The Eternal Future (Daniel 12)
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CPT: Those who have understanding will make it through the final time of distress and be resurrected to eternal life.
Purpose: Encourage the church about God’s eternal plan.
CPS: God is bringing his people to his eternal future.
Introduction
God has an eternal plan for you. I want to encourage you with that this morning. As we’ve gone through the book of Daniel together, we’ve been reminded that God is in control. And in this last sermon from the book of Daniel, I want you to know that God has an eternal future plan for you. That all of the tribulations and trials that we face, they are hard, but they are temporary. What matters is what is eternal. God is bringing his people to an eternal future with him.
Heaven is as much a place as Chicago or Paris. It is a destination. It is a place.
We make heaven to mean different things. I once met someone with the name Heaven. We say things that are very pleasing or wonderful as being heavenly. There are songs in pop culture like Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door or Tears in Heaven.
People have different ideas about heaven. You’ll go to a funeral, and they’ll say something like, “So and so is looking down on us now from heaven.” Intrinsically, people know that there is something strange about death, and that there must be an eternal place somewhere else.
The Bible says a lot about our eternal future. We want to understand heaven according to the world’s standards. We want a biblical understanding about our future. What does the Bible say about our eternal future? That’s where we will be in our last sermon from the book of Daniel.
Scripture Reading: Daniel 12
1 At that time Michael, the great prince who stands watch over your people, will rise up. There will be a time of distress such as never has occurred since nations came into being until that time. But at that time all your people who are found written in the book will escape.
2 Many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, and some to disgrace and eternal contempt.
3 Those who have insight will shine like the bright expanse of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
4 “But you, Daniel, keep these words secret and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will roam about, and knowledge will increase.”
5 Then I, Daniel, looked, and two others were standing there, one on this bank of the river and one on the other.
6 One of them said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the water of the river, “How long until the end of these wondrous things?”
7 Then I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the water of the river. He raised both his hands toward heaven and swore by him who lives eternally that it would be for a time, times, and half a time. When the power of the holy people is shattered, all these things will be completed.
8 I heard but did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?”
9 He said, “Go on your way, Daniel, for the words are secret and sealed until the time of the end.
10 Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.
11 From the time the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
12 Happy is the one who waits for and reaches 1,335 days.
13 But as for you, go on your way to the end; you will rest, and then you will stand to receive your allotted inheritance at the end of the days.”
Pray
Filler.
Transition
The world is heading towards a time of distress.
The world is heading towards a time of distress.
State the point; Anchor the point; Validate the point; Explain the point
Text: Daniel 12:1, 10-12
Filler.
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The time of distress such as never has occurred
Daniel receives a description from the angel that the world is heading towards a time of distress like never before. It is a time of distress that nations have never experienced. It says this in Daniel 12:1:
1 At that time Michael, the great prince who stands watch over your people, will rise up. There will be a time of distress such as never has occurred since nations came into being until that time. But at that time all your people who are found written in the book will escape.
This angel Michael is an angel who watches over the people of Daniel, the nation of Israel. This nation is about to undergo a time of distress that they have never known.
There’s more of a description about this time period in verses 10 through 12. Daniel 12:10-12:
10 Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.
11 From the time the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
12 Happy is the one who waits for and reaches 1,335 days.
The angel is describing a time period with some definitive dates. Now, while not getting to deep into the numbers, there is a time period, a time of distress, that the angel is describing here called the tribulation period.
Description of the tribulation period
The tribulation is this time period of seven years, a period between the rapture of the church and the descent of Christ to the earth at his second coming. The middle of this tribulation period is marked by what Daniel describes as the abomination of desolation which is set up in a new Jewish temple in Jerusalem.
The Lord describes this point in the tribulation period in Matthew 24:15-22:
15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place” (let the reader understand),
16 “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.
17 A man on the housetop must not come down to get things out of his house,
18 and a man in the field must not go back to get his coat.
19 Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days!
20 Pray that your escape may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.
21 For at that time there will be great distress, the kind that hasn’t taken place from the beginning of the world until now and never will again.
22 Unless those days were cut short, no one would be saved. But those days will be cut short because of the elect.
The Lord highlights a few things here about this tribulation period within Israel that Daniel also shows:
This will be a time of distress for the people of Israel (Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21) that will be like nothing that the world has ever known.
This time of distress will be so drastic that no one would survive it unless the time period was not purposefully cut short (Matt. 24:22)
We see the Lord cutting that time period short in the time period that he has stated.
All those written in the book will escape
In Daniel 12:1, he says that “all your people who are found written in the book will escape.” What is this book?
