"The Last Days" - Notes From Sunday Morning Meeting - 3/28/21

 

The last days…

The Last days are full of mystery, intrigue, and prophesies; regarding the question, when will be the end of the world ? When will it be all over. We look to scholars, theologians, and to predictors of the future . even digging out of antiquity that which would tell us or give us a clue.

The Mayan calendar was used to predict the end of the world in 2012.. A calendar which spans roughly 5,125 years starting in 3114 B.C.—reaches the end of a cycle on December 21, 2012. It goes no further… Was this to be the end of the world, many scientists thought it was possible.. This is now 2021…

The question is can we unravel this mystery now ? And can we know if we are close to the end? If so what can we do..? What should we do? How do we prepare .. and last but not least , what does the bible say about all of this ??? These questions, thoughts and fears will be the focus of our journey through the scriptures this morning.

Do we live in the end of times?

Lets pause for just a moment in prayer..

Father as we approach the study of your word this morning be with us and bless us with a deeper understanding of your word.. We are grateful for all who could be here this morning for fellowship. Bless all who are with us and all who could not be with us this morning. Keep safe those who are troubled and grant us peace..

We ask these things in Jesus’ name..

Amen

When I was a little kid one of the prayers my mother taught me was Now I lay me down to sleep…I pray the Lord my soul to keep.. Whats the next phrase??

If I should die before I wake.. I pray the Lord my soul to take..

If you think about it that’s a pretty heavy prayer for a 5 year old…Here is a 5 yr old being taught of the imminence of his death…. If I should die before I wake.. At the same time, however, it’s a possibility for any of us.. Every person will have an end to their life…And just like every person has an end, this world will have an end..

This world.. this universe, this earth….will someday come to an end .. But when will it come to an end?

Well, people have made predictions about the last days as we have established .. One well known Christian says “ the last days are upon us.. Weigh carefully the times. Look for him who is above all time, eternal and invisible..

What’s interesting about that quote that it was not given by a modern day prophecy expert. It was spoken in 110 AD by a church father named Ignatius…He said that we are in the last days..

A Christian church theologian, Hippolytus in 236 AD wrote that Christ would return by AD 500…

In the 1500’s Martin Luther, the great reformer wrote and I quote “ We have reached the time of the white horse of the apocalypse.. This world will not last any longer than one hundred years…

Then a little known fact about Christopher Columbus .Did you know that he was a student of bible prophecy? He even wrote a little book called the “Book of Prophecies”; where he predicted that the world would end in the year 1656…

And he even wrote that there is no doubt that the world must end in 155 years…

A question that Christians have asked in every generation is ; are we in the last days?? When will the world end?

It’s not a new question…It’s not a new curiosity.. Even the followers of our Lord Jesus Christ were curious about that.. On the mount of Olives they came to him and said , What will be the sign of your coming and of the end the age? So it preoccupied their thoughts also..

And it seems that every generation has its authors, its prophets and its prognosticators and they get us thinking about when the end will be..

I remember in the late 70’s a very popular book by Hal Lindsey called “The Late Great Planet Earth” sold millions of copies.. It got people thinking about bible prophecy again.. then came, in the 1980’s, a booklet that said.. “88 reasons why Jesus will be coming back in 1988”…

of course 1988 came and went followed by 1989 and Jesus hadn’t shown up yet..So the author revised his date.. and he didn’t show up then either..He revised it again and he didn’t show up then…Finally he just sort of went away….

In 1996 another popular set of books was called The Left Behind Series. Not only was it a set of books but it became a set of films as well… started with a series of 16 bestselling religious novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins that dealt with Christian dispensationalist End Times:

And then do you remember just before the year 2000 ..the fervour about Y2K ? I remember this well. I took a cruise to the Caribbean.. It was a special cruise designed for this event more than for the traditional New Year’s holiday.. I was daring enough or adventitious enough to go.. We boarded on December 29th , as I recall and set to sea rather quickly.. When midnight approached on Dec 31 the captain had positioned our ship in the gulf of Mexico just off the Mexican coast , not far from Carmen Del Playa; where it seemed like we had just stopped. We couldn’t hear the engines running but then we couldn’t hear them much anyway... As midnight approached all was very quiet on the ship, It seemed a bit spooky actually. Everyone just waited; close to 2000 people.. Holding their breath… Maybe some prayed but I didn’t notice. As the stroke of midnight came, the engines rumbled and all systems were still functioning, lights were still on and we began to move. A thunderous cheer went up from the passengers, that may have been heard all the way to the mainland and the ship turned into a huge New Year’s party the likes of which I had never seen before nor seen since…

Everyone was waiting for all the chips to melt down..for everything to just go crazy…all systems were expected to grind to a halt…they were awaiting for Armageddon right? This also came and went without incident all over the world…

So what we’re dealing with is an area of study called , in theological circles, Eschatology.. Eschatology is the study of last things..It comes from a Latin root ..that means that last thing, or end of time events..

