01A.00. Eschatology: the Study of Last Things
Eschatology: the Study of Last Things by Dr. Robert D. Luginbill
God’s future history of the world, and the destiny of believers and unbelievers.
Now all these things happened unto them for examples,
and they are written for our admonition, upon who the ends of the ages are come.
1 Corinthians 10:11 KJV
1. God’s Plan for Human History
A. Judgment, Restoration and Replacement I: Positional Victory
B. The Focus of God’s Plan, Jesus Christ, His Person and His Work
C. Things to Come: Judgment, Restoration and Replacement Phases 2 & 3
D. God’s Disposition of Satan: A Historical Overview
2. The Tribulation Defined
3. The Seven Churches of Revelation
4. The Tribulation’s First Half
5. Antichrist and his Kingdom
6. The Great Tribulation
7. Armageddon and the Second Advent
8. Last Things
Introduction: For too long, eschatology, "the study of last things", has been the property of fringe elements. The true significance of this crucial category of Biblical truth has been ignored or de-emphasized by most serious Christians of our day. Even those who pay it lip service do not seem to fully appreciate the critical importance of the doctrines of eschatology not only to spiritual growth, but to spiritual safety as well. They are in fact fundamental. For it is a tenet of our faith that our generation is just as likely to be called upon to put them to practical use as any other generation of Christians has been in the past or may be in the future. The "Lord’s Prayer", the model prayer given by Jesus to His disciple when asked "teach us how to pray as John taught his disciples", is predicated on a future event to which all of us as Christians are instructed to direct our gaze. After addressing our heavenly Father, both New Testament versions continue with the statement "Thy kingdom come!" (Matthew 1:1-13; Luke 11:2-4). The Greek aorist imperative expresses a strong desire which should reflect the attitude of all believers. We should all earnestly hope for and daily express in our prayers our desire for the establishment of the Kingdom of God here on earth. It is only in this way that we shall truly see His "will done on earth as it is in heaven". What we are to look forward to with such intent, however, can only occur after nearly all of the prophecies of future events have first taken place. The great apostasy, the rise of the beast and false prophet, the terrible persecutions and cataclysmic events of the tribulational period must all precede the final establishment of the Kingdom of God, after the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ has finally "put all of his enemies beneath His feet" (1 Corinthians 1:1). As believers, we need to ask ourselves, "are we ready to meet the challenges of the last times?"
I. Global Eschatology The Plan of God for history, the world, mankind and angelic kind as a whole, bringing divine judgment, restoration and replacement to all things in a perfect and perfectly righteous way.