What happens to children who die before they accept Christ?
This is a tough one, because it goes beyond being simply an intellectual question. It’s an emotional question, too.
No doubt, we all know those who have suffered the loss of a baby or young child. We want to be comforting to them, and we also want to be comforted ourselves.
Scripture does not speak to this issue directly, but there are some principles that we can look towards when answering this question about infants and children who do not reach a stage of moral understanding and accountability when it comes to recognizing their need for salvation from their sin.
Dr. Albert Mohler, the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Dr. Danny Akin, the president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote an article that speaks to this issue. You can read the article by clicking on the link.
First, God’s grace, goodness and mercy would suggest that God saves all infants who die.
1 John 4:8—God is love.
1 Timothy 2:4—God desires that all be saved.
In speaking of children, Jesus said in Matthew 18:14—“Your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.”
Secondly, when the infant son of David and Bathsheeba died, David said two things in 2 Samuel 12:15-18: he would see the child again, and he comforted his wife. These show his confidence in the child’s eternity
Thirdly, the Bible makes a distinction between original sin (what we are born with) and actual sin (actively choosing wrong over right). Infants are unable to make this distinction of right and wrong.
Fourth, Jesus said in Luke 18:15-17 that the kingdom of God belongs to little children. This is in reference to our faith being a childlike faith, but it can also be speaking of those who live in heaven.
Fifth, some in Scripture are said to be chosen by God from the womb. The prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 1:8-2:21), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5) and John the Baptist (Luke 1:15) were all chosen this way.
The one thing we have to remember is that God is righteous, just and good. That means that everything He does is right, just and good. We can always believe and know that God will act to accomplish His purposes, which is the best thing for humans and the universe.
Next, we’ll look at what happens to people who commit suicide. Check out all of the Q and A series here.
In John’s first letter, he speaks of false teachers and refers to them as antichrists. This and 2nd John are the only books in the Bible that this term, antichrist, is used.
Other books in the Bible refer to a supreme Antichrist who will come and oppose God and his people. 2 Thessalonians refers this Antichrist as a man of lawlessness, and Revelation 13 calls him the beast coming out of the sea. Daniel 7 and 9 speak of him as someone who will oppose God’s authority, oppress believers, abandon previous laws and institute his own system, and will appear as Israel’s friend, but will become Israel’s persecutor and occupy Jerusalem as the capital of his empire.
John is speaking of false teachers, but his readers would have known about the predicted ultimate Antichrist who would fulfill the image of several Old Testament passages that led to a Jewish expectation of an archenemy of God who was to rise just before the reign of the Messiah.
This individual will emerge in a time of rebellion, which in The Revelation probably refers to a revolt against God and the power of law. He will set himself up in God’s temple, sort of like a couple of Roman emperors who desecrated the temple just before and just after Christ was on earth.
The question here is, what is God’s temple? Will the Antichrist come from the Christian church or will the real temple have to be rebuilt? Or, will he simply just be in opposition to God?
The book of Revelation can be a confusing book. But, it’s not as crazy as people make it out to be. It is very specific type of literature known as apocalyptic literature, and it looks a lot like other 1st century apocalyptic literature. When you know how to read and decipher that kind of literature, a lot of questions (not all of them), but a lot of them are easier to answer. Also, realizing that John was writing this to seven churches in Asia Minor late in the 1st century helps you make more sense of what’s going on.
If someone would have said to John, “did you know that people in a land that has not yet been discovered will be reading these words 2000 years from now?”, he probably wouldn’t have believed it. Remember that he thought Jesus would come back in his lifetime.
Revelation was written to 1st century Christians in Asia in the form of apocalyptic literature, and not to 21st century Americans in Mississippi. However, there is information here that is pertinent for us.
Revelation 13 gives a vivid description of a beast and a dragon and how men worshiped them. This is not a literal beast and dragon. It is imagery and metaphor. In fact, John’s audience would have probably recognized that John was referring to the Roman emperor Domitian who claimed to be either God or Nero come back to life.
Daniel gives numbers about the length of the anti-Christ’s reign, but as in most apocalyptic literature, it’s probably more safe to assume that these numbers are metaphorical and not literal. There are lots of things associated with the Antichrist, like the number 666 and the “mark of the beast”.
Lots of people try to use weird formulas and deductions to try to find the name of the Antichrist or make predictions about what the mark of the beast will one day be. Some have even pointed to things like bar codes, credit cards, and medical I.D. bracelets as the mark of the beast. So far, all of them have been wrong.
