Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20110417.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Daniel: Hope And Direction In A Troublesome World
H. Detailing Daniel 2: God's Use Of Evil Rulers To Purify His People
8. God's Uplifting Insight Of The Path To Reward In Facing Evil Rulers
(Daniel 12:1-13)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    In this series of sermons out of the book of Daniel, we have learned that God lets evil institutions and rulers in the world drive us to rely fully on Him for blessing versus relying on our own human power.

    Yet, as we actually face such trials, they can so drain us that we are tempted to get depressed, to stand in need of encouraging insight, a fact we can illustrate as follows:

    (1) In a letter to the editor in the April 11, 2011 USA TODAY, p. 10A, Byron Kern of Richardson, Texas, wrote: "Among all the depressing news items, such as the earthquake in Japan and rising gasoline prices, I was cheered by the news that the federal government might close down. What good news considering the damage being done to our country via deficit spending. Shutting down the politicians in Washington would have brought a few restful nights of sleep."

    (2) Similarly, Ted Phillips of Richmond, Virginia, in a letter to the editor in The Wall Street Journal, April 11, 2011, p. A14, lamented that "15 years ago President Bill Clinton announced that the era of big government was over," but that "(f)ederal spending is projected to exceed $3.8 trillion this year, 140 % higher than the $1.6 trillion spent when big government's death knell was sounded by Mr. Clinton."

    (3) For us Christians, the temptation to get even more gloomy over the budget issue comes from news that though "amid a $1.5 trillion deficit, taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood is preposterous" even in the view of The Wall Street Journal editor (Ibid., "The Tea Party's First Victory"), Republican lawmakers failed to insist that the administration stop funding Planned Parenthood. (Ibid.)

    That is a moral tragedy: William McGurn's article, "Who's the Extremist Now?" in The Wall Street Journal, April 12, 2011, p. A13, held: "Most Americans . . . have no idea that we are talking about an organization that performed 332,278 abortions in 2009 -- one abortion every 95 seconds . . . Planned Parenthood's own numbers show that more than 97 % of pregnant women it treated were given abortions -- against fewer than 3 % who received nonabortion services . . ." Thus, "Planned Parenthood" is "America's largest abortion provider", using "hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars" to push abortions opposite the deep convictions of many Americans and God's Word! (Ibid.)

    So, we ask, "In view of the lure to be depressed as I see such evil in institutions and rulers, does God have uplifting insight?!"

    Need: "Though I've learned in this sermon series that God lets us face evil institutions and rulers to lead us to trust Him fully, I need His encouraging insight in facing those trials! Any suggestions?!"