The New Testament describes the book of life at least seven times. It is mostly described in the book of Revelation, although Paul also talks about it in Philippians 4:3, where he says “the rest of my coworkers whose names are in the book of life.”
The Lord will acknowledge those written in the book of life before the Father and the angels (Rev. 3:5)
Names are written from the foundation of the world in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev. 13:8)
Those whose names are not written in the book of life will worship the antichrist during the tribulation (Rev. 17:8)
The book of life is open with other books. People are judged by their works written in the book. But it is only those whose names are written in the book of life escape eternal judgment. (Rev. 20:12, 15)
During the tribulation, there are Jewish people who will turn to Christ. They will turn to their Messiah, and their names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
The time of the tribulation period will be cut short, and Christ will return.
How is the period of the tribulation cut short? What happens at the end of the tribulation period? If God didn’t cut that time short, no one would survive. But God does cut the time short through the return of Jesus Christ. Look at Matt. 24:29-31:
29 “Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth will mourn; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
The world is heading towards this time of the tribulation, where the world will be under the oppression and rule of the antichrist. But that time will be cut short by the return of Christ to the earth. He will come with power and great glory.
What does that mean for us? It is a reminder that Jesus has the ultimate power. There is a time of distress, and for many of us there have been times of distress for us personally in our lives. But those times are cut short. They come to an end. The rule and reign of Jesus Christ is forever. He is coming again.
Heading: We may not go through a tribulation period, but we do go through periods of tribulation and trials in our own life. A friar from the 1500s said this,
In tribulation, immediately draw near to God with trust, and you will receive strength, enlightenment, and instruction.
In the tribulation, we see people draw near to God through faith in Christ. That is instructive for us. In your tribulations, in the trials that you are facing, draw near to God, trusting in Jesus, and he will get you through the worst of what you are facing.
The world is heading towards a time of distress.
Second,
God is bringing everyone towards a final resurrection and a final judgment.
God is bringing everyone towards a final resurrection and a final judgment.
State the point; Anchor the point; Validate the point; Explain the point
Text:
Filler.
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Many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake
Daniel receives this description of what will happen to people in the “time of the end” (Dan. 8:17, 19; 11:35, 40, 12:4). Look at what is says in Daniel 12:2:
2 Many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, and some to disgrace and eternal contempt.
The human body is described as being formed from dust. The human being is both a physical and spiritual creature. In Genesis 2:7, the Lord formed the man out of dust from the ground AND breathed the breath of life into him. It was after these two things, the physical dust and the spiritual breath of life, that the man became a living being.
The description of being asleep in the dust
The description “many who sleep in the dust will awake” speaks of the physical body. The best description of this is to look at the death and resurrection of Jesus.
At the cross, it says in John 19:30 that Jesus, “bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.” At death, there is this time away from the physical body, where like Jesus at the cross, we give up our spirit. Paul described this as being away from the body present with the Lord.
6 So we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.
7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.
8 In fact, we are confident, and we would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
But while we are away from the body, the body seems to be in a state of unconsciousness, as if it were asleep, but without any breath or heartbeat. The physical body decays and goes back to dust.
What Daniel describes in Daniel 12:2, he says “many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake. That is, our physical bodies will come back up out of the dust and resurrect to life. There is this future time of a resurrection where we will return to our physical bodies, like Jesus did at his resurrection. Jesus resurrected to a perfect, incorruptible, immortal body. Paul refers to the final resurrection of our bodies in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53:
51 Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed,
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.
53 For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality.
Our corruptible bodies, our physical bodies that decay, will be changed to perfect, immortal bodies at the final resurrection. The trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised to face their final state.
The everlasting resurrection of the righteous and unrighteous
Now, it is the last part of Daniel 12:2 that holds the most weight. You are moving from something within a moment to something that will last forever. He says in Daniel 12:2:
2 Many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, and some to disgrace and eternal contempt.
This final resurrection at the time of the end has eternal consequences for all. Some of us will be resurrected to eternal life because our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
But a lot of people will resurrect to eternal contempt in a place called the lake of fire, or hell. John describes this final judgment as a Great White Throne judgment in Revelation 20:11-15:
11 Then I saw a great white throne and one seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them.
12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.
13 Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works.
14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15 And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
The Lord spoke of hell as a place to escape from. He says it’s better for you to lose body parts, if those things are causing you to stay separated from God, then to spend the rest of eternity in hell (Matt. 5:29-30). He says don’t fear anyone who can kill the body and nothing more. The one thing to fear is an eternal condemnation in hell (Matt. 10:28).
