You've Been Chosen For These Last Days
We must not hide from the world. Instead, we need to
build a spiritual wall of protection around us so we can live in this world
victoriously and not be brought down by it. Christ has called us to rise up as
mighty, Spirit-filled victors! We are called to shine His light in the
darkness, to rescue the perishing, and to do all we can to save those who are
spiritually dying. And regardless of the moral dilemmas that confront us in
these times, you and I must never forget that we are called to be “more than
conquerors” through the power of Him who loves us. With the strengthening help
of the Holy Spirit, we can overcome all things through Christ who empowers us —
even the most intense battles in this prophetic season.
Written
By Rick Renner
When I was a boy growing up, my friends in
the neighborhood would occasionally congregate in our large backyard to play
tag.
If you grew up playing that game, I’m sure
you remember how it is played.
The game of tag begins when someone in the
group starts to chase others in an effort to touch or tag them.
I remember the glee
each of us felt when we were “it,” and we finally touched another player and
yelled, “Tag, you’re it!”
In that moment, the person tagged became
“it” for the next round of the game.
My friends and I would play tag for hours.
We didn’t quit until every kid had been tagged — and when that happened, it was
our signal that the game was done!
As a boy, I really liked to play tag for
several reasons. It was a group game; it was fast; and it required us to
strategize about how we would dodge and outrun the person designated “it” to
avoid getting tagged.
A rambunctious game of tag caused my heart
to pump with excitement as I dashed here and there to stay out of reach.
I also liked the game of tag because if
anyone had to sit out for a round, he or she could then jump back in the game
to begin playing again.
What I didn’t like so much were the times I
was the one who got tagged. However, in the game of tag, everyone eventually
got tagged before the game was over.
Whether we liked it or not, at some point
each of us was going to be “it” for a round of the game.
The reason I tell you about this simple
childhood game is that it reminds me of the significance of this strategic time
we are living in right now.
For the last 2,000 years, the Church has
been living in the midst of a time frame that is technically called “the last
days.”
However, now we have come to the very last
of the last days — a time frame unlike any other that has preceded us in history.
And God has chosen you and me to be part of
the generation born at the very end of this age.
You and I are “tagged” to live in this last
round of the prophetic game. In a very real sense, God is saying to us, “Tag,
you’re it!”
Others in Church history were “tagged” by
God to be “it” in their generation, for their own time.
I could make a long list of such men and
women who helped change the course of history to His glory during their time on
earth.
But now it is time for us to play our part
as we serve Jesus in the wrap-up of this prophetic season.
For you and me to come out winners as God
has destined us to do, we’ll need to learn how to move quickly and hear
accurately as the Holy Spirit gives us strategies to dodge the enemy’s attacks
and combat the evil influences that are trying to affect so many in society
right now.
The fact remains that we are living in the
last round of this end-times age.
That means we must know what God has
specifically stated about events in society in the last days — and we must
receive divine guidance to maneuver accurately in the midst of the attacks the
enemy is waging against every stratum of society.
One evening of watching the news is all
that’s needed to confirm to yourself that an all-out assault is being waged
against the human race and against godliness.
Society today is filled with violence,
decadence, financial crises, political feuding beyond anything we ever imagined
possible, and heightened tensions among the world’s political leaders.
Natural disasters occur with increasing
regularity all over the earth.
These combined and cumulative events seem
so overwhelming that it can feel like our very well-being is under continual
threat.
If it were not for the peace of God that
rules our hearts and minds, we could easily be thrown into a state of panic,
shaken by all of these disturbing developments. (See my book Signs You’ll See Just
Before Jesus Comes to learn of all the events Jesus predicted in Matthew 24
that we will see in the world prior to His next coming.)
Many of us remember growing up in a very
different world, where life was slower and kinder — and so safe that we didn’t
even lock the doors to our houses.
We didn’t fear our neighbors, and we never
had a single thought about terrorist activity. Does that description resemble
the childhood you remember decades ago?
But the world has changed dramatically in
the course of our lifetimes and has become a far different place than the one
we grew up in years ago.
