Daniel 12 | The Sealing of End-Times Revelation

You have your sidekick John John Laskin. He's got jury duty. Oh, that's right.

Hey All right, Rick, would you mind opening us in prayer and we'll get started

Thankful that we can be here together to study your work pray that you would give us insight and Ability to apply this to our lives and we thank you for this time to study it together

Jesus name Amen One of the great deceptions in church history came out of America in the early 1800s

It was called the stone Campbellite movement Restorationism anybody ever heard of it the concept of the restorationist movement was that genuine?

Christianity was actually lost and The restorationists are bringing it back out of the dustbin of history

So restoration is like stone and Campbell They often many of them the early restorationists rejected the

Trinity Because they said that was a late church invention from Nicaea and the

Bible actually never taught the Trinity They would also reject it was very much anti reformed doctrine.

So rejecting the doctrines of the Reformation and What they said was a return to primitive

Christianity They thought they could uncover what the Bible itself said and that was different from the traditions of the land

So when you hear of a movement like for example Jehovah's Witnesses They came about in the mid 1800s out of the restorationist movement

Saying that the true message of the Bible was lost for 1 ,800 years and now in these latter days

It's being restored Likewise Mormonism when

Joseph Smith claims in the Book of Mormon to have discovered these golden plates and Brings forth the

Book of Mormon He's also claiming that the Bible had been corrupted for all this time and he's bringing back not a new religion

But the religion as it originally was it was a Restorationist movement so Mormonism saw and thought that God had sealed away the true religion buried underground on some golden plates

Only to be rediscovered in the latter days. So what is the Church of Jesus Christ of?

Latter -day Saints it comes from the stone Campbellite movement of restorationism

Come to the angel Moroni. Yes. Yeah, they they make up an angel named

Moroni Moroni Moron Well a lot of where they draw capital from is

Daniel chapter 12, so let's let's go there Daniel chapter 12 refers to the sealing

Sealing away of Revelation until the end times

So these restorationist movements thought that they had arrived at the end times and they were unsealing

What Daniel and other prophets had sealed or buried in the ground? now the truth of the matter is that God gives revelation and He preserves what he gives to seal

Does not mean to bury underground to be later discovered centuries later

But rather it means to keep intact very important Sealing meant to keep intact and protected and kept in whole for all time

What God gives us in the book of Daniel right here in chapter 12? Was never lost to the world the

Israel of God was entrusted with the oracles of God Romans chapter 3 verses 1 to 5

They were the keepers of the oracles of God the scrolls from Genesis to Malachi Now the

Jewish people had had a different order of Torah k2v and Nevi 'im, but all 39 books were

Kept intact never lost always there always entrusted to Israel The church then brings forth the

New Testament. It doesn't come by the church Itself, but by the Holy Spirit of God through those who lay the foundation which are inspired apostles and prophets

Ephesians 2 20 these ones bring forth 27 new books

But these new books are not a change in any way shape or form They're not nullifying rather what they're doing is fulfilling

What was always given in Revelation? Nothing was ever lost It was fulfilled in Christ and what we have always had in these sealed revelations is

True and undefiled always kept intact for us now. That is the doctrine of Revelation you've heard of the doctrine of Revelation all scripture is

God breathe and Profitable for teaching and reproof and training in all righteousness.

This is 2nd Timothy 3 16 there is another doctrine which primarily derives from 1st

Corinthians chapter 2 and That doctrine is illumination Revelation is the giving of scripture and God has promised to preserve his word

He would keep his word in here protected and not Lost not buried underground, but kept and given to Israel and then the church

Israel never loses those 39 bucks Not 2nd

Timothy 3 16 and 1 2nd Corinthians 2nd Corinthians chapter 2 now This is the second doctrine. So the first is

Revelation. The second is illumination Illumination is when the

Spirit helps us understand the word Okay, it is the subjective work of the

Spirit in the believer to open their eyes to objective truth

Meaning this the Word of God the revelation is objective and true

But we as interpreters are prone to air There's never been a Christian who was perfect in handling the word every day of his life

To misread scripture doesn't negate the fact that revelation is pure and undefiled

It means that we have aired we are prone to air But by God's grace He has given us his