Revelation 13 mentions three evil beings: the dragon, beast #1 (from the sea) and beast #2 (from the land). Think of this as the unholy trinity that is trying to be like God. The number 666 falls short of the number that is used for God’s perfection, 777. This, then, may be a representation and not a literal number, as is common in apocalyptic literature.
Trying to discern names or figure out the mark of the beast misses the point of John’s symbolism. Trying to identify who the Antichrist might be by choosing some awful, godless person or movement in any time period is a distraction from the faithful life of following Christ that biblical apocalyptic literature consistently calls us to. You can fill hundreds of books with the names of people who have at one time or another been identified as the Antichrist, and been proved 100% wrong.
So, how will we recognize him?
We may or we may not until its too late. But, even if we did know who he was, we couldn’t stop him. When it’s God’s time for the final things to start moving into place, it’s His plan…not ours.
And, those believers who are alive when this happens, will get to see Jesus return and destroy him. So we shouldn’t be upset or afraid of the Antichrist to come, because it means Jesus is right behind him.
“Go for the Gold” Bible Challenge ends November 30! Be sure your child is up to date with memory work and has completed a service project. (Christmas in a Shoe Box is the perfect service project!) Awards will be presented in Sunday School classes on December 7. A new Bible Challenge will begin in December.
Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes
Operation Christmas Child Christmas Shoeboxes must be turned in by Wednesday, November 19. There are tables set up on Sunday mornings in the welcome center downtown and in the atrium of the Children’s Building on Wednesday evenings to receive your boxes. Children should be sure to pick up a “receipt ticket” to give to their Sunday School teachers to receive credit for this service project.
If you have a heart for newborn babies and their families, consider being a part of our First Connections Team. Janet Adcock has recently volunteered to coordinate this ministry and she needs more volunteers to serve the 15+ families expecting or with recently arrived babies. Team members are assigned a few expectant parents to contact for encouragement and prayer support, then follow up with the family until the new baby begins attending Sunday School. If your interested in helping Janet with this most rewarding and meaningful ministry, contact Dotty Krebs at dotty@firsthattiesburg.com to volunteer.
New Parents
If you are expecting an addition to your family, be sure to sign up for First Connections. Through First Connections, you will be assigned to a church member who will encourage you and pray for you through this exciting time. First Connection team members will bring you a gift bag from the church after Baby arrives and will assist you as you return to church with your new baby. Sign up for First Connections by contacting Dotty Krebs at dotty@firsthattiesburg.com or by calling 601-544-0100.
“No Wonder”, a Christmas Worship Musical for kids will be presented December 7 at 6:00 pm in the sanctuary of our downtown campus by children in grades 1-6.
This musical teaches all of us that we can serve God wherever we are!
Rehearsals Dates
Wednesday, November 19
Wednesday, December 3
Friday, December 5
Sunday, December 7
Dress rehearsal will be Friday, December 5 at W. Pine St. in the sanctuary starting at 5:00 for those with solos and special parts. The complete run through with everyone will begin at 6:00.
Wednesday, 11/26
No activities due to Thanksgiving
Wednesday, 12/03
Regular schedule
Wednesday, 12/10
Churchwide “Christmas Celebration Fellowship” in Children’s Building @ Lincoln Road campus; Dinner served at regular time, followed by the fellowship
Wednesday, 12/17
No evening activities
Wednesday, 12/24
Annual Christmas Eve service, Downtown campus, 5:00pm
When does the great judgment happen for believers? Before they enter into heaven, or after they have been there awhile? Is there more than one judgment?
Many passages in the Bible teach about the final judgment of believers and unbelievers:
Revelation 20:11-15 “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according wo what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
So when will the judgment take place?
Revelation 20 says that it will take place after what is called the millennium, where Jesus reigns on earth in peace for 1000 years, and afterward Satan is set free for one final rebellion. Fire will rain down from heaven and defeat Satan and his armies and then the great judgment will follow as described in the previous verses.
So are their two judgments, or just the one?
Well, this sort of goes back to the question of the rapture, and if you believe that there are two Second Comings of Christ. If you do believe this, then you mostly likely have to believe in at least two judgments. Here is how those who hold to this view explain their belief:
Matthew 25:31-32 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the sheep from the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats”
This is the first judgment, or the judgment of the nations. This determines who enters the millennial kingdom. There is also a judgment of the believer’s works (a.k.a., the bema judgment) where Christians will receive degrees of reward. This judgment is described in 2 Corinthians 5:10. Finally, there is the great white throne judgment where the unbelievers are punished, seen in the previous verses from Revelation.
