Last Days Unaware!

   Last Days, End Times, Latter Days, The Final Days, and The Time of the End, all refer to the period between Christ’s ascension and His second coming.  Eschatology refers to the study of “last things,” including the last days, the Second Coming, and the final judgement.  Not planning to go to Bible college and study Eschatology any time soon?  Here are some basics.  Let’s start with a little of what Jesus Himself warned us about:

​¹ Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on his way. His disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. ² But he answered them, “You see all of these things, don’t you? Most certainly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone on another, that will not be thrown down.”
³ As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?”
⁴ Jesus answered them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray. ⁵ For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will lead many astray. ⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren’t troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines, plagues, and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ But all these things are the beginning of birth pains. ⁹ Then they will deliver you up to oppression, and will kill you. You will be hated by all of the nations for my name’s sake. ¹⁰ Then many will stumble, and will deliver up one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹ Many false prophets will arise, and will lead many astray. ¹² Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But he who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
¹⁵ “When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), ¹⁶ then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take out the things that are in his house. ¹⁸ Let him who is in the field not return back to get his clothes. ¹⁹ But woe to those who are with child and to nursing mothers in those days! ²⁰ Pray that your flight will not be in the winter, nor on a Sabbath, ²¹ for then there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be. ²² Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.
²³ “Then if any man tells you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or, ‘There,’ don’t believe it. ²⁴ For there will arise false christs, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.
²⁵ “Behold, I have told you beforehand. ²⁶ If therefore they tell you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’ don’t go out; or ‘Behold, he is in the inner rooms,’ don’t believe it. ²⁷ For as the lightning flashes from the east, and is seen even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. ²⁸ For wherever the carcass is, that is where the vultures gather together. ²⁹ But immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; ³⁰ and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹ He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
³² “Now from the fig tree learn this parable. When its branch has now become tender, and produces its leaves, you know that the summer is near. ³³ Even so you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. ³⁴ Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away, until all these things are accomplished. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. ³⁶ But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
³⁷ “As the days of Noah were, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. ³⁸ For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ship, ³⁹ and they didn’t know until the flood came, and took them all away, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰ Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴² Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes. ⁴³ But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come. Matthew 24:1-44

   Next, here’s a little of what the Holy Spirit of God says through the writers of the Bible:

​¹ But know this: that in the last days, grievous times will come. ² For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ without natural affection, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, not lovers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding a form of godliness, but having denied its power. Turn away from these, also. ⁶ For some of these are people who creep into houses and take captive gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, ⁷ always learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Even as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind, who concerning the faith are rejected. ¹³ But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 2 Timothy 3:1-8, and verse 13

​Some of Paul’s instructions to Timothy:  ¹ I command you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom: ² preach the word; be urgent in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all patience and teaching. ³ For the time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine, but having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts, ⁴ and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn away to fables. 2 Timothy 4:1-4

Here’s Peter, and Peter backing Paul’s instruction:  ¹ This is now, beloved, the second letter that I have written to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by reminding you, ² that you should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior: ³ knowing this first, that in the last days mockers will come, walking after their own lusts ⁴ and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” ⁵ For this they willfully forget that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water by the word of God, ⁶ by which means the world that existed then, being overflowed with water, perished. ⁷ But the heavens that exist now and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
⁸ But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. ¹¹ Therefore since all these things will be destroyed like this, what kind of people ought you to be in holy living and godliness, ¹² looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, which will cause the burning heavens to be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? ¹³ But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent to be found in peace, without defect and blameless in his sight. ¹⁵ Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you, ¹⁶ as also in all of his letters, speaking in them of these things. In those, there are some things that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. ¹⁷ You therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware, lest being carried away with the error of the wicked, you fall from your own steadfastness. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. 2 Peter 3

Rather than give my own opinions, watch how many attempt to explain away the need to follow Jesus or the Bible.  Even many Christians in America have been, or currently are being, taught to ignore and explain away parts of the Bible.  The Bible is the Word of God and Word of Truth!  Don’t be caught Last Days unaware!  And May God Bless You!