Living in the last days?

What do you think about this title? do you think we are living in the last days or do you feel that we still have a long way to go?

Hi and welcome to CC.

The last days began shortly after the crucifixion, after Pentecost, and remains in effect until the present day until the return of Christ:

Acts 2:2-4
2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:16-21
16But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
21And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

what is the mark of the beast today? and if it is here, would we recognize it or understand what it is? who has the authority over this world? and are Christians supposed to draw closer to the authority of this world or are we to separate ourselves from the rulers of this world?

Are we in the last days of the end of the age of grace?
I'm sure we'll find out.
Welcome to CC, tavi_tad!

I think …I don’t know.

I base my life on this.

“Live life as though He’s coming back today, but plan as though He never coming back” (in your lifetime)

We have a walk in Christ Jesus that has been designed for us who are born again members of the body of Christ. People get all tangled up in the events going on and the sign of the times and miss the forest for the trees.

We have a huge responsibility (calling) to nurture members in the body, to witness the Word of God (ministry of reconciliation) to practice the presence of God ….and if you adhere to 1 Cor 12 …operate all 9 (MANIFESTATIONs) all the time (or however may you are comfortable with).

So, I focus on my walk on what I have been called to …….or I try to …I’m not perfect ………although I might be, I don’t know …..I could be so humble that I don’t even recognize how perfect I am ……..Or I could be so full of it………

Anyhow….It is through our walks that we earn rewards, and any or all of the 5 crowns. But if we are wrapped up in looking for the gathering together…. to which there are no specific signs given, we will rob ourselves of the joy of walking in Christ Jesus.

Nice to have you joining the fellowship here at CC😀 Yes, imo we are building up to the last days. The Bible calls the antichrist 'the lawless one' and we can see how the stage is being built for such a figure. But, as said, we are to 'occupy til HE comes' and I will be ready for the Rapture. God bless you and your time here!

I think the last day started from the fall found in Genesis 3. Since the age of 16 years old have heard many preachers or pastors and Christian talking about the last day and that time is short and we need to get right with God. I am now close to my 40's and still waiting, however, my spiritual discernment has grown since my youth(milk). I believe we are near the end and global events are falling into place. The bible says before the antichrist steps on the global stage there will be a falling away first.

Now, who are those that represent the falling away? Is it the non-believers of Christ? I don't believe so because if (atheists) do not believe then how can they fall from the grace of God when they have not accepted His grace? but what about people who worship this world? could it be those who chose to dwell in sin? it can't be them because again if they worship this world what or where can they fall when they are already fallen? which leaves me to believe this passage:

2 Thessalonians 2:3
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

I believe many Christians whose faith is based on doctrines of men(depending on denomination doctrine) will fall away and cling to the decree and authority setup through the kingdom of this world which will soon take place through the New World Order.

Jesus said not everyone who confess his name will enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

Matthew 7:21-23


21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The old testament declares and shows us God's character and his plan of redemption for all creation the new testament shows us the fulfillment of his plan through the final atonement in the blood of Jesus Christ.

We know from the old testament we had to build a temple for God's spirit to dwell on earth amongst his people, fast forward we who believe know through faith in Christ we now received his justification and sanctification by his blood and with it we receive the forgiveness of sin. This has allowed our flesh to receive the comforter known as the Holy Spirit. We can only worship God in truth by his Spirit that dwells within us as it says John 4:24 King James Version

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

now there are many beliefs regarding the pandemic and the vjab but i believe after much research in theology, science, scripture and praying, no answer can be given unless it be received by and through the Holy Spirit.

This is what i believe

Scripture shows that the Mark of the Beast will be received through DECEPTION. Rev: 19:20 ( KJV)
20 And the beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he DECEIVED them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

We were made in the image of God and scientists have proven this and confirmed we carry GOD’S DNA. Genesis 1:27 (kjv)

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
We are the Temple of God's Spirit and as long as we(Temple) are not polluted(abomination of desolation), the Holy Ghost will remain in us.

1 Corinthians 6:19
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own

There have been thousands of censored scientists, epidemiologists, immunologists, doctors, and professors who have studied and confirmed the jab will change your DNA, I won't write what they are because my post could get censored but if you just do your research and look at alternative media, through faith in Lord Savior Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit will show you all things as Jesus Said:
Luke 8:17

17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither anything hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.