Holy Spirit as a helper to teach us and lead us into all truth

Inspiration that is no that's illumination Well that goes hand -in -hand with revelation

Inspiration it's that God has inspired or God breathed. So inspiration is part of the revelation of scripture

Yeah, but we want to distinguish between inspiration and illumination What is inspired is the

Word of God every jot and tittle every little stroke of the pen is Perfectly kept never buried never lost

So what the restorationist has done is he has noticed perhaps some errors in church history because people are prone to error and he has said oh wait, we need to rediscover and Has thrown out the baby with the bathwater

Now here's how church history has unfolded From the revelation of scripture the church has understood all the essentials.

For example the Trinity We have known that Jesus is

God We have known that he's also Distinct from the father that the father is not the son

Jesus prays to his father So there's distinction there's communication

There's some Distinction between father and son and yet Jesus is identified as the

I am he is Yahweh The church always knew this but when did the church in writing in creedal form?

communicate that versus the lies of the enemy The year was 325 and the council was

Nicea This was not new revelation But by illumination in dealing with a false teacher named

Arius who's telling the church wait a minute Jesus is only a created being in fact many of the

Aryans identified Jesus as Michael the Archangel To this day

Jehovah's Witnesses say that Jesus is a created lesser

God with a little G Identified with Michael the Archangel in the passage we'll read today

So the church didn't discover anything in 325 it affirmed what it always held the revelation was always there it was always understood a false teacher comes up false doctrine comes and By illumination by the help of the

Holy Spirit the church Fights for the truth this happens again and again in church history in the

Reformation False teachers had brought non -biblical teaching about sacraments and the selling of indulgences to save To justify and justification had to be maintained by church by the church

It was a sacral system where the priesthoods of these believers mediated salvation to the people

Through the ordinances, it's all false doctrine the Bible never taught it revelation never changed

But Martin Luther stood up to affirm what the Bible always taught. So there's a difference between this kind of thing which we call

Reformation and Restorationism Restorationism says the whole thing was lost and here we are in the end times to restore it

Let's read now Daniel chapter 12 What we're going to see is the sealing away of revelation

Which means to hold it and keep it intact that it would never be lost Not that it would be lost and then restored in the end times

But the illumination in the end times will come I do believe that in the last couple hundred years we have gained in Illumination the church can progress in defining terms.

So Nicaea more carefully defines the Trinity distinguishing between the being or essence of God and the

Persons of the Trinity that doesn't come till 325, but they're putting a sharper edge in human language

Describing what the Bible always said in the same way in the last couple hundred years With Schofield and the teachers at Dallas Seminary Pentecost.

We have put a finer point on Understanding eschatology in times in the last couple hundred years.

I do believe that's the case. I Don't know much about eschatology

He was in the first generation of the Reformation. They were dealing with soteriology salvation

Ecclesiology, what is the church's role in salvation and all of these things? But if you read

Institutes, he hardly says a word about in times Pentecost writes a book this thick

Called things to come and it's because he is more carefully diving into into Daniel 11 and the book of Revelation and he's doing work that Calvin never did

So the illumination we can grow in our understanding as we spend more and more time in the text

Unpacking what was already here and always here. So we're growing in illumination

But not revelation. No new revelation is given. Yes As we grow in Revelation, isn't there also a growth in distortion?

Yes And so we grow in illumination not revelation. This is always intact.

This is sealed kept intact That's the meaning but we do grow in illumination. Like you said likewise in the latter times

You get Paul will say this in 1st Timothy 4 2nd Timothy 4 Teachers that distort the truth.

So as you near the end, yes The church's is growing in illumination, but you're also having conversely just what you said more and more false teachers 2nd

Peter 2 there'll be more and more false prophets false teachers in your midst So it's a distinguishing and I think it becomes much more clear who the children of God are

Versus the Colts. Yeah. Yeah in Verse 4 when it says men will run to and fro and knowledge shall increase.

