We Are Not in the Last Days

[public hermit]

Hi everyone! I hope everyone is having a good day so far!

In Matthew, Jesus states that there will be many coming and saying they are Jesus in the last days.

Then, as he talks about the last days, he seems to tell them what's going to happen in the order its going to happen.

If we look and see there's not a lot of people saying they are Jesus and the fact that Jesus tells us the order all these things will happen, that should let you know that we are NOT in the last days yet.

I tend to want to agree with you. But I wonder if your assertion is just as unfounded as those who say we are in the last days. Both strike me as....well, who knows?

All I know is, whether Jesus comes back today or a thousand years from now, the expectation is the same for us as Christians. I guess I live with an expectant hope, while assuming the next minute will need my attention. What worries me is if Christians miss opportunities to express Christ now because they assume it's about come crashing down.

 

[Faith712]

No, they didn’t.

And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”
— Matthew 24:2
As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
— Matthew 24:3

Redirect Notice

It says in that link, verse 3, the end of the world.

 

[Hammster]

Redirect Notice

It says in that link, verse 3, the end of the world.

You’ll need to look up what the Greek word is. It’s aion. a space of time, as, a lifetime, generation, period of history, an indefinitely long period; in NT of an indefinitely long period, an age,

 

[Aussie Pete]

Jesus said it too.

I suspect that there are rather more people on the earth now. No one knows the hour or the day and I'm not one to speculate. It could be today or another 100 years. The oceans are polluted and overfished. There is not enough land for everyone. Climate change is due to hot air emanating from politicians who speak great things and do very little. Governments around the world are increasingly authoritarian. The bastion of democracy, the good old USA, has become a woke, socialist nightmare. Now Dr Seuss is being criticised. The thought police are taking over and free speech can cost you everything.

I want Jesus to come back and put an end to this insanity. I'm nearly 70, so I'll miss the worst of what's to come. But the stage is being set for the Antichrist to rise up. Will Christians be ready?

 

[aiki]

2 Peter 3:3-5
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

 

[Sophrosyne]

I think we are getting closer as two things I think that are happening:
1)America needs to fall as a super power so Israel is open to attack from everyone else. The way things are going it is possible that could happen in the next perhaps 8-12 years depending on who is in "charge" of things and if our economy goes down the drain because nations decide to abandon propping up the dollar for something else like China's currency our markets and economy could crash.
and 2)


2 Timothy 3:1-7

New American Standard Bible
Difficult Times Will Come
3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, a]">[a]haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of b]">[b]godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these. 6 For among them are those who c]">[c]slip into households and captivate d]">[d]weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, 7 always learning and never able to come to the e]">[e]knowledge of the truth.

 

[Freth]

...we are NOT in the last days yet.

In Matthew 24, Jesus give us important events to look for. Something I think many miss is verse 34.

Matthew 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.​

The events will happen in the time span of one generation. Let's look at the events Jesus gave in Matthew 24 and see if they match up with events of the current generation.

It should be noted that these are types of events that take place all throughout the end time, which started with Jesus and will not end until the second coming. Thus some of these happened in the past, but all of them will happen within the same generation; history repeating itself at the end.

✓ Fulfilled
≡ Pending

The beginning of sorrows:

• ✓ Deception. False Christs. "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many."
• ✓ Wars and rumors of wars. "And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom."
• ✓ Natural disasters, pestilence."And there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places."

More sorrows:

• ✓ Christian persecution. "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake."
• ✓ Being offended. Betrayal. Hate. "And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another."
• ✓ False prophets. "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many."
• ✓ Sin abounds. Love grows cold. "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold."
• ✓ As in the days of Noah.

The last events:

• ≡ The gospel goes to the world. "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (see Revelation 14:6-12)
  
• ≡/✓ The abomination of desolation in the temple. Where before, it was the temple in Jerusalem, in the last days it is the temple of God, the body of the church and the physical body of the Christian. "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)" (see Daniel 9:27, Daniel 11:31)
  
• ≡ The great tribulation. "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."
• ≡ The impersonation of Christ on earth by Satan before the second coming. "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

All of these have taken place within one generation. Of those that are not yet fulfilled, they are being fulfilled in current events.

More confirmation is found in 2 Timothy 3.

Perilous times in the last days:

• ✓ For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Every one of these descriptors can be applied to society today. No other time in history can you find this happening in one generation.

That's just Matthew 24 and 2 Timothy 3. The books of Daniel and Revelation give clear prophetic markers that match with history and show we are in the very last days of the end time. It would be a much longer post to go into Daniel and Revelation.

As in the days of Noah...

2 Peter 3:3-7

✓ Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

✓ For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.

But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
​

It would be wise to take heed and pay attention. We are indeed living in the last days.

 

[Hammster]

The events will happen in the time span of one generation. Let's look at the events Jesus gave in Matthew 24 and see if they match up with events of the current generation.

Those events actually took place in that generation.

 

[Cis.jd]

I think the fixation over the last days is one of the biggest mistakes a christian can make in his faith. Christians who go with this fanaticism do nothing but harm to the reputation and integrity of the teachings of Christ.

