3. ARE WE LIVING IN THE
LAST DAYS?
We twenty-first century Christians
live in exciting times. While we don’t know exactly when Christ will return, we
do know that His coming is drawing closer and closer. The evidence around us
indicates more and more that we live in the very kind of society the Bible
warned would arise in the days before the second coming. It’s fascinating to
watch as history continues to unfold, and as we see the Scripture’s description
of the last days become reality before our very eyes.
1. In John 14:1-3, Jesus tells us
that He is going to prepare a place for us in His Father’s house. In verse
three, He states most assuredly that He will come again and receive us unto
Himself.
2. In Matthew 24:1-2, when Jesus
talked about the destruction of the Temple, the two questions the disciples
asked in response were:
(a) When will these
things be?
(b) What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the
age?”
3. In Matthew 24:36, Jesus ultimate
answer to His disciples is “ But of that day and hour no one
knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
4. It is impossible for us to predict
when Jesus will return, but some Christians decide it is not important for us
to “study the times.” In Ephesians 5:15-16, we are given the exhortation to “walk circumspectly,
not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
5. According to 2 Timothy 3:1-5, in
the last days, people will be “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving,
unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
having a form of godliness but denying its power.”
6. According to 2 Timothy 4:2-4,
people will “will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own
desires, because they have
itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and
be turned aside to fables.”
7. 2 Timothy 4:2, 5 tells us, as
Christian believers, how we are to respond to these problems. “Preach the word!
Be ready in season and out of
season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” and also
to “Be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an
evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
According to 2 Timothy 2:15 we are to
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” The improvements we should
make, as Christians, would be to study the Word of God in depth on a daily
basis, letting the Holy Spirit teach us the truth of His Word. We also should
be more diligent in sharing the Gospel of Christ with others.
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