Yes. Do you see that as Transportation planes cars, etc and knowledge being technological as well spiritual

Yeah, I actually think it does refer to that the technological revolution is I think it in times phenomena that now when you look in the book of Revelation and the whole world sees the two witnesses

How does the whole world see that the two witnesses? Dead and then rising from the dead

Yeah, internet age the whole world can see so yeah knowledge increase. Let's get into it See, would you mind being my first reader and we'll just go verse at a time

In fact, you only get 12 1 a and you can read the whole first verse Daniel 12 verse 1

At that time Michael the great Prince who protects your people will arise

There will be a time of distress Such as not happen from the beginning of nations until then

But at that time your people everyone whose name is found in Written in the book will be delivered

Very good. So there was a transition that happened in Daniel 11 verse 35 going into 36 where it says until the time of the end

Verse 35 and so what I taught last week Was it two weeks ago because we took a break for Thanksgiving two weeks ago now is that what follows from 36 through 45?

Does speak of Antiochus Epiphanes? Because he fulfills many of these prophecies

But more than that it pictures looking forward to the end the time of the end the time of the

Antichrist The whole book of Daniel does not find its conclusion in Antiochus Epiphanes Certainly when

God is laying out the 77s the course of history the cutting off of Messiah Antiochus Epiphanes is not the pinnacle of history

It's Jesus on the cross and then his second coming It's all about Christ and so what this is seeing is beyond Antiochus to the time of the end

So now in chapter 12 verse 1 at that time shall arise Michael Here as Daniel is going to bring to close his book.

He's not talking about the Maccabean revolt at this point He's talking about the time of the end at that time we're now moving into eschatology in times

Michael will arise the Jehovah's Witnesses say this is prophetic of Jesus Christ But it doesn't say

Messiah, there's a word for that Moshiach. What does it say Michael? the great prince who has charge of your people

What this means is that there is an angel an archangel Whose name is

Michael who has special charge over who? Israel he is the protecting angel over Israel He fights for Israel.

He struggles for Israel right now Israel the ethnic people have been under attack the worst slaughter of Jews since the

Holocaust The Holocaust itself six million Jews, but prior to that for 2 ,000 years

Since they were driven out in 70 AD 1492 they're driven out of Spain Again and again the

Jewish people are the subject of intense violent persecution even

Genocidal attempts Stalin died right before implementing one of his plans as John Laskin talked about last week

This is not normal This is not just the ordinary course of events in human nature.

There is some special vitriol against Israel it comes from demonic places

There are demons whose head is Satan himself who would like to see the complete

Annihilation of the Jews from the river to the sea When people chant that it is a demonic chant, but there is an archangel

And his name is Michael. We're told in verse 1. He takes special care of National Israel It's amazing what what has happened just Jewish soldiers

Yeah Yeah that happened in 1967 when all the nation's tried to destroy

Israel and in a six -day war Israel emerges triumphant just Incredible supernatural victories and God is protecting them now right up to the end time

We're gonna see what's about to happen there as well So and thank you for reading the second part of verse 1

Stan and there shall be a time of trouble What do we call this in the New Testament with this further revelation?

The Tribulation right and the great tribulation Because it says such as never has been

Since there was a nation Till that time now we just talked about the history of the world and how much trouble has come upon Jacob So this is more than they've ever seen

How bad will the tribulation be? Rich would you mind reading that verse I have under 12 1

B. Matthew 24 21 On your nose you see brick.

Yeah. Oh rich. You said me. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, okay Thought you said

Rick Matthew 24. Where is it? Matthew 24 24 then there will be great

Tribulation such has not been from the beginning of the world until now

No, and never will be these are the words of our Lord Jesus So at the time when

Jesus spoke are these events still to come things to come or have they been fulfilled? Still to come so is it the

Maccabean period in view? It's yet future. Look at the language of verse 1

Daniel 12 verse 1 a time of trouble Such as never has been since there was a nation till that time

Then Jesus's words Great tribulation such as has not been from the beginning of the world

Until now no never will be same event the great tribulation So those who say that all of this is fulfilled in the

Maccabean period are not taking seriously I think the words of Jesus here is yet future.

It's the great tribulation Yeah, no to say it never was so you can't look in the past right right very good.

Yes Negates that firmly Okay, let's read a

Daniel 12 verse 2 Bob if you would and many of those who sleep in the dust of ground late those everlasting life

But the others to disgrace and everlasting What follows the tribulation?

