The Exclamation Point: Finding Hope in God’s Sovereign Future

• Human Inability to Predict the Future 00:24:44 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor lists historical examples of failed predictions (oil drilling, automobiles, television, etc.) to demonstrate that human attempts to forecast the future are unreliable.
• Divine Sovereignty Over the Future 00:27:05 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor asserts that unlike humans, God predicts the future with 100 accuracy and knows the end from the beginning.
• The Time of Distress (Tribulation) 00:28:52 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor identifies the 'time of distress' in Daniel 12 as a future period of unprecedented global judgment and suffering, linked to the Antichrist and Jesus' words in Matthew 24.
• The Rapture of the Church 00:33:48 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that the church will be raptured to heaven before the time of tribulation, citing New Testament passages like 1 Thessalonians and Revelation as evidence of this mystery.
• Michael the Archangel 00:36:16 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor introduces Michael as Israel's guardian angel and notes parallels to the battle in Revelation 12 between Michael and Satan.
• Eschatological Hope 00:35:57 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts the 'stormy' short-range forecast of tribulation with the 'sunny' long-range forecast of Christ's return and the new heaven and earth.
• The Great Tribulation 00:37:48 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes a time of distress for Israel and believers, citing Isaiah 64 as the prayer of those on earth during this period.
• Resurrection of Believers 00:38:02 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that Jesus will rescue believers alive at His second coming, while dead believers are resurrected, referencing Daniel 12 and the Book of Life.
• Soul Sleep vs. Immediate Presence 00:41:10 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor refutes the doctrine of 'soul sleep,' asserting that the believer's spirit goes immediately to God upon death, using the 'pod and pea' analogy.
• Phases of Resurrection 00:43:29 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor distinguishes between a first resurrection (righteous) and a second resurrection (unrighteous), explaining the 'carpool' analogy for the phased nature of the first resurrection.
• Eternal Punishment 00:48:26 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defends the doctrine of eternal hell against modern rejection, citing Dr. Walvoord to argue that the duration of punishment is as real as the duration of life.
• Eternal Punishment and Hell 00:48:05 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor discusses the biblical doctrine of everlasting contempt and shame, citing Dr. Walvoord to argue that human opinion does not change the reality of eternal punishment.
• Salvation and Faith in Christ 00:50:41 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor calls the audience to trust Jesus as the resurrection and life, asking if they have taken Him as their Savior.
• Resurrection and Rewards 00:51:27 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains the resurrection of Old Testament saints and tribulation believers, linking faithfulness in evangelism to a greater capacity to reflect God's glory in heaven.
• Evangelism and Witnessing 00:52:43 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the story of C.T. Studd and an analogy of Henry Ford to illustrate the necessity of actively sharing the gospel and asking people to trust Christ.
• Interpretation of [Daniel 12:4](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+12%3A4&version=KJV) 00:57:10 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor clarifies that 'many will run to and fro' refers to searching the Scriptures for knowledge of the end times, not just international travel.
• Knowledge of the End Times 00:59:10 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that knowledge of end-time events will increase, citing Daniel and Jesus' words in Matthew 24 about reading Daniel during the tribulation.
• The Role of Daniel in the Tribulation 01:01:01 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that the book of Daniel will be the most important reading material for those in the tribulation, as they will see events unfolding before their eyes.
• Motivation for Holy Living 01:02:06 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor connects eschatological knowledge to ethical living, urging the congregation to live seriously and not 'trifle' with their lives, motivated by the imminent rapture and judgment.
• The Rapture and End-Time Events 01:02:20 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes the rapture as a trigger for end-time events, including retribution, resurrection, and reward, emphasizing the urgency of being prepared.

• Sermon Illustration 00:24:36 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor lists historical examples of failed predictions to illustrate the unreliability of human foresight, including: Edwin Drake's associates dismissing oil drilling in 1859; a Michigan Savings Bank president calling the automobile a 'fad' in 1903; Daryl Zanuck predicting television would fail in 1946; Dorothy Rowe predicting women would be six feet tall by 2000 in 1950; IBM underestimating copying machine demand in 1959; Decca Records rejecting the Beatles in 1962; and Time magazine predicting remote shopping would fail in 1966.
• Sermon Illustration 00:30:09 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a story about his six-year-old grandson Gavin, who mentioned the 'exclamation' (tribulation) to him while playing with toys, illustrating how children absorb theological concepts from church.
• Sermon Illustration 00:26:51 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references a sign outside a county fair that read 'Psychic fair canceled due to unforeseen circumstances,' using it as a humorous illustration of the impossibility of predicting the future.
• Sermon Illustration 00:45:19 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses a 'carpool' analogy to explain how the first resurrection occurs in phases (Christ's resurrection, the rapture, and the end of the tribulation) rather than simultaneously.
• Sermon Illustration 00:42:23 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor cites a poem about Solomon Pease to illustrate that while the body remains in the ground ('the pod'), the spirit goes immediately to God ('shelled out').
• Sermon Illustration 00:53:18 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts a story about missionary C.T. Studd, who compared Christianity to smallpox to his offended cousin; she later converted, sending a telegram saying she 'got the smallpox and got a bad case of it.'
• Sermon Illustration 00:55:02 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares an anecdote about Henry Ford, who explained he didn't buy life insurance from a friend because the friend never asked him to.
• Sermon Illustration 00:56:11 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a chandelier with different watt bulbs to explain that believers will have varying capacities to reflect God's glory in heaven based on their faithfulness.
• Sermon Illustration 01:02:56 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts a story about Charles Simeon, who hung a picture of his friend Henry Martin over his fireplace. Simeon would look at the portrait and feel urged to be serious and earnest in his service to Christ, rather than trifling with life.

• Pastoral Charge 00:50:29 ▶️ 📄
  > Do not risk eternal destiny by ignoring the reality of hell.
• Pastoral Charge 00:50:41 ▶️ 📄
  > Ensure inclusion in the first resurrection by trusting Jesus.
• Pastoral Charge 00:51:20 ▶️ 📄
  > Accept Jesus as personal Savior immediately.
• Pastoral Charge 01:06:19 ▶️ 📄
  > Unbelievers are called to receive Jesus Christ as Savior immediately.
• Pastoral Charge 01:07:00 ▶️ 📄
  > Believers are called to evangelize those around them who do not know Christ.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:00:00] Well, good morning, Faith Bible Church. How are we this morning on this lovely Sunday?
[00:00:14] Good. Hey, you are awake. I don't ever know about 9.30. It's a little shoddy here and there.
[00:00:21] But we got you here this morning. We're awake. We're ready to worship the Lord.
[00:00:25] We thank you for being here. My name is Seth Brown. I serve as the pastor of Adult Connections here at the church.
[00:00:30] And it is a pleasure to be with you this morning as we worship the Lord together.
[00:00:34] if you're joining us from home or in the overflow in the chapel, we're thankful for you as well.
