Turn with me to Daniel chapter
12. This chapter is announcing the
end of time as we know it on this earth. That's a big statement,
so I'll make it again. This chapter is announcing the
end of time as we know it on this earth. This is announcing
the day that the Lord returns and this earth and everything
on it is burned up. And all souls are carried to
the judgment throne. And God's people inherit life. And those who are not God's people
inherit condemnation. That's what this is talking about.
And what I want to do is read the chapter and acknowledge what
it's saying. And I want us to acknowledge
what we understand about it. And I want us to acknowledge
what we don't understand about it. And then I have a conclusion
that I'd like for us to really ponder and really consider. Sincerely,
sincerely ponder and consider. All right, Daniel 12 verse one,
it says, at that time shall Michael stand up representing Christ
and his return to earth, and also with him will be the archangel. Michael is called the archangel.
Every angel in heaven will be with him. They're all coming
with him. But verse one says, at that time shall Michael stand
up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people,
and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since
there was a nation even to that same time, and at that time thy
people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written
in the book." Hold your place right here and turn with me to
Matthew 24. Matthew 24 verse 29, it says, immediately after the tribulation
of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not
give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the
powers of the heavens shall be shaken. and then shall appear
the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the
tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man
coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels
with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together
his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the
other. That is exactly what Daniel 12
verse 1 said. All right, go with me back to
Daniel 12. Verse 1 says, at that time shall
Michael stand up, the great prince, which standeth for the children
of thy people, And there shall be a time of trouble such as
never was since there was a nation, even to that same time. And at
that time, thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall
be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in
the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and
some to shame and everlasting contempt. Hold your place. And turn with me to 1 Thessalonians
4. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 13. But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you
sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you
by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore,
comfort one another with these words." That's what Daniel 12
verse 2 said. Go with me back to Daniel 12. Verse two, and many of them that
sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting
life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise
shall shine as the brightness of the firmament. and they that
turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. As Christ is, he is called the
son of righteousness, the light of the kingdom, the brightness
of God's glory. As he is, so will his people
be. Verse four. But thou, O Daniel,
shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the
end. Many shall run to and fro, and
knowledge shall be increased." He said this truth and the details
of these things in this time will not be openly revealed. He said, it's going to be shut
up. It's going to be kept secret. This time, this exact moment
in time is a secret thing that belongs to the Lord. Any man or woman that makes a
prediction of the end time is wrong. Any man or woman that makes a
prediction of the end time, you can, like there's a lot of things
we don't know, but you can mark it down and know that. If a man
makes a prediction, here it is right here, boom, that's not
it. That's not it. It's a secret
thing of God that he has not yet revealed. But he said, I
will tell you this, he said, the end will be a time when knowledge
is increased. And I will point out that we
are most definitely living in a time when knowledge has greatly
increased. I was talking to a brother about
this a few weeks ago, how it says right here that knowledge
would be increased. And since the early 1900s, I
mean, you think about life for thousands and thousands of years,
you know, camels and horses, you know, chariots turned into wagons,
but it's kind of all the same. And then in this last hundred
years, knowledge has greatly increased. And anyway, I was talking to a brother
about this, that this is going on, and he very truthfully, very
appropriately said, knowledge, yes, wisdom, no. And that's so true. That is so
true. I believe this world is becoming
more and more foolish by the day. more and more foolish by
the day. But any person who owns a smartphone,
any person who's ever flown in an airplane, any person who's
ever ridden in a car has to admit that knowledge has greatly increased. Verse five, then I, Daniel, looked
and behold, There stood other two, the one on this side of
the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank
of the river, the river of death, the river of that crossing over
from this world to the next world. That's what this is announcing,
that moment when it comes. Verse five, then I, Daniel, looked
and behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of
the bank of the river and the other on that side of the bank
of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which
was upon the waters of the river. That word upon means above. Daniel
said, I saw a man on this side of the river and I saw a man
on that side of the river. But he said, then there was a
man clothed in linen who was above the river. Above it all. And Daniel had seen that man
before. Look back at chapter 10. Daniel
10, verse 5. Then I lifted up mine eyes and
looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins
were girded with fine gold of Uphaz. His body also was like
the barrel, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and
his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in
color to polished brass. and the voice of his words like
the voice of a multitude." That man is Jesus Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's who Daniel saw, all right?
Back in chapter 12, verse 5 says, "'Then I, Daniel, looked, and
behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank
of the river and the other on that side of the bank of the
river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon
the waters of the river, how long shall it be to the end of
these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in
linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up
his right hand and his left hand unto heaven and swear by him
that liveth forever. What that right there means is
because Christ could swear by no greater, he swore by himself. Verse seven, I heard the man
clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river when
he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven and
swear by him that liveth forever that it shall be for a time,
times and a half. He said, after a time, times
and a half, that word means apart, the end will come. How long is
that? I have no idea. I have no idea. We're about to see, we're about
to read that Daniel had no idea. I have no idea. Daniel had no idea. Our Lord
said the angels in heaven have no idea. What man or woman is so foolish
as to think that he or she has outsmarted God's secret? Verse seven, I heard the man
clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river when
he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven and
swear by him that liveth forever that it shall be for a time,
times and a half. And when he shall have accomplished
to scatter the power of the holy people, All these things shall
be finished. Scatter the power of the holy
people. What does that mean? That word power means strength.