Yeah, and it looks forward to I think here to the Great White Throne as well where there is judgment of just and unjust

Resurrection clearly foretold in the Old Testament. There are some that say oh, that's a New Testament invention.

It's not it's here It's also in Psalm 16. You would not allow your Holy One to see decay.

There's a picture of resurrection there But here in Daniel 12 to Those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life some to shame and everlasting contempt

Heaven or hell a Great White Throne where God will distinguish between the two now interestingly

When you go to Revelation 20 verse 13 It says 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 As you continue to read you think oh no that I don't want to be judged by what

I've done But what you find is that those whose names are written in the

Lamb's Book of Life Are already on his right side already forgiven already free

They're not standing before the Great White Throne to be judged by works Rather those who are before the

Great White Throne judged by what they've done are universally condemned by what they've done

Because it goes on to say and unless his name was found written in the Lamb's Book of Life It was thrown into the lake of fire so the judgment by works when the books are opened in Revelation and Read if you're judged by your works

Guilty or innocent Ray Comfort is good on this How have you done keeping the technique guilty guilty guilty?

Those bought by the blood of the Lamb and whose names are recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life. That's a different book

So you're either judged by the book of your works in which case guilty or your name is written the

Lamb's Book of Life You're bought with the blood of Christ and on the right side. You are you are brought into eternal life

So that's how that correlates With verse 2 now verse 3

Shall we go on do you like to yeah? And those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever beautiful Why do you think it's those who are wise shine like the stars?

What does wisdom have to do with it Wisdom here,

I think correlates with what we see in 2nd Timothy 3 15 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 this doesn't picture

Just the general wisdom of say Solomon who can distinguish between who these two mothers competing for a baby

It's not just a general wisdom Discernment it is particularly Wisdom unto salvation it says here those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above These are the children of God who have become wise unto salvation it is particularly

Wisdom of the Son of God faith in the Son of God 2nd Timothy 3 15. Yeah What's that?

yep, and the second part confirms this because Who what else has said it in this verse those who turn many to righteousness

So in order to become wise to salvation, how can you hear unless somebody? Preaches and tells you

Those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever So what a beautiful promise to the evangelist

The the one who tells someone about Christ they become wise to salvation and become lit up as children of God stars shining for all eternity and The ones who turn them that way who bring this wisdom to them shine like the star

It's the glory of bringing the message of salvation Billy Graham is going to be the center of the galaxy

Yeah, yeah, Billy Graham. Yeah, he led his Thousands upon thousands yeah praise

God for that Those who turn many to righteousness like the star isn't that a great promise?

And what a motivation to to be bold with the gospel to leave a track on your neighbor's door

Not knowing just sowing your seed into the wind. I know I think it was John totally shared that he found a track on the sink

In a public bathroom, and he went and picked it up and read it in his truck and prayed to accept the

Lord You said how come that's how John got saved check with him to confirm the detail I know that's something to do with the track.

Yeah, someone had been witnessed to but this track just leave a track somewhere You won't know till you get to heaven and you're shining it.

Hey the track you left me is how I got saved Yeah, when I came out of the Y the other day I wanted to see how close

I got to this pole So it's backing in and I got out and I looked down and there was this thing with the crosses that Jesus loves you

Wow, beautiful. Yeah, so I remember they were doing those rocks that would leave Jesus loves you rocks all over town

So I left it for the next person Do it. Yeah, beautiful. Good job. Yeah so Realize that we're not going to see even a little bit of the fruit

Compared to what's going to be in glory when you see the shining of even your because none of us leads anybody to Christ Solely, right it tends to be 20 or 30 or 50 points of contact leading up to the point where someone finally gets saved and You'll see when you get to heaven every you'll connect every dot and you'll have such joy

Because the promise of this verse those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever you will delight forever

It's seeing every connection What a promise But you know, here's the words we started with I wanted to set you up so to not misunderstand what he's saying here

But you Daniel Shut up the words and seal the book

In other words Nephi go bury it under a mountain. Is that what it says? No, it doesn't say that shut it up and seal the book until the time of the end many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall

