2012Nov18 from Richard Waldschmidt on Vimeo.
November 18, 2012 - Saints TriumphantDaniel 12:1-13 (:NIV) - Sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert
1 “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people,
will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened
from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people -
everyone whose name is found written in the book - will be delivered.
2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to
everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those
who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those
who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. 4 But
you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of
the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.” 5 Then
I, Daniel, looked, and there before me stood two others, one on this
bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. 6 One of them said to
the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How
long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?” 7 The
man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his
right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by
him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a
time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all
these things will be completed.” 8 I heard, but I did not understand.
So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?” 9 He
replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and
sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many will be purified, made
spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None
of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.
11 From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the
abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
12 Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335
days. 13 As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then
at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted
inheritance.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I can say to you, “Thanksgiving Day is coming.” And you know it
is, the exact day, this coming Thursday. The last chapter of the O.T.
book of Daniel says to us, “Triumph Day is coming.” But it does not
give us the year or day or hour. That remains sealed in God’s wisdom.
Let us now look first at Daniel himself. About 600 years before
God’s eternal Son, Jesus, was born in Bethlehem, Daniel was taken
from the land of Israel and into captivity in the land of Babylon. You
probably remember that he was thrown into a lion’s den because he
continued praying to God publicly after he was told to pray only to the
king. But God closed the lions’ mouths. He kept Daniel alive and
later had him write the book of Daniel so that we can look at the last
chapter knowing that, as he was spared from the lion’s den, we have
been spared from hell. Let’s look at that chapter now under the theme:
SAINTS, YOUR TRIUMPH TIME IS COMING!
I IT IS CERTAIN. (1-4)
“At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people,
will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not
happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that
time your people - everyone whose name is found written in the
book - will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the
earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and
everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the
brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to
righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. But you, Daniel,
close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end.
Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.”
1. There would be trouble. (1b)
There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the
beginning of nations until then.
a) Trouble plagued Israel all 600 years from Daniel’s time to the
end of the Old Testament time when Christ Jesus was born.
b) And trouble has continued throughout the New Testament
time and continues to this day, exactly as Jesus said in Matthew 24:
“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.”
2. But there would also be deliverance. (1a,c)
“At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people,
will arise. --- But at that time your people - everyone whose name
is found written in the book - will be delivered.”
a) God’s people who believe, whose names are written in the
book of life by God’s wonderful grace, will be protected by God’s
angels. Michael is mentioned here. Another angel we know by name
is Gabriel. His assignment was to announce the birth of our Savior.
b) We very properly should thank God for His protecting and
guarding angels who deliver us according to God’s wisdom.
3. How glorious God’s final deliverance will be. (2-3)
“Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to
everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those
who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and
those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and
ever.”
a) There will be no glory for those who reject God’s salvation.
And face it, that should include us by nature, for we all are sinners,
whatever our sins - big or little, one or many, public or private.
b) But for those who believe in what God’s love did for all,
those who have been made saints by the blood of Christ, who have His
righteousness and share that truth of salvation with others, their bodies
in the grave won’t keep them from glory. They will arise to glory.
4. Let this knowledge not be lost. (4)
“But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the
time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase
knowledge.”
a) Daniel was told to seal this message from God so that it would
be preserved, stay available to increase our knowledge too.
b) Daniel did a pretty good job of that, didn’t he. No page of
God’s message here has been lost. We can study it today.
c) Let’s make it a goal always to study our Bibles regularly. This
book, the Bible, is still available so that we can increase in knowledge.
II WAIT PATIENTLY. (5-8a)
Then I, Daniel, looked, and there before me stood two others, one
on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. One of
them said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters
of the river, “How long will it be before these astonishing things
are fulfilled?” The man clothed in linen, who was above the
waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward
heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying,
“It will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of
the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be
completed.” I heard, but I did not understand.
1. We won’t be waiting alone. (5-6)
a) Here we are told about two other angels. No names are given,
and we might wonder about the third person mentioned here, a man
clothed in linen. It would seem clear that this third person is the O.T.
