Unique Characteristics of the Last Days
When They Began and When They Will End
Hebrews 1:1—2
by Robert D Pace
Introductory Remarks
Opening Remarks
What makes the Last Days unique? As the Prophets and Apostles described them, they included cryptic sayings, foreboding warnings, and coded messages. But did you know that the dispensation known as “The Last Days” has a definite starting point? According to Jesus and the Apostles, the Last Days have a “Call to Action” that Christians must not ignore!
Additionally, there is a primary message that marks the Last Days. And it’s during this dispensation that God imposes an overriding objective for all people to recognize. Finally, the Bible includes a preset day of termination for the Last Days.
(Transition) Now, let’s read our opening text in Hebrews 1:1—2.
“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets
at many times and in various ways,
(2) but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,
whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.”
There is no question that mankind has entered the Last Days. That’s why it’s imperative to know what the Scriptures disclose about them and understand how we can overcome during these times. One thing is certain: this vengeful world is no ally of Christ or his followers! Society will continue to reject truth and trample it in the streets; movies and media outlets will never portray Jesus and the Bible in a good light; Christians will be increasingly marginalized. Folks, honestly, I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news but, the nights before us will only darken!
(Transition) All my life, I have heard my fellow preachers and godly Christians issue dire warnings regarding the Last Days. Statements like I just mentioned and statements such as this: Brothers and sisters, we must stay alert, discern the days, and walk in the fear of God because these are the Last Days! Have you heard statements like these?
The “Call to Action” of the Last Days
My question is, Why is a “Call to Action” connected with the Last Days? If these weren’t the Last Days, could we live differently? The answer is, Yes, we could live differently! Does that shock you? Let’s open the Scriptures and see how they connect a “Call to Action” for Christians living during the Last Days:
1 Peter 4:7 says, ”The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.”
2 Peter 3:3 says, “Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.” Thus, verses 17—18 say, “Since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. (18) But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Then in 2 Timothy 3:1 Paul says, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.” So in verse 14 he tells Timothy to embrace a godly lifestyle and cling tightly to the Scriptures. Paul continues in chapter four and verse 2 saying, “be prepared in season and out of season. And finally in verse 5 he says, “keep your head in all situations, [and] endure hardship.”
When Jesus and the Apostles spoke of the Last Days they noted that it would be characterized by deception, false prophets, false teachers, and false doctrines. Moreover, this is why God has invoked a “Call to Action” upon Christians of the Last Days. It’s a “Call” for us to stay alert! That means we should measure our steps, stay on our knees, study the Word, and live with discernment. There is a reason for this:
It’s because we are engaged in the epic battle of good against evil.
We live on a planet that is infested with deceit, and it worsens each day.
Devils are lurking in unlikely places.
Mingling among the “elect” are “wolves in sheep clothing.”
Without the armor of God and discernment from the Holy Spirit, we will succumb to Satan’s scheming.
This is why the Apostles hastened to script the perils of the Last Days. With that said, I want to propose a mental exercise. Try to picture something. In so doing, it will give you an idea of what we are dealing with today.
A Vision of Unseen Powers of the Last Days
In Revelation 1:10 the Apostle John invoked the phrase, “in the Spirit.” He said, “On the Lord’s Day I was “in the Spirit,” and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.”Well, if John could hear a trumpeting voice “in the Spirit,” then perhaps you and I could see something “in the Spirit.” What if the Lord opened your eyes to perceive the “Arena of Unseen Powers” with its perverse and sinister activity that’s constantly raging? You could see God’s angels battling what Paul called, “principalities, powers, and rulers of darkness.” This is where the scheming against the righteous occurs. But now let’s intensify this vision. What if God assigned to you an Archangel, and for 24 hours he shuttled you from one hemisphere to another, giving you a global purview of demonic activity. He took you to North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, especially the major cities of the world: New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Moscow, Lagos, Tokyo, Jakarta, Seoul, Mexico City, London, and finally Jerusalem. You talk about a vision that would rattle your soul! You would experience drama impossible to forget! But most importantly, how would this sight—all born of the Spirit—affect your living thereafter? I’ll tell you: This divine unveiling would forever change you! It would impact your devotion to Christ unlike anything else you’ve experienced.
Saints of God, the Holy Spirit must have disclosed some eye-shocking scenes to the Apostles as they penned the perils of the Endtime. That’s why they connected a trumpeting “Call to Action” to Christians living at this time. Remember, God didn’t require this of people in the OT. They lived under different dispensations. For example, I’ll mention three of the OT dispensations:
From “the beginning,” when God created Adam and Eve, this couple lived in what theologians call, “the Age of Innocence.” During this epoch, Adam and Eve had one prohibition—“Don’t eat the forbidden tree.”
After the fall of Adam and Eve came “the Age of Human Conscience.” During this dispensation, God dealt with humanity according to their individual guidance or conscience.
