1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,520 For the mercy seat that is our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:13,400 Well, welcome to the service today. 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:15,320 We're glad that you're here. 4 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:18,260 I'm beginning a new series this morning. 5 00:00:18,260 --> 00:00:23,720 My wife and I this afternoon are planning to get on an airplane and we're going to be 6 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:27,800 flying to San Diego to celebrate the first birthday of one of our grandchildren. 7 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:33,040 It's going to be a special evening down there. 8 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:38,920 I hope we don't hear what some passengers on a plane heard. 9 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:45,360 Some time ago the pilot came onto the plane, came onto the intercom rather, and he said, 10 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:53,120 folks, I'm sorry to tell you that we're lost, but we are ahead of schedule. 11 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:57,960 Now when I think about that statement, I think about the times we're living in. 12 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:02,920 We're lost, but we're going somewhere real fast. 13 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:06,920 What I want to talk about is where we're headed. 14 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:14,360 The series is entitled In Times Like These, and today I want to deal with the question, 15 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:18,360 are we living in the last days? 16 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:23,060 Are we living in the last days? 17 00:01:23,060 --> 00:01:27,800 So I want you to get your Bible out because we're going to be turning to a number of texts 18 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:33,640 over the next 30 minutes or so, studying the Word of God regarding this theme of the last 19 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:35,100 days. 20 00:01:35,100 --> 00:01:42,200 Perhaps it's the post-election emotion or maybe it's the uncertainty that we feel because 21 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:50,960 of the economic downturn, or perhaps it's because we read the newspaper and we see the 22 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:59,200 political situations in the world, for example, the deepening of the ties between Russia and 23 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:03,080 Iran, which happened again this last week. 24 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:10,040 You may recall that the vice president-elect told all of us that the new president-elect 25 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:12,840 will be tested early in his term. 26 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:15,800 I think he's exactly right. 27 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,680 You would have to expect that that will take place. 28 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:25,080 Maybe that will be Iran or maybe it will be Russia or some other place in the world or 29 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:27,720 maybe several of them. 30 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:35,840 But there seems to be some sense among people that something is about to break loose. 31 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:39,420 Do you feel that way? 32 00:02:39,420 --> 00:02:47,560 Even more perhaps, there's a feeling that history is quickly moving toward its culmination, 33 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,320 its denouement. 34 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:57,720 We aren't the first generation to experience feelings like this. 35 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:07,640 But this sense that things cannot keep going on the way they are naturally intrigues us 36 00:03:07,640 --> 00:03:14,480 with what the Bible says about what's coming in the future. 37 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:20,000 And so I posed the question this morning that I want to examine with you and the question 38 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:24,880 is are we living in the last days? 39 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:33,600 And right up front I want to answer that unequivocally, clearly, without hesitation. 40 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,320 Are we living in the last days? 41 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:39,400 Absolutely yes. 42 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:41,880 We are. 43 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:47,720 And I'm going to show you from the Bible this morning that we are in fact living in the 44 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,720 last days. 45 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:55,500 Now I'll explain that by asking some questions regarding this phrase. 46 00:03:55,500 --> 00:04:01,280 The first question is this, where does this phrase originate, the last days? 47 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:06,400 Do we use this phrase because Joel Rosenberg used it in one of his novels several years 48 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:07,400 ago? 49 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:13,120 Well, the answer to that is no, I think it preceded Joel Rosenberg. 50 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:19,960 Is it because there was a film in 1999 called The Last Days that recounted some of the stories 51 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:22,560 of Jewish Holocaust survivors? 52 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:28,800 Now actually I think the phrase goes back further than that. 53 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:38,240 See the phrase goes all the way back in the Bible to Genesis chapter 49 and verse 1. 54 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:45,800 This is the same text, the same area of Genesis that we've been studying over recent months. 55 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,080 Genesis chapter 49 verse 1. 56 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:52,400 You see the Bible is the book of origins. 57 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:57,280 And when we want to find out where something originates we should go to the Bible to see 58 00:04:57,280 --> 00:05:02,760 where this idea, this concept, this word, this truth originates. 59 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:09,000 And in the Bible the book of Genesis is particularly the book of origins. 