Angel of the Lord, the Son of God, who made several appearances to
people on earth before He took on our flesh and blood in Bethlehem.
b) This Angel of the Lord was asked how long it would be before
fulfillment came, before the promises of resurrection and everlasting
life in glory would all be completely fulfilled.
2. A picture is given to us as to the length of time. (7)
The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river,
lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard
him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time,
times and half a time. When the power of the holy people has
been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”
a) When is that? Jesus said, “No one knows about that day or
hour.” Instead He said the end would come like a thief in the night.
b) So don’t look here for an exact time of the end, but rather see
a picture that I feel can well be explained. It speaks here of time,
times, and half a time, or 3 and 1/2 times, but does not say what the
length of each time is. That is deliberate, because Jesus plainly said
nobody will know the exact day or time. So this clearly is a picture.
3. So don’t expect to understand fully. (8a)
a) Daniel said, “I heard, but I did not understand.” We can’t
figure out the exact time either. However, from the use of 3 and 1/2
also in the N.T. book of Revelation, in my opinion the 3 and 1/2 is a
picture of the total time from Christ’s first coming in Bethlehem to His
coming again on Judgment Day, or the whole New Testament era.
b) But that does not tell us the exact time of the last day. How
far are we into the time, or the times, or the half time? I don’t know,
and I’m not supposed to know. That is sealed until the end comes.
4. What we do is wait patiently. (6b)
a) We too want to ask, “How long will it be before these
astonishing things are fulfilled?”
b) God alone knows. Trust Him who saved you, who with the
blood of His Son wrote your name and mine in the book of life.
c) At His right time we will know and awake to everlasting life.
III REJOICE ETERNALLY! (8b-13)
So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?” He
replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up
and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, made
spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked.
None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will
understand. From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished
and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be
1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end
of the 1,335 days. As for you, go your way till the end. You will
rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your
allotted inheritance.”
1. Now we move on. (8b-10)
a) To us too, as to Daniel, the Angel of the Lord says, “Go your
way,” as we continue to live in a world made up of unbelievers and
believers, the wicked who don’t understand and the wise who do.
b) May we always be among those who are wise, like Timothy
whom the Apostle Paul described in these words: “From infancy you
have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise
for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” How wonderful to be
wise, to have the wisdom that assures us of salvation in our Savior.
2. We know for sure the last day will come. (11-12)
a) We have talked about “3 and 1/2 times”, haven’t we. Now
we hear about “1,290 days” and “1,335 days”. What might the
connection be? Let’s try something. If we would convert 3 and 1/2
times into 3 and 1/2 years, that comes to 1,278 days. Could the
“1,290 days” tell us that we have now gone beyond 3 and 1/2, that the
end has come; and could the “1,335 days” tell us that we have for sure
gone past the end, that we are now in eternity?
b) Like Daniel, we may not understand everything. But right
now I think this could be the meaning: that the end will surely come at
a time we don’t know; that we’ll get past that last and judgment day;
and that for sure after that last day eternal time will go on.
3. So we continue our journey of life. (13a)
“As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, ---.”
a) Live, knowing there will be an end to our earthly existence,
that our bodies will be laid to rest, but also that there is more to come.
b) So live, being wise in Christ, and know that when that end
comes, our real rest will not be in a grave.
4. Know for sure you will have an inheritance. (13)
“As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at
the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted
inheritance.”
a) What is that inheritance? Jesus said, “In my Father’s house
are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am
going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a
place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you
also may be where I am.”
b) What an inheritance! I’m but a stranger here. Heaven is my
home. Heaven is your home, every true believer’s home.
c) Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection guarantee that!
Can we for sure say, “Thanksgiving Day will come”? No! Why
not? Because it is possible that the 3 and 1/2 times, that days 1,290
and 1,335 could come before this coming Thursday comes. That God
alone knows. But for sure we can say to all who believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ: SAINTS, YOUR TRIUMPH TIME IS COMING!
What a Thanksgiving Day that will be!
No comments:
Post a Comment