Monday, November 16, 2015

November 14-16, 2015 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Daniel 12:1-3 “GOD’S TIMING IS ALWAYS JUST RIGHT!”



SAINTS TRIUMPHANT
November 14-16, 2015
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Daniel 12:1-3

“GOD’S TIMING IS ALWAYS JUST RIGHT!”
1.     Distress Time.
2.     Deliverance Time.
3.     Judgment Time.
4.     Party Time!

Daniel 12:1-3 (NIV 1984) "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.”

Timing is so important. You watch your favorite football team and see how a quarterback’s timing makes the difference between a touchdown, incompletion or interception. Successful business decisions are often a matter of timing. Oh to have perfect timing all the time. We do. Not of ourselves but because of the awesome God we are privileged to serve. His timing is always just right. We see that in the words of God we look at today. They come from the prophetic portion of the book of Daniel. Many Bible readers are familiar with the historical portion that tells us of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego surviving the fiery furnace as they stayed faithful to God. Daniel safe in the lions’ den as he stayed faithful to God. The second half of the book deals with prophecy. Like Revelation it uses visions to comfort God’s people, to help them stay faithful to God in trying times. Daniel was shown the “Cliff’s Notes” version of what would happen in the world to the end of time. In this last chapter God revealed what would happen right before the end of the world.
God would allow a Distress Time. “There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then.” God doesn’t tell us everything we want to know about the ending of this world like when or how. He does tell us what we need to know so if we are around at that time we will not freak out or be scared but will look forward. He tells us here to expect a time of distress. Pretty much every generation looks back at how life was like as they grew up, compares it to what is happening now and says, “What is this world coming to? How much worse can it get?” As terrorism escalates around the globe we are asking that question. Well right before the end it will get a whole lot worse. So much worse that believers alive at that time will know what God is talking about. But remember if you are alive at that time that God’s timing is always just right. He knows about this distress. In fact He has planned it. It’s all under His control.
He comforts us with the knowledge that for believers there will also be Deliverance Time. "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.” The Bible tells us there are countless ranks of angels. We aren’t told many of their names. Michael is one of the exceptions. He’s called an archangel or a chief angel. Picture him perhaps as the general who leads the army of angels God uses to protect His people. They are doing that right now. In the last days they will go into action for God’s people, those described as having their names written in the book of life. Believers in Jesus. People like you and me. All believers will be delivered from the distress. The good news here again is that this is all part of God’s timing. He tells us ahead of time so we can fight off fear and worry at that time and can know Deliverance Time is coming.
As is Judgment Time. “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.” God tells us ahead of time that at the end of the world the bodies of all people will be raised back to physical life and reunited with their souls. There are only two eternal existences: everlasting life or everlasting shame and contempt. Normally we call that heaven and hell. Hell is something we should fear because we belong there, every one of us. When God declared the wages, just desserts of sin, to be death He was talking about Hell with its everlasting shame and contempt. I deserve that and so do you. We all have defied God by sinning and way too often those sins are not done out of ignorance but willingly. Daily we live with ourselves as our gods instead of God Himself. We should fear Hell. But we don’t. We have Jesus. The Scriptures have made us wise unto salvation and with Jesus as Savior Judgment Time is something we look forward to because our faith in Jesus will be vindicated, proven to be true. Those who rejected Jesus, who in effect said to God, “Thanks but no thanks, I’ll do salvation my way,” sadly will realize way too late what eternity without Jesus is like.
But there’s a different eternity for us. God’s timing is just right when He declares it to be Party Time! “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.” It’s picture language of course, shining like stars, shining like the brightness of heaven. Imagine the happiest you ever been and multiply it times a billion, the best you’ve ever felt and multiply times a billion, the closest to Jesus you have ever felt and multiply it times a billion. If you compare light on earth to that of the stars in the heaven that’s what you’d do. You’d magnify it. Heaven is an incomprehensible magnification of the joy and happiness we are able to have here. Party time. Joy, celebrating. Heaven with Jesus. That’s what’s in store for the wise and those who lead many to righteousness. Wise in God’s eyes means trusting His way of saving us. Not the human reason way of be good, try harder, do better. God’s way is so loving the world that He gave Jesus into death so that those who believe in Him will be saved. Those who believe then use their influence, their teaching, their modeling, their time, their wealth to lead others to believe the same, to lead them to righteousness. And they will shine like stars at Party Time.
In the Church year today is Saints Triumphant Sunday. The readings, the hymns get us thinking about those of our brothers and sisters who’ve made it, whose battle is over, who left the Church Militant, believers still on earth, and joined the Church Triumphant, those already in heaven. What Daniel saw for all at the very end times they experienced individually. Think about it. Distress Time. When bodies are broken and wear out there is a time of distress before the earthly end. Deliverance Time. When God’s time was just right Jesus came for our Triumphant Saints just as He promised He would in John 14. He delivered them from their distress. Judgment Time. There is no purgatory or limbo or waiting place. Immediately God knows the heart and judges the believers in Jesus as ones whose names are written in the book of life. And then Party Time. Joy and happiness beyond our ability to handle so God has to use picture language. Shining like stars. If you look at that party in heaven you are going to see some new people there, the saints of St. Jacobi who triumphed in the past year. We honor them now and give thanks to God as we read their names: Robert Beltrone, Delmer Barts, Kaleb Fredrich, Esther Block, Kerry Hackbarth, Carolyn Schaser, Marcella Slang, William Berger, Roland Kiefer, Dalores Pritzkow, LeRoy Hertig, Delores Werner. I’m sure you know some more as well who weren’t our members. I’m sure for all of you who were there for distress time it was hard. I’m sure you miss your loved ones as I miss mine. But there’s something you need to remember. God’s timing is always just right. Their battle was over, their work was done. God wanted them to have Party Time. So they do. Stay faithful to Jesus and you will too! Amen.

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