60 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:15,260 It is the seed plot of many of the things that are developed throughout in the rest 61 00:05:15,260 --> 00:05:16,800 of the Word of God. 62 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:25,960 And its first use is Genesis 49, 1 as Jacob blesses his sons. 63 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:31,200 He is an old man and he is about to die. 64 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:38,400 And the scriptures tell us that he gathered to him his sons and he said gather around 65 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:45,720 so I can tell you what will happen in the last days. 66 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,920 In the last days. 67 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:53,000 Then he goes on to bless each of his sons with something. 68 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:59,560 But he introduces this patriarchal blessing with the words I'm going to tell you what's 69 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:04,680 going to happen in the last days. 70 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:10,160 A good friend of mine, John Sailhammer, wrote the commentary on Genesis that's found in 71 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:11,960 the Exposers Bible commentary. 72 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:15,920 John is a scholar of Hebrew. 73 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:22,160 He is able to read 13, 14, 15 of these ancient languages. 74 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:26,080 Most Hebrew backwards and forwards. 75 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:32,360 And in the Exposers Bible commentary he makes a pithy statement regarding the last days. 76 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:35,480 And I've copied it in your notes so that you have it. 77 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:41,780 It says the same expression occurs in the Pentateuch as an introduction to two other 78 00:06:41,780 --> 00:06:44,520 poetic discourses. 79 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:50,760 The Oracles of Balaam and the last words of Moses. 80 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:57,000 On all three occasions the subject matter introduced by the phrase the last days or 81 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:07,120 in days to come is that of God's future deliverance of his chosen people. 82 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:12,000 I want you to underscore those words because when you read the words the last days you 83 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:21,920 need to understand that its origins go back to God's deliverance in the future of his 84 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:27,400 people Israel, the chosen family. 85 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:33,000 John goes on to say at the center of that deliverance stands a king. 86 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:38,760 In Genesis 49 that king is connected with the house of Judah. 87 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:42,320 So you tell me who is the king? 88 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:44,480 Jesus. 89 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:53,040 The descendant of Judah who is the king who will one day deliver the chosen people. 90 00:07:53,040 --> 00:08:00,440 Now the point is this that the phrase is one that looks toward the future. 91 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:04,880 It looks toward God's fulfillment of his promise to bless the whole world through descendants 92 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:13,240 of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and a king who will descend from them. 93 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:21,700 One who will arise out of the family of Judah and he will specifically arise in order to 94 00:08:21,700 --> 00:08:27,360 provide deliverance for the people of God. 95 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:31,920 That's the origin of the phrase the last days. 96 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:38,800 And so I ask the question how is this phrase then developed in scripture? 97 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:42,600 Now we can't possibly look at all of the uses of it. 98 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:45,540 We'd be here all day long. 99 00:08:45,540 --> 00:08:50,360 So we're going to be selective and very brief but get the point across. 100 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:57,040 The phrase the last days is used especially by the prophets and we're going to look at 101 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:00,680 the prophet Isaiah first in the Old Testament. 102 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:04,760 You see the Bible is a book of hope. 103 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:07,120 It is a book of hope. 104 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:11,280 The hope of future deliverance. 105 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:17,800 The Bible assures us that God has secured the future. 106 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:22,400 You and I may wonder what's going to happen. 107 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:28,000 But we can be assured in coming to the Bible that God gives us a word. 108 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:30,960 He gives us a hope. 109 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,760 And we see this for example here in Isaiah chapter 2. 110 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:40,280 Now if you don't have your Bible with you I encourage you to bring it next week. 111 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:44,360 And if you don't have a Bible maybe there's one in front of you there in one of the seats. 112 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:46,320 We have some scattered around. 113 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:55,240 But in Isaiah chapter 2 the chapter begins by saying this is what Isaiah the son of Amoz 114 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:58,520 saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 115 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:05,400 Verse 2, in the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as 116 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:07,880 chief among the mountains. 117 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:13,720 It will be raised above the hills and all nations will stream to it. 118 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:21,640 What we find here in this poetic expression is that there is a time coming called the 119 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:31,160 last days in which God's chosen people will be exalted above the other nations. 120 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:38,320 Like a mountain that is raised up above the others, the people of God, the chosen family 121 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:43,400 of God, the Jewish nation will be exalted above others. 