[00:00:38] And it is going to be a wonderful morning as we begin our services this morning through worshiping the Lord through song in just a couple of minutes. But before we do that, I do have a couple of announcements to share with the church. First off, this next Saturday
[00:00:50] morning, March the 6th, is going to be our next Man Up men's breakfast. And so guys, we would love for you to be there for that at 830 in the chapel. Mark will be speaking again,
[00:00:59] as he usually does, and we'll have breakfast for you. And it's a free breakfast. And so we'd love for you to sign up this week for that. And again, that's Saturday at 8.30 in the morning in the
[00:01:07] chapel at the other end of the church. And then second, on Sunday morning, there's going to be a missionary presentation at 9.30 in the chapel as well. And so that's going to be, for anybody who
[00:01:19] wants to be there for that, some of our church members are missionaries in South Asia, and they're going to be sharing about their ministry and what God's doing over in that part of the world. And so we would encourage you, if you want to be over there at 9.30 for that. For those in
[00:01:31] overflow this morning. Overflow will be in the Fellowship Hall instead of the chapel on Sunday morning, next Sunday morning. And so we'll remind you of that as the week progresses, and we'll have signs out for you all who are in the overflow at 9 30 next week. And then lastly, on next Sunday
[00:01:48] evening, we invite you to our next worship night. We're calling this Worship Night Repent, Return, and Restore. And basically, this is going to be a seven o'clock on Sunday evening. We're going to gather, sort of like we did for Thrill of Hope back in December, where we're going to be taught
[00:02:05] some devotional. There's going to be some devotional teachings. Some of the pastors are going to be speaking a little bit, but we're going to just be worshiping and sort of preparing our hearts for the Easter holiday. There will also be a 28-day devotional that the church staff is
[00:02:19] writing that we're going to be giving out that day as well. And we just want to give the church an opportunity to really prepare and get ready for Easter as that approaches in April. So again,
[00:02:30] That's going to be next Sunday evening at 7 o'clock.
[00:02:33] Child care is available for that.
[00:02:34] And so we would love for you to come and join us for our worship night next Sunday evening at 7.
[00:02:39] And then lastly, if this is your first time at Faith Bible, if you're a guest of someone, we're thankful for your presence.
[00:02:44] And so we would love to meet you after the service.
[00:02:47] You can come out to the lobby, to the Welcome Center, and there'll be some folks there to greet you and get to know you and just answer some questions that you have about the church.
[00:02:54] And so we would love for you to join us out there after the service.
[00:02:58] And again, thank you so much for being with us this morning.
[00:03:01] Let's pray this morning before we begin worshiping through song and turn our hearts to the Lord.
[00:03:08] And if you'll just pray with me right now.
[00:03:11] Father, we do thank you for this morning.
[00:03:13] We thank you for the opportunity to gather as your people to worship your holy name.
[00:03:18] Father, we thank you for Christ and what he's done for us on the cross that gives us the opportunity to worship you, to be in relationship with you, to know you as our God.
[00:03:28] And so, God, as we lift our voices this morning, we do pray that you'd be glorified and honored.
[00:03:31] that you would be the center of our attention, that you would be the focus, that you would be lifted up on high.
[00:03:38] And so we do say hail to the Lord's anointed.
[00:03:42] We worship the Lord Jesus this morning.
[00:03:44] We thank you for him.
[00:03:46] We thank you for his death and his resurrection.
[00:03:48] And we thank you for the opportunity we have to gather and to worship your name this morning.
[00:03:53] We pray all of these things in your precious name.
[00:03:55] Amen.

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:03:57] Well, good morning to you.
[00:03:58] Would you stand?
[00:03:59] We're going to start this morning with a song that we learned together about a month ago.
[00:04:03] And so we'll remind you of how this goes.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:04:05] You sing it with us together.

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:08:07] And not only is that a joy, but it is a very significant thing.
[00:08:11] Colossians 3.16 reminds us and teaches us of this.
[00:08:15] It says, let the word of Christ richly dwell within you.
[00:08:19] So our starting point for worship is Christ in every way.
[00:08:22] And it goes on, with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
[00:08:29] So as we sing today, we not only encounter God personally, but we also bless and teach and build up those around us today.
[00:08:37] So you have a ministry to those around you as you sing and as you worship today.
[00:08:42] And then finally, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
[00:08:46] Our hearts need to be full of gratitude and thankfulness.
[00:08:49] And first and foremost, for God, for saving us and for rescuing us and redeeming us.
[00:08:55] So we're going to sing this great hymn this morning.
[00:08:57] It gives us a chance to put all that into song.
[00:09:00] So you sing this out with us.
[00:09:02] It is a blessing to sing with you today.
[00:09:05] This is I Will Sing of My Redeemer.

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:09:07] I will sing of my Redeemer and his wondrous love to me.
[00:09:34] On the cruel cross He suffered From the curse to set me free Sing, oh sing, my Redeemer With His blood He purchased me

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:09:59] God, we are so thankful that You made our debt

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:12:41] and made us free.
[00:12:43] As we seek to walk with You, God, we pray that that would be first and foremost in our hearts and that we would have hearts full of thankfulness and gratitude as we sing to you today.
[00:12:55] We thank you for these who are about to be baptized and the picture of your redemption that that is in our lives.
[00:13:01] We pray that it would encourage each person here today to follow you more deeply and we celebrate with these who are about to go through that.
[00:13:10] We love you, and it's in Jesus' name that we pray.
[00:13:12] Amen. Be seated.

[00:13:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:13:14] Thank you, Joel. Well, it's an exciting morning at Faith Bible Church. We'll see five people baptized today, one in this service and four in the 11 o'clock service. We practice two ordinances at Faith Bible. We observe the Lord's Supper once a month, and then periodically we see those who
[00:13:32] are following the Lord in obedience through Believer's Baptism. And so I just want to let you know that two things are happening, two identifications are happening in this action this morning. One is that Brinley Aldridge, who'll be in the tank in just a minute with me,
[00:13:46] she is identifying with Jesus Christ through her baptism.
[00:13:50] She's identifying with Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.
[00:13:53] That's the picture on display as she is buried with Christ in baptism and raised with him again in new life.
[00:14:00] And then she's also identifying with you, the church body.
[00:14:03] She's identifying with the body of Christ.
[00:14:05] She's going public with her faith and saying to you that she desires your encouragement, your accountability, and your grace as she moves through the Christian life.
[00:14:14] These waters are not saving in nature.
[00:14:17] The obedience that you follow through in baptism does not merit salvation.
[00:14:21] But again, it's an identification with Christ and with his people.
[00:14:24] So Brinley, would you join me in here, please?
[00:14:28] Brinley is 11 years old.
[00:14:33] And so Brinley, I'm going to ask you just a couple of questions.
[00:14:36] Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God?
[00:14:39] And have you trusted in him to be your savior?
[00:14:43] Brinley, because of your statement of faith in Jesus Christ, It's my privilege to baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
[00:14:51] Let's pray.
[00:15:01] Father, we thank you for Jesus Christ.
[00:15:04] We thank you that in him we have eternal life.
[00:15:09] We thank you that in him we have meaning and purpose, direction, and a multitude of other things that we could sit here all afternoon and name.
