Those were the words of the aged apostle John when writing to his “little children” in the faith—the last of his epistles, penned when he was in his 90s! He was no doubt aware of what Paul had written to Timothy twenty-five years earlier, shortly before his martyrdom, when he said in that second epistle to his young protégé, “Know this also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” (II Tim.3:1) John also had a vivid memory, no doubt, of that time on the Mt. of OIives when Jesus, heading for the hill, Mt. Calvary, to be crucified a few days hence, responded to the disciple’s query, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matt. 24:3) In Matthew 24 and 25 Jesus gave a lengthy answer to those questions, climaxing in Matthew 25:31ff. with a statement concerning His age-ending second coming, in power and in great glory.
There always has been—and there is at this present hour—an interest in the cataclysmic climax of history, the world, and time as we know it. There is—even on the part of unbelieving peoples—an apocalyptic awareness that time can hardly continue as it has, with all the world powers having “red buttons” at their fingertips and at each-others’ throats daily. And, the “birth-pangs”—beginning of sorrows—signs that Jesus gave to the apostles’ questions about the end of the age/world have only intensified the past couple of millennia: with a multiplicity of antichrists; wars and rumors of wars; nations rising against nations; famines; and earthquakes in divers places. Doomsdayers have the small hand on the clock at midnight and the “minute hand” a few minutes before midnight.
With all of this in mind, here is a brief overview of what the Bible says about “things to come”:
- The Rapture (catching up) of the Church is next on the timeline of history that is yet future. Believers who are “in Christ”—members of His Body, the Church—will be resurrected and caught up to meet Christ “in the air,” while believers who are living at the time of His return will also be caught up (“raptured”) to and with them to enjoy, following the Judgment Seat of Christ, the marriage supper of the Lamb. (I Thess. 4:13-18; II Cor. 5:10; I Cor. 3:13-15; Rev. 19:7-10)
- The Seven-year Tribulation. Daniel’s 70th week, during which three waves of seven divine judgments will be poured out upon the earth and its inhabitants, the last three and one-half years of which the Antichrist (Beast) and False Prophet, with Satan, will deceive the world with wonders, convincing millions to receive the “mark” of the Beast, conforming to the one-world religio-politico empire. (Daniel 9:24-27) The last of the 21 rapid-fire judgments will be marked by 100 pound hail-stones falling from heaven, resulting in the earth’s inhabitants blaspheming and cursing God. (Rev. 16:21)
- The Second Coming of Christ will occur as Satan, the Beast, and False Prophet come together to make war with the Lamb in Megiddo, waging what is known as the battle of Armageddon. Commercial-religio Babylon will fall to destruction and Jesus Christ, riding on a white horse, with a sharp sword out of His mouth, will smite all the nations gathered against Him, and He will be established as KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. (Rev. 19:11-16). The False Prophet and Beast will be cast into the Lake of Fire, and Satan will be bound and cast into a bottomless pit, where he will remain for a thousand years.
- The Millennium. This 1,000-year period, during which Christ will reign on David’s throne in Jerusalem, capitol of the renovated, Edenic-like universe, will be a period of universal peace and prosperity. (Isa. 65:17-25) At the end of this period, Satan will be loosed from the pit, where he spent a thousand years; and, incredibly, he will go out one more time and assemble an army of unbelieving people from all the nations of the world—an army the number of which will be like the “sand of the sea”—to oppose the rule and reign of Jesus Christ. That unholy challenge to the King and Kingdom of God will, of course, be defeated, and Satan, along with all unbelievers (Great White Throne Judgment, Rev. 20:11-15) will be cast into the lake of fire, their eternal abode. The millennial earth will be destroyed by fire and replaced by a “new heaven and new earth,” which will come down from God out of heaven, the almost indescribable glory of which is recorded in Rev. 21,22.
One more thing: John saw Jesus in his vision, and saw a preview of His coming in glory, recording that when He comes, “every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him (the Pharisees who would settle for nothing but Christ’s crucifixion), and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.” (Rev. 1:7) Jesus, in the Mt. of Olives discourse, had told His disciples that he who endured to the end (of the tribulation) would be saved. (Matt. 24:13) Paul, in his “peek” into the future, revealed that when the fulness of the Gentiles had come, the blinders of His people would be lifted and “all Israel shall be saved.”(Romans 11:25,26) When they behold Him whom they (as a people) pierced, they will in mass wail in repentance—and, on the spot, accept Christ as King and Savior, thus entering into the Millennium as the Redeemed of the Lord.
Unlike the Second Coming, which must be preceded by the gospel being preached to all nations, (Matt. 24:14; Rev. 14:6) nothing must occur before the imminent rapture of the Church. We who are His Bride are waiting for the sound of the shout and the voice of the archangel of God, announcing to the dead in Christ that it is time for them to rise, followed by the catching up together with them in the clouds of those who are alive at His coming—and so shall we ever be with the Lord. “Even so, come Lord Jesus.” Amen.
“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness….” and, “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” (II Pet.3:11,14)
YOU and GOD 