Last Days of Evil
An all-creatures Bible Message

Last Days of Evil
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
27 November 2016
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Isaiah 2:1-5
Matthew 24:15-41
Romans 13:11-14
Revelation 21:22-23

Last days of evil is beginning to occur in the hearts and souls of the peacemaking children of God who live in His heavenly will.
 
Unfortunately, most of the people in the world seem to want to live in the evil that causes so much pain, suffering, bloodshed, and death to millions of humans and billions of animals every year, and this prevents all of us from enjoying the full lovingkindness of the Lord.
 
We will only see the last days of evil upon this earth when the majority of the people return to the Lord with a repentant spirit and truly seek to live in His heavenly will.
 
Let’s think about these things as we look at Isaiah 2:1-5…

1. The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
 
2. Now it will come about that
In the last days,
The mountain of the house of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains,
And will be raised above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.

We believe that this is referring to the temple mount, but because the Jewish people turned their backs to God and followed the corrupt ways of the devil in this world, they were led into captivity in Babylon.
 
However, even after returning and supposedly repenting, they still preferred following the corrupt ways of the world instead of following the heavenly ways of God, so again they lost the high ground and the Romans destroyed the temple.
 
And, when the Jewish people returned some 1,900 years later the temple mount was occupied by Islam, as it is to this very day.
 
So what Isaiah envisioned only partially happened after the people returned to Jerusalem from Babylon, leaving us to ponder whether Isaiah’s prophecy has already been fulfilled or whether it is some future event.

3. And many peoples will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
That He may teach us concerning His ways,
And that we may walk in His paths."
For the law will go forth from Zion,
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

This certainly doesn’t appear to be happening.
 
Probably seeing how the people would act in the future, Isaiah seems to change his perspective and speak to the evil in the world.

4. And He will judge between the nations,
And will render decisions for many peoples;
And they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
And never again will they learn war.

We know that this has to be speaking about some future time for we have never seen such a time here on earth.
 
Isaiah is telling about the last days of evil upon this earth, and telling the people how to help bring these times to pass.

5. Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
NASB

Note the similarity between what we have just read and what we are told in Revelation 21:22-23…

22. And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple.
 
23. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
NASB

This is what we can look forward to following the last days of evil upon this earth.
 
And with no physical temple, there will be no sacrifice, just as it is today, but most people still want to eat flesh, so they make themselves indifferent to the pain and suffering of the animals and eat their flesh and byproducts.
 
And this hardness of heart separates them from God.
 
And we can help hasten these last days of evil by truly repenting of our worldly ways and wholeheartedly seeking the Lord and His heavenly will.
 
Now let’s see how we can apply our discussion about the last days of evil to what we are told in Matthew 24:15-41…

15. "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),

Jesus is telling us to heed what Daniel told us would happen in these last days: worldly evil will be leading our religious worship, and we are seeing this happening all over the world.
 
The easiest way to see this is by looking at the animal suffering and death that the people are eating, and the way the religions are promoting worldly ways rather than the heavenly will of God, where there is no pain or mourning or death.

16. then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains;
 
17. let him who is on the housetop not go down to get the things out that are in his house;
 
18. and let him who is in the field not turn back to get his cloak.

Jesus is warning us to escape the evil before it overflows us as in a sudden flood, but this is also a warning to those who have turned a blind eye to the evil in the world, for they too will be swept away.
 
We who consider ourselves to be the children of God are not to sit back and do nothing, because such inaction could very likely also cause us to be swept away by the evil.
 
In these last days of evil, we who are true peacemaking children of God are to be even more vigilant, and be even more outspoken against the evil that is plaguing the earth; we are to do everything in our power to end the corruption of creation.
 
We are to be Jesus Christ’s representatives of God’s heavenly will as witnesses and as a testimony against the evil ways of this world and against those who follow it.

19. "But woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days!

In other words, if we continue living as if there is nothing wrong in the world, we very likely will be swept away by the tide of evil.

20. "But pray that your flight may not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath;
 
21. for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall.

Why wait for these things to happen; we need to separate ourselves from the evil ways of the world now, and live in God’s heavenly will.
 
These are the beginnings of the last days of evil.

22. "And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short.

The elect are the true peacemaking children of God who live in His heavenly will, and do everything in their power to help free creation from its present corruption.

23. "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him.
 
24. "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.

If we are fully living in the heavenly will of God, we will be able to see through these falsehoods and recognize the evil for what it is, and avoid it and those who promote it.

25. "Behold, I have told you in advance.
 
26. "If therefore they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go forth, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them.
 
27. "For just as the lightning comes from the east, and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.
 
28. "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

The devil is the father of lies, and those who follow him are the corpses even if they have not yet physically died; but Jesus brings us light and life, even life everlasting, so we should follow Him and His teachings.

29. "But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, 
 
30. and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.

They will mourn because they have not listened to the warnings and have been caught up in the judgement of God.

31. "And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

These are the true children of God who are still upon the earth.
 
We should strive to be like them and not like those who follow the corrupt ways of this world.
 
The last days of evil are rapidly coming upon us.
 
And, Jesus goes on further with His warning about the coming of the last days of evil.

32. "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near;
 
33. even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.

In other words, we need to recognize that the second coming of Jesus Christ is very near, and those who still live in the corrupt and evil ways of the world had better wake up, repent, and separate themselves from the evil.

34. "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

Jesus could not have been talking about the generation of the people to whom He was speaking, because this hasn’t happened yet, but we believe the time is coming soon.

35. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away.
 
36. "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

Don’t listen to the false prophets who give a specific date for the Lord’s return, for the very fact that they mention it proves that they don’t know what they are talking about.

37. "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.

This is one of the reasons that we believe that the second coming of Jesus Christ is very near, because the world does seem like what it was like in the days of Noah before the flood.

38. "For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
 
39. and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.

And Jesus is giving us a warning that the last days of evil are coming soon.

40. "Then there shall be two men in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left.
 
41. "Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.
NASB

This seems to be describing the rapture, when the angels of the Lord remove the righteous people from the followers of the worldly ways of the devil and his minions.
 
Let’s now take a look at Romans 13:11-14, where Paul tells us what we should be doing as we approach the last days of evil.

11. And this do, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.

This is the wakeup call we mentioned previously in our discussion.

12. The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

This is Paul’s way of telling us that we should be separating ourselves from the evil ways of this world with all its violence and death, and doing everything in our power to live in the heavenly will of God, where there is no death.

13. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.
 
14. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
NASB

We hope and pray that we are really listening to what we should be doing in these last days of evil.
 
We can do it.
 
Amen.

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