[00:15:18] So, Lord, I thank you for Renly's life.
[00:15:20] I thank you for the grace and the sovereignty that's on display through bringing her to faith in Jesus.
[00:15:26] And I thank you that today she's gone public with that and encouraged her church family.
[00:15:31] We submit all this time to you.
[00:15:33] We submit our life to you and ask that you would guide and direct her in Christ's name.
[00:15:36] Amen.

[00:15:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:15:39] Will you stand and sing with us?
[00:15:54] What gift of grace is mighty?
[00:16:01] Amen.

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:20:45] Thank you for that today.
[00:20:46] What a great service so far this morning with this baptism.
[00:20:50] It's one of my favorite things that we do at our church.
[00:20:52] And what a great song.
[00:20:53] and that's really why we're here today, because our only hope is found in our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ. If you're visiting here with us this morning, thank you for being here with us.
[00:21:03] We appreciate your presence here with us very much, and you're kind of coming near the end of a study in the book of Daniel, but we pray that the Lord will bless your time here with us this
[00:21:14] morning. We're in Daniel chapter 12 this morning. We're going to begin this chapter, and Lord willing, we'll finish it next time. So again, if you're visiting here with us, we've been in a several-month study of this great book of Daniel, and we're coming to near the end of it now at this
[00:21:29] time. But let me read Daniel chapter 12, verses 1 through 4, be our text for this morning.
[00:21:35] Now at that time, Michael the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until
[00:21:46] that time. And at that time, your people, everyone who's found written in the book, will be rescued.
[00:21:52] And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the
[00:22:08] many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time.
[00:22:17] Many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.
[00:22:22] May the Lord write His eternal word on our hearts this morning.
[00:22:25] Let's pray together.
[00:22:29] Father, we've sung Your praises here this morning, and You're the only one who is worthy of them.
[00:22:35] You're rich in mercy.
[00:22:37] You're rich in grace.
[00:22:38] You're abundant in loving kindness.
[00:22:40] You're ready to forgive.
[00:22:43] Father, we thank You for Your great promise in Scripture that if we confess our sins, that you're faithful and just to forgive our sins, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
[00:22:53] Father, we look to you today for cleansing, the cleansing only you can give.
[00:22:58] We look to you for strength and for hope.
[00:23:01] Father, we thank you that you're our shepherd, that you guide us and you care for us.
[00:23:07] Father, we thank you that we can count on you even in these times in which we live for our families and for our country and for this church.
[00:23:14] Father, you tell us in your word to pray for those who are in authority, to pray for kings and leaders.
[00:23:21] So, Father, we pray for our country today.
[00:23:23] We pray for our leaders and those that are in authority over us.
[00:23:27] Father, we pray for those leading us who don't know You, who've never bowed the knee to Jesus Christ, that You would jolt them, that You'd shake them and awaken them to their desperate need for You
[00:23:38] and their need for You, not only for their own life, but their need for You to guide and to lead our country.
[00:23:44] Father, we pray that You'd restrain evil in our nation that seems to be pouring in like a flood, that You'd promote goodness and godliness. And Father, we would add to that goodness and godliness in our lives as we yield ourselves to You. Father, we thank You
[00:24:00] for these who will be baptized here today. We thank You for them taking their stand with Jesus Christ. They'll always be able to look on this day when they publicly took their stand for Jesus.
[00:24:11] Father, I pray that You'll help us as a church, as families, as individuals to follow You and to keep in step with the Spirit in our lives. And now as we open Your Word, Father, speak to us.
[00:24:23] Use Your Word to prepare us and mold us and shape us more and more into the image of Your Son, in whose name we pray. Amen. Well, over the years, there's a lot of people who've tried their best
[00:24:36] to predict the future. And you know, when people predict the future, you know, sometimes they get it right. You know, like the old saying is, you know, even a clock that doesn't work is right
[00:24:44] twice a day. So, you know, you can kind of throw enough things out there and maybe get right every once in a while. But here's some well-documented attempts of people to try to predict the future.
[00:24:54] 1859, associates of Edwin Drake, on his suggestion to drill for oil, said, drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground and try to find oil? You're crazy. 1903, the president of Michigan Savings Bank warned Henry Ford's lawyer to protect his money. He said, the horse is here to stay, but
[00:25:12] the automobile is only a novelty, a fad. 1946, Daryl Zanuck, a movie producer at 20th Century Fox, gave one of the worst predictions ever. He said, television won't be able to hold on to any
[00:25:24] market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night. Back in 1950, Associated Press writer Dorothy Rowe used what she called scientific evidence to predict that by the year 2000, all women would be six feet tall.
[00:25:42] Well, somebody forgot to tell my wife that anyway. In 1959, IBM said to the founder of Xerox, the world potential for copying machines is 5,000 at most. In 1962, Decker Recording Company, when they rejected the Beatles, said, we don't like your sound and guitar music is on the way
[00:26:03] out. In 1966, they were predicting in Time magazine what shopping would be like in the year 2000.
[00:26:11] It says remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop because women like to get out of the house, like to handle the merchandise, and like to be able to change their minds. We'll tell that to Jeff Bezos and Amazon, right? 1977, think about this, not that long ago, Ken Olson, president of
[00:26:28] Digital Equipment Corp., said there's no reason anyone would ever want a computer in their home.
[00:26:33] And then finally, just in 1995, astronomer Clifford Stull wrote an article for Newsweek declaring that the Internet would die within a year.
[00:26:42] Well, it's obvious that man's resume to predict the future is pretty thin.
[00:26:47] When it comes to predicting the future, man doesn't do very well.
[00:26:51] In fact, this is a sign that appeared outside a county fair, a community center.
[00:26:56] Psychic fair canceled due to unforeseen circumstances.
[00:27:00] Well, there are no unforeseen circumstances with God.
[00:27:05] God knows the end from the beginning.
[00:27:07] God predicts the future with 100% accuracy, and He gets it right 100% of the time.
[00:27:13] And we've been seeing that again and again over the past few months in our study of the book of Daniel, that God knows and God controls the future.
[00:27:21] And God tells us what's coming.
[00:27:24] And our text this morning is no exception to that.
[00:27:26] It's Daniel's final prophecy.
[00:27:29] Really, verses 5 to 13 we'll look at next time is kind of the conclusion to the book.
[00:27:34] So our text this morning is really Daniel's final great prophecy. It's a succinct summary of how it all ends. And what we have in these verses here, in these four verses, is a compressed chronology of the major events of the end times, a tight telescoping of the end
[00:27:52] of the age. And I've got five points here. The first four of these are events that will take place, and the final one here in verse 4 just kind of wraps it up. But we're going to look at
[00:28:01] retribution, a rescue, resurrection, then reward, and then revelation that God has given us that He wants us to know. So our text this morning begins with retribution. Notice it starts in chapter 12, verse 1. Now, at that time, when you see the words at that time, you've got to say,
[00:28:21] well, at what time? You'll notice it occurs again down in the middle of the verse. You'll say, there will be a time of distress. And then notice near the end of the verse, again, it says,
[00:28:31] and at that time, your people, everyone who's found written in the book will be rescued.
