Are you living in the Last Days?

Few topics are as hotly debated today Bible prophecy. For this message, I thought I would address a few of the questions that come up quite frequently:

Q. What is prophecy?

A. The word prophecy literally means “to speak forth.” It is used in two ways: (1) in reference to predictive prophecy (specific statements about the future) and (2) as an authoritative word from the Lord spoken to correct, rebuke, and exhort. If you follow the careers of the Old and New Testament prophets, you will find this two-fold emphasis. However, the bulk of their ministries was spent speaking out against sin and turning people to God’s righteousness. When Romans 12 lists prophecy as one of the spiritual gifts for equipping the body of Christ, it is most likely referring to it in the most basic sense of “speaking forth” the Word of God with persuasiveness and power.

Q. Why are the Bible’s prophetic passages so important?

A. Prophecy plays a crucial role in God’s plan for redemptive history. For one thing, it gives the people of God hope for the future; hope that good will ultimately and permanently triumph over evil. What is more, prophecy establishes the authority of the Word of God in a very unique way. While some people make educated guesses about what the future holds, they are wrong very often and right very seldom. God, on the other hand, is omniscient and that means he knows the beginning from the end. He’s right 100% of the time. As we read fulfillment after fulfillment of Biblical prophecy, it lends great credibility to the authority of the Bible and inspires a person to put faith in its Author.

Q. Are we living in the last days?

A. To that I have to answer, simply, yes. According to 2 Timothy 3 we are living in the last days; but actually, we have been living in the last days since Paul’s time. All “the last days” really means, from a Biblical perspective, is the final age before Christ’s return. According to Acts 2, this is an age of the church, the age of evangelism. God is working through us, his human vessels, to get the Good News of Jesus out to our friends, neighbors, and coworkers. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us God hasn’t closed the curtain on this human history yet, only because He’s patiently waiting for as many to repent as possible. This is not to suggest, however, that highly imaginative books like the Left Behind series are an accurate portrayal of end-time events. In reality, a careful study of Revelation in its historic and literary context reveals that much of it was fulfilled in the lifetime of its first-century audience.

Q. How does God view the future?

A. I can’t tell you how many Christians are deathly afraid of what the future has to bring. Yet Jesus counseled us not to worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34). It is God’s view of the future—not CNN or popular prophecy teachers—that should inform our own. God told his people in Jeremiah 29:11, “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 a future and a hope.” All prophecy should be interpreted in a way that is consistent with this eternally optimistic perspective.

-WJS-