I think we can agree that the study of prophesies can be good.. It can also get a bit weird.. And there are some people who have an unhealthy preoccupation with prophetic things; that’s all their about..its all they study.. They look for signs and see signs in everything..

It can also be a healthy occupation. .It can engender hope.. and its something that the church has had within it for 2000 years.. Ever since Jesus taught the church how to pray i.e. “thy kingdom come” ..we have been looking for that kingdom..

So what I like to do is look at basic hallmarks of the last days…and we can try to answer the question ..Are we in the last days..?

Now referring to 2nd Peter ,chapter 3…verse 1 ” Beloved I now write to you the 2nd epistle in both I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder..that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savour ,knowing this first that scoffers will come in the last days ..theres the phrase..The last days..walking according to their own lust.

I want to get back to the meaning of those verses in a minute but lets just think about that phrase..for a moment..The last days..It shows up several times in the New testament.. about 5 times I think..Once by Luke in the book of Acts, Once by Paul in 2nd Timothy, once by James in that little epistle that he writes, Once in Hebrews and then once here in 2nd Peter chapter 3…so 5 authors in the new testament used the phrase the last days..The old testament speaks of the same time period generally but used the term The Latter Days…Daniel calls it the end..He also calls it the appointed time..the time of the end then finally he refers to it as “the end of days”..

So back to the question.. Are we in the last days?

Heres my answer..Yes we are..but…..We’ve been in the last days for 2000 years…

This is important because according to the scriptures we have been in the last days..If you look at all of world history from the beginning ,,the time between the first coming of Christ and the 2nd coming of Christ falls under the designation of the last days..I’ll show that to you.. In Hebrews chapter 1 the author begins by saying :”God , who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past to our fathers by the prophets has, in these last days spoken to us by his son who he made ear of all things and through whom also he made the world..

Then you may remember Peter on the day of Pentecost .. people were filled with the holy spirit..talking in tounges, dancing. And all and the onlookers said was look at those Christians..their drunk.. remember that ? So Peter gets up and says you men of Jerusalem these are not drunk as you suppose since it is only the 3rd hour of the day .. that would be 9 in the morning… but this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel who said “ and it shall come to pass in the last days says God..That I will pour out my spirit on all flesh ..Your sons and your daughter will prophesy ..It shall come to pass in the last days…So hes saying that this is the fulfilment of what the prophets said will happen in the last days..So according to Peter he was living in the last days..so again to answer the question ..are we in the last days.. yes we are ..and so was Christopher Columbus…and so was Martin Luther,,..and so on..

Having said that, you know I am a stickler for “context”, because context is a crucial element of truth, when you’re dealing with a 2000 year period some parts of that are later than other parts..And so we are much further along..2000 years than Peter and Paul… You know Paul taught the church to anticipate the return of Christ.. To look for it.. In Titus chapter 2 Paul writes ‘looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and saviour Jesus Christ..

The 2nd coming and the end of times was greatly on the minds of the apostles, disciples and believers of that time..

Did you know that the early church had a greeting , a one word greeting is a word Maranatha..single word..Its a Aramaic term ..It shows up in the old King James translation. It was a word that even replaced the common word shalom (peace) . Christians would see each other and say Maranatha.. which means “the Lord is coming”..Its a great word and a great reminder for each one of us..

God’s concept of time may be rightly depicted in CS Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia , in one of the volumes called ‘ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”..

 There is a conversation that CS lewis writes about Aslan ,this Christ like figure lion, who has a conversation with little Lucy once again..and Aslan says do not look so sad , We shall meet soon again ..She says please Aslan , what do you call soon? Aslan says I call all time soon. And disappeared.. So again …Are we in the last days? Yes..Is Jesus coming soon? Yes..

yeahhhh I know that seems an easy way out..But it isn’t.. It is true we are in the last days..and we were given signs about the very end of days and Jesus said when these things start to happen lift up your head for your redemption draws near…

What is the focus of the last days? The mark of the beast ? the eruopean common market, ?? No nor is the focus of the last days the emergence of the antichrist…the focus of prophecy or the end of days is Jesus Christ..

If you want to sum up the whole bible all 66 books, written by 40 authors over 1500 years? You can sum the entire bible up by saying it is about one person and 2 events. The person is Jesus Christ. The 2 events are his first coming and his 2nd coming. His first coming to deal with sin, his 2nd coming to rule and reign with people who have been forgiven of their sins. That’s the whole bible in a nutshell..There I have just distilled the entire bible study for us.