122 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:44,840 Now we can go on through the chapter. 123 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:46,880 We don't have time to read all the text. 124 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:52,920 But in verse 3 it says that the last days will be a time for all nations of the earth 125 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:57,840 to join in the worship of the God of the Jews. 126 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:04,040 They will flow into Jerusalem and offer worship to the God of Israel. 127 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:09,840 The last days in verse 4 is said to be a time of worldwide harmony. 128 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:16,700 But if you skip on down to verse 12 and the verses following you see that the last days 129 00:11:16,700 --> 00:11:25,920 is also a phrase describing a time for the wicked to be judged. 130 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:32,080 And so there is this dual theme that is interwoven in the last days. 131 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:42,480 It is the theme of judgment coupled with deliverance and the exaltation of the Jews and all of 132 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:47,760 the nation being at peace and bringing worship to the God of Israel. 133 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:57,080 Now we are going to skip over to chapter 13 of Isaiah and see a term that is essentially 134 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:03,280 parallel to the last days. 135 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:05,640 Look in verse 9. 136 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:10,240 Isaiah says, see the day of the Lord is coming. 137 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:15,280 And there is the phrase, the day of the Lord. 138 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:18,520 Essentially the same meaning as the last days. 139 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:24,520 The day of the Lord is coming, a cruel day with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land 140 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:27,840 desolate and destroy the sinners within it. 141 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:33,160 The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. 142 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:39,040 The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and so forth. 143 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:47,040 So here we see that the last days will also be a time of cosmic disturbances. 144 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:50,640 Things happening in the heavens. 145 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:54,440 Unusual events will take place. 146 00:12:54,440 --> 00:13:01,120 Now this could have some allegorical meaning, some meaning of other things than the literal 147 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:06,520 heavens, but I think we ought to understand it literally as well. 148 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:12,280 But there will be unusual things happening in the heavens, in the cosmos, in the last 149 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:13,280 days. 150 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:19,360 Now this ties together actually with what the prophet Joel says. 151 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:25,320 So would you turn over a few pages to the prophet Joel. 152 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:30,680 Hosea, Joel, Amos. 153 00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:37,760 He's trying to help you get there. 154 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:42,000 Joel chapter 2, famous prophecy. 155 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:45,080 One that is quoted in the New Testament, actually on the day of Pentecost. 156 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:49,600 Peter uses this as one of his texts. 157 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:57,840 Joel chapter 2 I begin reading in verse 28. 158 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:02,600 And afterward God says I will pour out my spirit on all people. 159 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:04,600 Your sons and daughters will prophesy. 160 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:06,440 Your old men will dream dreams. 161 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:09,300 Your young men will see visions. 162 00:14:09,300 --> 00:14:17,280 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days. 163 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:25,120 So the last days will be a time of the pouring out of God's spirit on the people of God. 164 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:31,560 And then verse 30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and 165 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:34,000 billows of smoke. 166 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:38,840 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great 167 00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:43,000 and dreadful day of the Lord. 168 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:46,680 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 169 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:55,200 And so the last days is a time when the gates of salvation will be opened to anyone who 170 00:14:55,200 --> 00:15:04,800 believes, not just the Jew, but everyone who believes will be saved. 171 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:09,760 Now those are all aspects of the day of the Lord as it's developed in the Old Testament. 172 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:13,480 As I say it's a very, very brief review. 173 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:17,240 We want to now come into the New Testament and pick up the idea. 174 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:23,880 I've already mentioned that in Joel chapter 2, or Acts chapter 2 rather, we have a quotation 175 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:27,200 from Joel 2. 176 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:29,920 And Peter says, what is happening here on the day of Pentecost? 177 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:34,040 These people are not drunk like you are imagining. 178 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:37,600 They are speaking other tongues. 179 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:39,600 Some of them have fire over their heads. 180 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:45,200 What you need to understand, he says, is that Joel 2 speaks about this. 181 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:51,400 And God says, I will pour out my spirit in the last days on people. 