[00:28:36] Now, when he says at that time, this links chapter 12, verse 1, back with the preceding context at the end of chapter 11 that we looked at last time. And what we looked at last time
[00:28:46] was that time of tribulation that's coming to the world, this day of distress that's coming.
[00:28:52] Remember, we looked last time at the time of the ruin and the reign of the Antichrist, the man who would be God. And so when he says at that time, he's looking at this time of distress
[00:29:03] that's coming upon the world. This is the time referenced by Jesus in Matthew 24, 21. Here's what Jesus said, for then, talking about in the future during this period of time, there will be great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever
[00:29:22] shall. There's a time coming in the future that's going to be the worst time in human history.
[00:29:28] That's what Daniel says here. There will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time. I mean, it's a terrible time that's described in detail in Revelation 6-19. There's a series of global judgments that are set out there. There's
[00:29:50] seven seal judgments, seven trumpet judgments, seven bowl judgments, the unleashing of the Antichrist. It's an incredible description of what's coming upon this world, a time of distress unlike any time that's ever come upon the earth. Now, I try not to tell stories very often about
[00:30:09] my grandchildren. I think I have great restraint in that here. But this last week, Cheryl and I kept our grandkids for a couple of days while our son Justin and his wife Natalie were out of town.
[00:30:20] And my oldest grandson, Gavin, he loves to play with men and toys and these little, you know, Playmobil and all that stuff.
[00:30:27] So we had this big castle thing set up.
[00:30:29] And by the way, let me just say this to all of us here.
[00:30:32] This is a good lesson for me.
[00:30:34] Those of you who have children and grandchildren, if you don't spend time with them, turn everything off, you miss a lot.
[00:30:40] If you just take some time and spend with them, you'll hear a lot of things that are in their mind and their heart that you'll never hear any other way.
[00:30:48] So we're in there probably for about an hour.
[00:30:49] And what I find interesting is when I'm with him, we'll be playing with these men and playing with this castle.
[00:30:54] He'll make a statement about something about the Bible that he's heard here at church or that his parents have said to him.
[00:30:59] And then we'll go right back to playing again.
[00:31:01] And then he'll kind of mention something else.
[00:31:02] In other words, what's down in there that's kind of coming out.
[00:31:05] But if you're not there with them spending time, you don't hear it.
[00:31:09] So we're there playing with these men, you know, fighting in this castle and all this stuff.
[00:31:13] And he stopped for a second.
[00:31:14] and he said, you know, he said, my dad told me the other night about the exclamation.
[00:31:19] And I said, well, really? I said, what's that? He said, well, it's this time in the future that's going to be a lot of war, and it's going to be a really difficult time, you know, it's going to
[00:31:28] come, but God's going to come and take us out of the world before that time. And I said, do you mean the tribulation? He goes, oh, yeah, that's right, it was the tribulation, that's right.
[00:31:36] But I said, really? I said, the exclamation's actually a pretty good word for it, because it is going to be an exclamation. But I like that, and I like the fact that our son, he's six years
[00:31:46] old, our little boy, our little grandson's telling him about these things about the future. And again, you have to be careful with children and know their sensitivities and not scare them about things. But he thought that was a fascinating thing to hear about. So the world is headed
[00:31:59] for a final seven-year time of tribulation, or you could call it the exclamation. I kind of like that. Now, it's the final exclamation of history. And think about this. Someday when God's patience has reached its end, and for any of us, we would have reached our end if you look at this world
[00:32:16] around us today, a long time ago. God's patient. But someday, God's patience will reach its end.
[00:32:24] And the Lord is going to call His bride. He's going to call His people to heaven, His church.
[00:32:30] And He's going to unleash judgment on this planet earth, unlike anything this world has ever seen before. Danny Akin says it like this, trouble is on the way. It comes now, of course, in the
[00:32:43] regular ebb and flow of normal life in a broken and fallen world. Such troubles, however, are only an inkling, a foretaste of what will come at the time of the end. And I think you don't have to
[00:32:55] be a great follower of news and geopolitics to look at this world and say trouble's on the way.
[00:33:02] Trouble's on the way.
[00:33:03] The worst days in human history are still to come.
[00:33:06] And primarily here in Daniel, he's focused on his own people, on Israel.
[00:33:11] The worst time for Israel is coming in the future.
[00:33:14] Be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time.
[00:33:19] Notice he says, at that time, your people.
[00:33:22] Talking about the Jewish people.
[00:33:23] That's hard to imagine something worse than the Holocaust.
[00:33:28] But the Bible says there's a time that's coming that's worse than any time that the world has experienced, and especially the Jewish people.
[00:33:36] In fact, in Zechariah 13, 8, it says that two-thirds of the Jewish people on earth are going to be cut off. Only a third of them will survive. Now, the good news in all of this for us
[00:33:48] is that I believe the church of Jesus Christ is going to be raptured to heaven before this time of tribulation. I've showed you all this graphic here several times, but we're in the current church age right now, Jews and Gentiles in one body. But one of these days, any moment,
[00:34:04] any time, the rapture could take place, and we're going to be caught up to heaven to be with the Lord. Now, the rapture's not mentioned here in Daniel. You say, well, why isn't it mentioned?
[00:34:12] Well, the rapture in the Old Testament was a mystery. Remember in 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul says, I tell you, a mystery, something that's never been revealed before.
[00:34:23] not everybody's going to die. We won't all sleep. We'll all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. I like that. The church I grew up in used to have that sign in the nursery. I think
[00:34:36] I've mentioned that to you all before. You know, we shall not all sleep, but we'll all be changed.
[00:34:40] And that's not a good interpretation of a verse, but it's a pretty good application.
[00:34:45] But not everybody's going to die. And that was a new thing in the New Testament. It's a mystery that Christ is going to come and those who are alive are going to be caught up
[00:34:54] to meet the Lord in the air.
[00:34:55] And those who've died will be resurrected at that time.
[00:34:58] So I think the rapture will precede this time of wrath that's coming on the earth.
[00:35:04] In 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 10, it says that God is going to send Jesus from heaven.
[00:35:09] He's going to deliver us from the coming wrath.
[00:35:12] 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 9 says that we're not appointed to wrath, but to salvation.
[00:35:17] Over in Revelation 3, verse 10, that says that God is going to keep us from the hour, the time of testing that's coming upon the whole earth to test those who dwell upon the earth. So I believe that the church of Jesus
[00:35:30] Christ, His bride, is going to be caught up before this time of retributions unleashed on the earth.
[00:35:34] Now, people often ask, is the world going to get better or worse? Should we be pessimists or should we be optimists? And I think the answer is yes. I mean, on the near horizon, this world is headed
[00:35:47] for judgment. It's going to get worse. And in that sense, we could be a pessimist. But on the far horizon, it's going to get better because Christ is going to come back, set up His kingdom,
[00:35:57] and rule this world, and ultimately we'll live in a new heaven and a new earth. So as believers, we should be the ultimate optimists. The short-range forecast is stormy. The tribulation's coming. But the long-range forecast is sunny as we look to the millennium and to eternity.
