76. When Do The Last Days Really Begin? Part 1 (End-Times Series Part 27)

Hello and welcome back to the broadcast where we prod the sheep and beat the wolf. This is episode 76. When do the last days really begin part one? When Christians hear the phrase the last days or the end times.

What images come to mind? For some a clandestine government laboratory or a pseudoscientist with the name that rhymes with dr. Ouchy. Busily brewing the next super woofloo that will kill a quarter of the population is well in view.

For others the end times could mean a one-world Cryptocurrency planes falling from the sky or a maniacal blood-lusting monarch or the Romish Pope if you're really old-school. Whatever the case for the vast majority of evangelicalism.

We have utterly missed it. Now when I say that we've missed it, I don't mean a booming foul ball over the green monster kid. No, we missed it like an undersized middle schooler trying to make contact against Randy Johnson's slider.

It wasn't even close. Instead of the final fleeting moments at a cataclysmic end of human history. The Bible when it talks about the last days means the last days of the Old Covenant. It refers to the winding down of that redemptive epic Where priests mediated between us and God were temples.

Where where you would travel to go meet with God and animal blood sacrifices stood between you and the Almighty. The phrase last days pictures the close of that Significant era and the dawning of the final chapter of human history.

Where the world will know God through his one and only Son. We're not waiting for that great eon to materialize in an uncertain future. The Old Covenant has been closed already the new and final Covenant era is fully here and The events that we will look at today from Acts chapter 2 verses 17 through 21 Will overwhelmingly confirm this.

Here's the text. And it shall come to pass in the last days saith God that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams.

And On my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my spirit and they shall prophesy and I will shoo forth wonders in the heavens above and signs in the earth beneath blood and fire and vapor of smoke.

The Sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and Notable day of the Lord comes and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord Shall be saved.

Acts 2 17 through 21. Now today in this podcast we are going to look at 10 proofs that the last days are already Happened that they're already in the past. But first before we do that, we're gonna look at a bit of background.

Whenever one of the three great pilgrimage feasts prescribed in the law of God occurred the Jerusalem's population would swell from a couple hundred-thousand to well over a million. This is because all Jewish males were required by the law of God to attend these three festivals every single year.

And since most Jewish males were also married with sizable families. The city would balloon rather quickly. Now intriguingly history reveals that num that numerous Jewish pilgrims embarked on journeys from the farthest reaches of the known world to partake in these festivals while some maybe even the majority hailed from nearby Judah and Galilee.

A Significant contingent of people had settled in the distant corners of pagan cities towns and nations across the vast Regis regions of the Roman Empire this widely scattered group bore the title of Diaspora Jews and they arrived in Jerusalem each carrying the rich history and the traditions of the native people and languages.

From whence they were coming. Now on the morning of Pentecost downtown Jerusalem would have been packed with no shortage of extra bodies. Once quiet city blocks home to only a handful of families before Now teamed with hundreds even thousands of individuals pressing tightly together.

According to the account of Luke as the spirit descended a deafening crescendo of sound erupted Undoubtedly peaking the curiosity of neighbors and onlookers or the naturally inquisitive Now that little curious group found a very ordinary of run-of-the-mill blue-collar Galileans, but with one extraordinary twist.

Instead of those Galileans praising God in the common Aramaic tongue Everyone present heard them praising God in their tongue in their language. For instance picture those that were coming from Rome. We're hearing the hymns that were being sung in Latin or Greek while those from Egypt were listening to Peter's preaching in the elegant flow of Coptic.

Even pilgrims journeying from as far as Seleucia modern-day Iraq were met with the disciples speaking fluently in their Parthian tongue. Everyone collectively saw the ancient curse of Babel being miraculously reversed before their very eyes.

Well Not all of them. Among them stood a few who remained untouched by the Holy Spirit's power hearing only an incomprehensible Babel crescendoing from a cacophony of gibberish Instead of recognizing the nature of this event as a fulfillment of eschatological prophecies.