182 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:55,200 And he says, this is that. 183 00:15:55,200 --> 00:16:00,320 Now we don't see the cosmic disturbances on the day of Pentecost. 184 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:06,060 So we look at this as a partial fulfillment. 185 00:16:06,060 --> 00:16:08,880 So the spirit is poured out on the day of Pentecost. 186 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:16,680 Now I want to take you to a verse that will nail in your minds, if you're listening, the 187 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:21,400 fact that we are living right now in the last days. 188 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:28,680 Book of Hebrews chapter 1. 189 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:35,760 This book written about 70 A.D., some 40 years after Jesus died, rose again, went back to 190 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:41,040 heaven and the day of Pentecost. 191 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:44,120 Hebrews chapter 1. 192 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:49,920 In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in 193 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:52,040 various ways. 194 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:56,680 But what does he say next? 195 00:16:56,680 --> 00:17:06,040 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. 196 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:15,120 Do you notice that the writer of Hebrews says, right now is the last days. 197 00:17:15,120 --> 00:17:18,560 In these last days, God has spoken to us by his Son. 198 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,040 Now here's my point. 199 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:29,760 The last days, as the Bible defines them, refers to that period of time between when 200 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:36,760 the spirit was poured out, I should say the coming of Christ, His death, resurrection, 201 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:43,600 His ascension, and the spirit being poured out, and that time in the future when He will 202 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:47,360 come again to deliver His people. 203 00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:57,600 In other words, the last days refers to essentially the last 2,000 years of time. 204 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:04,060 That's how I know we're living in the last days. 205 00:18:04,060 --> 00:18:08,080 Because people have been living in the last days for the last 2,000 years. 206 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:14,180 You say, why it's called the last days when it's 2,000 years long or more? 207 00:18:14,180 --> 00:18:17,120 The answer is because there was human history before us. 208 00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:20,960 Did you know that? 209 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:24,840 Before this period of time, there was human history. 210 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:25,840 Thousands of years. 211 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:30,760 We don't know how many thousands of years of human history. 212 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:36,760 We don't know very much about that except what the Scriptures tell us. 213 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:42,520 All of those people were looking forward to something. 214 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:52,880 Even the prophecies were essentially, He's coming, He's coming, He's coming, and then 215 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:55,200 He came. 216 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:58,360 God came into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. 217 00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:04,480 He came for the express purpose of being our sin offering and opening the way for sinners 218 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:10,440 to come into the presence of a holy God through faith in His crucified and risen Son. 219 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:14,960 So that whoever believes on Him will be saved. 220 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:18,960 And then He went back to heaven and He sent the Holy Spirit. 221 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:28,000 And now throughout the last 2,000 years we've been saying, He came, He came, He came, and 222 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:32,480 by the way, He's coming, what? 223 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:33,480 Again. 224 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:35,400 He's coming again. 225 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:40,480 Just as He came the first time, He is going to come again. 226 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:47,360 And the Scripture, God Himself calls this period of time the last days because all of 227 00:19:47,360 --> 00:19:50,800 that was the first days. 228 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:51,880 This is the last days. 229 00:19:51,880 --> 00:20:00,720 But the question, the question is, is that all that the last days means? 230 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:04,920 And I want to suggest to you that it is not. 231 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:08,960 That is certainly the overarching meaning of the phrase. 232 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:17,080 But the Scripture seems to indicate that there is at the end of the last days an intensification 233 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:24,100 of things that have been true for the last 2,000 years as we look at it. 234 00:20:24,100 --> 00:20:29,480 In other words, there is what might be called the last days of the last days. 235 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:33,160 You understand what I'm saying? 236 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:41,040 There is a culmination point when everything that's happened over the last 2,000 years 237 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:54,240 begins to come together into some cataclysmic, momentous culmination of it all. 238 00:20:54,240 --> 00:21:00,160 And I want you to turn with me now to the book of 2 Timothy as we think about this aspect 239 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:01,680 of it. 240 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:12,720 2 Timothy chapter 3. 241 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:16,480 The Apostle Paul is writing his final letter. 242 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:26,280 It is written to Pastor Timothy who is leading, he is the bishop of the church in Ephesus 243 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:29,760 at this point in time, most people think. 