Just focus on your lives now. The world ending with in these 50 years or not is a useless topic.

 

[Glory2TheLamb]

Agree. People have been saying it since the times of the Apostles. We (globally) have been in far worse and lawless eras than we are now. Generations continually read into the scriptures their current situation. The Romans, the Huns, the Mongol Horde, the rise of Islam, the Middle Ages and Vikings, the Black Death and other real plagues....WW1, WW2 and the holocaust, the Soviets, it just keeps going. We are actually in a pretty peaceful and safe era compared to the past.

Hello tampasteve. Fellow Tampaite myself.

 

[Rene Loup]

If we look and see there's not a lot of people saying they are Jesus and the fact that Jesus tells us the order all these things will happen, that should let you know that we are NOT in the last days yet.

https://theculturetrip.com/middle-east/israel/articles/what-is-jerusalem-syndrome/
The Jerusalem Syndrome
Jerusalem syndrome | The British Journal of Psychiatry | Cambridge Core
The Jerusalem Syndrome: Why Some Religious Tourists Believe They Are the Messiah

 

[bèlla]

I think the fixation over the last days is one of the biggest mistakes a christian can make in his faith. Christians who go with this fanaticism do nothing but harm to the reputation and integrity of the teachings of Christ.

Just focus on your lives now. The world ending with in these 50 years or not is a useless topic.

That's how doomsday cults are formed. I used to wonder how people got sucked into fringe groups. Not anymore.

~bella

 

[aiki]

I think the fixation over the last days is one of the biggest mistakes a christian can make in his faith.

What constitutes a "fixation"? More attention to the Last Days than you prefer to give them?

The Bible is very significantly occupied with prophecy. Many OT prophets talked of the future and the Last Days, as did Jesus, Peter and John. Were they "fixated"? Surely, John was fixated, was he not? He wrote an entire book of the Bible exclusively on the Last Days and the Second Coming of Christ, after all. Maybe not, though, eh? Maybe you could be more "fixated" than you are.

Just focus on your lives now. The world ending with in these 50 years or not is a useless topic.

It is those with their view narrowed to the temporal now that the Bible says are carnal. The Bible urges believers to look to heaven and the eternity soon to come, not just on now. (Matthew 6:19-21; Colossians 3:2; Philippians 3:18-21; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

 

[lismore]

If we look and see there's not a lot of people saying they are Jesus and the fact that Jesus tells us the order all these things will happen, that should let you know that we are NOT in the last days yet.

According to Peter he was living in the last days:

Acts 2: 14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 “‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.

If Peter was living in the last days then we must be too

 

[Cis.jd]

What constitutes a "fixation"? More attention to the Last Days than you prefer to give them?

The Bible is very significantly occupied with prophecy. Many OT prophets talked of the future and the Last Days, as did Jesus, Peter and John. Were they "fixated"? Surely, John was fixated, was he not? He wrote an entire book of the Bible exclusively on the Last Days and the Second Coming of Christ, after all. Maybe not, though, eh? Maybe you could be more "fixated" than you are.

I'll give you an example as to what constitutes fixation, just look at the section here dedicated to the end times in where "oh look a sign" is repeated in every thread and post; occasionally you'll see posts in where some person believes he deciphered something in scripture. This has been going on for centuries and it all just resorts to Christians making Christianity look laughable.

The "end of the world" theories are a waste of time and just unproductive. It's not even a positive attribute of a person of faith, more like the other way around.

 

[aiki]

The "end of the world" theories are a waste of time and just unproductive. It's not even a positive attribute of a person of faith IMO.

Silly speculation is a waste of time, yes. But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Prophecy is an important part of Scripture that deserves your attention, even if some have gone a bit rabid about it.

 

[Cis.jd]

Prophecy is an important part of Scripture that deserves your attention, even some have gone a bit rabid about it.

But not important to christian life. It has become an attribute of pure fanaticism, especially that line "deserves your attention", because from there christians build their reasons for making all these silly claims of "xyz" being a sign.

No one will every recognize their "speculation" is silly btw.

 

[chad kincham]

Hi everyone! I hope everyone is having a good day so far!

In Matthew, Jesus states that there will be many coming and saying they are Jesus in the last days.

Then, as he talks about the last days, he seems to tell them what's going to happen in the order its going to happen.

If we look and see there's not a lot of people saying they are Jesus and the fact that Jesus tells us the order all these things will happen, that should let you know that we are NOT in the last days yet.

I hate to tell you, but been in the last days for 2,000 years. Peter at Pentecost said what was happening was what Joel prophesied would occur in the last days - and scripture also says you that God has, in these last days, spoken by His son.

 

[ozso]

I have reason to believe the end time could come sometime around 2032. The reason for this is that most men in both sides of my family haven't lived past the age of 70 and I'll turn 70 in 2032.

 

[Dave L]

That's not what Jesus says.

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:” Acts 2:17 (KJV 1900)

Happened at Pentecost