, wars and rumors of wars (whatever they are)—but the end is not
yet! Then, ethos will rise against
ethnos (“nation will rise against nation”—racial wars) and kingdom against
kingdom (ideological wars), famines, pestilences, earthquakes in various places—these
are the beginning of sorrows (birth pangs) . . . you will be delivered to
tribulation, they will kill you, you will be hated by all nations for My name’s
sake, many will be offended, will betray one another, will hate one another,
many false prophets will rise up and deceive many, lawlessness will abound, the
love of many will grow cold . . . the abomination of desolation (will take
place as per Daniel, the prophet), best to flee, then there will be great
tribulation, more false Christs showing great signs and wonders to deceive even
the elect . . . the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the
stars will fall from heaven, the powers of the heavens will be shaken”
(excerpts from Matthew 24)—if you can see anything positive going on here, then
as Rudyard Kipling once said to Gunga Din:
“You’re a better man than I am.”
The point of the Olivet Discourse
was that in the midst of this abounding lawlessness was the sole
affirmation: “This gospel of the
kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations . . . and
then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14).
Without this shining testimony in the midst of these calamities, there’s
nothing of which to lay hold—the ship IS sinking—get off and into the Good News
of the Kingdom!
All this to say that a timeline
examination avails no plan in the mind of Jesus whereby soci0-political
reformation prior to His Coming again in glory is predicted—such “end-time
predictions” are heralded by many a well-meaning postmillennialist—the sincere “kingdom-minded”
lot. Instead, the Olivet Discourse
displays a world gone mad, ever descending into chaos, sin, rebellion, arriving
at the manifestation of the Abomination of Desolation and final Antichrist along
with the time of Great Tribulation. That
ought to cause every true believer severe reservation to recast social,
political, educational, and economic institutions into a “kingdom mold” –
indeed, Christ’s timeline abandons such Reformational outcomes until the time
of His Second Coming
“She isn’t just heading toward the rocks; she has already hit the rocks! She is already foundering! In short, the church’s task is not to save the ship, but to get her passengers safely off the ship and into the lifeboat; and that lifeboat is, of course, Jesus Christ!” (Sourced: Herald’s of the Tribulation, Doug Shearer, 2019).
Notwithstanding all the hype of
“making the world safe for democracy”—we now sit on the precipice of
socialism’s rise toward global dominance with “race theory” being waged as the
cause celeb for its triumph. Humanity is
more bent on identity politics than ever before—ethnos vs. ethnos . . .
capitalism vs. communism-socialism . . . the climax of the age draws near.
Brethren—I speak to the Household of Faith (and so does Chris Winters Steinle)—why labor we for a promised utopia under the guise of “salt and light” when Matthew 24’s revealed timeline discloses what Matthew 6 obscures? Consequently:
- Our wasted time and resources are needlessly spent improving the utterly impoverished!
- Why
compromise our gospel playing “footsie” with the governments of this world to
curry their favor?
- Haven’t
we had enough hopes dashed from our more recent “prophetic postulations” gendering cynical expressions from scores of
believers, along with abundant scoffers from the kingdom of darkness?
We have
tragically focused on “national and societal reformation” and not upon
individual transformation—Christian leadership has once again sought revival in
all the wrong places; especially, in their vain attempts to forestall the
inevitable timeline forecasted by our Savior in Matthew 24 . . . indeed, it’s
not that they cannot see its/His predictability—it is more like they/we refuse
to admit to its inevitability!
The
message of “THIS GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM shall be preached in all the world
for a testimony . . . then the end will come” demands we preach just that
and nothing more. I once told John
Haller of “Prophetic Updates” (video channel) that the name of our next confab
should not celebrate our takeover of “Seven Mountains” but should read
something like this: THIS SUCKER’S
COMIN’ DOWN!
Trust me,
“the days of Noah” are upon us. It’s not
that Noah’s doomed generation did not know of the day nor of the hour—they had
plenty of “visual evidence” to the contrary for their indifference. That’s just it. It’s not that they did not know—they knew but
“had pleasure in sin’s season” until the door was shut! “But if the master of the house would have
known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his
house to be broken into”! (Ref. Matt. 24:43).
If you
think for one New York minute that Chris W. Steinle finds anything redeemable
in Babylon’s confusion in the course of his amazing research into the “spirit
of Western Lawlessness” and its pythonic stranglehold now squeezing the
world—forget about it . . . coming out of foggy bottom’s blur into the
brilliant sunlight of His Coming again in Glory will set you and all of us free
to preach the real message of His Kingdom to come. “Getting on the lifeboats
and fulfilling His Great Commission” is in a league all its own. The best “salt and light” and “city on a hill
that cannot be hid” anecdote for today’s catastrophic pandemic of Western
Lawlessness is to be vaccinated by the Holy Spirit to withstand the “current of
this age” by “preaching this Gospel of the Kingdom in all the world”—then the
end will come and so will His Coming again in Glory!
Lastly,
if this text does its work—as I am more than confident it shall—then your
Weltanschauung (your world view) will radically change. No, this isn’t just another view on something
concocted by a sincere but “also ran” brother in the Lord—it’s the Gospel Truth
and demands we do something about it . . . not only in our own lives and
relationships but before the court of world opinion. That’s when it should get really dicey. Here’s a rash “Foreword Suggestion” – STOP,
read no further, if you are content with the course of action you are now
taking; however, read on, thoroughly read on, if you are NOT content with the
status quo.
As they
say: PREPARE FOR IMPACT! The world around you is about to crash, burn
and finally sink . . . but there will be would-be survivors. Your job, my job, is to get them into the
lifeboat of Christ Himself—let’s prepare; check out Chris W. Steinle’s “crash
site” and scramble to get those out there into His Lifeboat!
Doug
Krieger
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