Moses did not see the promised land (Jerusalem) because he did not listen to God’s instruction when providing water out of the rock instead, Moses chose WORKS and not FAITH as you read in numbers 20: 11-12 (kjv)

11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also
.
12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.


We are living in the last days and scripture foretold before the son of perdition steps onto the global scene, there will be a falling away first? Did you know a whole generation did not see the promised land(Jerusalem) when Moses led Israel out of Egypt? Why did they not make it? Because of their unbelief, and just as we are today living in the last day there will be a whole generation that will not see heaven because of their unbelief as it says in 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3

2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

Paul warned us about the spirit of Antichrist even back in his days, I believe when you give your heart to Christ in that very moment, whatever day you declared Jesus to be your King in mind, heart, soul, you had already rejected the mark of the beast because the holy spirit would have prepared you along time ago not to be DECEIVED, unfortunately, many who say they believe, but do not in their heart will be deceived as Jesus said Matthew 7:21-23
King James Version

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The Mark of the Beast is not something you choose in the end days, the mark of the beast is something you chose a long time ago when you love the world more than the things of GOD JEHOVAH. I know this is a hard thing to understand and process, for I have loved ones and family and friends who have taken the jab. But I love my LORD AND SAVIOUR FIRST as the scripture said Matthew 10:37-38 (KJV)

37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

Followers of Christ stand your ground, do not let the devil deceive you for many Christians have fallen away from the faith in the Lord and have relied on Works in man sourcery as you read Revelation 18:23 (KJV)

23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy SORCERIES were all nations DECEIVED.

Here is wisdom, knowledge and understanding

Sorcery in Greek is pharmakeia which is Pharmacy

Vaccine in latin is VACCA which is COW

Remember who exodus who did they worship? The Golden Calf
Exodus 32
King James Version

32 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them unto Aaron.

4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

But remember my brothers and sisters of Christ, all these things are happening and we are the chosen generation to witness all prophecy coming to fulfillment, but rejoice to be bold and courageous for the Lord as he said :
Luke 21:28

28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. There are many scriptures that show many other things, but it would take days to explain it but with this little(long) message I pray and hope you will lean not on your own understanding but go to Jesus and he will carry you through the Storm.

Regarding the Falling away, I want to point out something that might shed a different light on that.

The King James version reads a falling away…. the Greek text reads hē apostasia….. hē is the article the So it should read or be translated as the departure….not a (ho) falling away.

The Greeks do not need the article to make the noun definite as used in English..... In the Greek a substantive, is definite without the article. The article originally came from the demonstrative pronoun such as “this” or “that” which calls attention with special emphasis to a designated object. Its function is to point out an object or draw attention to it….. It's use with a word makes the word stand out distinctly. Whenever the Greeks used the article, it points out individual identity…. it marks a specific object of thought.

The Greeks used the article with infinitives, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, and clauses …..or even with whole sentences….. We do not have a corresponding English usage even remotely similar

When the article hē appears in Greek ….it always signals some special significance. And we need to look at the matter from the Greek point of view not the English, if we are to discover the reason that the article is used.

I need to stop here as the explanation with documentation gets considerably more involved. I will be posting the extended explanation of hē apostasia prior to a thread I do on the gathering together unto him….aka rapture.... hopefully in about 2 weeks. This is typically around a 5 hour teaching that I am trying to condense into a readable format.

Something else you can look into if you want. …
The English versions prior to King James version translated apostasia in 2 Corinthians 2:3 as departing. The King James or authorized version was the first to translate apostasia as falling away..... Jerome's Latin translation of the vulgate around 400 AD, translate the Greek apostasia as Latin discessio ….meaning departure. The Tyndale Bible 1534, the Geneva Bible, and the Cramer Bible first published in 1537, all translated apostasia as departed ….these versions preceded the King James version printed in 1611.

Compare this then to now.....WE ARE LIVING IN THE LAST DAYS!

when I was young I used to believe that I would see the Lord return, now I am old and am sure I won't .... however I believe we are nearing the end times.

Welcome

Welcome to CC 🙂

Whether the latest generation of mankind is the last one, only God knows.

That aside, a concern we all should have is, is this the last day of our lives? If it is, then have our lamps got enough oil in them for us to survive?

Shalom.