There are problems with this view. If you read the entire passage in Matthew 25 where it speaks of Jesus separating the sheep from the goats, there is no mention of a millennial kingdom. It does, however mention eternal punishment and eternal life. So, this seems to be speaking of the same judgment as the great white throne. Also, there is no mention in Scripture of God dealing with anyone’s eternal destiny based on what nation they are from.
While many people hold to the view of different judgments, this is a fairly new theory in regards to church history. It comes from a theological system called “dispensationalism“, which is widely held by many evangelicals.
My conclusion, based strictly on what the Scripture says, is that there is one judgment. Jesus is the judge (2 Timothy 4:1). At this judgment unbelievers are judged (Romans 2:5-7), believers are judged (Romans 14:10-12), the angels are judged (1 Corinthians 6:3), and also believers will play a role in the work of judging (1 Corinthians 6:2-3).
Two follow-up questions from our series:
1) Does Revelation mean 1000 years literally? Well…depends on who you ask. Apocalyptic literature is fond of using numbers metaphoricaly (as in 1000 being a “complete and whole” number), but it could very well mean literal years, too. There are people on both sides of the debate, and no one has definitive proof.
2) Aren’t we judged when we die before we get into heaven? See the above answer. We are. The question stems from confusion about what happens if there is more than one judgment.
What’s the deal with the rapture? How will it affect those on earth and those already in heaven?
I bet if you were honest, you’d admit that there was a time when you couldn’t find someone you were looking for, or couldn’t get anyone on the phone, and you secretly began to wonder if the rapture had happend, and you’d been “left behind”. Admit it.
I want you to forget about all the things you’ve heard, the Left Behind books that you’ve read. Forget all those Thief in the Night movies we talked about yesterday, and I want to talk to you strictly from Scripture.
The word “rapture” never appears anywhere in the Bible. It’s from the Latin word raptus which means “caught up”. There is only one verse in Scripture that deals with the idea of believers being “caught up in the air”:
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord together.”
No text in the Bible speaks of this idea of the rapture and the Great Tribulation together. So, ideas have to be formed by taking verses from one part of the Bible and putting them together with verses from another part of the Bible. This has led people to divide themselves up into basically three camps:
Pre-tribulation View—believers will leave earth before the great persecution begins
There is some scriptural support for this
Daniel 9:20-27 is the most common passage alluded to
Midtribulation View—believers will only experience half of the great persecution
This one is a hard case to make from Scripture and is unlikely accurate
The few proponents of this view point to verses like Revelation 11:15-17 and place the rapture in Revelation 14.
Posttribulation View—believers will experience the entirety of the great persecution and Jesus will come back again
There is scriptural support for this
This view sees the events of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 happening at the same time.
I’ve now told you everything the Bible says about the rapture. But, let me tell you a couple of more things that are important for you to think about when making up your mind about what you believe about this. It’s good for you to search the Scripture and make up your own mind.
#1—If you believe that Christ will rapture the church before the tribulation begins (the whole “left behind” idea), then you must believe that Christ will have 2 “Second Comings”. He will come back to rapture the church before the tribulation, then return again at the end of the tribulation to establish his kingdom on earth. This is a hard case to make from Scripture.
#2—The idea of the church being raptured out of this world before the Great Tribulation is a relatively new idea. Before the mid-1800’s, the belief that believers would disappear from earth before the tribulation began (the rapture) was completely unknown throughout the history of the church. It was proposed and made famous by an Irish evangelist named John Nelson Darby. People who we look to, even in recent church history (like Johnathan Edwards, John Wesley, John Newton, George Whitefield), these guys never heard of, nor held to this belief.
#3—the Greek word used for meeting the Lord in the air is the same word that was often used for a welcome and escort provided for a returning king or visiting dignitary to an ancient Roman city. You see this same word in the parable of the ten bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13) with them going out to meet the groom and escort him to his new bride’s parents home. It’s also used in Acts 28:15 when the Roman Christians leave town to meet Paul on the highway and escort him back to their city. This suggests that Jesus will descend from heaven to earth at the second coming and that his followers will form a welcoming party to meet him part of the way and then escort him back to earth in triumph. Those on earth will meet Christ in the air, and that will be preceded by those who are in heaven somehow coming back with Christ by rising from the dead.
Again, it’s important to not get too caught up in the details, but rather focus on the fact that there IS a Second Coming somewhere in the future. That means that we should try and lead as many people to go with us as possible.
