What About the End Times?

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

 

Jesus said to His disciples: “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains” (Matthew 24:4b-8).

 

I have often been asked this question: “Are we living in the end times?” I then typically ask, “Why do you ask?” “What are you thinking?”

 

Well, the short answer to this profound question is: Yes. We are living in the End Times. But the usual question to follow is this: “When did the End Times begin?”

 

Jesus said to His disciples: “‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’ And when He had said these things, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as He went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven’” (Acts 1:7-11).

 

So, the End Times began with Jesus’ bodily ascension into heaven to which He said previously, “Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?” (John 6:62)

 

Since, Christ’s bodily ascension nearly 2,000 years ago, the world has been living in the End Times. Generation after generation has experienced wars and rumors of wars. Generations have experienced nations rising against nations. Generations have experienced famines, plagues, earthquakes, and other weather-related phenomenon. This, the fallen sinful world has experienced. But, if we are living in the End Times, why do these End Times last so long? The answer to this is that we are being tested. Our faith in Christ is being tested.

 

Jesus assures us saying, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:36-44).

 

Regarding Christ not knowing the day and hour, He spoke this during His time of humiliation when He voluntarily limited His divine powers prior to His death upon the cross. Now that He is risen from the dead and bodily ascended into heaven, the exalted Christ certainly knows when He will return, since He has resumed His full and constant use of His divine powers.

 

The end of the world will not be spurred on by man. There is nothing man can do to usher in the Last Day. The Last Day has been prepared by the Triune God — the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit inspired the Psalmist: “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to earth; on that very day his plans perish” (Psalm 146:3-4). So, we are not to cling to sinful man, since sinful man always follows his sinful desires. Instead, cling to Jesus, for He “is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). By grace through faith in Christ alone, we come to the Father.

 

On the Last Day, the entire world will witness Christ’s return. He will return the same way He went up. On the Last Day, we “will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory” (Mark 13:26) who will “judge the living and the dead” at His appearing (2 Timothy 4:1).

 

In Christ,

Pastor Adelsen