The Lord came to save people from an eternal condemnation in hell. It is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and only through faith in the Lord Jesus, that someone can have eternal life. Those are the two options, eternal life in Christ, or eternal condemnation in hell, the place where we will go without faith in Christ.
Heading: Imagine you knew a doctor, and this doctor held the cure to a terminable disease. There was a disease that was killing a person, and the doctor had the cure in his pocket. He had this medicine that could cure the person!
Now, imagine that the doctor was afraid to tell the person that they were dying. The doctor knows they are dying, but he is afraid they might be offended. He’s afraid they may not like the diagnosis, and would not want to continue visiting him. Should the doctor tell the patient they are dying? Of course he should, because whether or not he tells him, the person is going to die. That’s where the person is headed.
Now imagine he never told the patient who is dying about the cure. Wouldn’t that be terrible? Not only does he not tell the patient he is dying, he does not tell the patient about the cure. You would be so upset at that doctor.
That is the same thing that happens when we lose the doctrine of hell. The doctrine of hell doesn’t care if we are worried about sharing it with others. Hell is a place of eternal condemnation, and it doesn’t care about our feelings. There are co-workers, friends, and family members who are dying. They are headed to a place of eternal condemnation. The cure for hell is eternal life in Jesus Christ. We all need eternal life in Jesus.
The world is heading towards a time of distress.
God is bringing everyone towards a final resurrection and a final judgment.
Last,
God is bringing his people to an eternal future in heaven.
God is bringing his people to an eternal future in heaven.
State the point; Anchor the point; Validate the point; Explain the point
Text:
Filler.
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The inheritance for God’s people at the end of days
Verse 3 of Daniel 12 describes those who enter into a place of eternal life. It says in Daniel 12:3:
3 Those who have insight will shine like the bright expanse of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
Those who have insight are the same as those who are able to endure the tribulation because their names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Insight is a product of wisdom, which comes through a life lived in submission to God through faith in Jesus Christ.
There is an eternal place reserved for God’s people. It is a place that lives in the light of God, where God’s people will live in the brightness and goodness of God’s glory.
Look at how the book of Daniel ends. Look at Daniel 12:13:
13 But as for you, go on your way to the end; you will rest, and then you will stand to receive your allotted inheritance at the end of the days.”
You will rest, and you will stand to receive your alloted inheritance at the end of days. You will rest. This eternal rest with God is in Jesus Christ. In Matt. 11:29, Jesus says to learn from him because in him, through him, you will find rest for your souls.
The description of heaven for God’s people
Inheritance comes by being a rightful heir. There is a loving Father that has prepared and is leaving something for his children.
The inheritance for God’s people has come with a promise. The Bible describes our current state, as people who live in the power of the Holy Spirit, as a down payment on our future inheritance. It says in Ephesians 1:14:
14 The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.
This sealing by God with the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit within you is evidence of the down payment of God’s future for you.
The Bible says that when you put your faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit makes his home with you. He testifies of the power of resurrection in your life. Everyone who trust Jesus has this new birth into a living hope in Jesus. I like how Peter says it in 1 Peter 1:3-4:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
As God’s people, we are moving forward towards an inheritance from God, as his children, an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
The path for people to be in heaven with God
The Bible is clear that their is only one path to God, and that is through Jesus Christ. Jason, how can I know that I am on that path? The Bible says that we need to believe. God is faithful, and when you put your faith in God, trusting in him, he will change your life, and give you eternal life in him.
Heading: The Bible says that when we put our faith in Jesus, we become citizens of heaven. We know the importance of citizenship. When people travel, they have a passport that announces who they are and from what nation they have citizenship. You need to get your passport to get where you are going. No passport, no entry.
In the same way, we have a citizenship in heaven that was bought by the blood of Christ. If you are not in Christ, you can’t enter. You need to be a citizen of heaven, which only comes through Jesus. Now is the time to get your heavenly citizenship. Put your faith in Jesus today.
Conclusion
The world is heading towards a time of distress.
God is bringing everyone towards a final resurrection and a final judgment.
God is bringing his people to an eternal future in heaven.
Conclude
Have you heard the message today and realized that you need Jesus? Are you ready to put your faith in Jesus? We want to pray with you, and celebrate your new life. Please see one of our pastors after the service.
Blanks:
Prayer
Last Song
Doxology
24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you;
25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’
24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy,
25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.
You are dismissed. Have a great week in the Lord!
