End of time

Articles

Rick Fleeman
12/18/00 - Judgement

As the year 2000 approached, more and more people became concerned about the end of time. As has happened so many times in the past, false prophets and teachers gave exact dates when the earth would end. Once again, they were proven wrong.

One of the most important things to remember about the end of time is that no one but God knows when it will be. Not only that, specifically only God the Father knows when it will be.

Mark 13:31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
Mark 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
Mark 13:33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

Although no one knows when it will be, we do know some details about the end of time.

JESUS COMES WITH ANGELS

Matt 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Matt 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Matt 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

Acts 1:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Acts 1:10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
Acts 1:11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Jesus will be returning "in the sky" like he ascended. His angels will be with Him. There will be a great sound of a trumpet.

CHRISTIANS MEET JESUS IN AIR

1 Thess 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1 Thess 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1 Thess 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Paul reveals to us some detail. If you read on he mentions this to comfort Christians. We find out that the dead in Christ will rise first. Then living Christians will meet the Lord in the air.

ALL LOST TAKEN TO JUDGEMENT (DEAD AND LIVING)

This point is much debated in the religious world. I pose to you that there will be one resurrection both of the just and unjust. At some point in time after the Christians meet the Lord, the unjust shall be resurrected too, to go to the judgement seat of Christ. I pose to you this will be in the same "day". Some would pose that this would be in the exact same moment of time (twinkling of an eye). I will discuss this further in a future point.

Acts 24:15 And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.

Notice there will be a resurrection of the just and unjust. I pose to you this is the same resurrection, the same day. Jesus himself makes this pretty clear.

John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
John 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Notice that Jesus said there will be "an hour" or "the hour" when all who are in the grave will raise, both the just and unjust. I pose to you at a minimum this means both will rise "at relatively the same point in time" not thousands of years apart.

Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

Notice the angels are reserved unto THE JUDGEMENT OF THE GREAT DAY, not one of the great days.

Matt 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Matt 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Matt 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Notice Christ depiction of the judgement scene shows that when he returns all will be before Him in judgement. He does not pose that some will be there, then later there will be a judgement for all the rest who were left on earth.

As further proof that this is true, consider our next point. The earth is going to melt and not be here! Obviously something is going to happen to those who were left before the earth melts.

EARTH MELTS

2 Pet 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2 Pet 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2 Pet 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2 Pet 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

This is a point that is often not addressed by many doctrines. They pose that the earth will remain and unfaithful people will still reside on it. Other doctrines pose that this earth actually is going to be heaven. Peter says both of these doctrines are false. The earth will melt.

TIME FRAME

Paul once again reveals some information to us about this great day.

1 Cor 15:51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1 Cor 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1 Cor 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

We see that in the twinkling of an eye Christians will go from a corruptible form to an incorruptible form. This transformation will occur rapidly. Some pose that this twinkling refers to all events referred to in this article. This is certainly possible. I believe the language here is talking specifically about how quickly the Christians form will change.

Whether this scene takes place in a twinkling of an eye, a few seconds, a few minutes, hours or all day it does not matter. We need to be ready to meet the Lord.

SUMMARY

Due to misunderstandings about Christ's spiritual kingdom, the end of time has been greatly misunderstood. Just like the Pharisees in Biblical times, people are still waiting to see Jesus start constructing earthly buildings for his kingdom.

Luke 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luke 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Christ built a spiritual kingdom which already exists. It is the church. He will not set foot on the earth again. As the verses above mentioned, Christians will meet the Lord in the air and the earth will be destroyed. There is not going to be any earthly kingdom. Jesus is already setting on His heavenly throne.

Acts 2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
Acts 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
Acts 2:32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
Acts 2:33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

Remember, no man knows the hour. Not even Jesus knows. Careless soul, get ready to meet the Lord because you do not know when the end of time will be.