[00:36:16] Now notice here in verse 12, he mentions Michael the archangel, or Michael the great prince.
[00:36:21] The word Michael, the name means who is like God.
[00:36:24] And Michael is only mentioned by name in the Old Testament, in the book of Daniel.
[00:36:29] And Michael is often spoken of, if you read about him in the few places he's mentioned in Scripture, that he's often spoken of as Israel's guardian angel.
[00:36:38] He's like the protector of the nation of Israel, and we see it clearly here.
[00:36:42] Now I'm not going to take time to look at this.
[00:36:44] you could write this down and look at it on your own later. But many people see a parallel here between Daniel 12 and Revelation chapter 12, which prophesies a colossal battle, a battle seen in heaven between Michael the archangel and the good angels on one side, and Satan and his
[00:37:04] evil angels on the other side. It's a great battle that's going to take place in heaven in the end times. And Michael and his angels are going to be victorious and expel Satan and his
[00:37:15] angels from heaven for good, or expel Satan and his angels from heaven. But it propels Satan then to unleash his wrath upon the earth during that time. It says he's going to go forth with great
[00:37:28] wrath, knowing that he has but a short time. Now, after undergoing this deep time of distress, this great tribulation, or the exclamation, as we could call it, Israel is going to finally experience God's deliverance. And that's what we see at the end of verse 1. There's going to be a
[00:37:48] time of distress which has never occurred since there was a nation until that time. That's saying something. Now, at that time, your people, everyone found written in the book, will be rescued.
[00:38:02] At the end of the tribulation period, Jesus is going to come and rescue believers on earth.
[00:38:07] They're going to be people who are going to get saved during the time of tribulation.
[00:38:10] And they're going to live all the way until the end of that time.
[00:38:14] Now, the focus here in Daniel is on Jewish believers.
[00:38:16] Because he says, at that time, your people, Daniel's people, the Jewish people, everyone who's found written in the book.
[00:38:23] In the book, there's the book of life.
[00:38:26] The book that contains the names of those that God has redeemed.
[00:38:30] They're going to be rescued.
[00:38:32] So again, the focus here in Daniel is on Jewish believers.
[00:38:35] but there'll be Jews and Gentiles who will live through the tribulation to the end. And he's saying those whose names are written in the book, God is going to come and He's going to rescue them.
[00:38:45] There's a passage I just thought of this morning back in Isaiah 64, and this is often seen by scholars as being on the lips of the people on earth during the tribulation. Isaiah 64, 1 and 2.
[00:39:00] Think about this. If you're on the earth during the tribulation, this judgment is coming, the Antichrist is reigning. People are in fear of their lives. Listen to this prayer.
[00:39:09] Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at thy presence, as fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil, to make known your name to all
[00:39:21] your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence. The people on earth are going to be crying out to God, the believers. Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down.
[00:39:30] come and rescue us come and deliver us and jesus will do that he'll answer that prayer and he'll come back and those who are alive at his second advent who are believers will be rescued and will
[00:39:43] be delivered and they'll enter into the reign of jesus on the earth his thousand year reign but those who've died during that time period and in the old testament are going to be resurrected so when jesus comes back at his second coming they're going to be people who are alive on the
[00:40:00] earth, the living who are believers will be rescued, but dead believers will be resurrected during that time. Notice in verse 2, and many of those, the word many, you could just translate multitudes. Multitudes of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting
[00:40:17] life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Now, the Old Testament doesn't say a lot about the resurrection of the dead. It says it in a few places, Job 19, Isaiah 26. There are
[00:40:30] several places that you have these hints of resurrection. But this is the clearest Old Testament passage about the future resurrection of the body. And so this passage introduces to us a very important key to understanding end-time prophecy, and that is this idea of two resurrections.
[00:40:49] notice in verse 2 again multitudes who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake these to everlasting life that's believers but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt those are unbelievers now when he says that many who sleep in the dust of the ground the word sleep
[00:41:10] here's a euphemism for death there's some people that teach what's called soul sleep and they teach that when you die, the body, of course, falls asleep, but so does the soul. And that someday then when the Lord comes, your soul will be awakened. So you'll just be like you're asleep
[00:41:25] until the Lord comes. But the word sleep is talking about the body sleeping, not the soul or the spirit. In the New Testament, it's clear to be absent from the body is to be present with
[00:41:37] the Lord. Paul says, I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is very much better.
[00:41:43] So it's the body that sleeps.
[00:41:44] When we talk about resurrection, we're talking about the body.
[00:41:49] So when we die, our body falls asleep.
[00:41:51] It's placed in the ground.
[00:41:53] It's placed here, as Daniel says, in the dust of the earth.
[00:41:57] But when we die and our body's placed in the ground, the immaterial part of a person, if they're a believer, it goes immediately to heaven.
[00:42:04] If they're an unbeliever, it goes immediately to Hades.
[00:42:07] That's what Jesus taught there in Luke 16.
[00:42:10] so for a believer our spirit goes immediately into the presence of the lord absent from the body present with the lord some of you've been at a graveside service with me of someone who passed
[00:42:23] away in our church i often cite this little poem there's a man who died years ago in alabama named solomon pease his name was p-e-a-s-e and his tombstone says on it here lies the body of
[00:42:34] solomon pease under the grass and under the trees but pease is not here only the pod peas shelled out and went to God. And that's a pretty good description of what happens when you die. The pod stays here, if you will, but you shell out and you go to God. The immaterial part
[00:42:52] of us goes immediately to the Lord's presence. And what we're awaiting then is the resurrection when our body will be resurrected and be rejoined with our perfected spirit. So it'll be a resurrected, immortal, imperishable, incorruptible body that will be rejoined with our perfected spirit.
[00:43:11] Now, a lot of people here use Daniel 12, 2 to teach the idea of a general resurrection of the dead. Everybody's resurrected at one time. So it says, these will be resurrected to everlasting life, the others to everlasting disgrace and contempt. In other words, that all the resurrections
[00:43:29] occur simultaneously. But again, in this Old Testament passage, Daniel is kind of telescoping these events together. But the New Testament clarifies the time frame for us on these resurrections. Now again, I don't want to take time to turn there. You can look at this on your
[00:43:47] own. But in Revelation chapter 20, it talks about a first resurrection and a second resurrection.
[00:43:54] And it separates those by a thousand years. There's a first resurrection of those who are righteous who know the Lord, and the resurrection of the unrighteous will be a thousand years later. So we know that they're not happening at the same time, because the New Testament fills in
[00:44:10] more detail for us here. So there's a first resurrection, that's the resurrection here to everlasting life, and there's a second resurrection to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Now, to kind of help us see this, I've got another chart here, and there's a lot on this,
[00:44:28] but just kind of explain it briefly for us. Again, we're over here in the church age, and the first stage of the first resurrection was Christ's resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15 says Jesus was the first fruits. So the first person to be resurrected in a glorified body, never to die
[00:44:45] again, is Jesus. So you can see this little arrow going up over here. The second phase of this first resurrection or the resurrection of the righteous is at the rapture, when we're caught up to heaven
[00:44:56] to go be with the Lord, and the dead bodies of church-age believers are resurrected.