After some time, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments for the people of God to obey. This epoch is called, “the Law.”
However, those former dispensations don’t apply to Christians today. God has established a unique epoch called, “The Last Days.” This is when Satan roams through the world trying to ”steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10). But the Good News is, the Lord hasn’t left us defenseless. He gave us a Divine Partner called the Holy Spirit who is always more than enough to help us live victoriously! All this is occurring in the Last Days! And that’s just its starting point.
(Transition) Since this is the case, I have a question: When did the “Last Days” begin? We are quick to invoke this phrase, “The Last Days,” but does the Bible disclose an identifiable starting point for this epoch?
When The Last Days Began
The answer is Yes, the Bible provides a precise date of its birth. The Last Days began on the Day of Pentecost, once Jesus ascended into Heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to Earth. Once Jesus took his place of preeminence in Heaven, the Holy Spirit took his place of preeminence on Earth.
Here’s the Scripture that specifically shows the inauguration of the Last Days. It’s Acts 2:17, when the Apostle Peter proclaimed the following words in his famous sermon on the Day of Pentecost saying: “It shall come to pass in the last days that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.”
Consequently, throughout the book of Acts, Christians went forth empowered by the Holy Spirit to heal the sick, work miracles, and duplicate the wonders of Jesus Christ. This was the first outpouring of the Spirit. But the Bible also speaks of an Endtime outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And it’s intriguing that Peter surreptitiously predicted this final outpouring in his message on the Day of Pentecost. Let’s look at this.
The Two Great Revivals
When the Bible references these two incredible outpourings it identifies the first as the “former rain” and calls the Last Day outpouring the “latter rain.” “The former rain” descended on the Day of Pentecost while the “latter rain” will fall at the end of the Age. The final revival will bring a move of God of double portions—greater than the world has ever known!
Now let’s investigate Simon Peter’s opaque reference to the final global revival. And it’s disclosed in the way he addressed his audience. Turn to Acts 2:14—22.
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews [Remember those two words, “fellow Jews,” because Peter intentionally invoked them.] Fellow Jews, and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. (15) These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! (16) No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: (17) ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. (18) Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
What is important about the Apostle calling his audience “Fellow Jews”? Well, this is how Peter characterized the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the First Century. However, the people of the First Century did not experience anything that Peter mentioned in the subsequent four verses. Let’s continue reading:
(19) I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. (20) The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. (21) And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ [Notice the next verse.] (22) “Fellow Israelites, listen to this…” [Stop]
At this juncture, in verse 22, Peter did not address his audience as “Fellow Jews,” he called them “Fellow Israelites.” There’s a reason he addressed his audience in these two ways: it’s because the Spirit of Prophecy caused Peter to foresee 2000 years ahead and associate that generation with the final outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Peter foresaw the day when the Jews would regain their Statehood! And the world watched this happen May 14, 1948. The newly elected Prime Minister David Ben Gurion announced that “Israel” would again be the official name of this reborn nation. And this is why the Apostle Peter called the audience of the Endtime “Fellow Israelites.”
I want to rehearse this differently. When Peter preached this sermon in the First Century he addressed his audience as “Fellow Jews.” He did that because Jews of the first century were not a nation! They had lost their Statehood in 586 BC to the Babylonians. But the people who experience the Endtime revival will be those who experience the drama of verses 19 and 20. Peter foresaw the Endtime revival occurring with “Wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. (20) The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord” (Acts 2:19—20).
I believe this Endtime revival will arrive in the not-too-distant future. It will be a repetition of all that happened in the book of Acts with one major exception: Everything will reappear in a multiplied manner! It will be “revival on steroids” … steroids of the Holy Spirit!
(Insight) I want to clarify something about this coming revival. For decades Christians have talked about the “Great Last Day Revival” when the “former and latter rain” will fall together. But folks, the Bible never says this revival will start in the United States. It won’t start in Great Britain. It won’t begin in any other Gentile nation. It will start in Jerusalem with the Jewish people! The Israelis will suddenly start converting to Christ at the Endtime and revival will then spread to the world. This is something that the Bible makes abundantly clear. Let’s return to Peter’s message on the Day of Pentecost. You recall the two phrases that Peter used to identify his audience in his sermon. They are: “Fellow Jews” and “Fellow Israelites.” The reason these phrases are additionally important is because the Apostle Paul said that the Gospel of Christ belonged “first to the Jew, then the Gentile” (Romans 1:16).
The Jews were the first to be saved on the Day of Pentecost—3000 in fact— and the same will follow at the great last day revival. It will start with the Jews in Israel, and then spread to the world! [I could say a lot more about this, but the drama of the “last of the last days” will come at the close of the Battle of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 39:28–29).]
(Transition) So the Last Days began at Pentecost and will culminate during the Tribulation. But now let’s investigate the primary message of the Last Days. (The Holy Spirit works in the Last Days to exalt Jesus!)