244 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:41,960 And Timothy has some questions, he has concerns, and Paul writes to him. 245 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:56,000 And from his cell in Rome he says, Timothy, mark this, mark this. 246 00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:00,960 There will be terrible times when? 247 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:02,240 In the last days. 248 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:08,320 You see the way Paul writes this, it's not only that now is the last days, but he seems 249 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:12,920 to be pointing towards something that's not here yet. 250 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:18,960 Paul didn't know when it would come. 251 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:28,800 In some sense it was already there even when he was in prison in 66, 67 AD. 252 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:33,600 But he's writing this in the sense, Timothy, something's coming. 253 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:40,640 Now we know it's been a long time since Paul wrote those words and it still hasn't fully 254 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:41,640 come. 255 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:48,760 But I want to say to you that what you and I are sensing in our spirit, I believe is 256 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:55,320 what Paul was talking about here. 257 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:58,720 And he begins then to unfold what the last days will be like. 258 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:08,080 He says people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, 259 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:17,600 disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love and unforgiving, slanderous, 260 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:27,640 without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers 261 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:31,360 of pleasure rather than lovers of God. 262 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:36,660 Does this sound like anything that you've been reading about or hearing about or see 263 00:23:36,660 --> 00:23:41,640 around you? 264 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:46,400 Then he says having a form of godliness but denying its power. 265 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:52,920 In other words, as these last days come these things are going to be true and it's all going 266 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:59,920 to be in the cloak of spirituality. 267 00:23:59,920 --> 00:24:10,080 There's going to be some form of religion that will support and tie all of this together. 268 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:14,760 It's a form of spirituality. 269 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:21,600 But he says it denies the transforming power of God. 270 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:25,440 And he says have nothing to do with them. 271 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:32,200 For they are the kind who worm their ways into homes and gain control over weak-willed 272 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:40,880 women who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil, always learning 273 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:45,320 but never able to acknowledge the truth. 274 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:53,600 Just as Janis and Jambres opposed Moses, so or to the same degree also these men opposed 275 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,040 the truth. 276 00:24:56,040 --> 00:25:04,320 Men of depraved or perverted minds who as far as the faith is concerned are rejected. 277 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:08,840 Only one other time does Paul use that term, or excuse me, does the New Testament use that 278 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:10,220 term. 279 00:25:10,220 --> 00:25:17,220 Peter uses it, 2 Peter 2, 12 in the same kind of a context of false teachers. 280 00:25:17,220 --> 00:25:22,800 And he says they have been weighed in the balance and rejected. 281 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:26,800 They are reprobates. 282 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:33,640 He says but they will not get very far because as in the case of those men, the magicians 283 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:41,520 in the court of Pharaoh that are named here, their folly will be clear to everyone. 284 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:45,020 Now we don't have time to look at this in detail but I want you to notice that generally 285 00:25:45,020 --> 00:25:52,360 Paul says the last days will be terrible. 286 00:25:52,360 --> 00:26:04,160 The word literally means hard to deal with, stressful, savage. 287 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:09,320 This word is found only one other time in the whole New Testament. 288 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:18,320 It is found when Matthew describes the two demonized men at Gadara. 289 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:27,980 That is very suggestive, that the end times will be times that will be demonized. 290 00:26:27,980 --> 00:26:34,920 That the energy and the oppression that will come as a result of it being the end times 291 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:40,080 will be originated in the demonic world. 292 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:45,860 Now demons have always been here but in the end times they will become especially agitated 293 00:26:45,860 --> 00:26:47,640 and active. 294 00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:58,840 And in some sense restraint is taken off of them so that they will be very, very active 295 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:01,640 in culture. 296 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:07,200 And notice socially or culturally how Paul describes things in the last days. 297 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:11,060 He uses 18 different descriptives. 298 00:27:11,060 --> 00:27:12,060 These are not complete. 299 00:27:12,060 --> 00:27:19,560 I'm sure these are suggestive only but he describes here how people will be and how 300 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:22,440 they will treat one another. 301 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:27,480 What he describes essentially is a cultural collapse. 302 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:39,320 You see God has created human culture under government as a means of a natural restraint 303 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:44,760 upon the sinful impulses of people. 