But in reality He is the focal point of biblical prophesy..thats why we talk about the scarlet thread of redemption.. You can follow it all throughout the scriptures.. All of the Bible is about Jesus and about His Blood redemption. There are two threads that seem to run all the way through the Bible. One is the scarlet thread of blood redemption; the other is the golden thread, if you will, of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The 3rd hallmark is that the last days will be filled with “Apostasy”.. that simply means a defector…someone who had a position and left that position ..somehow.. They drifted away from it..they walked away from it..

2 But false prophets also appeared among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Many will follow their indecent behaviour, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

The entire 2nd chapter is devoted to Apostasies, deserters, false teachers, and it all comes from within the church. Not from outside.. from within.. In the last days there will be a falling away of historic biblical truths ..or Christianity..

Peter is not the only one who mentions this.. Paul mentions it, Jude mentions it , when Paul wrote to Timothy in his first letter 1st Timothy chapter 4 verse 1 ..The spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons..

or put another way, demonically inspired teachings…Many will depart from the faith..

The 5th ..the last days will be full of secular mockery…

So what does this mean in terms of how it impacts our live today…??

secular mockery….. Mockery coming from those who would deny spirituality, it is from those taken up only with things of this world… Unbelievers who will mock believers….

Apostasy ,i.e. Traitors, deceivers… the devils disciples with in the church itself.. Unbelievers masquerading as believers hiding in plain sight as teachers, ministers and church members of all kinds.. Their mission to destroy the institution of Christianity itself… their work will be those who are unbelievers but who scoff at Christians as they walk their own way flaunting their worldliness in the faces of believers who may stumble or succumb to the temptation before them .. And these scoffers will embrace the fallen souls and encourage their sinfulness and take pleasure in their own evil work.. This could be either secular mockery or a scoffing of the traditions and belief systems of Christianity, as a matter of history and deep belief, from within the church itself…

So we will witness the diminishing of the church and the erosion of it also. There will be an exodus of a different kind and only our faith will get us through.. Only our steadfastness will save us in this hour.. We will see a remaking of the perception and concept of Jesus and how he is defined to suit the sinful needs of the traitors in our midst.. We are hearing it already, which allows us to draw a correlation with the reality of our lives today.. We hear statements like “ who with a brain could believe in idea of the trinity?” Or comments lie : “this fictional work called the “bible” is no more than mythology at its finest… Ever hear that one??

We hear that the church is not inclusive enough, that its concepts are bigoted, archaic, and inane .. Not just in rumours, these things are broadcast on CNN through news anchors like don Lemon and like adversaries of truth. These men indeed are the apostasy… the deceivers.. but there are many like them in all walks of life…Lemon the other day spent an entire interview espousing on what most people thought God’s word was and how he knew better. That God wouldn’t say this , God wouldn’t think that and God wouldn’t do such in such..He went on to say that the likeness of Jesus should be a black or brown likeness in everyone’s home..etc…As I listened in dismay I realized that he and people like him are seeking to fundamentally change the church to suit their own carnal lives and has nothing to do with following the teaching of Jesus , recorded in the scriptures. Their goal is the destruction of belief in Jesus Christ as depicted in scripture. It is the work of Satin and it is prophesied about in the bible..

Now that is an anecdotal piece of evidence. Let me give you another.. A few years ago 2 authors named Daniel Dennitt and Linda LaScola wrote a piece called…Listen to this title….”Caught in the Pulpit”

 It is about Preachers who are not Believers. This is about many different preachers who over time who accepted heretical teachings. I quote “ these preachers are either pantheists or clandestine atheists”…One of the most disturbing truths In the study was that these preachers maintained their position as pastors in their respective churches…” so their congregations are wholly unaware of their pastor’s spiritual state..these pastors don’t believe but they are teaching an influencing an unsuspecting congregation…

This a short summary and review from amazon . I mention it so you may reference it later if you wish..

Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind

“What is it like to be a preacher or rabbi who no longer believes in God? In this expanded and updated edition of their groundbreaking study, Daniel C. Dennett and Linda LaScola comprehensively and sensitively expose an inconvenient truth that religious institutions face in the new transparency of the information age—the phenomenon of clergy who no longer believe what they publicly preach. In confidential interviews, clergy from across the ministerial spectrum—from liberal to literal—reveal how their lives of religious service and study have led them to a truth inimical to their professed beliefs and profession. Although their personal stories are as varied as the denominations they once represented, or continue to represent—whether Catholic, Baptist, Episcopalian, Methodist, Mormon, Pentecostal, or any of numerous others—they give voice not only to their own struggles but also to those who similarly suffer in tender and lonely silence. As this study poignantly and vividly reveals, their common journey has far-reaching implications not only for their families, their congregations, and their communities—but also for the very future of religion.”

