Intro to the End Times is a series walking through some of the key themes of the story of Jesus’ return from a historic premillennial perspective, with special focus on knowing the heart of Jesus as we partner with God through the most dramatic chapter of human history.
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My Story With the End Times
As I have written in several places on this website, my story with the end times starts when I was a child. From my earliest days I was fascinated by the return of Jesus. I remember asking my mom questions about the antichrist and resurrected bodies. I’m not even sure where I heard these terms, but I was insatiably curious.
When I was very young, I asked Jesus one night while I lay in bed, “Why don’t You come back right now? Why are you waiting?” That was the first time in my life I remember hearing His voice clearly: “TO GIVE PEOPLE TIME.” It wasn’t till years later that I realized that He had basically given me 2 Peter 3:9 on a silver platter.
In junior high and high school I barreled through the Left Behind books, inhaling one after another. Pre-tribulation rapture theology was the only eschatology I knew, and I was disappointed that there was no chance (so I thought) of being on earth during the tribulation. That seemed like the most exciting time! God doing BIG things, finally shaking the heavens and the earth, and the church standing firm, fiercely faithful to Jesus unto death! I used to speculate about my chances of getting un-saved, missing the rapture, and then immediately getting re-saved. I concluded it wouldn’t work because I couldn’t get un-saved because of love for Jesus; God would know my heart and I would just get raptured anyway.
I remember in 2004 when the final book, Glorious Appearing, was released. This was the great climax at the end of the tribulation when Jesus finally appeared in the sky. I made my mom take me to the Christian bookstore, and I stood in the aisle holding the book in trembling hands. My heart pounded and my breath came shallow as I flipped through the chapters and stopped to read every scene with Jesus in person on the page. JESUS. My Jesus, in person, locking eyes and speaking with us face to face.
Over the years, my passion for Jesus’ return only grew. I would drive around town (a little too fast) late at night with my windows down, dancing and yelling along with Cory Asbury’s lyrics, “One day He’s gonna split the sky and/One day He’s gonna come for His bride/I know it, I know it, I know it!”
Shortly after college, I stumbled across an IHOPKC teaching in favor of a post-trib rapture. That opened the door, and I became a post-tribber. Hallelujah, not out of the story after all!
About a year later I found myself at IHOPKC for the One Thing Internship, and that was where my eschatology started to solidify and really be based on Scripture. My passion only grew as I was finally seeing the story come together, laid out plainly in the Word. I spent long hours in the prayer room, poring over the New Testament, fitting the puzzle pieces together and realizing that the story is loud and consistent cover to cover!
Most importantly, I fell so much more in love with Jesus in all the dramatic, passionate, beautiful ways He reveals Himself in the final chapter of this age.
Why Study the End Times?
Did you know that there are at least 150 chapters in Scripture that are primarily about the generation of Jesus’ return? I’m not kidding! (You can find them laid out here with a note describing each.) To put that in perspective, the four gospels total only 89 chapters!
I’ve heard it said that the entire message of the end times can be summarized as “Jesus wins!” as though that’s the end of the conversation and all we need to know. And while I say YES AND AMEN to that, I also want to suggest that if all God wanted us to know about the end times is that “Jesus wins,” He wouldn’t have put 150 chapters in the Bible about it.
Therefore, if “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work,” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) what purpose are these 15o chapters supposed to serve in our lives?
Here are seven reasons I find studying the end times to be valuable.
1. It’s the End of the Story
Imagine going to the movie theater and the projector cuts out 20 minutes from the end. Would you be confused and upset? Of course! The story doesn’t make sense without the ending. So many things in Scripture don’t make sense without the promises of God that are yet to be fulfilled. There are so many loose ends in our story right now, but there is a climax in store that will tie them all up. As we dive into understanding the final chapter, the whole story will come into sharper focus.
The book It Must Be Finished by Samuel Whitefield approaches the return of Jesus from this perspective, laying out how how the second coming makes sense of the rest of the story. Samuel Whitefield is one of my favorite teachers/authors, and I highly recommend this book!
2. It’s Burning on Jesus’ Heart
This is the one that always gets me: JESUS is passionate about His return. He has plans and desires burning in His heart. Isaiah 63:4 says that the “day of vengeance was in [His] heart.” Song of Solomon 3:11 speaks of “the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart.” This is the day He’s longing for.