They hurled derision and Ridicule upon the disciples accusing them of inebriation. Now from the one group God had clearly chosen to freely give them the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That outpouring caused him to praise him to hear his praise as being Recited in all of the dialects from all of the languages that were scattered about the Roman Empire.

That group would go on to live for him for a lifetime. But there was another group a skeptical group who God intentionally chose to withhold his spirit from Leading them from skepticism to 40 years later to utter ruination Poignantly demonstrating his total sovereignty over election and regeneration.

They were not even given a choice. Now to clear up any confusion between these two groups the elect and the damned Let and to let everyone in earshot know exactly what was happening. Peter stood up and declared precisely what was going on.

From the Prophet Joel within those very poignant words that Peter declared. We will see ten Undeniable proofs that the end times has already come this week. We're gonna look at the first five of those that Peter mentions describing the situation.

That's gonna happen to those who love Christ and who received him. They are gonna be the ones over the next 40 years who received the Holy Spirit's power inherit the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit and they are gonna be the ones who endure to the end of That era and they're gonna be saved in those last days so that they can live on Into the next era the final era that we are living in which is the rule of Christ.

Next week we're gonna look at the final five signs that Peter mentions from Joel's prophecy. Which don't concern those who love Christ, but those who hate him and reject him. For them the incredible signs and wonders that are demonstrated or are gonna showcase that they are on the wrong side of the end times debate.

They're not going to make it alive into Jesus's kingdom. They will be buried in the ash heap of Jerusalem along with all of the other Old Covenant trappings and shadows. That is what the last days is it is the story of one group who is saved and Brought into Jesus's kingdom and another group that is put under the city that is destroyed for her crimes against God.

Now with that, let us look at the first five proofs of the last days. Concerning the events of the first century that happened to believers. And the first one is that Pentecost is gonna set the time frame the outpouring of the Spirit sets the time.

Peter addresses the concerns that they were drunk before the second breakfast by saying in the last days God is gonna pour out his spirit upon all flesh. He says we're not drunk. We've been filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

Peter is acknowledging that the loud sound that everyone had just heard and the miraculous gifting of this group to speak in each other's languages is Proof positive that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit had just happened which makes this an eschatological Event.

Peter isn't overlooking the scene that's unfolding beside of him in order to opine about something that's gonna happen in the far distant future. No he claims that the last days have come upon them and his chief evidence for this is the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God as Joel described it.

Now based on that and that alone we can confidently say that the last days are not something we are waiting for. But something that have already occurred. Peter preached that in Jerusalem. Joel prophesied that Hundreds of years before the New Testament and we by own common sense can see that this is exactly what this text means.

The Outpouring of the Spirit as the Sign of the Last Days

Proof number two your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Along with the loud whooshing clamor in the upper room and the Holy Spirit's miraculous appointment of tongues. Speaking among the crowds Peter also claims that young men and women will prophesy in the last days.

According to Luke Joel and Peter the onset of male and female prophets in the first century was one of the sure signs that the Old Covenant era was drawing to a close because in these last days God had chosen to speak through his son.

Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2. These men are clear. When you see young women and young men prophesying in the Spirit Then you will know that the temple the priesthood the ceremonial laws the sacrificial system.

All of that are on their last leg in the final chapter of redemption. Where the world is going to be conquered by God's reigning son is soon to be fully inaugurated. For some time both of those redemptive eras coexisted simultaneously the Old Covenant and the New Covenant Overlapped meaning that there was a period of about 40 awkward years where the New Covenant era of Christ's advancing kingdom lived alongside the waning Herodian temple the failing Aaronic priesthood and The Mosaic system of sacrifice that was soon to be put away.

This period was from about a d30 when Christ ascended into heaven. Some will say a d33 until the destruction of the Jewish temple a d70 one biblical generation of 40 years. Now that biblical generation was the God appointed season Where his people both male and female would prophesy which is precisely what occurred in the first century.

