The Last Days, Part Two

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive,

disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable,

slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless,

swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the

appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among

them are those who creep into households and capture weak women,

burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and

never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres

opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind

and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly

will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. You, however, have followed

my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my

steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch,

at Iconium, and at Lystra--which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the

Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will

be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse,

deceiving and being deceived.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed,

knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been

acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for

salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and

profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in

righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good

work.” (2 Timothy 3:1-17, ESV)

When exactly are the last days? That's the question that keeps popping up, year

after year, century after century. Due to the almost instant availability of news

from the tv or from newspapers, we are bombarded with news of natural

disasters, wars, possible wars, famine and poverty, and the rapid spread of

disease, not only on a daily basis, but even hourly. The human mind cannot take

in so much news about so many disasters, worldwide, without succumbing to

apathy or panic. What can I do? is the question often heard. Because of the

intricate meshing of world business and politics, a small problem on one side

of the globe can have far-reaching consequences thousands of miles away.

The thing I hear more and more are the voices of hopelessness, from people

who are able to put food on the table and live peacefully. I see looks of

hopelessness in the faces of people on their way to work, eating alone in

restaurants or even shopping. Life has become unbearable for many. The

news in Japan, a country free of wars for over half a century, is of an increase in

the number of suicides. More than 30,000 folks end their lives in desperation

every year, believing theirs is a future without hope.

Before the latest prophet or guru gets your mind worked up about the last

days, take a look at the scriptures in 2 Timothy 3. These are not quoted by those

who believe they have a special understanding of prophecy. “For people will

be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive,

disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable,

slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless,

swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the

appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” Sounds like a diagnosis for

our society, doesn't it? Politicians surely fit the description of those “having

the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” Sometimes I wish the

politicians would quietly go to church, if they believe in God, or not go at all.

It's interesting that Paul starts this list off with people who love themselves. I

think, if anything, that describes the current situation better than any other.

Selfishness and greed have brought disaster on the world, more than once. But

Paul started this chapter with the point that this would be the situation in the

“last days.”

He makes another point that is often overlooked. The very next sentence says,

“avoid such people.” Notice that? Slipped right by you, didn't it. It slipped by

me once or twice. But there it is. Timothy and Paul were in the “last days.” The

situation Timothy faced was in the “last days.” Timothy was admonished to

avoid people who were self-indulged, greedy, narcissistic and liars. The last

days began when Jesus sealed the new covenant with His blood on Calvary.

Paul and the other apostles, outside of John, were persecuted and murdered as

was our Lord Jesus, just for being Christians, for believing in the One True God,

for promoting selflessness rather than selfishness, for promoting love instead of

brutality, for promoting joy rather than despair. Jesus even said to rejoice and be

really glad when evil things are done to you because of your faith in Him,

because your reward in heaven was really great. James later said to count it all

joy, not just a part of it, when you are tested by various trials in this life,

because that produced steadfastness, “stick-to-it-iveness” as some have called it.

We are being perfected through the trials of this life in order to receive a better

life in heaven with our Savior, Jesus Christ. The more we endure for Christ in

this world the better we will be able to appreciate heaven.

In 2 Timothy, Paul says the scriptures, our Bibles, are able to make us wise for

salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All of the Bible was God-breathed,

from God, His very words, and those words are able to strengthen our faith

in order for us to hold fast to Christ. By holding fast to our Savior Jesus, we

can weather these turbulent times and keep our hope in Him. Our hope is an

everlasting hope, borne from One who could look down in compassion on His

tormentors and murderers and ask His Father to forgive them. His was not a

selfish scheme to get rich or to gain power or to be a world idol, but to be the

Savior of those who call upon His name. He lived His life incarnadine and He

calls us to do the same, in these last days.

