We Are Not in the Last Days

[Gregory Thompson]

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.

Apparently, we've been in the last days since Apostle Paul, and a thousands years is like a day to the Lord.

Since a lot of the signs leading up to the crucifixion imitated the third day of creation, it's really only been 2 days after the third day, one more to go I guess.

 

[Randy777]

This sign started at Pentecost and the Spirit is still given to this day.
'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.

The resurrection of the righteous is on the last day.

So I am of the mind according to Gods point of view we are in the last day's.

 

[Norbert L]

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

I can think of two examples right off the bat.

Like when some Christians believed Harold Camping when he gave a specific date for His return and so they spent their life savings on advertising such as large billboards on major highways across north America announcing His return.

And then there is the Restored Church of God, an off shoot from Armstrongism after Herbert Armstrong died (who also highly emphasized Christ will return during our lifetime). Other off shoots have reported that David A. Pack the leader of the RCG, uses his preaching to pressure people to sell their life savings and donate it all to his cause.

In my view what constitutes a "fixation" is how much skin you put in the game. Such as when someone requires other Christians to literally sell themselves to their false hope.

 

[aiki]

In my view what constitutes a "fixation" is how much skin you put in the game. Such as when someone requires other Christians to literally sell themselves to their false hope.

I think these are legitimate examples of "fixation" - and in a very unhealthy degree! Yikes!

God intends to encourage us, to bless us, with the window He gives us into the future through biblical prophecy. But, it is just like everything else humans get their hands on that this blessing is made into a fierce source of contention among believers, and even has become a means of sin (false prophecy, strife, anger, pride, etc).

Still, what Scripture reveals to us of the End of Days can be a great encouragement to us: Christ returns; God's justice is served; the righteous are rewarded; the devil gets his; in the end, we (children of God) all live happily ever after.

As I said, sometimes the baby gets thrown out with the bathwater as Christians witness the strife over prophetic revelation among the brethren and react by dismissing biblical prophecy entirely. That's just as bad a tack to take as fighting over which system of End Times prophecy is the best.

 

[Faith712]

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,

It says end of the world. You mean to tell me aion was somehow translated into end of the world?

 

[Faith712]

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?

These things are terrible but it's only going to get worse. That is a great question. They're going to start killing Christians. Will we be ready?

 

[Faith712]

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.

All right, break it down. You say that there are many saying they are Christ. Show me where, show me some cases with them working miracles. I haven't heard of it. Show me your examples of the signs coming true instead of just saying the signs are coming true.

 

[Faith712]

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

That's a few. Jesus said "many". If there were many and they were showing signs we would have heard of them by now.

 

[Rene Loup]

That's a few. Jesus said "many". If there were many and they were showing signs we would have heard of them by now.

These are the ones I can name off the top of my head. They exist, and more will come.

 

[Faith712]

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

Where in that did Peter say he was living in the last days? He talked about the last days.

 

[Faith712]

These are the ones I can name off the top of my head. They exist, and more will come.

How many are showing up per year?

 

[Faith712]

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.

Yes and Jesus went into it deeper than Joel. He told us what would happen and the order it would happen in Matthew.

Also, just because it's happening now doesn't mean we're in the last days. Countries are at war with each other but it was even like that before Jesus was born.

 

[Faith712]

“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

That happens in the end BUT just because it's happening now doesn't mean this is the end.

 

[Hammster]

It says end of the world. You mean to tell me aion was somehow translated into end of the world?

What says end of the world?

 

[Rene Loup]

How many are showing up per year?

We Are Not in the Last Days

The first video by The Fuel Project shows the rate by century, or at least the most prominent examples. Jerusalem Syndrome exists and is expected to keep happening. The Bible itself predicts this will happen, so it is only common sense for Christians studying end times theology.

There is also the concept of Survivorship Bias.[1][2][3] Basically, we only see the successful examples, and do not even see the ones that fail making it into the news. For every big name out there, there are thousands more who are nowhere near as successful.

1. 7 Survivorship Bias Examples You See in the Real World
   
2. How ‘survivorship bias’ can cause you to make mistakes
3. Survivorship Bias — Correlation Does Not Equal Causation

 

[Dave L]

That happens in the end BUT just because it's happening now doesn't mean this is the end.

These are the end times since the first century.

 

[ReesePiece23]

It was a very depressing state of affairs when the pandemic hit and the forum was flooded with "we're in the final days" threads. I mean, really? Do people fold THAT easily in a crisis?

For selfish reasons I'd love to meet Him here on Earth in my lifetime. That's a vision to behold if there ever was one. And I feel like we deserve it for having to suffer through this horrendous reality TV era.

Come on God, you did let Made in Chelsea happen. Can I meet Jesus now?

 

[Norbert L]

react by dismissing biblical prophecy entirely.

There are two sides to that coin from my experience. Certainly some dismiss biblical prophecy entirely while it is just as likely they are only dismissing someone else's personal over valued teaching on a prophetic topic.

In my view there's one practical question when dealing conflicting prophetic viewpoints. It involves three Christians, the first is Premillennial and another is Postmillennial while the third is Amillennial.

The question is, does that make one Christian righteous and the other two wicked or does it just mean that one of them is correct and the other two are wrong?

The way I see it, Mark 9:38-40 has something relevant to say about the best answer to the question.

"Now John answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.” But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is on our side."

 

[Mark Quayle]

My conclusion is that the world will end in 7000 years, or 7 seconds and that either is just as likely.

7 seconds has already passed and it didn't happen. Therefore, not likely after all. There is no chance to calculate.

See, the only thing that can happen is whatever happens, just as history shows us. Nothing else ever happens. We can extrapolate from history to show that nothing else will happen.

This uplifting message is brought to you by Simple Reason, tm. (jk)

 

[Thomas White]

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 would say we've been in the last days since Jesus left. 2000 years is a very small period in the timeline of Earth.