For instance when Jesus was born and was brought into the city of Jerusalem to be circumcised He was greeted by an elderly woman named Anna and an elderly man named Simeon. Who were called prophets and ones with whom the Spirit of God was speaking Luke 2 25 and 36.

Paul also alerts us that young men and young women were prophesying in the church at Corinth first Corinthians 14 1 through 6 and they needed Specific instructions on how to implement that gift appropriately first Corinthians 11 4 through 5.

Now Luke also tells us that Philip was one of the seven Hellenistic deacons and he had daughters who were prophesying Acts 21 8 through 9 and That there was a man named Agabus in the early Christian Church who prophesied on multiple occasions Acts 1 Sorry, Acts 11 27 through 28 and Acts 21 10 through 11.

Now with that Do not miss the fact that the prophets had been noticeably missing from Judah since the death of Malachi the final Old Testament prophet. For 400 years God had been silent refusing to raise up a new prophetic voice to speak to his people until the birth of his one.

And only son when Christ was born God unleashed the prophetic tongue. For about 70 years from the birth of Christ into the downfall of Jerusalem. Which again was a sign that the last days were occurring in Christ.

The incredible events described in the first century had come. Now there's one last point to consider before moving along when God raises up prophets, especially Prophetesses female prophets it is usually in a transitional period during the waning of epochs.

Think about it like a book with various chapters. The Nation of Israel has gone through several chapters one called slavery in Egypt. Another one called being set free and given a new covenant at Mount Sinai.

There's a chapter about their occupation in the new land. There's a chapter where they are ruled by judges. There's a chapter where they're ruled by various kings and exile a homecoming in a period of silence that lasted from Malachi until Matthew which was 400 years.

Now during each of these subsequent chapters in the life cycle of National Israel. Near the closing moments of every chapter God raises up a prophetic voice to bring that chapter to a close for instance.

During the slavery period at the end of it God raised up Moses and Miriam both described as prophets in the waning years of of their enslavement in Egypt. Think about another one with Deborah the prophetess before the Lord presiding over some of the final years of the theocratic rule by the judges.

Just before the Jewish monarchy was installed God raised her up. It's also the case for hold a prophetess who had a significant role to play in the life of Josiah. Who reigned and died a mere 40 years before the end of the monarchy and began the period of the exile second Kings 22.

You see as the final grains of sand and the old covenant hourglass fell. It's not surprising that a proliferation of prophetic Activity occurred. It happened at the end of every chapter of their history.

Why not the end of their history as well? It's also clear that there was a specific prophecy that was given by Joel Recounted by Luke and preached by Peter that confirms that all of this was going to happen in the last days the Old Covenant era.

Which Peter says was happening in the first century that Old Covenant era of the Jews has finished. And now we are living in the kingdom of Christ. Proof number three young men will see visions in. In the same way that a rise in prophetic activity would signal the last days of the Old Covenant era.

Visions among young men would also be used by God as a powerful testimony that the changing of the ages was occurring. This is precisely what we see going down in the New Testament. And we do not need to speculate whether the sign was fulfilled in the first century or not.

We know unequivocally that it was. For instance while Paul was on his way to kill believers hiding in Damascus He was confronted by a dazzling vision of the resurrected Christ. Acts chapter 9 in that vision He was told to go into the city and wait for a man named Ananias to pray for him.

When he arrived the Lord also gave the man and Ananias a vision as well Comforting the reluctant disciple that it really was his will that the murderer Saul Would be healed and become the New Testament Apostle named Saul.

Acts 9 10 through 18. Beyond this Cornelius the Centurion saw a vision. Acts 10 2 through 4. Peter saw a vision. Acts 10 9 through 23. Paul had multiple additional visions including the ones in Acts 16 and 18 and John the Apostle wrote an entire book of the Bible Recounting his vision which is called revelation.

Peter in Acts chapter 2, which is what we're looking at cited that visionary Experiences are critical evidence that the last days of the Mosaic period were occurring in the first century and by the Lord's grace.

