Daniel Unfolds God's Final Plans!

3rd Sunday of End Time, Saints Triumphant, 11/15/09
Daniel 12:1-3


Daniel Unfolds God’s Final Plans!
I. Deliverance
II. Resurrection
III. Glory


I imagine that you, like millions of Americans, won’t mind seeing the year 2009 in the rearview mirror. It hasn’t been easy for any of us and it’s been unbearable for some of you. So we look forward to 2010 with the hope that things will be better. But how do you know?

In fact, isn’t it one of our deepest desires to know what the future will bring? We’d love to know if 2010 will be better for us economically. If it won’t be, at least we can begin preparing ourselves for it right now. We’d love to know what health issues we’ll face in the next year. That way they won’t come as a surprise. In fact, we might be able to take steps now to mitigate those health difficulties somewhat. We’d love to know what will happen in our relationships with other people. That way we won’t waste time on relationships that aren’t going to turn out well and we can focus on the ones that will last through the year and beyond. It sure would make things easier, wouldn’t it, if only we knew what 2010 will bring?

But we don’t know. And the reason for it is that our God has chosen not to reveal those details of the near future to us. But he does reveal the remote future to us. In fact, that information has been written on the pages of Scripture for 2,500 years. Of all the prophets in the Old Testament, no one received as much information about the future as Daniel did. In chapters 8 &11 of the Book of Daniel, the Lord reveals what he will use the powerful kingdoms of Persia, Greece and Rome to accomplish. We know how God fulfilled those words during the time leading up to and including the days when Jesus was on this earth.

But he also used Daniel to speak about his final plans for our world. Daniel shares those plans with us this morning in the opening verses of Chapter 12. Would you like a little information about what will happen to you and all people as all of history draws to a close? Who wouldn’t? Then join me this morning in paying attention to those plans. Watch with me as Daniel unfolds God’s final plans. May the knowledge of those plans fill your hearts and minds with comfort and security.

Part I.

Imagine if you would have known in 2007 what would happen to you in 2009. Sure having that knowledge would have helped you prepare for it, but it also might have filled you with dread. Imagine knowing that something frightful is coming but you’re helpless to do anything to change things. Not very comforting, is it?

And yet that’s exactly the information God has shared with his people in the opening verse of our text. In short, he tells us that trouble is coming before the end of the world. And not just any trouble. The greatest period of trouble ever. The Lord tells us, “There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then.” He’s speaking about the end times. Some Bible scholars have called it the great tribulation. Other verses of the Bible fill in the details. Trouble will come to God’s people from the outside. The world will become more and more evil. There will be attacks on the Church. False Christs will arise and deceive many.

But that’s not all. Trouble will come from inside the church as well. People will love to listen to false doctrine. Materialism will grab our attention on one side and apathy will suck the energy out of us on the other. The evil work of the Antichrist will continue. Not a very pretty picture, is it?

But there’s hope. Daniel tells us, “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise.” Michael is one of the archangels, which means he has other angels arranged under him like a commander in an army. The Book of Daniel helps us understand how God uses Michael and all his holy angels to protect us from the harm that Satan intends for us. There are invisible, spiritual battles going on around us constantly. Thankfully, we don’t have to fight them alone. We have God’s powerful angels fighting for us. The great trouble at the end of the world will be a spiritual battle ground. Not a pretty picture, is it?

But where our great God is, there is hope. Listen to his promise. “But at that time, your people-—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.” Another way of translating that last phrase is that they will slip away. God’s people will be spared. That doesn’t mean we’ll go unscathed. That doesn’t mean we’ll be unaffected. The truth is, we’ll suffer, too. But our good and gracious God will bring us out of it all. He promises to save everyone whose name is in his Book of Life. Your name is there. God wrote it there when you came to faith in Jesus. God will bring you out of all the trouble at the end to himself.

There you have it. Daniel unfolds God’s final plans. And the first part of his plan is deliverance.