What happened to the world we once knew?
How is it possible that so many things could change so fast and so
dramatically?
Who of us in our growing-up years would
have ever imagined that we’d see the day when so much nonsensical thinking
would dominate society?
My parents, along with our local church,
reared me to believe the Bible, so we knew that we were most likely living in
the last days.
But now years have flown by, and the
reality of these last days has hit with explosive force! It’s no longer
imaginary; it is upon us. Whew!
We didn’t know that life could change with
such speed!
But change it did, and the slower, kinder,
safer world we grew up in is nearly gone.
With every new day, it seems like society
is being inundated with new, once-unthinkable absurdities that have left many
people bewildered and perplexed.
Whether we like it or not, times have
changed — very rapidly. During our childhoods, it would have been hard to
envision that things could change so much in relatively so little time.
But God knew these times were approaching,
and approximately 2,000 years ago, His Spirit spoke very clearly to alert us —
we who live in the last days — that such times would come.
He wanted this generation to know that
“perilous times” would emerge in society at the very end of the last days.
Where
We Are In Time – God Really Wants Us To Know
As the apostle Paul
wrote his second letter to Timothy, he said this in the opening verse of
chapter 3: “This know also, that in the
last days perilous times shall come.”
But let’s begin by
looking closely at the first part of the verse, where the Holy Spirit says, “This know also.…”
The word “know” is a translation of the Greek word ginosko, which in this
verse means to know something definitely, emphatically, and with absolute
certainty.
But it is also important to know that the
tense used here depicts something so urgent that it MUST be known, MUST be
recognized, and MUST be acknowledged.
In other words, what the Holy Spirit is
saying in this verse — and in the passage that follows — should not be
considered optional information for us to retain or not to retain at our
discretion.
The Greek tense makes the message of this
verse strong. It is almost as if the Holy Spirit is raising His voice to get
our attention.
He is reaching out from the pages of
Scripture to grab us, shake us, and cause us to sit up straight, hold our heads
high, and open our eyes and ears so we truly grasp what He is about to
communicate.
In this verse, the Holy Spirit speaks
loudly, authoritatively, and emphatically because He wants us to fully grasp
what He is about to say.
His urgent desire is that we will be
prepared and not taken off-guard when last-days events begin to take place with
increasing, rapid-fire frequency.
What was coming in the future — in the very
time in which you and I are currently living — was so ominous that the Holy
Spirit really wanted to warn us in advance that perilous times were coming.
His purpose was not to scare us, but to
prepare us so we would be informed and spiritually equipped to navigate a
last-days tempestuous storm.
If we’ll listen to what the Holy Spirit
says in this verse and in the verses to follow, we’ll be able to prepare
ourselves — as well as our loved ones and friends — to sail victoriously
through these stormy waters.
And we’ll not be overcome by the evil that
Scripture says would inevitably emerge and become widespread in society as the
age approaches its end.
Friend, God has “tagged” you and me to live
in this time!
And since He has chosen us for this late
round of the game, we can be assured that He has also supplied us with
everything we need to live in this season victoriously.
If we’ll pay attention to what the Holy
Spirit has said in Second Timothy 3 and receive divine strategies from Him,
we’ll be able to:
o Shine as lights in
a world growing ever darker.
o Build a hedge of
protection around our families.
o Teach our children
and grandchildren the Word of God so that while they live in this world, they
will not be of this world or be negatively impacted by it.
o Stay unaffected by
the changing moral landscape in society around us.
o Be protected and
safeguarded by Scripture that has been stored in our hearts.
In Second Timothy 3:1, the Holy Spirit
pointed His prophetic finger 2,000 years into the future to prophesy that
perilous times would come in the last days.
In this pivotal verse and the passage that
follows, the Holy Spirit lucidly forecasted that certain characteristics would
emerge in society at the very end of the age.
In no uncertain terms, the Holy Spirit said
that perilous times would come and that these disastrous developments would
become prominent and commonplace in a world gone crazy.
