Doctrine of the Last Days.

Many love to hear of the doctrine of the last days, people flock to hear the end times but many will ignore to hear of the Holiness of God and sanctification. Why is it that many would love to hear the doctrine of the last days? Even the unbelievers are curious to know of the future. By nature people like action and for many there is no colorful action in growing in sanctification, in holiness but for them there is so much action when it comes to the last days, it truly excites the flesh. What about the last of the last days, the final judgment? People don’t want to hear judgment but the antichrist. Friends, we cannot delete what we don’t like.

Rev 20:11-15

We are to study the whole counsel of God and what we like and delete what we don’t like. The study of eschatology should bring a greater honor to God in our sanctification and motivation to evangelize the lost.

Today the body of Christ the church is divided when it comes to the doctrine of the last days. Why? Doctrine of the last days is not very clear in the Bible.

Mt 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Mt 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

But through out the ages people have predicted the date and the year of the Lord’s return and they were proved to be wrong. Some have predicted the year of his return but they were proved to be wrong. We tend to forget these false prophecies as the years go by, but we need to remember if they made a claim and did not happen, how can you trust in their church? Let me go over some of the false predictions given by certain people in our time.

Church Universal and Triumphant:  Elizabeth Clare Prophet prophesied that nuclear war would occur in 1990.  The group is now suffering a dramatic decline as members tire of waiting for Armageddon.

Jehovah's Witnesses:  The Watchtower Society predicted that Armageddon would occur in 1914.  They now teach that Jesus Christ returned invisibly in 1914.  They also predicted that Abraham and others would be resurrected in 1925, and that Armageddon would occur in 1941 and 1975 (they deny the 1975 prediction).  They also predicted that Armageddon would occur with the "generation of 1914."  They now say that "generation" is a figurative term for anyone who can understand the significance of 1914.

William Miller:  Prophesied that Christ would return in 1843, then 1844.  The Seventh-day Adventists Church came from the Millerite movement.

Edgar E. Whisenant:  Predicted that the rapture would occur on October 3, 1988.  Explaining that his math had been incorrect, he later prophesied that the rapture would occur on either September 1 or 30, 1989.

1843: Joseph Smith (1805-1844) was the founder of the Church of Christ, which became the Restorationist movement after many schisms. It now includes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- a.k.a. the Mormons, and about a hundred other denominations and sects. He heard a voice while praying. He wrote:

"I was once praying very ernestly to know the time of the coming of the Son of Man, when I heard a voice repeat the following:

'Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou are eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice, and trouble me no more on this matter.'

I was left thus, without being able to decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether I should die and thus see his face. I believe the coming of the Son of Man will not be any sooner than that time."

Smith would have reached the age of 85 during 1890. Unfortunately, by that year, Smith had been dead for almost a half century.

1843-MAR-21: William Miller, founder of the Millerite movement, predicted that Jesus would come on this date.

1844-OCT-22: When Jesus did not return, Miller predicted this new date. In an event which is now called "The Great Disappointment," many Christians sold their property and possessions, quit their jobs and prepared themselves for the second coming. Nothing happened; the day came and went without incident.

1850: Ellen White, founder of the Seven Day Adventists movement, made many predictions of the timing of the end of the world. All failed. She made one on 1850-JUN-27 that only a few months remained before the end. She wrote: "My accompanying angel said, 'Time is almost finished. Get ready, get ready, get ready.' ...now time is almost finished...and what we have been years learning, they will have to learn in a few months." ₁₀

1856 or later: At Ellen White's last prediction, she said that she was shown in a vision the fate of believers who attended the 1856 SDA conference. She wrote "I was shown the company present at the Conference. Said the angel: 'Some food for worms, some subjects of the seven last plagues, some will be alive and remain upon the earth to be translated at the coming of Jesus." ₁₁ That is, some of the attendees would die of normal diseases; some would die from plagues at the last days, others would still be alive when Jesus came. "By the early 1900s all those who attended the conference had passed away, leaving the Church with the dilemma of trying to figure out how to explain away such a prominent prophetic failure." ₁₂