We have a plethora of evidence to substantiate that proof number four Old men will dream dreams. Now in addition to the noises the tongues the outpouring of the Spirit the prophesying the visions God continued to pile up evidence that the last days were happening more than 2 ,000 years ago.

By citing the fact that the old men would be dreaming dreams. Now this occurred in the New Testament period with examples such as Joseph who like his Old Testament Counterport had many dreams. Matthew 1 20 through 24.

Matthew 2 13 19 and 22. We also see that the Magi had dreams. Matthew 2 12 pilots wife Who's not a man, but she was given a specific dream warning Pilot not to have anything to do with Jesus. Matthew 27 19 once more again We see a proliferation of these events that Peters talking about in the first century and they're not there.

So that will be confused on the timing of the last days and and continue to wonder when are these things going to happen? They have happened and they were revealed to have happened in exacting precise clarity.

Dreams, Visions, and the Prophetic Signs of the First Century

Proof number five a Jewish revival. Peters quotation from Joel chapter 2 also states in verse 18. This is God speaking on my servants and on my handmaidens. I will pour out in those days of my spirit when we realize That the term my servant is a common way for God in the Old Testament to refer to Israel and Judah.

See Isaiah 41 8 9 44 149 353 11 and Jeremiah 30 10. We understand that my servant is a common way for God to describe his people Israel and Judah. Then we can understand that the prophecy of Joel is a prophecy not just about the salvation of the Gentile nations, but It is about the events that are beginning to happen with a revived Jewish people who will have the Holy Spirit of God poured out on them in the first century.

Now this certainly didn't happen in full at the events of Pentecost nor during the 40-year window that we've been describing and for that matter Joel does not predict a monolithic revival in Judah where every single one of the Jews are converted to Christ that did not happen in history and That is not what Joel says at all.

When he describes the revival of Judah, he is talking about it like there's going to be a partial Revival a remnant of people who survive while the majority of the unfaithful Jews are going to perish.

For instance in Joel 2 32 the Prophet says. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There shall be those who escape as the Lord has said and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls. Joel tells us that God is going to set apart a remnant of Jews to be part of his elect people.

That will eventually take over the entire world. That happened most assuredly since the vast majority of first century Christians were Jewish converts to Christ beginning with the three thousand who were cut to the heart in the city of Jerusalem while listening to the Apostle Peter preach acts 241.

A Future revival of Israel has not yet happened and it may still be coming and I pray to the Lord that it does. I pray to the Lord that it does but it's no small matter that droves of Jewish people began worshiping a resurrected man named Jesus Christ in the first century city of Jerusalem that killed him.

Let us not take for granted how shocking that that would have been at that time and in that context. Conclusion. As We've seen from this text Joel lays out five initial pieces of evidence that the first century people were living in the last days.

These passages have proven that the last days are not Esoteric events in our future, but very clear events within the 40-year period of Peter in the first century Church. We have seen how the glorious outpouring of the Holy Spirit caused men and women to hear Peter.

He was preaching in the language of Judea. They were hearing him perfectly and clearly in their own mother tongue. We've seen how the Holy Spirit's outpouring caused his people to prophesy. We saw how his elect young men were dreaming dreams that old men were hearing visions and that a remnant of Judeans were coming under the Lordship of Jesus Christ for their salvation.

The last days that were happening in the first century and ended with the end of Jerusalem in her temple are finished. That isn't to claim that the Bible contains nothing about our future. I believe that it does but when we consider this particular text and the ones that we have seen that have come before it we can Conclusively conclude that the events that are described there have already happened until next time.

Enjoy living in the final chapter of human history and we'll see you again next time on the broadcast. Thank you so much for listening to another episode of the broadcast these eschatological episodes are Incredibly dense and they involve themes that run throughout the entire Bible.

My advice is to listen to them a few times so that you can grab hold of everything that is being said and also so that You can have the kind of confidence that can only come when you're living in Jesus's end-time kingdom.

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