[00:45:01] But then at the second coming of Christ, here in Daniel chapter 12, Old Testament saints and those who've died during the tribulation, that's when they're going to be resurrected. So there's a first resurrection that's the resurrection of the righteous, but it happens in phases or stages.
[00:45:19] It's kind of like those of you who are parents understand how carpools work, right? The driver stops at different houses, collects children, and then finally deposits them at the intended destination. Not everybody gets in the car at the same time, but they're all part of the carpool,
[00:45:36] and they all arrive at the same location. And that's the way it is here if you think about the first resurrection. It's a kind of heavenly carpool. All Christians will receive their resurrection bodies, but they won't receive them simultaneously. In other words, there are three
[00:45:52] pickup points, if you will, for the first resurrection. Christ's resurrection at the first fruits, those who are resurrected at the rapture before the tribulation, those who are resurrected at the end of the tribulation, these Old Testament and tribulation saints. So some
[00:46:08] Christians will get their new bodies at the rapture. That will be those of us who are alive now during this age. And some will get it at the second coming when Jesus returns again. That'll
[00:46:18] be these Old Testament and tribulation saints. But every believer's body is ultimately picked up and transported into God's presence. There's one verse, and I will turn to this, over in 1 Corinthians that really lays this out. If you want to look at this in more detail, 1 Corinthians 15
[00:46:35] and verse 20. I'll start actually in verse 23, 1 Corinthians 15, 23. It's talking here, Obviously, this is the great resurrection chapter. It says, each will be raised, notice, in his own order. And the word order there in Greek is the word tagma that was used of military
[00:46:57] units. Each is going to be raised in his own order. Notice, Christ the firstfruits, after that, those who are Christ at His coming, then comes the end. So Christ the firstfruits, then there'll be those who were Christ at His coming, at the rapture, and then at the second coming. So the
[00:47:17] resurrection will occur in phases. Each will be resurrected in his own order. The word means a rank or an order. It's like Paul's describing a military parade that's passing by, and each of the core are falling into position at the proper time. So the first resurrection is like a parade
[00:47:35] that began when Christ rose from the dead, and throughout history, different Christians will fall into their place, into this parade at the appointed times. That's what's being pictured for us here. So there are two resurrections. There's a first resurrection, again, that happens
[00:47:52] in phases, and then there is a second resurrection. And there are two destinies. There are only two options. There aren't any others. This is the first time here, by the way, in verse 2, that
[00:48:05] the word everlasting life is used in the Old Testament. These to everlasting life, the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. The only two options are everlasting life in a new body to reign with Christ, or everlasting shame. And that word shame in Hebrew is in an intensive form,
[00:48:26] literally you could translate it, the others to great shame and everlasting contempt. The word contempt there means literally like to have a whore or something. Now this is sobering. And many people today reject the reality of a literal eternal hell. The problem is the same word
[00:48:48] everlasting that's used for life is used here for contempt. So if the contempt and the shame aren't everlasting, neither is the life. It's the same word. These to everlasting life, but the others to everlasting disgrace and contempt. Look, I'll say this to you. This is the most difficult
[00:49:06] doctrine, the most disturbing doctrine in the Bible. The fact that there's a hell where people go to be punished bothers me, but that's not the ultimate point. To me, the ultimate problem is the duration of it. It's the duration. These to everlasting shame and contempt. Now, many people
[00:49:27] today, they just say, look, you know, that can't be true. God can't be like that. There can't be a place called hell. They use their own reasoning and just reject it. But here's a great quote from
[00:49:36] Dr. Walvoord, who taught many years at Dallas Seminary. This is a well-stated thought about this. He says, does human opinion change a situation? Either there is or is not a future of eternal punishment. Whether we agree with it or not has very little bearing on the issue.
[00:49:54] The vote against it could be unanimous, and still hell might be a reality. God did not consult us when planning His righteous judgment of the sinful human race.
[00:50:04] The ultimate question is whether the Bible, which is our only source of information about what happens after death, teaches a doctrine of eternal conscious punishment.
[00:50:15] He's right about that.
[00:50:16] That's the only issue.
[00:50:17] You could take a vote, and everybody in the world could vote against it.
[00:50:20] It doesn't change the reality of it.
[00:50:23] And you and I, make no mistake, hell is real, it's awful, and it's eternal.
[00:50:29] And I would urge you today, don't gamble with your destiny.
[00:50:32] In fact, Jesus used the word Gehenna 11 of the 12 times it's used in the New Testament.
[00:50:37] Jesus believed in hell, and he taught it.
[00:50:41] Look, make sure that you're a part of the first resurrection.
[00:50:45] Trust the one who's the resurrection and the life.
[00:50:48] I love those words of Jesus.
[00:50:49] I am the resurrection and the life.
[00:50:51] He who believes in me, even though he's dead, yet shall he live.
[00:50:55] And whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
[00:50:59] Remember the next words he said to Martha after that quote?
[00:51:02] Do you believe this?
[00:51:03] And that's the question for us today.
[00:51:06] If you trusted the one who's the resurrection and the life, He is our only hope.
[00:51:11] So I'll ask you this morning, do you believe this?
[00:51:13] Do you believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life?
[00:51:16] And that there's no other way that you're going to have life, eternal life, other than through Him?
[00:51:20] And have you taken Him to be your Savior?
[00:51:22] Make sure you have Him today.
[00:51:24] He's your only hope.
[00:51:27] Now, after the resurrection takes place, Christ comes at His second coming, these Old Testament saints, and those who've lived through the tribulation will be resurrected.
[00:51:34] There's going to be a rewarding.
[00:51:36] Verse 3, Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.
[00:51:47] Now, going back here to show you this, or I'm sorry, I'll go ahead and stay on this slide here.
[00:51:52] When we're caught up at the rapture, we're going to be rewarded in heaven at the judgment seat of Christ.
[00:51:57] When these tribulation saints and Old Testament saints are resurrected, they're going to be rewarded then.
[00:52:02] they're going to be resurrected and rewarded at the second coming of christ at the end of the tribulation period now we're going to talk about rewards more next time because down in verse 13 it's going to talk about daniel being rewarded and by the way i did a series on heavenly rewards
[00:52:18] last year so if you're interested in learning a lot more about that you can go back and listen to that series but the reward here that's given is often called the soul winner's reward or the
[00:52:27] soul winner's promise. And this is a powerful incentive to evangelism. Those who have insight, and this is talking about, I think, during that time of tribulation, will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness during that time
[00:52:43] will shine like the stars forever and ever. But of course, we can make an application of this to our lives, and this should be a powerful incentive to evangelism. There's a special reward in heaven
[00:52:55] to those who faithfully share the gospel with other people and lead them to Christ.
[00:53:00] Notice, those who lead the many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.