Next, we’ll look at what the Bible says about The Judgment at the end of this age. Check out all of the Q and A series here.
Join us at First Baptist’s “Barn” out in Oak Vale for an good old-fashioned barn party. It’s got all of your favorites: fishing, hayride, bonfire, and more. We’ll even take some target practice if you enjoy shooting BB guns. We’ll grill some burgers and dogs with the sides and desserts, too.
Meet us at Lincoln Road at 3:00 PM to carpool/follow someone out there. It can be tricky if you’ve never been before. We’ll crank up the party around 4:00 PM, but show up a little early if you want. We’ll wrap up by 8:00 PM or so. Click here for directions.
Good evening, and welcome to Sunday Nights @ First!
Tonight is going to be a little different from what you are used to…
No preacher
No band
No announcements
No joke
Just you, this screen, and God
Weird, huh
Don’t worry
It will all be back next week
Tonight we begin a three week series on “Worship”.
Take a moment to think about worship.
How would you define it?
What does it look like?
How well do you worship?
This is a big deal, because Jesus said, “true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”
John 4:23
Worship is a big deal to us because it is a big deal to God.
He is actively seeking people who will rightly worship Him.
So how do I do that?
How do I rightly worship God?
Singing?
Dancing?
Praying?
Giving?
Serving?
Yes.
Yes to all of the above, and more.
Let’s unpack this worship thing a little more.
Worship involves three things:
Acknowledging who God is and what He has done.
Expressing praise and thanksgiving for who God is and what He has done.
Surrendering every activity of life as an expression of worship.
Let’s start with acknowledging who God is and what He has done.
So who is God? What has He done?
The best way to answer those questions is to see what God has said about Himself. And the best way to do that is to look in the Bible.
As you read the following verses, take your time. Think about what they say about God. Think about what God has done on your behalf. Then read the verse again. Focus on His love and care for you.
“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
“And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go; I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.” Genesis 28:15
“The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” Exodus 14:14
“The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.” Exodus 15:2
“The Lord is a warrior.” Exodus 15:3
“…you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.” Deuteronomy 20:3,4
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
“And the Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8
“Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord you God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
“Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.” II Chronicles 14:12
“The Lord is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.” II Chronicles 15:2
“But you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work.” II Chronicles 15:7
“For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” II Chronicles 16:9
“But Thou, O Lord, art a shield about me, my glory, and the One who lifts my head. I was crying to the Lord with my voice, and he answered me from His holy mountain. I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me round about.” Psalms 3:3-6
“The Lord hears when I call to Him.” Psalm 4:3
“For Thou dost bless the righteous man, O Lord. Thou dost surround him with favor as with a shield.” Psalm 5:12
“God, brilliant Lord, yours is a household name. Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you; toddlers shout the songs that drown out enemy talk, and silence atheist babble. I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewelry, moon and stars mounted in their settings. Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, ‘Why do you bother with us? Why take a second look?’” Psalm 8 (The Message)
“The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” Psalm 9:9
“For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face.” Psalm 11:7
“I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.” Psalm 13:6
“I have set the Lord continually before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” Psalm 16:8
“‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.’” Isaiah 1:18
“And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.” Isaiah 26:3
“Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord we have an everlasting Rock.” Isaiah 26:4
“In repentance and rest you shall be saved. In quietness and trust is your strength.” Isaiah 30:15
“You have put all my sins behind your back.” Isaiah 38:17
“The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31
“Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
“I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.” Isaiah 43:25
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,‚’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek and find me when you seek me with all your heart.’” Jeremiah 29:11-13
“I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Jeremiah 31:3
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Jeremiah 31:24
“Call on me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things.” Jeremiah 33:3
“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him.” Lamentations 3:25
“This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:21-23
We could spend all of eternity trying to describe the wonder of who God is.
He is Creator
Protector
Sustainer
Forgiver
Mighty
Merciful
Faithful
Love
Holy
Just
Father
Daddy
So who is He to you?
Take a moment right now at your tables, and share who God is to you. For which of His attributes are you most thankful? Why? What has God done for you?
Go ahead. Start right now. We’ll wait for you. We’ll turn the lights back down when it’s time to look back at the screen. Begin with person at your table who has the bluest eyes.
Next week we’ll respond to God, by expressing our worship through music. It will be a night of praise and worship, led by our worship band.
Don’t miss it.
We’re going to have a lot of fun!
Let’s pray.
(Keep looking up here, please.)