304 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:51,560 And when that culture collapses the restraint is gone. 305 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:57,740 And people become more free to do whatever pleases them. 306 00:27:57,740 --> 00:28:02,600 And that's the kind of a scene that he paints of the last days. 307 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:08,320 I'm just going to kind of summarize these and draw some of the similar ones together. 308 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:12,760 He says in the last day there's going to be a lot of love going on. 309 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:25,520 But it will be love of oneself, the love of money, and the love of pleasure. 310 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:34,200 Or we might say entertainment or what pleases me. 311 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:39,880 These things will become the loves of people and in essence he's saying they become the 312 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:43,400 deities of the last days. 313 00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:49,360 Self, money, and pleasure. 314 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:53,360 People will worship these and love these things. 315 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:59,460 Warren Wiersbie writes in this universe there is God and there are people and things. 316 00:28:59,460 --> 00:29:05,800 We should worship God, love people, and use things. 317 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:14,680 But if we start worshipping ourselves we will ignore God and start loving things and using 318 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:18,340 people. 319 00:29:18,340 --> 00:29:24,640 That is exactly where we are today. 320 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:30,640 The self-worship he says will feed pride and arrogance. 321 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:39,760 And there will be a verbal abuse, a verbal contempt, a blasphemy against God. 322 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:47,600 People will see themselves as God and therefore will not think twice about mocking the God 323 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:50,840 of heaven. 324 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:57,840 Ridiculing the God of heaven. 325 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:02,280 This breakdown will reach into the family. 326 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:11,500 There will be an arrogant disobedience to parents coupled with a lack of gratitude for what 327 00:30:11,500 --> 00:30:12,500 children have. 328 00:30:12,500 --> 00:30:16,240 And that will leak out into the culture. 329 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:23,280 He seems to describe here an entitlement kind of mentality. 330 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:28,320 Whether it be the children of a family or the citizens of a nation. 331 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:34,720 You owe me this and I will have it. 332 00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:38,880 That is the last days. 333 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:41,680 And in this time nothing is holy anymore. 334 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:42,680 Nothing. 335 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:46,360 Including marriage and the family. 336 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:53,120 He says it will be a time without natural affection. 337 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:58,120 And the language there is talking essentially about the family. 338 00:30:58,120 --> 00:30:59,840 Parents in relation to children. 339 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:01,880 Children in relation to parents. 340 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:04,620 Without natural affection. 341 00:31:04,620 --> 00:31:09,120 The natural affection will be replaced by what is unnatural. 342 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:17,400 And I don't need to tell you how much unnatural affection that there is going on in our culture 343 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:19,400 today. 344 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:28,000 And the people of California have spoken about that again. 345 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:31,680 And I think we are probably not in the battle there. 346 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:35,640 Because the last days are a time of unnatural affection. 347 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:40,080 There's an unwillingness to forgive in the last days. 348 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:42,000 Or to be reconciled. 349 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:43,360 People will demand their rights. 350 00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:44,960 They will demand their own ways. 351 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:49,200 They will make false accusations and slander others. 352 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:53,520 There will be lack of self-control. 353 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:56,760 And this is evidenced by brutality. 354 00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:58,720 That is animalistic. 355 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:02,100 It is like wild animals. 356 00:32:02,100 --> 00:32:07,040 People will despise what is good and they will honor what is evil. 357 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:14,120 It reminds me of what Isaiah the prophet said to the people of his day, woe or judgment 358 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:19,960 to those that call good evil and evil good. 359 00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:25,320 In the last days people will be traitors. 360 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:29,480 Who will think nothing of betraying others. 361 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:31,440 Betraying their nation. 362 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:33,680 They cannot be trusted. 363 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:35,280 He says they are rash and reckless. 364 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:38,620 They are puffed up with self-importance. 365 00:32:38,620 --> 00:32:44,240 And get this, all of this is in the context of religion. 366 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:51,280 Whether it be the worship of self or the worship of some perverted form of Christianity. 367 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:58,980 He's talking here about people who are spiritual and religious in their search. 368 00:32:58,980 --> 00:33:04,240 But they reject the truth and therefore they are turned to the what? 369 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:06,640 To the lie. 370 00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:14,080 He's talking about an apostate kind of religion and kind of Christianity. 