The end times still seem ethereal and mysterious to us, but to Him, they are crystal clear and highly emotional. This is the time when He will destroy the works of darkness forever, and marry His Bride! I want my heart to burn for whatever His heart burns for, because I love Him and I want to be with Him where He is.
3. It Reveals Jesus
Throughout much of history, Jesus has been holding back the full expression of His passions (Isaiah 42:14). He hasn’t fully responded to injustice like He wants to. He hasn’t fully swept in to rescue His bride. He hasn’t fully poured out His Spirit in dramatic revival. BUT HE WILL. As we look at the story of what He really wants to do when all the chips are on the table and no holds are barred, we find out just who this Man really is.
Revelation 1:1 says that it’s the “revelation of Jesus Christ”. The climax of the story, when all things are revealed and every loose end from history is finally tied up, is the ultimate revealing of the heart of Jesus, finally at its fullest expression.
4. It Prepares Us Against Deception and Offense
As wickedness and deception increases in the earth, and God’s judgments along with them, the church will face two great tests: deception and offense. Jesus told us that deception would be a key defining feature of the end times (Matthew 24:1-3). There will be many false religious movements and an entire culture intent on lulling us to sleep, luring us into sin, and dulling our hearts to God.
On the other hand, offense at God will also be a real danger for the church. If our theology and relationship with God didn’t prepare us to see Him doing the things the Bible tells us He will do, we run the very real risk of being offended and pushing back from Him. We can strengthen ourselves against both of these dangers by a spiritually violent lifestyle of prayer and the Word, sharpened by fasting and wrapped in godly community, so that we deeply know the heart of God no matter what pressures may come.
5. It Prompts Us to Live With Urgency
If you knew for a fact that Jesus would be returning 20 years from now, how would you live? What life decisions would you make? What would you teach your kids? What would you study in Scripture? How would you pray? How would you do discipleship and evangelism?
A person who was living like that would be on fire, in love with Jesus, constantly in prayer, desperate to be in the center of God’s will, willing to give anything, constantly aware of the nearness of eternity. But guess what– this lifestyle should be normal Christianity anyway! Studying the end times helps us believe it’s real, and our lifestyles will come to reflect that urgency.
6. It Equips Us to Partner with God
In giving us the script ahead of time, God is inviting us to play a role in the drama. He could just do everything by Himself without our participation–but that has never been His way. In the middle of the storm, there will also be a great revival as the church shines brightly and the Holy Spirit is poured out like never before. He wants a church living with faithfulness and urgency who are ready vessels for Him to anoint with power.
Just like John the Baptist served as a forerunner for Jesus’ first coming, God is raising up forerunners who “prepare the way of the Lord” (Isaiah 40:3) for His second coming. He’s looking for prophetic messengers who will proclaim who He is and what He’s doing. There has never been a generation more desperately in need of clear voices of truth, like light piercing through a dark fog. We must posture ourselves to be faithful witnesses, in full surrender to the Holy Spirit.
7. It Strengthens Us in Hope
Knowing the end of the story gives us confidence of victory no matter how difficult things get–especially when we spend time learning the actual details and context of that victory. Biblical details cemented in our imaginations are more powerful than general positive statements.
In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul describes the resurrection and rapture at Jesus’ coming and wraps up his message, “Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (verse 18) If we can continually set our hearts on the “eternal weight of glory” that we will inherit on that day, even all the difficulties of the end times will fall into perspective as only “light momentary afflictions”! (2 Corinthians 4:17)
But Will I Get Weird?
Some people are concerned that focusing on the end times will cause them to be out of balance, obsessive, and just plain weird. Honestly, anyone can get weird about anything if they’re not rooted in the Word and submitted to healthy spiritual leadership. Weird generally starts when you get your ideas from the internet instead of the Bible! Stay in the Word, stay in prayer, stay plugged into healthy community, stay submitted to godly leadership, and stay striving for love and humility in all things. You’ll be okay.
I can confidently say that over the past 8 years as I have been prayerfully immersing myself in this storyline, I have fallen so much more deeply in love with Jesus and His word. I’ve only seen good fruit in my heart, and I can’t imagine living without a burning conviction about the story of His return.