  1. We learned in our last sermon in this series that the Daniel 12:1, 7b "shattering-of-the-people's-power-before-the-kingdom" theme of trials for believers in the future Great Tribulation under antichrist patterns a similar " theme for Bible-believing Christians TODAY:
    1. Christ promises us in our era of the Laodicean Church to enthrone us with influence on His "messianic throne" (Rev. 3:21) IF we look to Him to let us suffer various Revelation 3:18 trials that purify us.
    2. These trials involve a "crushing" of the believer where he learns to cease relying on his own human power and ungodly groups and leaders in the evangelical community and world so that he hides in Christ for ALL of his needs as our Revelation 3:14-22 lessons teach! [See the home page of our Church web site for the file on this series.]
  2. Well, Daniel 12:1-13 provides ENCOURAGING INSIGHT for the believers who will face the future Great Tribulation (as follows):
    1. God promises He will deliver the upright from all of their trials:
      1. Daniel 12:1, 10a promises that those God determines to deliver in the Great Tribulation He will deliver from the antichrist's reign.
      2. Daniel 12:2a, 10b with Revelation 20:4 reveals that even believers who are killed by the antichrist in the Great Tribulation will be raised to life in power after that terrible era is ended.
    2. God promised that in His Kingdom, He will honor and enthrone all who applied the insight of His Word back in the Great Tribulation:
      1. Daniel 12:3, 10 pledges blessing for those who get insight in trials.
      2. What this insight gain involves is clarified for us in Daniel 12:4:
        1. The insight many will seek in roving about in Daniel 12:4b is shown in the Daniel 12:4a context to be Bible prophecy insight!
        2. Thus, overcomers will react to their trials in the Tribulation era by avidly seeking, finding and applying Bible prophecy!
      3. This activity will not only equip them to live with hope, but for sharing its insight with others for their good, overcomers will be rewarded by God in the Kingdom! (Daniel 12:3, 10c; Rev. 20:4)
    3. God gave the informative timeline of this program in Daniel 12:5-13:
      1. From the time the antichrist breaks his peace treaty with Israel and he defiles the temple until Christ's Second Coming will be 3 Hebrew years, or 1260 days. (Daniel 9:27; Revelation 12:6)
      2. Daniel 12:11 with 9:27 speaks of a time 1290 days after that temple desecration, or 30 days after Christ's Second Coming. This fits the time needed for the judgment of all human survivors of the Great Tribulation Period so that the godly who survive that judgment can enter the Kingdom, Matt. 13:41-43; Dan. 12:2-3.
      3. Then, Daniel 12:12 promises blessing for those who wait until the 1335-day mark, or 75 days after Christ's Second Coming and 45 days after His judgments end as the godly enter the Kingdom!
      4. Daniel 12:13 reveals that as Daniel was among the godly, though he would die and thus "rest" before the Great Tribulation, after the end of the days noted in the context, that is, after the final 1335 -day mark, he would rise and stand in his inherited lot in the Kingdom!
  3. Thus, we APPLY in PRINCIPLE God's UPLIFTING INSIGHT for Great Tribulation saints to OUR needs in OUR ERA (as follows):
    1. As we Christians look to God for blessing (Rev. 3:18a), Christ lets us face evil trials from religious and civil groups and rulers like people in the Great Tribulation will face the antichrist and his persecution, so we must heed Revelation 3:14-22 for insight in such trials as they will need to heed Bible prophecy about the Great Tribulation. That insight reveals God is letting these trials occur (1) to wean us from living by the spiritually futile power of our sin natures that we might rely on the Holy Spirit, (2) to wean us from worldly lusts in religious and secular realms to love God instead, (3) to wean us from not living by faith in Him to trust in Him, (4) to wean us from false ecumenical unions to fellowship with Christ and (5) to wean us from spiritual blindness that traps us to trust in errant groups and rulers that we trust in Christ only!
    2. Then, we must give this insight to others for their good. (Dan. 12:3-4)
    3. In reward, God will salvage and restore us from our trials, giving us honor and influence [Christ's "messianic throne"] in the end as a type of the future Messianic Kingdom blessings! (Revelation 3:20-21)
Application: (1) May we trust in Christ as Savior to be saved, John 1:11-12. (2) May we heed Daniel 12 with Revelation 3:14-22!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 Amy Sullivan's article, "Elitist ridicule fuels Palin's faithful base" in the Monday, April 11, 2011 issue of USA TODAY, p. 11A leads me to an illustration of this sermon's message.

Sullivan noted: "From the Scopes trial through today's election cycle, intellectual sneering at evangelical Christians has only deepened this country's cultural divide." She critiqued this "unthinking ridicule" while not indicating which side was right: she claimed the publication of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species hurt evangelical Christianity without saying which side -- Darwin or Christianity -- was right! (Ibid.)

When I first read this article, I was dispirited: the sneering we Christians have faced since the Scopes trial is one thing, but to critique this scorn while not saying which side is true on origins is worse, for it leaves the reader thinking those who exalt Darwinism may be right!

Well, to apply this sermon, I knew that to face this "trial" of an unedifying article, I should avidly dig for the Biblical facts ! In doing so, I found the Scopes trial foes of Biblical creationism sorely lacking:

(1) One pro-evolution lawyer at the Scopes trial said that foes of evolution errantly say evolutionists think man came from monkeys. (Bolton Davidheiser, Evolution and the Christ. Faith, 1976, p. 93) Yet, as noted at that trial, the sixth chapter of Darwin's The Descent of Man claims: "The Simiadae then branched off into two great stems, the New World and Old World Monkeys; and from the latter, at a remote period, Man, the wonder and glory of the Universe proceeded.'" (Ibid.)

We creationists have ever since been ridiculed for asserting that evolutionists claim man came from monkeys (Ibid.), but it was Darwin himself who wrote that man evolved from "Old World Monkeys"!

(2) Then, the pro-evolution Scopes trial lawyers tried to claim evolution was compatible with the Bible to make evolution acceptable. (Ibid., p. 94) However, the six days of creation in Genesis 1 are each composed of an "evening" and a "morning," so they are solar days, not nearly enough time for the whole Genesis 1 universe to evolve! Also, Eve came from an adult man's rib (Genesis 2:20-22) versus evolution!

Thus, I ended up all the more opposed to evolution.

So, in facing evil in institutions and rulers in religious or secular realms, may we heed Daniel 12's encouraging insight and avidly dig for true, relevant, biblical facts and share them with others for God's eventual reward!