The Last Days, Part One

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the

night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let

his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man

is coming at an hour you do not expect. (Matthew 24:42-44, ESV)

When is Jesus returning? This is an age-old question that has stumped men and

women since Jesus returned to heaven almost 2000 years ago. Tons of books,

literally speaking (no pun intended), have been written on the Second Coming

of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It seems that every age reckons that their

time or era is the last days. Are they? That's something I would like to discuss

in this blog in the next one as well. It is extremely important for Christians to understand what Jesus means when He talks of the coming of the Son of Man and when Paul discusses the Last Days. Are the two synonymous? Is Jesus returning, staying around for a while and then coming back with the final disposition of our respective cases? It causes people to wonder. Remember the almost panic in some quarters at the turn of the millennium? Many people were afraid that it was the end of time. Computer glitches would bring the world crashing down. When 9/11 happened the following year, many people really believed that it was the beginning of the end of the world. If you are a student of history you would know that at the turn of the first millennium, A.D., around the year 999 in fact, many people were filled with dread and fear because of the approaching number 1000. Jesus would return in that year, or so many believed.

I have discussed before some of the attitudes Christians have towards the book

of Revelation, believing it to be a blueprint for the return of Christ, the setting

up of a kingdom on this earth, the literal reign of Christ from Jerusalem for one

thousand years. Indeed, many Christian writers, some of whom are trained in

the Bible, have written fictional works based on those beliefs.

Rather than brushing those beliefs off as pure fantasy or wrongheadedness

concerning the message of the Bible, I would rather look at some other

scriptures that I believe will shed some light on the subject and help believers

draw their own conclusions.

In this part, I would like to examine what Jesus said concerning the Coming of

the Son of Man. Remember that Jesus used the term, Son of Man, as a title for

himself more than any other term used to describe our Savior, about 95% of the

time. What significance does that hold for you and me?

In the book of Daniel, which many theologians and Bible scholars have tried to

denigrate as a canonical work or a real book of prophecy, this term shows up in

a very interesting way. Daniel is seeing a vision and is alarmed by what he sees.

Let's examine the scriptures.

"As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.

A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

"I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire.

As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

"I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.

And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

"As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me.” (Daniel 7:9-15, ESV)

Who is this Son of Man? It must be the Messiah, the Son of God, or else He

would not be given a Kingdom from all nations and languages and His

dominion would not last forever. Kingdoms that men have built rise and fall

as surely as the tides of the sea. Notice that the beasts, who represented men or

kingdoms soon after the time of Daniel, were destroyed or had their dominion

taken away. Clearly, the Son of Man and the others are not to be construed as

similar in nature.

Another thing we need to consider is this: when Jesus speaks of the Coming of

the Son of Man, does that mean salvation? Does it mean the end of the world?

Just what exactly does it mean? In Daniel, the Son of Man is to receive a

Kingdom. It Matthew, it sounds like He has a Kingdom and is exercising His

power. Daniel cannot be a prophecy of Jesus' final return to earth, but rather His

first coming and the establishment of His Kingdom, the church.

In the text in Matthew, it would seem that Jesus is talking of the destruction of

Jerusalem which happened under Titus, the Roman general who later became

emperor of Rome. It is interesting to note that tradition says that the Christians

of that time understood what Jesus meant and fled the city just in time so that

they were not caught up in the siege and following destruction.

But it would also seem that Jesus is giving warning for all people to be aware of

their own lives because most people have no idea that they are about to die up

until the event happens. Even people with terminal illnesses don't usually know

the final hour or minute of their lives. Death comes at the most inconvenient

time for most people. How many people have their affairs in order, just in case

they might not see another day?

Jesus says, “stay awake.” It is easy for us to slip into “cruise control” in our lives

and forget to be on guard, to be aware of the assault that the Evil One makes on

the people of God. Remember the Lord's model prayer? “Lead us not into

temptation, but deliver us from (the) evil (one).” Satan is out to get whatever he

can, to try to destroy the victory that Christ has over evil.

Of course, you need to believe that it is possible to fall away from Christ. No,

He will never leave you nor abandon you. But last I checked, it is very possible

to abandon Him. More on that next time.

Conclusion: the coming of the Son of Man for most of us is an individual

affair, the final event in our lives here on this earth. We should live our lives so

covered by the blood of the Lamb that the evil one cannot sow seeds of doubt

in our minds, rob us of the great reward we have in Jesus by getting us to deny

the One who died for us on Calvary. We need to live our lives incarnadine,

the color of the blood that Christ shed for you and me.