There Are No Tribulations Without Deliverance
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Why study Daniel?
I felt it was important to study Daniel, and books of prophecy like Daniel, in order to be sure we have a Biblical understanding of suffering
Really there are a few reasons I fell we need to understand suffering and persecution
First, especially in America, there are heretical beliefs that teach following Jesus is a promise to avoid trials
Second, the history of the world is suffering and as I look at our nation, I believe hard times are coming.
Maybe not this year, maybe not in my lifetime, or even my kids, but sooner or later, hard times will come.
If they do come during out time, I want you to be ready.
Not for the sake of your survival but for the Glory of God
Third, the world around us is becoming more hateful toward us
Persecution in the form that Daniel saw in the historic part of the book, is something the American church will soon be facing.
It’s my desire that we leave Daniel understanding that we are not given a free pass to avoid difficulty but instead recognize that tribulation is the norm.
No Tribulation Comes Without Delivery
No Tribulation Comes Without Delivery
Chapter 1: carried into captivity, culture erased and commanded to violate dietary laws
Chapter 2: Neb. threatens to kill all the wise men of Babylon
Chapter 3: Commanded to bow to the stature
Chapter 4: Nebuchadnezzar needed to be confronted
Chapter 5: Daniel needed to tell of the fall of the kingdom
Chapter 6: The lions den
In each of these cases, to various degrees, someone, mostly Daniel, had their life threatened for following God and in each case, they were delivered
the prophetic portions of Daniel moved from looking at real life examples of how one or three people respond to persecution and focused more on large scale tribulation and persecution
It tells Daniel of great tribulations to come, but also of the deliverance God has planned for those that go through this tribulation
In Daniel 12, we see more of these promises of tribulation and deliverance
The angel now tells Daniel of a coming tribulation that will be worst than the world has ever seen
We often refer to this time as the Great Tribulation
It is mirrored in Matthew 24 where Jesus tells of the destruction of the Temple
4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray.
5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.
6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.
10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.
11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
But Daniel is also told that your people shall be delivered
Everyone whose name is written in the book
Your people, are believers through out the ages
It’s the people that believe in Christ through both testaments
The book is the book of life
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
The Book of Life is also found in Exodus 32:32
32 But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.”
This is the book with the elect from the beginning of history until the end.
It’s important to see two things about this deliverance:
The will be delivered through, not delivered from
Many will die first, then be delivered
The delivery is not guaranteed to be physical
in fact, it won’t be
The delivery is at the end of time, when the resurrection of the dead occurs
At that time, we will awaken to everlasting life IF we have faith in Jesus Christ
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.
2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.
Our delivery is contrasted by the resurrection of the unrighteous
who will be raised to everlasting contempt
This is as clear a teaching on eternal life and eternal punishment as there could be
The Glory Of God Is Shone By Godly Suffering
The Glory Of God Is Shone By Godly Suffering
The wise in verse 3 are those who believe in Christ
To have faith in Christ is to be wise
Throughout the NT Paul talks about being wise as a bad thing.
We are warned against being wise in our own sight
that God will confound the wise
we are also told that the scripture are able to make us wise for salvation through Christ
To be wise is not to have lots of worldly wisdom, but to have experienced conversion
To be made wise for salvation through the faith in Christ
15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
We are told that the wise will “shine like the sky above”
Our wisdom will reflect the Glory of God
As the sun shines on us giving us a tan, showing people we have been in the sun, our salvation gives us wisdom, showing people we have been with God
Now there is a bit of Jewish poetry here in the parallelism seen in verse 3
Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above
those who turn may to righteousness like the stars forever and ever
It is wise to lead people to righteousness
We will then shine like the sky or the stars
We Can Suffer Today, Knowing We Will Rest Tomorrow
We Can Suffer Today, Knowing We Will Rest Tomorrow
The command to shut up and seal the book isn’t a command to hide it, but a command to preserve it
God tells Daniel to place a seal on this book, so that future readers will read it and know it is authentic
It allows us to know, without doubt, that the things in this book will happen
Now you might say, but the book tells of terrible tribulations, wouldn’t it be better if these things would not happen?
But, if not for the tribulation, there would be no deliverance
The command to seal the book, is a promise from God above that deliverance will come!
We can know!
There’s a lot we don’t know about this book
For example, when are the 70 weeks, what about the time times and a half or the 1290 and 1335 days
But there are two things we do know
First, we will suffer today
I hope it is of great comfort to you, to know that any suffering we go through in this life is appointed to you by God above.
It doesn’t happen by chance, it happens for a purpose
Often, our sanctification
God often puts us in places of pain, because that is where we grow
We are also often put in difficult situations in order to reflect His glory
There are few promises in life
death and taxes
but there is one other, suffering
suffering is a promise
but you can suffer today, knowing that you will rest tomorrow
The book of Daniel ends in one last promise, you shall rest
Those who wait and arrive at the 1335 days will be blessed
Daniel is told to “go your way” and in light of the promise of suffering, I want to encourage you today to “go your way”
Keep doing what you are doing
press on, push forward
Engage with people, build friendships
Live your life as you suffer
because the promise to Daniel was that he would rest, and that promise is one you can hold to also
We are promised that through Christ we can enter His rest
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