Increase now that we've already talked about is a really cool promise of the end times I think it foresees the technological revolution the

Internet age now. We're living in a day with AI Where you can ask? Chat GPT a question and it'll write you a hundred page essay on on these things

Knowledge increasing that's a tool that can be used for good or for evil, but it's just a tool

I think we shouldn't be so afraid of all these things Because there's always been tools that are introduced and every generation is fearful of them

We just have to make sure we use them as God would have us We'd be good stewards of the things that are we can't control what the world will do

But we can control what we do with those tools So no need to fear. I think it is part of what must come the knowledge increasing

But I do think what you pointed out is true. The spiritual knowledge is more now

I have at my fingertips right here in this phone I just go to Bible Hub and I read seven or eight commentaries on each passage and it's just like this

You used to have to have these volumes on your shelves and only the pastors had that kind of collection in their library

Now you guys all have it on your phone Right. I mean so knowledge spirit.

We know more about the end times now as we've gotten closer to them then Calvin did

Because we have Pentecost we have Wolverine we have all of these greats who have spent so much time in the text

Connecting the dots helping nothing changed in Revelation, but knowledge has increased.

Amen. Yeah Awesome. So verse 5 Carol would you like to read?

I think I've got five and six together. Okay Then I Daniel looked and saw two others standing on opposite banks of the river

One of them asked the man dressed in linen who was now standing above the river

How long will it be until these shocking events? happen Okay, the astonishing thing the wonders.

I think that's referring to Daniel 11 36 to 45 which we studied last week beyond the

Antiochus Epiphanies The abomination of desolation the astonishing things that are going to come in the

Great Tribulation It would be mind -blowing to hear about these things. So picture the scene you have two angels on either side of the bank

Where has Gabriel moved in this story? No longer standing on the shore of the

Tigris now, he's basically standing on the Tigris He's kind of hovering over the water.

This is not an ordinary man. This is Gabriel It says someone said to the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the stream

How long shall it be till the end of these wonders? These angels are powerful beings.

They're not human. They can do superhuman things So he just wants to go stand on the water for a moment the wonders are picturing

Israel's final occupation in the Great Tribulation Gog and Magog from the north

That's as far up as Russia Coming down against Israel from the south Egypt and Cush even as far as Ethiopia the surrounding nations all the

Arab countries against Israel The Antichrist at this time has made a peace treaty

And for three and a half years things look pretty good in Israel because there's peace, but that was actually a ruse ultimately, he's coming to conquer and set himself up as the king of Kings and the abomination of desolation is that sacrifice that he makes there and the presentation of himself as God second

Thessalonians 2 proclaiming himself to be God So this is Daniel's mind is blown at this point, but it's going to get a little more specific here.

Yeah Yeah Why would you read? We look at Israel as a haven for the

Jews, yeah Right Yeah So much yeah

Life that we enjoy that's a great point That Award that they give to I can't get the name of it.

Oh, yeah, the Nobel Prize Third of them

Yeah from 0 .01 percent of the world's population, yeah, it's just the scientific advances

I read one thing about like Muslim nations that were boycotting all the Jewish products and it said well

Make sure you also boycott this which saves you from that disease and this which saves you make sure you

Yeah, I mean the number of things that people rely on that the Jewish people have have rescued the world from yeah

So verse 7 I'm gonna move quickly because I do want to get done with Daniel today because next week we begin on Incarnation looking at Christmas John will do a message and then

I'll do one We're gonna kind of build up towards Christmas But this is so rich verse 7 and I heard the man clothed in linen who is above the waters of the stream

He raised his right hand and his left and it would be for and toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever

And ever that it would be for time times and half a time

Year plus two years plus half a year just so happens to be the same amount of time three and a half years which marks the second half of the seven -year tribulation that we call the

Great Tribulation that when the The shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished this is about the shattering of the power of Israel The showering the shattering so God is saying definitively

It will be three and a half years and then shattering Ezekiel 38 11 says say

I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I Will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely all of them dwelling without walls and having no bars or gates

So in your notes Ezekiel 38 when will Israel have no fear of their enemies?