1891 or before: On 1835-FEB-14, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon church, attended a meeting of church leaders. He said that the meeting had been called because God had commanded it. He announced that Jesus would return within 56 years -- i.e. before 1891-FEB-15. (History of the Church 2:182)

1914 was one of the more important estimates of the start of the war of Armageddon by the Jehovah's Witnesses (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society). They computed 1914 from prophecy in the book of Daniel, Chapter 4. The writings referred to "seven times". The WTS interpreted each "time" as equal to 360 days, giving a total of 2520 days. This was further interpreted as representing 2520 years, measured from the starting date of 607 BCE. This gave 1914 as the target date. When 1914 passed, they changed their prediction; 1914 became the year that Jesus invisibly began his rule. 

1914, 1915, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, 1975 and 1994, etc. were other dates that the Watchtower Society (WTS) or its members predicted.

	Since late in the 19th century, they had taught that the "battle of the Great Day of God Almighty" (Armageddon) would happen in 1914 CE. It didn't.
	The next major estimate was 1925. Watchtower magazine predicted: "The year 1925 is a date definitely and clearly marked in the Scriptures, even more clearly than that of 1914; but it would be presumptuous on the part of any faithful follower of the Lord to assume just what the Lord is going to do during that year." 6
	The Watchtower Society selected 1975 as its next main prediction. This was based on the estimate "according to reliable Bible chronology Adam was created in the year 4026 BCE, likely in the autumn of the year, at the end of the sixth day of creation." 8  They believed that the year 1975 a promising date for the end of the world, as it was the 6,000th anniversary of Adam's creation. Exactly 1,000 years was to pass for each day of the creation week. This prophecy also failed.
	The current estimate is that the end of the world as we know it will happen precisely 6000 years after the creation of Eve. 9 There is no way of knowing when this happened.
	More details on the WTS predictions.

1919: Meteorologist Albert Porta predicted that the conjunction of 6 planets would generate a magnetic current that would cause the sun to explode and engulf the earth on DEC-17.

1936: Herbert W Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God, predicted that the Day of the Lord would happen sometime in 1936. When the prediction failed, he made a new estimate: 1975.

1940 or 1941: A Bible teacher from Australia, Leonard Sale-Harrison, held a series of prophesy conferences across North America in the 1930's. He predicted that the end of the world would happen in 1940 or 1941. ₇

1948: During this year, the state of Israel was founded. Some Christians believed that this event was the final prerequisite for the second coming of Jesus. Various end of the world predictions were made in the range 1888 to 2048.

1953-AUG: David Davidson wrote a book titled "The Great Pyramid, Its Divine Message". In it, he predicted that the world would end in 1953-AUG.

1957-APR: The Watchtower magazine quoted ₆ a pastor from California, Mihran Ask, as saying in 1957-JAN that "Sometime between April 16 and 23, 1957, Armageddon will sweep the world! Millions of persons will perish in its flames and the land will be scorched.'

1959: The Branch Davidians of Waco TX believed that they would be killed, resurrected and transferred to heaven by APR-22.

1960: Piazzi Smyth, a past astronomer royal of Scotland, wrote a book circa 1860 titled "Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid." It was responsible for spreading the belief in pyramidology throughout the world. This is the belief that secrets are hidden in the dimensions of the great pyramids. He concluded from his research that the millennium would start before the end of 1960 CE.

1967: During the six day war, the Israeli army captured all of Jerusalem. Many conservative Christians believed that the rapture would occur quickly. However, the final Biblical prerequisite for the second coming is that the Jews resume ritual animal sacrifices in the temple at Jerusalem. That never happened.

1970's: The late Moses David (formerly David Berg) was the founder of the Christian religious group, The Children of God. He predicted that a comet would hit the earth, probably in the mid 1970's and destroy all life in the United States. One source indicated that he believed it would happen in 1973.