The Holy Spirit was warning those of us
destined to live at the end of the age about these things so that we’d be
prepared to not be taken off-guard.
But I want to stress again that the Holy
Spirit didn’t give us this prophetic insight to scare us; rather, He gave it to
prepare us so we could avoid these detrimental end-time manifestations and live
as victorious believers until Jesus comes again!
Because the Holy Spirit has forewarned us
of what is to come, we will know what to do to reinforce our lives so we can
live victoriously as we await the glorious moment when Christ returns for His
Church.
What
Does The Word 'Last' Really Mean?
Under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul prophetically wrote, “This know...” (2 Timothy 3:1).
As noted earlier, the word “know” in this verse describes something
that is definite, emphatic, and absolutely certain.
But Paul went on to add, “This know also….”
It’s easy to read over that word “also” and go on without paying any
attention to it.
But in the Greek text, the word for “also” is very important.
It is the little Greek word de, which means
indeed.
The use of this word adds the sense of
something that is emphatic and makes this verse a categorical statement.
By adding this
little Greek word, the Holy Spirit is literally saying to you and me, “You emphatically and categorically need to
know with unquestionable certainty.…”
This unequivocally tells us that what the
Holy Spirit is about to forecast is not something that may or may not come to
pass.
This verse clearly forecasts events that
will definitely occur in the very end of the last days.
God’s intention in giving this scripture
was not only to speak to readers living in the First Century when this verse
was written, but also to especially inform us — those who would be alive at the
very end of the age when these events would take place.
In Second Timothy
3:1, Paul wrote, “This know also, that in
the last days perilous times shall come.”
Because Paul used the word “know,” which is a translation of the
Greek word ginosko, and the word “also,”
which is a translation of the little word de, he emphatically meant to convey
the Holy Spirit’s message here in the clearest and strongest of terms.
It literally means,
“You emphatically and categorically need
to know with unquestionable certainty.…”
But then the Holy
Spirit dives deeper into His message and becomes more specific by adding that “… in the last days perilous times shall
come” (2
Timothy 3:1).
What do the words “last days” really mean?
The Greek word for “last” used in this verse is translated from the Greek word eschatos,
a word that commonly depicts something that is final.
It is the Greek word from which we derive
the word “eschatology,” the theological study of end times or the study of last
things.
This Greek word eschatos points to the
very last or the ultimate end of a thing. It was used by ancient Greeks to
describe the point that was furthest away.
In fact, the ancient world used the word eschatos
as a seafaring word to describe the last port of call for a ship.
Although a ship in transit stops at many
ports en route to its final destination, the word eschatos was used to
depict the very last port.
This last stopping-off point signified that
it was the end of the road and the journey was finished.
Thus, the word eschatos
indicated, “This is the end, and you can
go no further.”
Let me give you a few examples of eschatos
to demonstrate the finality associated with this word.
This word eschatos could be used to
describe the very last month of a 12-month calendar.
It could also refer to the very last week
in a month or the very final day in a week.
In other words, this Greek word eschatos
points to the very ultimate end of whatever is being discussed.
In the discussion of the last days before
the return of Jesus Christ, the word eschatos points to the very ultimate
end of the last days.
For this reason, Paul used it in this verse
to point to the very last of a long last-days season. We could call it the last
of the last days.
To be technically correct, I must point out
that “the last days” started about
2,000 years ago on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out.
In Acts 2:17, Peter responded to the
outpouring of the Spirit by quoting Joel 2:28 in which the prophet Joel
prophesied about the supernatural happenings in the last days.
Peter said, “And it shall come to pass in the last days,
saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh…” (Acts 2:17).
So when the Holy Spirit was poured out on
the Day of Pentecost, it triggered a prophetic time frame called “the last days” that we’ve been living
in for nearly 2,000 years.
But in Second Timothy 3:1, the word eschatos
points to the very end of that prophetic season — to the days you and I are
living in right now at the very ultimate end of the age.
The
'Last Port' In The Journey
Make no mistake — the Greek word eschatos
(“last days”) in this verse means the very ultimate end or the very end of
time, and it points to the conclusion of the age.
