Are We In The End Times? Series

Are We in the End Times?

August 3-4, 2019

Rev. Brian Bill

A man really enjoyed his grandfather clock until it went haywire and chimed fourteen times one midnight. He jumped up and yelled to his wife, “Wake up, Nellie, it’s later than it’s ever been before!” Brothers and sisters, it’s later than it’s ever been because we are living in the last hour. The question is not, “When will Jesus return?” The question is, “What will we do before He gets here?”

The short answer to the question, “Are we in the end times?” is, “Yes, we are.” Biblically speaking, the end times or “last days” began with the Ascension of Christ and will last until the Second Coming. Now that’s a short sermon, isn’t it? You know better than to expect brevity so we’ll tackle some related questions.

The Bible uses terms like, “last days,” “later times,” or “the last hour” to refer to events surrounding the return of Christ. The theological term is eschatology. In the Greek, eschatos means “last” or “latter” and logy is “discussion” or “doctrine.” This cartoon captures some of the confusion that can arise when talking about end times.

There are two extremes we must avoid about the end times.

• Sensationalizing. For some the tendency is to obsess about biblical prophecy by trying to fit every news headline into a tidy prophetic timeline. Paul cautions Christians against prophetic presumption in 2 Thessalonians 2:2: “Not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.” Some believers in Thessalonica had stopped working and were just waiting for the return of Christ.

• Trivializing. Others don’t think about the return of Christ at all and even roll their eyes at this important doctrine. Jude 18-19: “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions. It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.”

Preliminary Points

1. We don’t know for sure when Jesus is coming back but we’re certain He is! Did you know for every one verse in the Bible that speaks about Jesus’ first coming there are eight verses which describe His second coming? David Jeremiah says there is more space given to prophecy than to almost any other subject in the Bible. For example, the book of 1 Thessalonians contains a reference to the return of Christ in every chapter! When we visited Washington, D.C. as a family many years ago, I was struck by this inscription in the Library of Congress: “One God, one law, one element; and one far off, divine event to which the whole creation moves.” I’m not sure it’s all that far off!

2. There are differences of interpretation regarding end time events. I’ve learned over the years not to divide over disagreements related to eschatology because Bible-believing people have different views on this topic. This is what Edgewood believes: “We believe that the end of this age is approaching and will culminate in that ‘blessed hope’ - the personal, imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and of the unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting punishment of the lost.”

3. We must avoid date setting. For the past 2000 years undiscerning and reckless Christians have been setting dates for when Christ would return. The most recent was supposed to take place on June 9. Oops. That didn’t work out so well. Jesus warned against this in Matthew 24:36: “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”

4. History and future events are linear, not cyclical. History is “His-story” and is headed somewhere. I believe the next big date on God’s calendar is the rapture of the church and the return of Jesus Christ.

5. The aim of prophecy is always practical. While we want to know the “when” and “what” questions, in Luke 18:8 Jesus focuses on “who” we need to be and “how” we should live in light of His return: “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Prophecy is not designed to satisfy our curiosity but to sanctify our character. Ultimately, the question is not when Jesus will return but what will we do before He gets here. Let’s focus on being faithful and let God handle the end of the world!

Here then are 10 biblical signs we are in the end times.

The Beginning of the End

1. Restoration of Israel. In his latest book called, The Book of Signs, David Jeremiah lists the formation of Israel as a nation in 1948 as the number one sign the end is near. Isaiah 66:8 says: “Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?”