Another review from “goodreads.com” is as follows:

What is it like to be a preacher who can no longer believe the creed?

In confidential interviews, clergy reveal how their lives of service are overshadowed by hypocrisy, as they contemplate taking a leap from their faith. As religious leaders struggle to adapt to the new transparency of the information age, the phenomenon of non-believing clergy portends surprising developments in the future of religious belief.

Apostasy !

Apostasy has been prophesied and is a reality even now ..

Scoffers will come walking according to their own lust

So to proceed, in spite of the fact that we cannot pinpoint the hour of his 2nd coming there is recorded, for us signs to be watchful of in things to come in the last days…

What shall we do? We find answers in Luke 12:35-38…Matthew 25 and Colossians 4…..

“Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them.

Remember the five wise and five foolish virgins.. The 5 wise virgins had oil; the 5 foolish virgins no longer had oil in their lamps. This parable is about preparedness for when the Bridegroom (the Lord) returns for His Bride and wedding party (His people). It stresses the necessity of spiritual perseverance. Matthew 25…..

Colossians 4:2

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;

We must be ready.. Remember Jesus said to the Scribes and Pharisees .. Ye do err to not know the scriptures nor the power of God…Matthew 22

You know in a poll that I recently read it indicates that 53% of Christians believed that works and faith will earn you the grace of God.. Of course we know that it is through faith and the grace of God that we are saved. We cannot earn our way into heaven. Jesus never said that.. It is safe to say however that most Christians, according to these polls, believe that one can earn their way to salvation through works and faith…. A sad commentary actually…..

In thinking about the last days we must be observant but in doing so we cannot change the enviable. We must be vigilant in our worship, our fellowship, our prayer and our faith.. We know that we are part of the last days..that is the time between the coming of Christ to fulfil the scriptures with a new church, a new path and the new testament. AND the 2nd coming which will be the transfiguration on steroids… It will signify the end of our world as we know it and if we are ready and waiting for him we will live with him for ever. And there will be a new heaven and a new earth…

We can reconcile that if he comes in a week, a year, within our lifetime or later that we are responsible for the same thing no matter what. Nothing will change for us as we follow Jesus… As we trust in Him we go forward… lift up your head for your redemption draws near, but continue on the pathway laid out for us by Jesus Christ.

Our redemption is paid for by Jesus through faith… As the world around us, spirals out of control, as everything seems inverted or upside-down, as good now means bad and values become insignificant, if our foundation is built on solid rock then Christ will be with us and speak to us even through the howl of the devil’s disciples is in our ears.. We need to be inputting in our lives, refreshing minds and hearts, with truth, bible study, prayer, fellowship etc….

1 Peter 5:8

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

So the last days then will be focused on Christ but will be filled by Apostasy… To take it another step..the last days according to Peter will be framed by scepticism,…

So just as apostasy is the mark of the religious world Scoffing, “ mockery”, is the mark of the secular world, in the last days..Now heres why mockers mock and haters of Christianity hate.. Because these people want pleasure without accountability. I didn’t make that up…verse 3”knowing this scoffers will come in the last days walking according to their own lust…there it is.. they want pleasure without accountability..they don’t want you or Jesus or anybody else telling them what to do…So that’s one of the marks of the last days…

However, the last days will also be faced with hope.. because there’s not always just apostates, not always scoffers.. There are true believers….and they will face the same future with great hope.. No matter what happens they have hope and they respond with obedience..

chapter 3 vs 10..But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night , in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up..

God created the heavens and the earth and he will un-create it…he goes on to say.. “therefore sense all these things will be dissolved what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and Godliness…Everything will be destroyed “nevertheless we, according to his promise , look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells…There is our hope.. You know Peter is pretty logical through all of this.. His overriding questions is ..if the world is going to be destroyed than what kind of people should we be.. It’s a good question ..is it not? To use one of our phrases.. It’s certainly food 4 thought….

Our prayer….

Lord it is my great honour to be in this gathering of souls this morning. We understand fully that it is but for your grace and generosity that we are able to reach out to one another in this way. We are thankful for all of our opportunities this morning and we ask for your guidance and wisdom to carry forth in a way that would be pleasing to you..

We ask this morning to keep our friends from harm, to allow healing to take place for Bob as he just had surgery and is on his way home. We pray that you could extend your hand and touch all of us who are in need. Guide our footsteps Lord daily so that we may be, through you, a light in this world also …

We are most grateful for your word, for the prophets, and disciples of old who forged a pathway for us with Jesus. Thank you for our bible study and all the blessings that you have given to us..

We ask these things in Jesus’ name..

Amen