[00:53:08] It's those who are bringing other people to faith in Jesus Christ through their own witness and their own testimony. Now, I know I shared this with you before, but this is one of my favorite
[00:53:18] stories I've read in the last couple of years from the life of C.T. Studd, the great missionary to China. When Stud would come back, which wasn't very often, he wanted to be with his relatives so
[00:53:28] he could tell them the gospel. And when he came back one time to England for a furlough, he stayed at the home of his cousin and her husband. And he invited his cousin to come and hear him speak.
[00:53:40] And so she did. And during his talk, he made the comment that Christianity is like the smallpox.
[00:53:46] If you get it, you give it to others and it spreads. Now, on the way home that night, his cousin was very offended by that. She thought it was an awful thing to compare Christianity to smallpox. She said, I thought it was disgusting. Well, they got into a long
[00:54:01] talk together, and she made him a cup of coffee, and they sat there, and she began to talk to him over a long period of time, and he ignored her. Never answered one thing she said. Anyway, she
[00:54:10] got very frustrated with that, and she said, why are you ignoring me? And he said to her, that is exactly how you are treating God, who's holding out eternal life to you. And it says in the story
[00:54:22] that the arrow pierced right home into her heart.
[00:54:26] Well, C.T. Studd left and went back to London.
[00:54:28] And two days later, he received a telegram from his cousin, and she sent these words, got the smallpox and got a bad case of it.
[00:54:36] I love that.
[00:54:38] She'd come to Christ.
[00:54:39] She'd gotten the smallpox and gotten a bad case of it.
[00:54:42] Now, we hear a lot today in our culture about being a super spreader, but when it comes to the gospel, that's a good thing.
[00:54:48] We need to be super spreaders of the gospel.
[00:54:52] The gospel should be like the smallpox or like COVID-19.
[00:54:55] When you get it, get a good case of it.
[00:54:58] You should spread it and you should give it to others.
[00:55:02] Henry Ford, back during his life when he was alive, bought a huge life insurance policy one time.
[00:55:07] And he had a friend who was an insurance agent who was offended that he didn't buy it from him.
[00:55:13] And he asked him, he says, why didn't you buy the policy from me?
[00:55:17] And Henry Ford looked at his friend and said, you never asked.
[00:55:20] And I like that because when it comes to the gospel, we have to make sure that we ask people.
[00:55:25] We have to call people to faith. We have to call them to a decision. We have to call them to trust Christ personally. You have to make sure you ask. I mean, think about this this morning. Aren't you
[00:55:38] glad that sometime in your life somebody shared the gospel with you and asked you to trust Christ?
[00:55:44] You'll be glad for that for all of eternity. Look, Christians seek to make other people Christians. That's what we do. And our reward here, he says, for being a super spreader of the gospel is going to be a greater capacity and an ability to reflect the glory of God. He says they're going
[00:56:01] to shine like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, like the stars. There's a lot of rewards we're going to get in heaven, but I think one of the rewards is we'll have a greater, some people
[00:56:11] will have a greater capacity and an ability to reflect God's glory than other people. It's kind like people have used the illustration of a chandelier and different watt bulbs. You may have a 75-watt bulb, a 40-watt bulb, a 25-watt bulb. Some will have a greater capacity and ability to
[00:56:28] reflect the glory of God. And he's saying, at least in this case, it's tied to being a witness and a super spreader of the gospel. Warren Wiersbe puts it like this. He says, everybody's cup in
[00:56:40] heaven will be full, but some people's cups will be larger than others. It's a great way to put it.
[00:56:46] Everybody's cup's going to be full.
[00:56:47] Nobody in heaven's going to feel like they're going along with a cup that's half full.
[00:56:51] Everybody's cup will be full, but some people's cups will be larger than others, a greater capacity to reflect the glory of God.
[00:56:58] And my prayer is that all of us will have large cups in heaven.
[00:57:01] And the reason to have that large cup is so that we can reflect more of the glory of God and bring greater glory to Him.
[00:57:10] Well, Daniel caps off this prophetic summary with a statement about revelation.
[00:57:15] But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words.
[00:57:18] You're talking about the whole book of Daniel.
[00:57:20] Seal up the book until the end of time.
[00:57:23] Many will go back and forth and knowledge will increase.
[00:57:26] Daniel puts a prophetic seal on this book.
[00:57:29] Daniel's told to seal up the prophecy.
[00:57:31] Now, he's not told to seal it up, I don't believe, so no one could read it.
[00:57:34] But back in that day, they put a seal on documents to secure and protect them.
[00:57:40] The idea is not to hide the words, but protect them to keep them safe.
[00:57:44] So Daniel was instructed to protect this book and make sure it would be available to those in the end times who are going to need it.
[00:57:53] And think about this.
[00:57:54] You and I have the book of Daniel in our hands today because God preserved it until the times in which we live.
[00:58:02] Now, it says here, many will run to and fro, or many will run back and forth, and knowledge will increase.
[00:58:10] When I was growing up, we would often hear this, people would explain it as, in the end times, international travel is going to increase. People are going to go back and forth. There's going to be travel, and knowledge will explode. Now, that's certainly true. I mean, they say that,
[00:58:24] you know, now, you know, knowledge is doubling every, you know, used to be every ten years, every five years, every year and a half. Man, I'm so far behind now, I'll never catch up. But
[00:58:33] it's exponential the way knowledge is increasing. So many people would read this verse and see international travel and the exponential increase of knowledge as a sign of the times.
[00:58:46] Now, certainly it's true that knowledge has increased exponentially in the last few decades, but that's not what this verse is talking about. When he says, many will go back and forth, that same language is used of going back and forth like in a book, going back and forth in
[00:59:00] the pages, searching it. So he's saying many are going to go back and forth. They're going to be researching the pages of the Bible. And when it says knowledge will increase, in the Hebrew there,
[00:59:10] it's literally the knowledge will increase. It's the knowledge of the end times. In other words, when the end times arrive, people are going to be going to and fro in the book of Daniel, back and forth in it, and the knowledge of these events is going to increase.
[00:59:28] Now think about this. We know much more about the book of Daniel today than Daniel did.
[00:59:34] We know a lot more about it than Daniel did.
[00:59:36] And those living in the tribulation will know more than we know.
[00:59:41] Think about this.
[00:59:42] People living during the tribulation are going to see the Antichrist.
[00:59:45] They're going to know who he is.
[00:59:47] They're going to be reading the book of Daniel.
[00:59:49] They're going to be watching all of these events unfold before their eyes.
[00:59:53] In fact, Jesus himself said that in the tribulation period, people will be reading the book of Daniel.
[01:00:01] And he urges them to take seriously what they read.
[01:00:04] In fact, these are words of Jesus in Matthew 24.
[01:00:07] He says, when you see the abomination of desolation, which is spoken of through Daniel the prophet.
[01:00:13] These are people in the end times, Jewish people living in Israel.
[01:00:17] When you see that standing in the holy place, let the reader understand.
[01:00:21] Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.
[01:00:23] Whoever's on the housetop must not go down to get things out of his house.
[01:00:26] Whoever's in the field must not turn back to get his cloak.