Father, we have a tendency to focus so much on ourselves that we forget all about You. Don’t let us do that anymore. Help us to continually remember who You are. Help us to continually remember all You have done for us. Teach us to worship. We pray this is Jesus name,
Amen.
On Sunday, November 30 First Baptist will implement its new Sunday morning schedule. Beginning that morning there will be only two worship services – 9:30am and 11:00am. The services will be identical.
Some of the adult Sunday School classes will also change. Please check the following schedule to see if your class will be impacted.
Preschool
All Preschool Sunday School will meet at 9:30am; preschool childcare will be available at 11:00am.
Children
All Children’s Sunday School will meet at 9:30am in the same rooms where they now meet.
Youth
All Youth Sunday School will meet at 9:30am in Room #200.
College
All College Sunday School will meet at 9:30am in The Studio.
Adults – 8:30am
The Niche – Jan Watson, Teacher – Room #103
Travis Class – Kearney Travis, Teacher – Room #223
Seeker Class – Terry Peters, Teacher – Room #229
James Class – David Wertz, Jerry Purvis, Teachers – Room #230
Philia Class – Rebecca Jordan, Ann Hutchison, Teachers – Room #222
Truth Class – Barbara Ann Ross, Bettye King, Teachers – Room #233
Leader Class – Milton Wheeler, Teacher – Room #227
Victory Class – John Watson, Teacher – Parlor
Adults – 9:30am
First Singles II (30’s & 40’s) - Kris & Presley Walters, Teachers – Room #221
Galey Class – Glenn Galey, Teacher – Room #301
Sellers Class – Larry Sellers, Teacher – Room #302
Powell Class – Jeff Powell, Teacher – Fellowship Hall
Rayborn Class – Voldi Rayborn, Teacher – Old Choir Room
Montgomery Class – Tom Montgomery, Teacher – Room #236
Phillips Class – Dennis Phillips, Teacher – Room #225
Smith Class – Curtis Smith, Teacher – Room #220
Senior Ladies Class – Ron Schmidt, Teacher – Room #102
Adults – 11:00am
First Singles I (20’s & 30’s) – Jay McGuirk, Teacher – Room #200
Newlyweds Class – Lee & Linda Fedric, Teachers – Room #223
Pennebaker Class – Bo & Catherine Pennebaker, Teachers – Room #206
Price Class – Randy Price, Teacher – Room #301
Thank you for your help in making our new schedule a success!
You might want to grab a cup of coffee. This is going to be a little lengthy.
People freak out about the end times. How many of you have ever watched an “end times” movie growing up in church? Thief in the Night was one of the more popular ones when I was growing up. Back in the 80’s, we watched these movies made in the 70’s. They involved people disappearing in the rapture, and they would scare you to death. I couldn’t sleep for weeks.
You may not realize this, but probably a lot of what you believe about the end times is based on what someone else told you. And probably what you believe or what you have heard was not so much based on what the Bible says, but it’s based on someone’s interpretation of what the Bible says.
So, as we approach this subject, don’t freak out. I want to try to give you a brief overview of what the Bible says about the end times in response to your questions, and show you what we can know for sure, and what is speculation and opinion. I’m going to simply scratch the surface of all the arguments that exist about the end times. It would take weeks or months to exhaustively examine every passage and argument, and if you’re looking for more reading on the subject, I’ll be happy to recommend some things for you.
So, are we seeing the end times happening right now?
Simple answer: yes we are. 100%, yes we are.
How can I be so sure?
Because we have been living in the “last days” for about 2000 years.
When the New Testament speaks of “the last days”, it is always speaking of the time between Jesus’ First Coming and his Second Coming. Something that you need to understand when you are reading the NT: every writer of the New Testament understood themselves to be living in the last days.
John 21:21—“When Peter saw him (John), he asked, ‘Lord what about him?’ Jesus answered, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.’ Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die.”
The rumor in the early church was that the apostle John would not die until Jesus returned. They thought they were living in the last days. In Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was given to the believers. Peter clearly understood this to be a fulfillment of a prophecy from the book of Joel…he quotes that prophecy:
Acts 2:17—“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.”
Clearly, they understood that this prophecy was being fulfilled, and that these were the last days. Peter, again:
2 Peter 3:3—“First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.”
The writer of Hebrews: Hebrews 1:2—“In these last days, he has spoken to us by His Son…”
So, are we living in the end times? Yes we are.
Now, when someone asks this question, what they really mean is this: is Jesus about to come back? Right?
So, is Jesus about to come back? What does the Bible say about his 2nd coming?
