Are we in the “Last Days”?
Notes
Transcript
Are we in the “Last Days”?
Are we in the “Last Days”?
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
How many times have we thought about this passage in the last 2 months? We have seen some unprecedented actions and events - whether the amount of people who have been sick or succumbed to the COVID-19 pandemic.
All the news is about Hospitals, respirators, statistics, models and Mitigation task forces.
Perilous times???
We know that in the “Last Days” perilous times shall come… but are we there???
are these times perilous?
If so, are we in the last days?
Are we in the “Last Days”?
Are we in the “Last Days”?
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
In our text, we find the markers of these days that are referred to as Perilous...
these are markers of what was going to be going on in the Last Days...
For years preachers, christians have been saying - “We are in the Last Days”
But are there verses that will spell it out for us conclusively?
Note:
Action should be based on knowledge
The knowledge that God has given us in His Word then should give us confidence to live in a way that is conducive to the times in which we live.
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Three: What to Do before It Ends (2 Timothy 3)
Too many Christians are like the pilot who informed his passengers, “We are lost, but we are making very good time.”
let’s go back to the question of the message… “are we in the Last days”
The answer is affirmatively Yes...
We ARE in the LAST DAYS...
The Clock has started...
These “last days” have begun
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
heb
Let’s break this down
Who is speaking?
I believe Hebrews was penned by Paul, but that really doesn’t matter - it was a 1st century believer with 1st hand knowledge of the Lord Jesus
What is is Saying?
God spoke to the fathers (ot saints) by the prophets
God is speaking to the NT believers.. “unto us” by his Son…
Jesus - spoke unto the apostles, disciples… in THE LAST DAYS...
WHO… Jesus - vs 3 relays the glorified condition of the Savior -
When - he had…BY HIMSELF… purged our sins… .(THEN…) …sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high
The Clock of the “Last Days” began after the resurrection...
Are We Listening
7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
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The clock is ticking...
Time is passing...
The Lord has spoken - Are WE LISTENING???
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter One: Is Anybody Listening? (Hebrews 1:1–3)
A man from Leeds, England visited his doctor to have his hearing checked. The doctor removed the man’s hearing aid, and the patient’s hearing immediately improved! He had been wearing the device in the wrong ear for over 20 years!
True Story… How uncomfortable… I cannot imagine...
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
who hath ears to hear, let him hear. mt13.9
who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
mark 4.9, 23, 7.16… on and on...
Are we listening?
We think - well - it can get worse… Yes it can and it will… but we are not in no man’s zone, we are in “the last days”
These are the days to be:
SOBER
VIGILANT
PREPARED
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
HEB
THESE ARE THE DAYS TO BE:
FOCUSED -
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
I had no idea that 2020 would be a year like it has been - but “FOCUSED FAITH” is our theme, and I believe that the Lord gave it to me for a reason...
we need to be FOCUSED - WHY? We are in the Last Days...
3. Are We Responding?
7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Hardened hearts hearts are revealed by not taking steps of faith...
Hardened hearts hearts are revealed by not taking steps of faith...
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Three: Greater than Moses (Hebrews 3:1–4:13)
The heart of every problem is a problem in the heart.
10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
hearts of unbelief...
12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 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.
5 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:
Some will just want to float along…
ignorant of God’s word
apathetic of God’s warnings...
Surprised at God’s Judgment or coming...
King James Version Chapter 7
And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, 9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
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50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
1cor15.5
What should be be doing?
What should be be doing?
1. Watch...
7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
2. Warn...
1 Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
3. Work
eze33.1-9
Jesus was busy about the
purpose
plan
luk21.
that he was given to complete...
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4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
You and I as Stewards… need to be busy about his business...
Work for the Savior...
His Kingdom
His Field
His Heart
10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
4. Wait
27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
these verses are referring to the 2nd half of Jacob’s Trouble - the 2nd half of the tribulation period and the Lord’s Second Coming - but the admonition for believers of all times is to look for His appearance!
Watch
Warn
Work
Wait -