Are we in the last days?

"Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.'" 2 Peter 3:3-4:

"Where is the promise of His coming?"

His coming, of course refers to the return of Christ Jesus. Peter spoke this close to 2,000 years ago, and the scoffers he said were coming in the last days are clearly among us. To these scoffers, 2,000 years having passed since Jesus walked the earth proves that there is no Savior who will return, no end of the earth, and to some, no God. Their mistake is that they do not examine the rest of what was recorded in the Holy Bible during that same time frame. If they did, and reviewed what is happening today all around them, they may become a little nervous about their scoffing.

Not only are the social moral issues of today, that graphically and forcefully press against Christianity, clearly described as being a part of the last days, so also do the world events that are taking place in the eastern lands, the countries pressing against Israel, shout that the end times are approaching hard at our doorstep. If the scoffers would hold in their one hand the declarations of God's Word that fully describe the events that lead up to the last days, and then hold in their other hand the listing of events occurring around our world and in the lives of people today, they would drop to their knees and entreat Almighty God for the saving of their souls.

The problem for many today: "Let's live our lives for pleasure, fun and just love everybody. There is no sin and no judgment, so let's party!" This also was foretold in Scripture. It is the very nature of the last days. Every news headline flashed before us mirrors a foretold aspect of the last days. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:1-2: "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy..." and he continued. And we read all of this in the news headlines every day.

But there is something we can do. Later on in chapter three of Second Timothy, Paul tells us, "But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them." It is extremely important for Christian men and women to get back to continuing to walk in the knowledge of the Word of God. Many churches have left off the teaching of Scripture and gone to a 10 to 15 minute pastoral that leaves us feeling good about ourselves. The depth of truth in Scripture requires hours, not minutes, but unlike the listeners to Paul who would teach well into the night hours, we, the modern day audience, want a short message so that we can be the first to get to the restaurants after our "worship services." The modern day Christian church must change its ways.

When we repent of our "short-commitment Christianity" and return to being a Biblical Christian, the church of the risen Christ will have an effect upon the world around us. We pastors and church members in America must decide whether we are going to join our fellow believers in lands like Iraq who are being killed daily because of their committed faith in Christ. I traveled to Iraq twice and have many Christian friends there who do not know day to day whether they will be alive tomorrow. Yet they continue to study their Bible and faithfully witness to people around them. They live their Christianity.

I will be beginning a study at Mountain Bible Church soon on the Reality of the Last Days -- Are We in Those Days Now? You are invited to join us and be challenged to grow in your faith and trust in the Savior Who Is Returning! No, we do not know the day or the hour, but the Lord Jesus told us that we would know the season. Are we in that season? Come learn with us, and let the Lord Jesus strengthen you for the days ahead.

If you would like to see how we Christians are affected by our present culture, I invite you to go to my blog at bloggingwithjames.jamesduncan-writer.net. May we all grow in Christ.

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Pastor Jim Duncan is the pastor of Mountain Bible Church in Jacket, Mo. He can be reached at P.O. Box 146, Pea Ridge, AR 72751; (417) 341-8504; www.jamesduncan-writer.net; or http//:bloggingwithjames.jamesduncan-writer.net.