1. There is one return of Christ, and it is a sudden, personal, and visible, bodily return of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 24:44 “So you must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
Acts 1:11 “[The angel said, ] ‘This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’”
Revelation 1:7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him.”
2. We should long for Christ’s return.
Titus 2:12-13 “[God’s grace teaches us] to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
3. We don’t know when it is going to happen.
Matthew 24:44 “at an hour you do not expect”
Matthew 25:13 “Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”
Since I’ve lived in Hattiesburg, I’ve gotten 4-5 emails or pamphlets that people have sent me telling me that the things that are going on in the world today indicate that Jesus is about to return. What happens is that people take the Bible in one hand, and put the newspaper in the other, and they start connecting the dots.
You cannot decipher when Christ is return this way. It’s not a code to be cracked. If it is, then there are a lot of people who are getting mixed signals.
Many people have tried and failed to predict Christ’s return. In September 1988, Edward Whisenant said that Christ would return on the 12th. Thousands of copies of his books were sold and many otherwise sober-minded Christians read it and believed it. I remember being in Mrs. McPherson’s 5th grade class and a bunch of my friends freaking out because their parents had bought into this. Across the nation, some even pulled their kids out of school to be together as a family when Jesus came back…which he didn’t.
This kind of stuff isn’t just silly, but it’s disobedience to God’s Word. We do not know when it will happen. It is possible to have an unhealthy obsession with this kind of stuff!
My challenge to you is to figure out what you believe about end times theology, and don’t dwell on it constantly. Back to the list…
4. I said this earlier, but there is a lot of disagreement over the details of the last things. So we have to be careful about building concrete theology on passages that we are unclear about.
The Bible does, however, give us some things that will happen before Christ returns:
1. The gospel preached to all the nations
Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
o 2. The Great Tribulation
Mark 13:7 “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginnings of birth pains.”
3. False prophets doing miraculous things
Mark 13:22 “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles…”
4. Signs in the heavens
Mark 13:24 “But in those days, following that distress, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.”
5. The coming of the man of sin and rebellion who is the last and worst of a series of antichrists, or false prophets, that 1 John 2:18 talks about.
6. Large numbers of Jews will trust in Christ.
Romans 11:25-26 “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved.”
So have these things been fulfilled, or have they not? And, how can we tell?
The truth is, we don’t know. We don’t know if these things have been fulfilled, or if they haven’t. It’s possible that some have, and it’s possible that they haven’t. But we cannot say for certainty.
The best things for us to do:
1. Read and understand the Bible in context
2. Be prepared for Christ’s return
3. Be humble in our understandings and interpretations of end time events
Beware of people who see the prophecies of the book of Revelation as being fulfilled in current events. Every time throughout history that people have made these claims about the prophecies being fulfilled in their eras, they have been 100% wrong. Tthat should warn us against believing the same things in our time, too.
If someone speaks a prophecy about what God is going to do, or is doing in current events, and then they are proven wrong, then what does it make that person? A false prophet.
Eugene Petersen, the creator of The Message Bible says this in his book, Reversed Thunder: “One of the unintended and unhappy consequences of St. John’s Armageddon vision is that it has inflamed the imaginations of the biblically illiterate into consuming end-time fantasies, distracting them from the daily valor of dogged obedience, sacrificial love, and alert endurance. This is exactly what St. John did not intend as even a cursory reading of Revelation makes evident. When people are ignorant of the imagery of prophets and gospels, and untutored in the metaphorical language of war in the story of salvation, they are easy prey for entertaining predictions of an end-time holocaust…conjured up from newspaper clippings on international politics. Jesus told us quite clearly that the people who make these breathless and sensationalist predictions are themselves false Christs and false prophets that they are pretending to warn us against.”
In the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 13:1-18), prophets who spoke on God’s behalf, but then their predictions didn’t come true were stoned to death. Of course, we don’t hold to that, but that should give us reason to write them off and pay them no attention.
Deuteronomy 18:22 “If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message that the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptiously. Do not be afraid of him.”
A follow-up question was asked: Is there a difference between the end times and the events described in The Revelation?
There is a view of The Revelation that says, “yes”, and it is called “preterism“. You can read more about it by clicking on the link. Most evangelicals, however, hold that The Revelation describes future events as opposed to past events.
As with most “end times” theology, it’s a pretty complicated journey to figure all of the different views, so good luck in your endeavors.
What happens to children who die before they accept Christ?
“No Wonder”, a Christmas Worship Musical for kids will be presented December 7 at 6:00 pm in the sanctuary of our downtown campus by children in grades 1-6.