Scatter the strength of the holy people. I don't exactly know
what that means, but our Lord did say when he returns, shall
he even find faith on this earth? The Apostle Paul told the Thessalonians,
that day shall not come except there come a falling away first. That's sad, isn't it? Verse seven, I heard the man
clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when
he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and
swear by him that liveth forever, that it shall be for a time,
times and a half, and when he shall have accomplished to scatter
the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I heard, but I understood
not. Then said I, O my Lord, what
shall be the end of these things? And he said, go thy way, Daniel,
for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified and made
white and tried. That word tried means refined,
like gold is refined, the dross is consumed away. He said, but
the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall
understand But the wise shall understand. That word understand
means discern. He said, until that time, the
wicked are not gonna have any discernment of these things.
But he said, those who have been made wise in Christ shall be
given discernment. They will understand what I've
written right here. Verse 11, and from the time that the daily
sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that maketh
desolate set up. And you know from our many messages
on this subject from both here in Daniel and in Matthew, Matthew
was talking about it. The daily sacrifice was taken
away. and the abomination of idolatry
was set up in its place in the year 70 AD. Rome besieged Jerusalem, just
leveled it and set up, took away the sacrifice and set up idolatry,
70 AD, okay? Verse 11, from the time that
the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination
that maketh desolate set up There shall be 1,290 days. 1,290. How
long is that? What does that mean? What does
that signify? I don't know. But in Daniel 9,
in Daniel chapter 9, 70 weeks was 490 years. We know that because
it, after 490 years, it came to pass and we can see that it
was 77. So that's what it translated
to. One week was seven years. One
week, seven years. What that means is one day was
one year. If that applies here, the abomination
that maketh desolate was the year 70. Plus 1290 would be the year 1360. What happened in the year 1360?
I don't know. I Googled it. There are some
things on record. I don't know. Verse 11, from
the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination
that maketh desolate set up, there shall be 1,290 days. Blessed is he that waiteth and
cometh to the 1,305 and 30 days. 1,335. Is that 45 more years
than 1290? 1,335. Is that 45 more years from 1290 bringing
it to the year 1405? Or should 1335 be added to 1290? plus the original 70, we started
at 70, bringing it to the year 2695.
Where are we at right now? 2024, all that totals 2695. Well, I think that may be more,
the earth didn't end in 1405. I think that one may be more
appropriate, but here's the thing about it. There's not a soul
on this earth that knows. There's not a soul on this earth
that knows. Our Lord told Daniel, this thing
is sealed up until the day that moment comes. There it is, we
figured it out. Those who are wise will have
discernment. 2695 everybody. No, we are not that smart. It's sealed up until the day
it comes like a thief in the night. It's sealed up. All right, so here's the conclusion
that was told to Daniel. This is the conclusion. For every
child of God, verse 13, this is what was told to him. He said,
go thou thy way till the end be. For thou shalt rest and stand
in thy lot at the end of the days. What he said is, you leave
all the worrying about this to me. You just leave all the worrying
about the end to me. Your end is secure. You are going
to rest in me. You are going to stand in your
lot, the lot of your inheritance in me. Just look to me. Just look for me. Just wait on
me. Because if I said the end is
coming and I'm coming back, The end is coming and I'm coming
back. Now, let me leave us with this thought to really ponder
and consider, okay? I sincerely want us to get a
hold of this. We do not know the moment that
our Lord is going to return. We do not know the moment. It
could be 600 years from now. or it could be six minutes from
now. Honestly. Either way, both of
those possibilities ought to strengthen us in the ministry
of the gospel. Either way, if the Lord is coming
back tonight, then let's not leave this place. If the Lord
is coming back tonight, let's not even go home. Let's stay
right here, worshiping Him, preaching Him, praising Him, pressing everyone
we can to Him. If He's coming back right now,
we need to tell everybody, hear the gospel, believe on Christ,
bow the knee to Christ. The time is at hand. It's urgent right now. He's coming
right now. But if our Lord is not going
to return for hundreds of years, if he waits hundreds of years
to come back, then let's press the gospel with all of our might
because there is still time for a revival. If he's not coming back, then
we have time for a revival. There may still be time for a
revival. Our Lord said when he comes back,
will he find faith on this earth? There is gonna be a great falling
away before he returns. But if our Lord tarries, there
may be time for a revival between now and that moment. Either way,
we have reason to be fervent in the ministry. very fervent
in the ministry. Until our Lord comes back, may
we treat everything concerning the gospel in either of those ways. Either
he's coming back tonight or he has given us time for a revival.
He told Daniel, you don't worry about the end, you focus on right
now. Focus on this moment right now,
and I pray God will give us the ability to do that. No matter
what or when the end may be, may God give us a heart to focus
on the ministry of Pete preaching Jesus Christ and him crucified
right now. Right now. I pray it'll be urgent
to us. for either one of those reasons.
We have a message of rest by his blood. He said, you're going
to rest. I shed my blood and secured that
for you. We have a message of inheritance
by his righteousness. He said, I have done everything
that needs to be done to earn glory for you. I pray God will give us a heart
to preach that message to every soul he will allow us to until
the day that he comes back, whenever that moment may be.