1972: According to an article in the Atlantic magazine, "Herbert W. Armstrong's empire suffered a serious blow when the end failed to begin in January of 1972, as Armstrong had predicted, thus bringing hardship to many people who had given most of their assets to the church in the expectation of going to Petra, where such worldly possessions would be useless." ₃ According to an article in Wikipedia:

"The failure of this prophetic scenario to take place according to this Co-Worker letter scenario, which was often repeated over the years in print by Armstrong, may have been one of the initial reasons why the church organization began to decline as unfulfilled expectations led to great disappointment. As events unfolded, it became obvious 1972 did not have the biblical significance that the church had anticipated for nearly two decades." ₁₅

1974: Charles Meade, a pastor in Daleville, IN, predicted that the end of the world will happen during his lifetime. He was born circa 1927, so the end will probably come early in the 21^st century.

1975: A major Jehovah's Witness prediction date.

1978: Chuck Smith, Pastor of Calvary Chapel in Cost Mesa, CA, predicted the rapture in 1981.

1980: Leland Jensen leader of a Baha'i World Faith group, predicted that a nuclear disaster would happen in 1980. This would be followed by two decades of conflict, ending in the establishment of God's Kingdom on earth.

1981: 

	Arnold Murray of the Shepherd's Chapel taught an anti-Trinitarian belief about God, and Christian Identity. Back in the 1970's, he predicted that the Antichrist would appear before 1981.
	Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church predicted that the Kingdom of Heaven would be established in this year.

1982: Pat Robertson predicted a few years in advance that the world would end in the fall of 1982.

1982: Astronomers John Gribben & Setphen Plagemann predicted the "Jupiter Effect" in 1974. They wrote that when various planets were aligned on the same side of the sun, tidal forces would create solar flares, radio interruptions, rainfall and temperature disturbances and massive earthquakes. The planets did align as seen from earth, as they do regularly. Nothing unusual happened.

1984 to 1999: In 1983, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, later called Osho, teacher of  what has been called the Rajneesh movement, is said to have predicted massive destruction on earth, including natural disasters and man-made catastrophes. Floods larger than any since Noah, extreme earthquakes, very destructive volcano eruptions, nuclear wars etc. will be experienced. Tokyo, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Bombay will all disappear. Actually, the predictions were read by his secretary; their legitimacy is doubtful.

1985: Arnold Murray of the Shepherd's Chapel predicted that the war of Aramageddon will start on 1985-JUN 8-9 in "a valley of the Alaskan peninsula."

1986: Moses David of The Children of God faith group predicted that the Battle of Armageddon would take place in 1986. Russia would defeat Israel and the United States. A worldwide Communist dictatorship would be established. In 1993, Christ would return to earth.

1987 to 2000: Lester Sumrall, in his 1987 book "I Predict 2000 AD" predicted that Jerusalem would be the richest city on Earth, that the Common Market would rule Europe, and that there would be a nuclear war involving Russia and perhaps the U.S. Also, he prophesized that the greatest Christian revival in the history of the church would happen: all during the last 13 years of the 20^th century. All of the predictions failed.

1988:

	Hal Lindsey had predicted in his book "The Late, Great Planet Earth" that the Rapture was coming in 1988 - one generation or 40 years after the creation of the state of Israel. This failed prophecy did not appear to damage his reputation. He continues to write books of prophecy which sell very well indeed.
	Alfred Schmielewsky, a psychic whose stage name was "super-psychic A.S. Narayana," predicted in 1986 that the world's greatest natural disaster would hit Montreal in 1988. Sadly, his psychic abilities failed him on 1999-APR-11 when he answered the door of his home only to be shot dead by a gunman.

1988-MAY: A 1981 movie titled "The man who saw tomorrow" described some of Nostradamus predictions. Massive earthquakes were predicted for San Francisco and Los Angeles.

