Well, the Bible says in the end times, the world will be overrun by people who will be lovers of self. Perhaps it's not a stretch to say that in the end people will be lovers of selfies and selfie sticks. But seriously, when do our social media project a corrupt self-love at work inside of us?

That's today's question. Hello, Pastor John. My name is Ed, a 22-year-old Filipino. I read in the Bible this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty, for people will be lovers of self. 2 Timothy 3 verses 1 to 2. Based on this passage, do you believe vlogs and selfies and self-focused social media are a cultural sign of this self-love emerging in our culture?

And what warnings would you sound to Christian smartphone users tempted in this self-promotive way? Let me answer with a double yes and no. Two yes and no's. First, yes, vlogs and selfies and self-focused social media are often, not always, an expression of the self-exaltation and self-preoccupation and self-fascination of the last days.

But no, these new technologies are not the, quote, this is to quote him, to quote Ed, they are not the emerging of such final experiences of sin, because they've always been there. The new technologies are giving new ways to express old sins. So that's my first yes and no.

Yes, these are the manifestations of the end times, self-love, and no, they're not just now emerging. Here's the second yes and no. Yes, these are the last days, and we should be looking keenly and expectantly and hopefully and joyfully for the coming of our precious, longed for, all-satisfying Lord Jesus.

But no, these are not yet the very last days, but are very much like the last days that began 2,000 years ago in the first century. Now, let me try to explain. When Jesus came into the world as the long-expected Messiah, he declared the arrival of the kingdom of God, which the Old Testament anticipated as part of the last days.

So when Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and tried to explain the extraordinary events of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, he said, "This is what was uttered through the prophet Joel, 'And in the last days it shall be,' declares the Lord, 'I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.'" In other words, these events that you're looking at right now—what, 33 AD—are the fulfillment of promises made for the last days.

So the last days were there in the first century, right after Jesus had come. Or Hebrews 1, verses 1 and 2, "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son." So the coming of Jesus is the beginning of the last days.

Or Peter, 1 Peter 1, verse 20, "Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for your sake." So ever since the time of Jesus, 2,000 years ago, we have been living in the last days, looking expectantly to Jesus, who stands at the door.

We know this is the way that Paul was thinking, even in the very text that Ed quoted about self-love. Because Paul says, "Understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty, for people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, etc." And then he says to Timothy, "Avoid such people.

I guess they're here. They're not just coming 2,000 years later." In other words, Paul is talking about Timothy's own situation. So this kind of person comes in the last days, and now Timothy's to avoid them because these are the last days, and there they are, and you shouldn't be surprised or swayed by them.

Well, besides saying that the judge is at the door, we should be always alert and ready to give an account to the Lord Jesus when he comes. Ed asked me what I would say to people on vlogs. That's what I want to say. The judge is standing at the door.

Be ready. Be alert. You're going to be called to account. That's the first thing I'd say. And then here's the last thing I'd say. God gave us a self not so that we would have something to exalt in, but something to exalt with. He gave us a self not to be the object of our joy, but the subject of joy.

That is, not to be the focus of happiness in front of the mirror or the selfie, but the furnace of happiness in front of Jesus. He gave us a self not as an instrument of self-worth, but as an instrument of worship. The self is and is meant to be, meant to be a desire factory.

And the point of all those desires is that there is a joy outside ourselves. They point to the endless manufacture of desires for something beyond the self. This factory of desires is not the dream. This factory has a dream. It isn't the dream. It is producing all these desires because out there somewhere, there's a dream.

They're all meant to lead us outside ourselves, indeed, outside the world, because nothing in this world finally satisfies the desires of the human self. They are meant to lead us to God in whose presence is fullness of joy, at whose right hand are pleasures forevermore. That's what I'd say to the self-absorbed user of social media.

The self was never meant to satisfy us. The self was never meant to find satisfaction in the perception or promotion of self. The self was made for God. That last minute especially is loaded with gems worth a lot of further reflection for any of us using social media. Thank you, Pastor John.

God gave us a self, not so that we would have something to exalt in, but something to exalt with. That is really important to think through. Well, thank you for listening and supporting the podcast. You can subscribe to our audio feeds and search our past episodes in our archive.

You can send us an email of your own with questions related to social media practices and smartphone habits and how we can best use these powerful media that we have at our thumb tips. You can do all that through our online home at DesiringGod.org/AskPastorJohn. Well, the Apostle Paul says that Christ died for all people, even the non-elect.

And, of course, that raises some very delicate questions for us Calvinists to answer. So how does Christ's atoning sacrifice for the elect apply also to the non-elect? It's a good question, as one will address on Wednesday when we return. I'm your host, Tony Reinke. We'll see you then. you