The powers ruling this world are Luciferian, and they are taking us to a one world society, religion, and government.

Here is just one umbrella group used by the elites to further their goals:

A great many godly Christians believe that we have only a couple decades left in the church age - if even that - before Antichrist rises, Christ returns, and the Millennial Kingdom begins. (Obviously here on CC the Rapture, Millennial Kingdom, etc. are questioned by many, not going to get into all that right now.)

While I do see that this world is becoming more godless and totalitarian, I actually DO NOT believe that we are close to the rise of Antichrist yet. My reasoning for this - which no one so far has been able to convincingly explain away - comes from Daniel 7. Daniel 7 depicts the LAST FOUR human empires before Christ returns. I have not seen any convincing, conclusive explanation for the identity of those empires as of yet to demonstrate that they already passed and Christ's return is imminent.

(Notice that we have been living in the latter days since the Scriptures were completed, and that for any one of us, Christ's return could literally happen tonight if we died in our sleep or perished suddenly. As the Scriptures say, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. But this is not what I mean when I speak of Christ's return to rule over the Earth at the end of the church age.)

There is an event in Scripture, spoken of by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, John in Revelation, and possibly Ezekiel - the Fall of Mystery Babylon - which MUST precede the rise of Antichrist's kingdom and which I do not believe has happened yet.

Many Christians sense that we are on the verge of a momentous event in history. I personally believe that this event will be the Fall of Mystery Babylon, which is America/Western Civilization. This is the first beast of Daniel 7, and the Russian bear will be the next beast to rise and have her time of conquest and dominion. Eventually the nations that make up the Russian bear coalition of Eastern powers will become the four-headed, four-winged leopard, and then later will become the terrible horned beast kingdom of the Antichrist.

Jeremiah speaks of a civil war within Mystery Babylon prior to her destruction:

Jer 51:44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
Jer 51:45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
Jer 51:46 And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
Jer 51:47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
Jer 51:48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.
Jer 51:49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.

Notice that the above cannot be referring to ancient Babylon for a number of reasons. Firstly, God's people under ancient Babylonian captivity were not free to leave her on their own, so a command to do so would not make sense. Secondly, ancient Babylon was not a nation made up of immigrants like Mystery Babylon clearly is. Thirdly, ancient Babylon did not fall in the manner which Mystery Babylon will fall. There was no civil war. There was no permanent destruction without rebuilding.

I mentioned in a little book published back in summer of 2019 how the spark leading to the civil war within Mystery Babylon (America) could well be a compromised Presidential election. Here we are. I fully expect that civil war, and the destruction of the United States which will occur during it, to occur within my lifetime.

Here is a free PDF of my book and a link to it on Amazon for anyone who is interested.
https://jumpshare.com/v/jeSAwCROD3LUDplD1RAX
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TW8HQ57

Your sentiment is very humble and loving. May I learn about the 5 crowns and the 9 manifestations? That's new to me.

Are you also ready for the Tribulation and God's Wrath? According to Jesus (in the Olivet Discourse, MT 24-25, Mk 13, Lk 21) they come first, then the rapture. Well, the rapture may be during God's wrath, but not before.
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Matthew 24, ESV)
The key words are “Immediately after the tribulation". He's talking about the sequence of events. The sun, moon, stars, and heavens comment is referring to God's wrath commencing. The text allows His gathering of His elect (v 31) to be during or after His wrath.
I hope this helps.

May I guess what your thesis is, Artios1?
If you're going to attempt to justify the pretrib view using that verse, it won't have wings (like Red Bull doesn't). There are far too many other verses that are emphatically and clearly in opposition to it. The rapture occurs after the resurrection (1 Thes. 4), which is during or after God's wrath, which is after the Tribulation (see previous explanation in this thread, and MT 24).
BTW, departing and falling away are the same thing. "Falling away" is more poetic. But the departure is from Christ, not Earth. It also implies that the one falling away was once not away. If one departs from Christ, that person was once with Him in order to depart from Him. I can't depart from a place or person I was not at or with. I encourage you to refrain from that posting. It might be embarrassing.
In love.

True Dat! [for now]
We always have our constant companion, Imminent Death, that has been with us from conception.
Shalom

The "beasts" are human beings. There is no reason to make it otherwise. They act human.
You are beloved in Christ.