1988-OCT-11: Edgar Whisenaut, a NASA scientist, had published the book "88 Reasons why the Rapture will Occur in 1988." It sold over  4 million copies.

About 1990:  Peter Ruckman concluded from his analysis of the Bible that the rapture would come within a few years of 1990.

The founder of the Calvary Chapel system is the charismatic Pastor Chuck Smith. Some years ago, he published a book entitled End Times. On the jacket of his book, Smith is called a "well known Bible scholar and prophecy teacher." In this book he wrote: "As we look at the world scene today, it would appear that the coming of the Lord is very, very, close. Yet, we do not know when it will be. It could be that the Lord will wait for a time longer. If I understand Scripture correctly, Jesus taught us that the generation which sees the 'budding of the fig tree', the birth of the nation Israel, will be the generation that sees the Lord's return; I believe that the generation of 1948 is the last generation. Since a generation of judgment is forty years and the tribulation lasts seven years, I believe the Lord could come back for his church anytime before the tribulation starts, which would mean anytime before 1981. (1948 + 40 - 7 = 1981) However, it is possible that Jesus is dating the beginning of the generation from 1967, when Jerusalem was again under Israeli control for the first time since 587 B.C. We don't know for sure which year acturally marks the beginning of the last generation." (pages 35, 36)

Millennium – comes from the Latin word mille for thousand and Latin word annum for year. Millennium is a thousand year period.

Historical Premillenalism
At the end of the present age there will be great tribulation, followed by the second coming of Jesus Christ. When He comes, the Antichrist will be judged, the righteous resurrected, Satan bound & then will follow a thousand year reign. At the end of the millennium Satan will be released for a short time in which he leads a rebellion against our Lord before been destroyed. The unrighteous will now be raised for judgment followed then by the New Heavens & Earth.

Dispensational Premillenalism (DPM)
This is by far the most complex of the four views, furthermore it is also radically diff from HPM since it teaches that Israel (always separate from the Church) are the recipients of the blessing of the Millennium, not the Church of Christ. They teach that the eschatological watch stopped for the age of Israel at the end of the 69th week at the death of Christ & therefore the rejection of the Messiah & His Kingdom.
There is now a eschatological gap between the 69th & the 70th week (Dan 9) . The clock has stopped ticking for Israel & will not continue to tick again until the last week begins which will be ushered in by a political leader making a covenant with Israel.
Thereafter, the Saints are raptured as Christ's returns in the clouds (not second coming) for His people. In the middle of the seventh week (31/2 years into the 7 year tribulation) the political leader will cease sacrifices in the rebuilt temple & the great tribulation will end with the battle of Armageddon, which will see Christ destroy His enemies.

Now the nations who supported Israel will be gathered into the Millennium Kingdom, those who did not will be cast into the Hades to await the last the last judgment. Christ will reign from His throne in Jerusalem, the Temple will be re built, sacrifices (memorial) re instituted & Israel shall be exalted amongst the nations.
At the end of the 1000 years Satan will be released, unbelievers will be marshalled & the rebellion against Christ will begin. It will be quickly destroyed. Then there will be the last judgment & finally the eternal state ushered in.

Post Millennialism (PM)
PM like AM believe the Millennium is that time between the first & second coming of Christ. They teach that there will be a golden age when the gospel will draw men to Christ in unprecedented numbers, ethnic Israel will be gathered in to receive her Messiah & the nations will be Christinised. There is an expectation of the whole nations being converted. At the end of such a golden age, there will be a brief rebellion, which will be destroyed. Christ
then returns & ushers in the eternal state.

A Millennialism (AM)
Like PM, AM believes that the 1000 tears are symbolic of the time of the last days (from first to second coming). AM expect a parallel growth of both good & evil, side by side. At the end of the Last days there will be great evil & tribulation followed by the second coming, general resurrection, last judgment & the introduction of the eternal state of the new heavens & earth.