[01:00:29] But woe to those women who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days.
[01:00:34] Moreover, pray that when you flee, it will not be in the winter or on a Sabbath, for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until
[01:00:43] now, nor ever will again. Jesus is saying, look, people in the end are going to be reading Daniel, and He's urging them to take what they read seriously. And they're going to seek answers to their questions about the climactic events they're watching, and they'll find answers in
[01:01:01] Daniel. I like what David Jeremiah says. He says, I'm convinced that in the great tribulation, the book of Daniel will be the most important reading material for many people. Imagine some innocent person who doesn't know a great deal about the Bible cast into the midst of hell on
[01:01:16] earth. He says, can somebody tell me what's going on? And someone will say, let me give you this book. It's the writing of an old sage by the name of Daniel. I believe there'll be classes on Daniel
[01:01:27] in the tribulation like you've never heard in your life. They're going to be able to understand better than we do, because while they're reading it, the events are going to be lived out right in
[01:01:36] front of them. We've got a prophecy conference on the book of Daniel in the tribulation. I bet it'd be well attended. We have the privilege today to study and to know these things and to get a sneak
[01:01:48] peek and a preview of these coming attractions. And that's why we've been studying this book over these last several months so that our knowledge can increase and so that we can be filled with hope and confidence in God's sovereign control over this world in which we live. But also
[01:02:06] we've been studying this book to motivate us in light of these things, to give our lives to what matters. Look, someday, any day, the rapture will occur, and it's going to serve as a trigger for
[01:02:20] the end times. It's going to set everything in motion. It's going to be followed by this time of retribution. It's going to be followed by a time of resurrection. It's going to be followed by a time of reward. And God wants us to go back and forth studying His Word so that our knowledge
[01:02:37] will increase and we'll live in light of these truths, that what we know about the future will shape and mold how we live today, that we'll be motivated and moved to live for what really
[01:02:48] matters in life. I'll close with this this morning. It's a story I read some time back.
[01:02:56] It's about Charles Simeon. Most of you probably don't know his name, a great preacher in England.
[01:03:02] He died in 1836. He was a preacher a long time ago, preacher of the Holy Trinity Church for 54 years.
[01:03:09] By the way, I'll just share this with you. In every sermon he preached, he said he asked himself three questions. Does it humble the sinner? Does it exalt the Savior? And does it promote holiness?
[01:03:19] Pretty good test for any sermon. Does it humble the sinner? Does it exalt the Savior? Does it promote righteousness? But Charles Simeon, that great preacher, had a friend named Henry Martin, an assistant of his, a young man. And Henry Martin went to India and Persia, modern-day Iran,
[01:03:35] as a missionary. And when Charles Simeon arrived in Cambridge and was unpacking his things there, he had received a picture of his friend Henry Martin, who'd gone off to India and gone off to Persia. By the way, Henry Martin died at age 31 of disease. When Charles Simeon received this
[01:03:56] picture of his friend Henry Martin, he said that I couldn't bear to look upon it. And by the way, Henry Martin dies when he's 31. So this guy's in his late 20s when this picture's taken. He
[01:04:06] couldn't bear to look at the picture because of how much he was worn from what he'd done in his service to Christ. And he said, the only thing that consoled me was the thought and whose service
[01:04:17] he had worn himself out so much. The only thing that consoled him was that this man had worn himself out in the service of his Savior, Jesus Christ. But Charles Simeon, the great preacher, took this picture of Henry Martin, his beloved friend, at Warren and Haggard at the age of
[01:04:33] probably around late 20s or 30. And he hung that picture over his fireplace in his dining room, and it was there until Charles Simeon died. It was there over his fireplace in the place where
[01:04:43] he would study. And often when friends were there for dinner, he would look up at the picture of his friend Henry Martin, and he'd say, there, see that blessed man. What an expression, what a countenance. No one looks at me like he does. When I'm here studying the Bible,
[01:05:00] he never takes his eyes off of me. And he always seems to say to me, be serious, be earnest, don't trifle don't trifle and then smiling at the portrait and gently bowing charles simeon would
[01:05:16] add and i don't trifle i won't trifle look you and i spend a lot of our time if we're honest maybe trifling we're not very earnest sometimes we're not very serious about the christian life
[01:05:29] look we need to have fun in life we need to have joy we need to rejoice certainly that's part of what God wants us to do. But momentous events are on the horizon. At any moment, the rapture
[01:05:42] could happen and trigger these end-time events. It's going to be a rapture. There's going to be retribution like this world has never seen. There's going to be a rescue. There's going to be resurrection. There's going to be reward. And Daniel tells us here that God has given these
[01:05:58] things to us to increase our knowledge, to move us, to motivate us, to spend our lives, to give ourselves to things that matter, not to trifle, not to trifle. Let's pray together. Father, we thank
[01:06:19] you for our precious Savior, the Lord Jesus, who's the resurrection and the life. And I pray if there's anyone here today who's never received Him, who's never believed in Him, that they might do that now. They might take the one who's the resurrection and the life and know Him as their
[01:06:36] Savior. Father, for those of us who know you, I'll pray that you'll use the knowledge of these truths in our lives to give us hope, to give us encouragement, to help us rejoice. We know the
[01:06:47] future. We know what's coming. We can be prepared. Father, help us to be on the lookout for those around us that we love and we care about who don't know you, to realize where they're headed
[01:07:00] if they leave this world without Christ. Father, help us not to be afraid to ask them, to tell them about the lover of our soul, the Lord Jesus, to come to faith and hope and trust in him.
[01:07:13] Father, I pray that we'll have a great capacity someday to reflect your glory because we've led many people to righteousness through their faith in Jesus Christ.
[01:07:22] Father, I pray for all of us in this life.
[01:07:24] You've given us so much of this life to enjoy and we thank you for it.
[01:07:26] We appreciate it.
[01:07:29] But Father, help us not to trifle, not to fritter our life away on things that don't matter when we finally get to the end.
[01:07:38] Father, help us.
[01:07:40] We ask these things in Jesus' name.
[01:07:42] Amen.
[01:07:45] Well, thank you for being here with us this morning.
[01:07:47] We appreciate your presence with us very much.
[01:07:49] You can go ahead and stand.
[01:07:50] We'll have the benediction here in a moment.
[01:07:52] If you're visiting with us, we're glad you're here.
[01:07:55] You can go out these back doors on the right side.
[01:07:57] There's a welcome center there.
[01:07:58] Some folks would love to give you some more information about our church and maybe answer any questions you have.
[01:08:03] I'll be down front after the service.
[01:08:04] Our elders, pastors who are present, would love the opportunity to greet you and pray with you.
[01:08:09] Maybe if there's a need that you have, we'd love the opportunity to do that this morning.
[01:08:13] Let's bow our heads now for the benediction as we leave here with the Lord's blessing upon us.
[01:08:20] Father, we come before you now.
[01:08:21] We pray that you'll dismiss us now.
[01:08:23] with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
[01:08:28] Father, help us to go forth in your power and your grace. All God's people said, amen.