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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