Does the Bible really teach that spiritual and moral decline are a sign of the last days and the second coming of Christ? For that matter, what are the last days and when do they start? What if Satan has conned the church into believing for an increase in evil that doesn’t have to happen?

Discover a Biblical understanding of what the last days really are, what’s happening in those days, and the church’s job of advancing the kingdom on earth.

OUTLINE (Scripture references are NKJV unless otherwise indicated)

There are things that we as Christians know that it turns out just aint so. It’s usually the result of hearing something repeated so often that we come to assume it’s scripture truth or accepted doctrine.

This message is not about being picky or finding fault with last days teaching. This is about Satan tricking the church into laying down and rolling over when we should be taking dominion for the kingdom and putting the devil in his last days place.

Most Christians have heard some form of “In the last days, men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, etc, and evil men will grow worse and worse.” We have actually come to take the increase of evil as a token sign of the Lord’s soon return.

Evil Men Will Grow Worse and Worse

2 Timothy chapter 3 begins with mention of the last days and a list of immoral activities that people engage in.

2 Timothy 3:1-2 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

In verses 6-12, Paul turns the discussion to false teachers in the current time that Paul has had to deal with and that Timothy will have to deal with too.

2 Timothy 3:6-12 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,
7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;
9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.
10 But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance,
11 persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me.
12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

Finally, in verse 13, in reference to those false teachers, Paul states:

2 Timothy 3:13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

The statement about men growing worse and worse is not about the end times or second coming, but about false teachers in that time who grow more devoted to their false teachings and to deceiving.

Excerpt from Albert Barnes commentary on 1 Timothy 3:13: “That is, it is the character of such men to do this; they may be expected to do it. This is the general law of depravity – that if men are not converted, they are always growing worse, and sinking deeper into iniquity.”

What Are the Last Days and When Do They Start?

Acts 2:16:17 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 'AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THE LAST DAYS, SAYS GOD, THAT I WILL POUR OUT OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL FLESH; YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS.

Hebrews 1:1-2 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

Excerpt from Albert Barnes commentary on Acts 2:17 and the term last days.“It was a phrase in contrast with the days of the patriarchs, the kings, the prophets, etc. The last days, or the closing period of the world, were the days of the Messiah… They anticipated a long and glorious time under the dominion of the Messiah… This expression was understood by the writers of the New Testament as referring undoubtedly to the times of the gospel. And hence they often used it as denoting that the time of the expected Messiah had come, but not to imply that the world was drawing near to an end.”

1 Peter 1:20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you

1 John 2:18 KJV Little children, it is the last time…

Hebrews 9:26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

1 Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

List of Immoral Conduct in the Last Days

The list of immoral deeds that men will do in the last days in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 is often cited as a sign of the second coming. However, the same general list of sins is given in Matthew 15:19, Romans 1:28-31, and Galatians 5:19-21 as demonstrating the condition of fallen man and the works of the flesh. These have been with us since the fall of man and do not serve as a sign of anything but unsaved people’s sinful condition.

The listing of these sins is not a sign of the second coming. Rather, it is letting followers of Christ know that even though they were in the last days – the days of Messiah – some men would reject the savior and continue in sin, but don’t be shaken, don’t let that make you think Messiah has not come.

But Perilous Times Will Come

2 Timothy 3:1 states that in the last days (which they were already in) perilous times will come. Verse 2 begins with “for” and then goes on to list the sins people will commit. For means “because.” Peril will continue to be in the earth because men will continue to choose sin and for as long as men have been choosing sin, sin has been producing perilous conditions – wars, famines, plagues, etc.

But What About “The Great Falling Away”?

Also known in Christian parlance as “The Great Apostasy.”

The only place this is referenced in scripture is 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and there are a total of 3 words devoted to it, “the falling away.” In verse 5 Paul states that this falling away is something he told the Thessalonians about when he was with them.

There is no record of this falling away being mentioned to any other church or in any other epistle. It may have been a prophesy, or revelation, pertaining only to the church at Thessalonica. There is also no reference to a timeline so it could pertain to the generation to which the epistle was written, or to the last generation before the return of Christ, or to any generation in between. To ascribe this falling away to a particular people or time would require additional revelation from the Holy Spirit or human guesswork. The period known as the Dark Ages could be argued to fulfill a “falling away.”

But What About Mathew 24?

In the opening verses of Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 Jesus foretells the destruction of the temple which took place in 70AD. The discourse that follows is in answer to the disciples asking “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?” (Mark 13:4).

Most treat this as describing events to immediately precede the return of Christ. Some make a scholarly case for this passage accurately describing the period leading up to and including the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD which much of the text clearly fits – “let those in Judea flee to the mountains,” “you will be beaten in the synagogues,” etc.

But What About the Book of Revelation?

Some teach that the book of Revelation is future, some teach that much of it was about the judgment and destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD.

Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place.

Revelation 22:6 Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.

But Aren’t Things Getting Worse?

In some places yes, but in other places things are getting better and revival is breaking out. Throughout history, from Old Testament Israel to America and its Great Awakenings, there has been revival, falling away, then revival again. However, the general trend has not been downward, but upward toward increased human civility in proportion to the entrance of God’s word that gives light – slavery ended, polygamy ended, child sacrifice ended, etc.

Moral and Spiritual Decline Are Not Needed nor Prophesied For the Second Coming

Nothing in the Bible teaches that a general, planet-wide spiritual, or moral decline is needed for Christ to return.

If Matthew 24 and Revelation are future events, they can happen in a very short period of time simply by removing the church and the Holy Spirit and letting the unsaved world collapse under the weight of its own sin. Any wrath to come is only for the disobedient (Ephesians 5:6), but Christ delivers us from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10).

Satan Has Conned the Church

Through misunderstanding of what the last days are, taking scripture out of context, and generally blowing evil up to look bigger than it is, Satan has conned the church into believing that he’s in charge and that for Jesus to return evil has to increase and take over the world.

Worse than that, Satan has the church using our dominion stewardship over the earth and the word of faith principles to believe and confess that things are getting worse, darkness is increasing, everyone’s going to fall away, we’re all going to be martyred, etc. He’s got us authorizing it by our own words and faith.

The Church’s Last Days Mission

The church’s last days mission is to exercise the dominion stewardship originally given to Adam using the authority given to us in Christ. The mission is to hear what God has authorized by His word, believe it in our hearts, then speak it into the atmosphere of this earth with words of prayer, words of faith, and words of dominion authority.

Consider just some of what heaven has authorized that we should be decreeing here on earth.

Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Mat 10:7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

Mat 6:10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

Mat 16:19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Psa 119:130 The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.

Isa 9:7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Act 3:21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

Psa 72:19 And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.

Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…

2Pe 3:12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God…