Dwelling without bars and gates everything seems like when the Antichrist gives them a false assurance of peace

For three and a half years and they think our sufferings are finally over The Antichrist they consider him to be a

Christ not an Antichrist Their Christ has come They're good.

They're they're finally at peace. They're celebrating This their kind of Christmas will last three and a half years but the problem is it's an

Antichrist not a true Christ and After three and a half years, it will be a shattering of that.

This is horrible What a lot of people don't know is that anti means not only opposed to but in place of in place of yes

Really good point and well time. That's the point eight through ten. I heard but I did not understand

See illumination is not the same thing as revelation He's giving us the words, but he doesn't really get it yet because there's so much more to happen

He doesn't know who Christ is. He doesn't know the name Jesus He doesn't know the cutting off of Messiah and all of these things.

He doesn't have the book of Revelation or Thessalonians, right so New Illumination as our eyes and more revelation of the

New Testament even would be given So Daniel here just isn't in a position to understand But everything he says is sealed.

It's kept in fact It's not lost. God will preserve his word protect it

He said go your way Daniel for the words are shut up and sealed until do we need restorationists to bring?

Anything to us no shut up and sealed means Protected by God sealed and kept intact and laid up in the temple

Romans 3 Verses 1 to 5 God has entrusted the oracles of God to Israel to keep this revelation

Safely till the end times and lo and behold here. We are right see it

Daniel we're reading it. We've had it all along. It's been here with us. That's what it means

Yes Yes, yes, it's kept. Yes until the end many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined

That's a picture of redemption in Christ made pure by the blood of the Lamb Daniel doesn't fully understand that But this is what will happen in God's economy make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly

You see that division now in the end times people become worse and worse their love grows cold

And none of the wicked shall understand but those who are wise Shall understand as these in times come we do have greater illumination

We have studied the word more carefully and we do understand what's happening there is a sorting in the world between the righteous children of God and the wicked and Yes, the world gets more and more wicked

But so does the gospel go to the ends of the earth reaching more and more people and we know how this story is

Christ is coming soon. This is good news 11 to 13 will be done and From the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away

And the abomination that makes desolate is set up there shall be 1290 days

From the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination

That makes desolate is set up there shall be 1290 days

So is that when the antichrist says he's gone and everything else yes Yep, and so if there's differences, why is it 1290 versus 1263 and a half years seems to be 1260 days, so there's an extra 30 days there the best view that I think is probably right

Although there's a little bit of conjecture here because it doesn't say remember this is illumination versus revelation We know this but we're trying to figure out exactly what happens.

I think it's an announcement That happens 30 days before maybe the building of the statue and and they're bringing it to Jerusalem and all the world and then so Those are there's a 30 day 30 extra days there and then the 1260 but the point is we're quite within the three and a half year range here

Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the one thousand three hundred and thirty five days

What's the extra 45 days? Some postulate that that is how long it takes to judge a 45 -day period so when

Christ comes back 45 days of judging to set up the

Millennial Kingdom And then the blessings of just peace on earth and a thousand -year reign that there's a 45 -day gap there.

That's a possibility I'm not sure Suggests that God's people will have to persevere those 45 days

Interesting well, the ESV would be a little bit less likely to take the

Dispensational view that I'm advancing. I would lean more on like the NASB the legacy standard

Bible so John MacArthur just did a translation which is picking up the NASB 1995 and Updating it for just new discoveries and linguistic things

The ESV tends to come a little bit more from the Covenant School of Theology So you'd have guys that would be less sympathetic to what

I'm saying But I love the ESV, you know, these these are minor points of difference

Altogether, let's finish it up. We'll be done with Daniel. We have about four minutes left, but go your way till the end

Is there any doubt at this point that we're talking about end times This is not just the

Maccabean issue, this is he's prophesying the end of the world the

Antichrist and You shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.

I think the idea here is Daniel I Know that you don't get it and that's okay

You be faithful with what you're called to do in your generation All of these things will come you're gonna die and You're going to be resurrected and you will stand and you'll see everything in hindsight

With perfect clarity it says but go your way till the end you shall rest now, by the way, is that soul sleep?

Is his soul just going to be asleep and he'll wake up like oh, it's the year 2029 and the

Christ has returned Is that what's gonna happen? The Raptures have I? Bumped my head against time the concept of time, right?