The Holy Spirit is
literally saying, “… In the very end of
days — when time has sailed to its last port and no more time remains for the
journey.…”
This gives us a specific point of reference
for the time frame we are about to study in this chapter from Second Timothy 3,
which is solely concerned with events that will occur at the very ultimate end
of this age.
The events Paul described in this Bible
chapter will hastily transpire in the very concluding days of the age.
To this end-time generation, it will feel
as if time has suddenly accelerated and end-time developments are quickly
coming to pass at a speed that is shocking to the natural mind.
Does that sound like our times?
If you say yes, I remind you that the Holy
Spirit is saying, “Tag, you’re it!”
for this exciting wrap-up of the ages!
Second Timothy 3:1
could therefore be correctly translated, “You
emphatically and categorically need to know with unquestionable certainty that
in the very end of days — when time has sailed to its last port and no more
time remains for the journey.…”
Then the Holy Spirit begins to expound on
what will happen in that concluding time frame called the last of the last
days.
He vigorously
states that “perilous times shall come” to
be experienced by people who live in that prophetic season.
But before we look
at the words “perilous times,” we
must first study the words “shall come,”
for they are very important in this text.
The words “shall come” are a translation of the Greek word enistemi,
which is a compound of the words en and histemi.
The word en means in, and the word
histemi
means to stand.
But when these are compounded into a single
word, the new word means to stand in, to stand in the middle of, to be
surrounded by, to be encumbered by, or to stand in the midst of whatever is
being discussed with the feeling that it cannot be avoided or that one cannot
escape from it.
It depicts someone who is so encompassed by
whatever surrounds him or her that there is no way out of it.
By using this key word enistemi, the Holy Spirit
prophetically declares that those who live in this last season will feel as if
they are positioned in the very midst of — surrounded and encumbered on every
side by — inescapable developments.
To the people who are part of this end-time
generation, it will feel like they are being assaulted by “perilous times” from every direction.
In other words, there will be no escaping
this period of time.
But remember — God “tagged” you and me to
live in this strategic season at the close of the age!
That means we can rest assured that His
Spirit will enable us to dodge each of the enemy’s attacks.
He will also empower us to help others find
freedom and liberty from the darkness that is presently encroaching on society
across the entire planet.
As Paul wrote the words of Second Timothy
3:1, it is as though he supernaturally peered through a prophetic window that
allowed him to see 2,000 years into the future — to the very time in which we
are living and the times directly before us.
By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul
revealed what he had seen as he painstakingly and vividly wrote about the
sweeping changes that would emerge and become commonplace in society and
culture at the very end of this age.
Second Timothy 3:1 is crucial, so I want to
make sure you truly grasp what the Holy Spirit has communicated in this verse.
By alerting us to what will occur in the
last of the last days, God is lovingly preparing us for what is coming.
He desires that we would not be taken
captive by a spirit of fear.
He wants each of us to retain a sound mind
that can wisely discern how to deal with the issues that will confront us.
But we must not hide from the world.
Instead, we need to build a spiritual wall of protection around us so we can
live in this world victoriously and not be brought down by it.
Christ has called us to rise up as mighty,
Spirit-filled victors!
We are called to shine His light in the
darkness, to rescue the perishing, and to do all we can to save those who are
spiritually dying.
And regardless of the moral dilemmas that
confront us in these times, you and I must never forget that we are called to
be “more than conquerors” through the
power of Him who loves us (see
Romans 8:37).
With the strengthening help of the Holy Spirit, we can overcome all things through Christ who empowers us — even the most intense battles in this prophetic season (see Philippians 4:13).
Rick Renner is a prolific
author of more than 30 books and a respected Bible teacher and leader in the
international Christian community. Rick is the senior pastor of the Moscow
Good News Church. He is also the founder of Rick Renner Ministries and Media Mir,
a media outreach in the former USSR, and the host of his TV program seen around
the world.
https://www.destinyimage.com/blog/2020/08/03/youve-been-chosen-for-these-last-days
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