371 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:18,340 And so he goes on then to describe spiritually what the last days are going to be like. 372 00:33:18,340 --> 00:33:25,240 They have a religion of sorts but they are not the lovers of the true God. 373 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:31,100 There's an outward form of spirituality but there's no connection with them to the transforming 374 00:33:31,100 --> 00:33:33,080 power of God. 375 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:39,880 They're like those Egyptian magicians who imitated God's miracles through Moses. 376 00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:42,760 They are counterfeits. 377 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:47,320 If you'll allow me to quote Warren Wiersby again, he says Satan is an imitator of what 378 00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:49,720 God does. 379 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:51,360 He counterfeits. 380 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:56,600 The religious leaders in the last days will have a counterfeit faith and their purpose 381 00:33:56,600 --> 00:34:01,120 is to promote a lie and resist the truth of God's word. 382 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:08,960 They deny the authority of the Bible and substitute human wisdom and philosophy. 383 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:11,880 Some of you brought me clippings from the paper. 384 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:17,220 A couple of weeks ago he said, look what churches are saying here in Santa Clara Valley. 385 00:34:17,220 --> 00:34:21,800 They're saying no to Prop 8. 386 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:27,820 These are the churches that the Scripture is talking about here and they're like. 387 00:34:27,820 --> 00:34:31,920 Churches that have departed from the faith and who are dependent upon human wisdom and 388 00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:36,640 human philosophy, not the truth of God. 389 00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:40,840 Wiersby goes on to say they deny the authority of the Bible, they substitute human wisdom 390 00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:46,520 and philosophy and in their attempt to be modern they deny the reality of sin and people's 391 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:48,680 need for salvation. 392 00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:57,120 Reprobate is the word Paul used to describe them. 393 00:34:57,120 --> 00:35:00,820 He wrote to Timothy in his first letter and he said the Spirit clearly says that in the 394 00:35:00,820 --> 00:35:08,280 later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught 395 00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:15,280 by demons. 396 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:18,440 Those are the days we live in folks. 397 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:20,800 Those are the days we live in. 398 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:27,320 By looking at the character of the times we know that we are living in what the Bible 399 00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:33,680 terms the last days and I think the last days of the last days. 400 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:39,360 Because the last days right now are building toward this culmination that we can all feel 401 00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:43,520 in our spirit. 402 00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:51,520 Now what does living in this particular period of time mean? 403 00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:54,640 I have three ways of answering that and I will do so quickly. 404 00:35:54,640 --> 00:36:00,960 Number one, it means we are greatly privileged. 405 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:04,520 Greatly privileged. 406 00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:08,280 Not all generations can live in the days that you and I live in. 407 00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:13,480 I remind you of what Paul wrote to the Corinthians and he said these things happen to them, 408 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:20,880 people before this age as examples and were written down in scripture as warnings for 409 00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:22,680 us. 410 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:29,200 For us on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 411 00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:35,280 Out of all of the millions and billions of people who have lived in human history you 412 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:38,960 and I are privileged to live in the last days. 413 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:45,520 And I believe this generation sitting here this morning, perhaps even in my lifetime, 414 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:57,680 will see the culmination of this age. 415 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:01,680 You and I are brought into the world for such a time as this. 416 00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:11,400 As much as Esther was born to be the queen of Persia and save her people in those days. 417 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:15,640 And so I say to you don't be troubled by the times. 418 00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:16,640 Rejoice. 419 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:20,080 We are greatly privileged to live as we do now. 420 00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:21,820 Our God is with us. 421 00:37:21,820 --> 00:37:28,720 And I believe this, if it's true that people in heaven can see us, I'm not sure it is. 422 00:37:28,720 --> 00:37:33,960 But if that is true, I believe this, that they are standing in heaven looking at us 423 00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:39,920 today saying, oh I wish I were alive right now. 424 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:45,400 Because you see they can see the whole panorama of God's plan and they see where you and I 425 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:50,960 live and they say oh my goodness to be alive in the world at this period of time. 426 00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:53,760 We're greatly privileged. 427 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:58,560 That brings me to the second point and that is that we have greater responsibility because 428 00:37:58,560 --> 00:37:59,560 we live now. 429 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:03,120 Jesus said to whom much is given what? 430 00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:05,640 Much will be required. 431 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:07,640 We have great privilege. 