The Prophetic Last Days

A typical urban street gang: Armed and violent.

I'm often asked about what the Bible says concerning the end times. According to biblical prophecy, the last days on earth directly preceding the return of Jesus Christ are going to be bad--and extremely so.

What does the bible specifically say about the end times? Here's what the apostle Paul prophesied 2,000 years ago: "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people." (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Skeptics claim that Paul's prophecy could be applied to just about any time in history. And certainly, they're correct.

However, there are many other prophecies concerning the last days that indicate that Paul's prophecy points to the very last days.

Consider that Jesus Christ revealed several signs (Matthew 24) that would alert his followers that the end was near. Those signs include the increase in persecution of true Christians across the world, the increase in famines and earthquakes, an increase in wars and rumors of wars, and the increase in wickedness. (Matthew 24:12)

If we consider two categories that Christ spoke of--the increase in famines and earthquakes--we know without a doubt that we are living in the last days. Since the 19th century, earthquakes and famines have increased significantly across the world. 

http://www.prophecyreviewonline.org/apps/articles/default.asp?

And so, when you consider all the prophecies concerning the end times, Paul's prophecy is clear--it speaks of the very last days on earth and not some earlier time.

But what is the root cause of the global end time increase in wickedness? It's godlessness. Since the late 19th century, the world has fallen away from God by turning to godless, secular ideologies that seek to build a humanistic paradise on earth at the expense of biblical truth concerning human nature. 

Those godless ideologies, such as secular humanistic psychology, deny man's corrupt sinful nature and deify positive self esteem as the new messianic hope for mankind. 

Thus, the biblical precepts of sin, accountability to God and divine judgment have been cast aside--even by a growing segment of Christendom--for the false gospel of positive self esteem. 

Tragically, many churches today ignore biblical teachings concerning the consequences of sin by promoting unproven psychological therapies as the new golden path to happiness and self-fulfillment.

Add to that the world's embrace of Charles Darwin's atheistic theory of evolution over the past 150 years and you have the recipe for moral anarchy. 

What does Darwin's unproven theory of evolution have to do with moral anarchy? It denies the existence of God by attempting to explain life in merely natural terms. 

If the existence of life is merely the accidental product of random evolutionary forces, then God is a myth and so are His laws and commandments. If so, then no one is held accountable for their behavior on earth and no judgment awaits anyone at death. 

Are we living in the last days? All the prophetic signs indicate that we are. Sadly, even many professing Christians are failing to see those signs. And that's a fulfillment of prophecy as well. (1 Timothy 4:1, 2 Timothy 4:3-4)