If you had known 2 years ago that everyone’s investments were going to lose money but yours would gain 8%, how would you feel? Concerned about others but secure for yourself, right?

Daniel informs us that great trouble is coming. That information is more than a little unsettling. Things aren’t going to get better. They’re going to get worse. But your comfort and security is in the fact that God will deliver you. How can I be sure? Because he has already rescued you once. That’s what Jesus’ work was all about. He rescued you and me and all sinners from the punishment of hell by taking that punishment for us. He did that so that we could spend eternity with him. Our lives are not going to end in destruction at the hands of the great tribulation at the end of time, but in deliverance. God tells us so right here. Daniel unfolds God’s final plans for us.

Part II.

I’m always amazed at what some people think about the life after this one. Do you remember the cult in California about a decade ago whose members committed suicide thinking that their spirits were going to join a comet? Stuff like that is nothing new. Eastern religions have taught for thousands of years that our souls wonder the earth and bring good or evil to others. Mormons believe that they will inhabit a star and their women will bear children eternally. Not so appealing, is it? And contrary to popular belief, we don’t grow winds and become angels.

God has something far better in store for us and he unfolds those plans here through Daniel. He says, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake.” Christianity is the only religion that teaches a resurrection of all the dead on the Last Day. That’s what we confess in our creeds. “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” That teaching is nothing new. It’s as old as God’s written word. Daniel clearly speaks of it. So do other writers of the Old Testament.

Jesus took that knowledge and expanded on it in the New Testament. He pinned the time of that resurrection to his return to this earth. He spoke of signs of the end so that we would know when that time was near. The resurrection of all the dead is a clear teaching of Scripture.

But what’s the difference if we believe this fantastic teaching, which so many deny, or not? Because the resurrection of the dead makes us victors over our final enemy. Death is the one thing that gets us all. Jesus didn’t create our bodies to die; he created them to live, to live with him, forever. In fact, he thought so much of our physical bodies that he redeemed them along with our souls with his holy precious blood. He paid for these bodies eternally. Even death won’t keep our bodies from him. What a wonderful truth to believe!

Daniel unfolds God’s final plans for us. Those plans center on our resurrection.
No one likes to talk about death. That’s why we soften it by calling it passing on. But it’s the harshest reality of life. Either our bodies wear out and death comes along, or we tragically die in the prime of life. Neither is a pleasant thought. Both terrify some people. But it doesn’t have to be that way for you and me. As Christians we believe and confess the truth that because Jesus rose from the dead, so will we. Because Jesus conquered death, so will we. Just as we have a physical existence with our fellow Christians now, so will we eternally because Jesus will raise our bodies and glorify them. Fear and doubt be gone! Daniel unfolds God’s final plans for us—our resurrection from the dead.

Part III.

And when he raises those bodies, they will be glorified. Daniel unfolds that plan for us as well. He writes, “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” Daniel is speaking about the glory we’ll enjoy forever.

But what is glory? That’s one of those words that are hard to define. The best we can do is to describe it in terms that are attached to our God. The glory of God wraps him in holiness, perfection and bliss. He is not at all subject to sin and the effects of sin. That’s what our God has in store for our bodies.

For whose bodies? Daniel explains that it will be for those who are wise. What does he mean? By God’s grace, you are wise. You know the most important truths of all. You know first that you are a sinner who deserves eternal separation from God, not eternal life with him. Your sins and mine deserve that punishment. But we also know Jesus as our Savior from sin. He took our punishment upon himself. He paid for our sins. He won eternal life for us. Those are the most important truths of our salvation. And now we live to share those truths with others. In doing so, we lead “many to righteousness.” And therefore, God has glory—eternal glory—in store for us.

Our future here isn’t all rosy. Great trouble lies ahead. But so does your deliverance, your resurrection and your glory. Hold to those sure promises of your God and be blessed with comfort and confidence. Amen.