432 00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:11,320 But we have great responsibilities. 433 00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:18,160 And I'm going to talk more about those next week, God willing, in my message. 434 00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:26,520 Let me just close by saying thirdly, we live in the last days and we have a great hope. 435 00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:33,160 Because some of us may actually be alive when Christ returns for His church. 436 00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:41,160 But even if we are not, we know He's coming and His coming is soon. 437 00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:48,160 Paul writes to Titus and he says, God's grace teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly 438 00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:55,120 passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, the last 439 00:38:55,120 --> 00:39:02,760 days, while we wait for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and 440 00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:05,840 Savior Jesus Christ. 441 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:12,760 While we wait for the hope, hey folks, the word wait there is not a passive waiting. 442 00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:16,900 It's not a sitting in the rocking chair kind of waiting. 443 00:39:16,900 --> 00:39:23,280 It's an active waiting, an eager waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ to appear. 444 00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:29,880 And I know there are people who kind of put this down and they say, oh people have said 445 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:31,880 for a long time He's coming. 446 00:39:31,880 --> 00:39:32,880 Yep. 447 00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:36,680 And when you say that you're fulfilling God's word in Peter because Peter says people are 448 00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:41,280 going to say that in the last days. 449 00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:46,440 And there are others who say, oh well we don't know when He's coming or what the events are 450 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:49,120 going to be like or what the order of things is. 451 00:39:49,120 --> 00:39:51,240 So let's just not even think about it. 452 00:39:51,240 --> 00:39:55,200 How unbiblical is that mindset? 453 00:39:55,200 --> 00:40:02,940 We are to be looking for Him to return. 454 00:40:02,940 --> 00:40:09,520 My wife doesn't leave me very often and I'm very grateful for that. 455 00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:13,560 But she did last January for a few days to help our daughter who was giving birth and 456 00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:18,840 she needed some help with the two children who were toddlers. 457 00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:25,840 And so Jeanette went back to Minnesota and left me alone in California for a few days. 458 00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:28,960 Now you men, you've been here. 459 00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:35,280 During that time, oh boy, I can do what I want to do. 460 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:41,080 I can eat dinner in front of the television or I can go out and get it if I want. 461 00:40:41,080 --> 00:40:46,240 If I get dirty dishes I just leave them in the sink, right? 462 00:40:46,240 --> 00:40:51,640 If I drop something on the floor, oh well, I'll get it later. 463 00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:53,360 I'll straighten up around here eventually. 464 00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:54,360 Isn't that right? 465 00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:56,600 That's the way it is. 466 00:40:56,600 --> 00:41:02,360 But then I remember, oh, she's coming. 467 00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:04,920 She's coming. 468 00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:11,760 And on the day that I expect her to come, I go to the sink and I start scrubbing dishes 469 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:18,480 and I make that pile of dishes disappear and I get the vacuum out and I sweep the floor 470 00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:24,440 and I straighten up the magazines because she's coming. 471 00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:27,840 And I want to tell you something, he's coming. 472 00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:32,560 He's coming. 473 00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:39,460 And the Scriptures tell us the one who has that hope cleans up his life. 474 00:41:39,460 --> 00:41:45,000 So we need to have that hope burning brightly in our hearts and every day when we get up 475 00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:51,760 say, Lord, perhaps today. 476 00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:53,800 Perhaps today. 477 00:41:53,800 --> 00:42:00,560 God help us to live with that burning brightly in our heart as we wait for the coming of 478 00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:04,320 the great God and our glorious Savior Jesus Christ. 479 00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:05,320 Let's pray together. 480 00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:09,200 Father, thank you for your word this morning. 481 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:15,320 Thank you for its assurance to us and how it teaches us and ministers to us. 482 00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:20,040 And I pray, Father, that there be somebody here who doesn't know Jesus that in light 483 00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:27,280 of the days we're living in, he or she would come to know him and trust the Savior and 484 00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:30,520 have that relationship with you and your power working in their lives. 485 00:42:30,520 --> 00:42:36,260 And I pray that all of us who know Jesus will look for Jesus and expect him to come and 486 00:42:36,260 --> 00:42:45,520 understand the days we're living in and be assured that we are on the side of victory. 487 00:42:45,520 --> 00:42:51,200 No matter what happens in our world, we know that Jesus is coming and the victory is ours 488 00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:52,200 in him. 489 00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:54,160 In Jesus' name I pray, amen. 490 00:42:54,160 --> 00:42:55,160 Team sing for us. 491 00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:56,160 Hallelujah. 492 00:42:56,160 --> 00:42:57,160 Praise God. 493 00:42:57,160 --> 00:43:01,080 Isn't it just an amazing thing to know that we have a great hope in our Father? 494 00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:25,880 No matter what may be.