Okay from an earthly perspective maybe but the idea of soul sleep was picked up again by a restorationist group this was

Following what's -her -name Ellen White the the leader of a yeah seventh -day

Adventist they believe in soul sleep and The idea is you just fall asleep and then you wake up at resurrection your soul isn't in heaven

No The New Testament says to be absent from the body is to be present with Christ when it says you shall sleep or you shall

Rest that's the appearance of sleep the body Laid in a grave appears to those leaving that body in the ground to be asleep

No your soul immediately as Christ as Paul teaches us to be absent from the body is to be present with Christ So your soul your spirit the immaterial part of you the second you die is with Christ right now my mother -in -law

Loretta Sees the face of Jesus and she's aware of him She's not asleep her body looks appears to us to be asleep dead in the ground and God will resurrect her body at the

Rapture and and what happens at the rapture then remember those who died in Christ will not wait till after you

They're gonna go straight up ahead of you To meet the Lord in the air and their spirit and their body then reunite with the

Lord in glory And we also are caught up in that twinkling of an eye So our bodies let's say we make it till the rapture our body and spirit never

Separate it's boom and we're translated into glory Caught up like who was it that walked with God it was no more.

You know, you know He's a picture of the rapture just boom just picked up Yes, our butts.

Oh, yeah snatched The church who snatched him up and they're all looking for Today you will be with me a very good very good.

Yeah So when it says here rest, it means your body will appear to be asleep. That's the appearance of and rest

Only means that symbolically in that way because so much other revelation has taught us We are our spirit is caught up to be with the

Lord Who I think so there's divisions

I think of hell and This place called Gehenna this place of just being held.

It's not the final lake of fire But likewise there is a chasm fixed between the righteous and glory so comfort in Abraham's bosom and The rich man who had all of his works all of his good things in this life

Now in a place of heat and fire and burning so it's it's not the final lake of fire

Because that there's a resurrection of the wicked as we learned in Daniel 12 3 resurrection of the wicked

Unto judgment great white throne lake of fire. So it is some holding place of Punishment.

Yeah, John McWorthy recently did degrees of punishment degrees Yeah, there

I believe that is That's interesting. Yeah Dante's Inferno, of course is allegorical but it does that kind of lays out that's coming from Jesus's teaching that I just Preached last week.

There are greater or lesser sins Pilate had a lesser sin than the Jews at the point of crucifixion, but also

Sodom and Gomorrah will have a lesser punishment even then Woe to you

Capernaum if the miracles done and you had been done entire Inside on they would have repented.

Yeah, but it's worse for you because you had so much light think about this church How much light has

America been given? So how much judgment Will fall upon this nation if it continues to apostatize

Yeah, so in closing what's that Yes That's what

I think is case yeah Hades would be kind of that holding place. Yeah. Yeah, but there's still a lake of fire to come

We're not a hundred percent certain about all those things But it does appear that that is the case

So be appropriately interested in things to come It's the proportion of the

Bible given to these things. It shouldn't be our overwhelming interest and Trying to connect every dot and read every headline and make every connection to Gog and Magog can become

Maybe a preoccupation in an over emphasis Yeah, you can get sidetracked and down that road but be appropriately interested

Keep looking to the heavens and think our redemption is drawing near And these kind of things when we see knowledge increase and we see all the signs of the times looking we should

Look to Christ be found faithful and ready when he comes and be about his business What was the main idea

I think of to take away from it that when we're resurrected Those who bring many to righteousness will shine like the stars of heaven.

So Sunday is to tell us die Sunday Could you invite a neighbor? They might not come but they'll remember that you invited them

And they'll remember. Oh, I got a Christian living next door and it'll be another point of reference in Hopefully bringing them to Christ God will bring to faith those whom he will but our part is to go out and preach the good news

We don't put up lights We have a large shadow across the front of our house

Oh beautiful Bob would you close us a break?

Father we thank you for these things the words that you've given which are certainly more than sufficient for us to maintain our desire to Serve you until until the end times

And we thank you for the promises and the rewards that you've led for us

Thank you for the word for those that give us insight into it as we come each