Who's afraid of eschatology?

When I was a boy the issue of eschatology was a “hot issue.”  Christians were enthralled with talking about the signs of the end of the times.  I had a friend who would hand out copies of the 1970s classic book by Hal Lindsey, The Late Great Planet Earth.  People want to know “when the end is near.”  Who can forget about the craze in the Christian community over the Left Behind series in the 1990s?  The series countered the equally successful Harry Potter series.  Simply put: people want to know “when the end is near.”

There is nothing wrong with curiosities about the end of the world, or thoughts of Christ coming back to reign.  From Christ’s day until the present people have been wondering “when the end is near.”  

Are we in the last days?  Yes.

Will Christ return?  Yes.

Mark’s gospel is clear that as the end nears there will be seasons of strife and turmoil.  There will be a season of tribulation, and the tribulation will be epic in that it will be different in magnitude (Mark 13:19).  Christ also makes it clear that no one knows the day or hour of His return, and the surrounding events (Mark 13:32).  Do not listen to the prognosticators: they do not know when the end is coming.  But, it will come!  Christ will come back!  In the meantime, His people need to remain faithful in their faith.  His people need to “be on the alert,” so that when He returns it will be a grand event that we have prepared for by the way we live daily!