The Primary Message of the Last Days
Have you ever wondered what this is—the primary message of the Last Days? It has been preached for 2000 years. Let’s continue answering that by returning to Peter’s declaration on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:22,
Jesus the Nazarene, a Man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—(23) this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. (24) But God raised Him from the dead, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. (36) “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”
That is the chief message of the Last Days that we live in! And since all things must be approved by at least two or three witnesses, here are several other passages that affirm this:
Paul said this in 2 Timothy 2:8, “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel.”
Again, Paul says in Romans 8:34, “Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”
And then Acts 4:10 shows Peter preaching this to the Jews: “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. (11) Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ (12) Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
This is the message of the Kingdom of God and the Last Days. And nothing supersedes it! Here’s what’s amazing about this message: This message is not ineffectual or powerless. I want you to notice the effect that Peter’s sermon had on its hearers in Acts 2:37—38:
“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (38) Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”
And recall what happened in John 7, when “the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest” Jesus (32). As the guards listened to him teach, his words were so profound that they disarmed the mission of the guards, and they returned to the temple empty-handed. The chief priests were stunned! And when they demanded to know why the mission failed the guards responded, (46) “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.” [NASB]
The Holy Spirit has placed divine power within the Gospel message and it bears witness that Jesus is the Messiah/Christ!
I want to emphasize this once more before transitioning to my next point: Jesus, and Jesus alone, is the “Main Message” to this world of these Last Days! Our text in Hebrews 1:2 declares, “In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.” Amen!
(Transition) Now it’s time to disclose a monumental mystery about the Last Days. It’s been occurring since the Day of Pentecost, throughout the past 2000 years, and will culminate during the Tribulation. It involves the chief objective that spans the entire period known as “the Last Days.” It tells us our purpose for living in these last days.
The Chief Objective of the Last Days
The Apostle Paul knew God had attached a secretive, mysterious objective to the Last Days. He mentions this mystery in 1 Corinthians 2:7—8 when he writes this:
“But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. (8) None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
(Insight) When you read these verses, you see that Paul mentions a secretive and mysterious wisdom that God ordained before the beginning of the ages. However, he doesn’t outrightly disclose this mystery. It’s when you follow his ministry that you discover it’s Paul—more than any other Apostle—that presents the Primary Objective of the Last Days. And it’s this:
God’s Primary Objective of the Last Days is to convince the world that his Son, Jesus Christ, is “King of kings and Lord of lords.” The Lord is accomplishing this through preaching, teaching, testifying, gifts of the Spirit, signs and wonders, and the working of miracles. Eventually, at the Apocalypse, the Lord himself will intervene to shake the heavens, the earth, and all residing on the earth to convince them that he is the Sovereign Ruler of this planet!
And notice what Paul emphasized in 2 Corinthians 4:5. “For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”
You see, God wants mankind to willingly recognize this. And for 2000 years he’s extended his grace and goodness to show people that Jesus is Lord. Unfortunately, people have rejected the Lord’s mercy, and that’s why the Tribulation is coming. It’s here that God will settle the matter with force and finality.
At the appointed moment, he will raise the dead and every human will witness his Second Coming, “even those that pierced him” (Revelation 1:7). His presence in the air will testify to his lordship over all creation. The Antichrist will have totally failed to claim lordship over the Earth.
Remember: all these things are playing out now! And yet 95% of the world leaders do not understand what is happening. Recall again Paul’s words:
“But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. (8) None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
But the day is soon to come when Christ will take his rightful authority over this planet. Turn to Revelation 11:15 and I want to show you how God will “Install his king on his holy hill.”
Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” (16) And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, (17) saying, “We give You thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, the One who is and who was, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. [NASB]
And remember what Paul announced to people of every tongue and tribe in Philippians 2:9. “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
If you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior I ask you to acknowledge his lordship over your heart. Do this today! Don’t wait until it’s too late.
The Termination of the Last Days
Did you know there are not only numerous references to the last days, the Bible even makes it clear that there is a termination date to the last days? And this will be decisive and glorious!
This is found in John 6. I’ll quote Christ in verses 39, 40, 44, and 54.
“And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. (40) For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” … (44) “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” … (54) “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
Now notice what Martha said to Jesus in John 11:24, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
In John 12:48 Jesus said, “There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.”
The Last Day is when Jesus Christ returns to Earth in power and majesty to set up his Thousand-year Millennial Reign. At that point, humans will live without Satan and the least demonic interference. Christ will rule with a rod of iron to stamp out all evil. At that point, the Last Days will give way to the Millennial Reign of Christ. Isaiah 65 discloses this time period.
Millennial Reign of Christ
Isaiah 65:17—25
“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. 18But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. 19I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. 20“Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; the one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child; the one who fails to reach a a hundred will be considered accursed. 21They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. 23They will not labor in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune; or they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them. 24Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. 25The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain.”
Conclusion
Give an Altar Call for sinners to accept Christ.