Many ask, “Are we in the end times?” And the answer is, “Yes.” But that does not mean you should panic, start decoding headlines, or buy a bunker. Scripture calls the entire period between Christ’s ascension and His return “the last days.” In other words, the Church has lived in the end times for two thousand years. The question is not whether the end is coming. The question is whether you understand what Scripture actually promises about how it will come.

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Confessional Lutherans confess a simple, biblical framework: Christ will return once, visibly, bodily, and gloriously. Not secretly. Not in phases. Not as a private event for some and a public event later. Jesus says, “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30). The angels tell the disciples that the Jesus who ascended will return “in the same way” (Acts 1:11). That means the end is not a hidden escape plan. It is the public unveiling of the King.

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So what about the rapture? Many Christians have been taught a “secret rapture” where Christ snatches believers away, the world continues for a while, and then Christ returns again later. Confessional Lutherans reject that idea because Scripture does not teach it. The main “rapture” text is 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17: believers will be “caught up… to meet the Lord in the air.” But notice what the passage describes: a loud command, the archangel’s voice, the trumpet of God, the dead raised, and then the living gathered. That is not a quiet disappearance. That is the resurrection and the public return of Christ. Meeting the Lord “in the air” pictures the Church going out to greet the arriving King, not escaping the world while history runs on without Him.

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A skeptic will say, “So you deny tribulation and evil getting worse?” No. Scripture teaches real tribulation. Jesus promises persecution, false teachers, and deception (Matthew 24). Paul warns about a great rebellion and the “man of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2). Confessional Lutherans take those warnings seriously. We just refuse to turn prophecy into a hobby, or to treat world events as a codebook we can crack with enough charts. Jesus explicitly forbids date-setting: “No one knows” the day or hour (Matthew 24:36). If you think you found the timetable, you did not.

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What happens at the end? Scripture is clear: the resurrection of the body and the final judgment. Christ returns, the dead are raised, all people stand before Him, and He judges the living and the dead (John 5:28–29; Matthew 25:31–46). Those who reject Christ face condemnation. Those who belong to Christ stand in His righteousness, not their own. Then God makes all things new: the new heavens and new earth, where righteousness dwells (Revelation 21; 2 Peter 3:13).

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Here’s the real point: the end times are not meant to turn Christians into nervous speculators. They are meant to make Christians watchful, repentant, and comforted. Watchful, because deception is real. Repentant, because you will meet your Judge. Comforted, because your Judge is the same One who was crucified for you and raised for you. The last day will not expose Christ’s people as fools. It will vindicate them. And until then, you do not need secret knowledge. You need the public gifts Christ already gives: His Word, His forgiveness, His Supper, His Church.

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If you want to talk about the end times, we want to talk with you. Not to feed fear, but to replace it with clarity: Christ will return. The dead will rise. Judgment will be real. And for sinners who cling to Jesus, the end will be joy.