The Last Days (sermon)

British Columbia: travelbc.ca

November 30, 2003

Sermon from Michael Phillips on Eschatology and the Last Days

Cited

The Church has always affirmed five things about the Last Days: (1) Jesus Christ will come again, (2) He will raise the dead on that day, (3) pass judgment on every man, (4) bring the saved to heaven, and (5) consign the lost to hell.  

To my way of thinking these are non-negotiables. If a man tells me "The resurrection is past", I say he's a heretic, like Hymaneus and Philetus in the Bible. If he says "The Lord is not coming again", I call him as a scoffer as Peter did in his Second Epistle. One who denies hell or makes it less than eternal flies in the face of Jesus Christ who taught the doctrine more often and in more detail than any other Man.

Theologically, the lake of fire (Revelation 20-21) serves as everlasting punishment and yet still the second death. I do reason there are biblical Christians that hold to annihilationism, but in contrast, I hold to traditional, orthodox, theology here.

Archived

Annihilation August 2008 Satire Und Theology

Annihilation July 2009 Dr Russell Norman Murray

Cited

The Last Days or the Last Time or the Last Hour began with the coming of Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This earthshaking events ended the Old Order and brought in the New Age. 

If the Last Time began 2,000 years ago, it means-in a certain way-the End Time speculators like Hal Lindsey, Harold Camping, and David Koresh, are right. They are seeing the signs of the times in the events of today. But, ultimately, they're wrong because people in 1066, 1492, and 1776 were also seeing them-and it's possible that Christians will be seeing them in the year of 2525!

I have noted on Satire Und Theology, previously (edited for today's article):

Few in prophecy want to have lived in the middle of history: Boring

Few involved state or write, (paraphrased) 'Well this could be a thousand years from now for all we know.' It is as if few want to have lived in the middle of history. That is boring. (Supposedly).

Credit to Pastor Phillips for taking a more biblically, reasonable view and actually publicly embracing it as well.

Perhaps with these last days speculators, it is at times being over-zealous? Perhaps, in some cases, 'the boring' does not sell as many ministry products?

1 John 2: 18 New American Standard Bible

Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.

Fascinating! The last hour was in the New Testament era!

Cited

The Last Days do no go on forever. They terminate with the Second Coming of Christ, the Resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment, and the Eternal Age-of happiness or misery. 

I needn't spend a lot of time here, but Paul calls it the sounding of the Last Trumpet (cf. I Corinthians 15).

Encountering page 134. This text provides a view.

ELWELL, WALTER AND YARBROUGH, ROBERT W., Third Edition (2013) Encountering The New Testament, Grand Rapids, Baker Academic.

MOUNCE, ROBERT H. (1990) The Book of Revelation, Grand Rapids, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.