What You Need to Know About the Last Days
Here are some general guide lines to think about for the last days.
The Mark of the Beast
God has decided that the Sabbath/Sunday issue will be the final test for mankind.
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
- Revelation 3:10 (KJV)
The choice you need to make is the following:
- Live with God in obedience (Ten Commandments, Sabbath), or
- Die with satan in rebellion (No Commandments, Sunday)
Death
You will probably die, and you should prepare for this.
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
- James 4:13-14 (KJV)
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.
- Hebrews 9:27 (KJV)
And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
- Revelation 13:15 (KJV)
That may sound really blunt, but please keep in mind that these are the last days.
On the positive side, when you wake up you will see Jesus.
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
- Revelation 20:6 (KJV)
False Christs
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
- Matthew 24:5 (KJV)
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
- Matthew 24:23-27 (KJV)
Satan will impersonate Jesus.
The "crowning act" of the great controversy end-time drama will be Satan's attempt to impersonate Christ in a counterfeit second coming.
- Ellen White, The great visions of Ellen G. White, Page 60
Please remember that we meet up with Jesus in the clouds, and not on the Earth itself.
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: 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.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (KJV)
- Photo : Thomas Bresson / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
The State of the Dead
The dead are asleep waiting for either the first or the second resurrection. They are not currently in heaven.
I saw that the saints must have a thorough understanding of present truth, which they will be obliged to maintain from the Scriptures. They must understand the state of the dead; for the spirits of devils will yet appear to them, professing to be beloved relatives or friends, who will declare to them unscriptural doctrines. They will do all in their power to excite sympathy and will work miracles before them to confirm what they declare. The people of God must be prepared to withstand these spirits with the Bible truth that the dead know not anything, and that they who thus appear are the spirits of devils.
- Ellen White, Early Writings, p. 262
He [Satan] has power to bring before men the appearance of their departed friends. The counterfeit is perfect; the familiar look, the words, the tone, are reproduced with marvellous distinctness. ... Many will be confronted by the spirits of devils personating beloved relatives or friends and declaring the most dangerous heresies. These visitants will appeal to our tenderest sympathies and will work miracles to sustain their pretensions.
- Ellen White, The Great Controversy p. 552, 560
Bread and Water Assured
He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.
- Isaiah 33:15-16 (KJV)
Bread and water is all that is promised to the remnant in the time of trouble.
- Ellen White, Last Day Events, p. 265
And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.
- Exodus 16:15 (KJV)
And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
- 1 Kings 17:6 (KJV)
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
- Matthew 6:25-26 (KJV)
Conclusion
The last days are no picnic. You should prepare for the worst, and get close to God now.
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
- Isaiah 55:6-7 (KJV)
Like Job we probably won't understand all of what's happening around us, but God knows the big picture. God is in control.
It then becomes a matter of trust.
Do you trust God?