Sunday
Morning Bible Study
July
21, 2013
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved?
The last three chapters of Daniel are a complete group. In Daniel 10, this final section starts with
Daniel fasting and praying when an angelic visitor shows up. The visitor brings to Daniel a detailed
prophetic look at the future of Daniel’s people, the Jews.
Daniel 11 started with the amazing details laid out of the various kingdoms
that would one day fight over Israel, leading up to the wicked king known as Antiochus
Epiphanes around 150 BC.
The last part of Daniel 11 jumped from Antiochus to an individual known as
the antichrist. The antichrist will be considered the “Messiah” of Israel as he
initially comes to rescue Israel from its attackers before he turns to destroy
them.
Last week we talked about the battle that will wage in heaven during the
last half of the Tribulation over God’s beloved Jewish people as they face
persecution like never before …
(Da 12:1 NKJV) “At that
time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who
stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of
trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book.
12:2-3 Resurrection
:2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the
earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting
contempt.
:2 those who sleep … shall awake
who sleep – yashen
– sleeping
earth – ‘adamah
– ground, land
dust – ‘aphar
– dry earth, dust, powder, ashes, earth, ground, mortar, rubbish
shall awake – quwts
– to awake, wake up; (Hiphil) to awaken, arouse, show signs of waking,
awake
In the Bible, death is sometimes referred to as “sleep”. That’s because a dead body simply looks like
it’s asleep.
Lesson
Life After
Death
The concept being told to Daniel is called “resurrection”.
People who have died, and whose bodies have decayed, will receive new
bodies.
This is not reincarnation.
You do not come back as somebody else. You come back as you.
There are actually several resurrections through history.
Temporary resurrections
There have been resurrections throughout history where a person is raised
from the dead, but will eventually die again.
Elijah and Elisha raised some people from the dead (1Ki. 17:22; 2Ki. 4:35)
(1 Ki 17:22 NKJV) Then
the Lord heard the voice of
Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.
(2 Ki 4:35 NKJV) He
returned and walked back and forth in the house, and again went up and
stretched himself out on him; then the child sneezed seven times, and the child
opened his eyes.
Jesus raised several people from the dead, including Lazarus. (John 11)
(Jn 11:43–44 NKJV) —43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud
voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he
who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was
wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
These were all temporary resurrections.
Each of the people eventually died.
Death before Jesus
When anybody dies, their spirit separates from their body. Before Jesus rose from the dead, everybody
went to a place known as Sheol.
Sheol was divided into two
compartments: Paradise (or, Abraham’s
bosom) and Hell (or, Hades).
Jesus gave us a description of Sheol:
(Lk
16:19–31 NKJV) —19 “There was a certain rich man who
was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there
was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring
to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the
dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to
Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being
in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Abraham’s bosom was a place of comfort. Hades was a place of torment.
24
“Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and
send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue;
for I am tormented in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received
your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and
you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf
fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those
from there pass to us.’
It is not possible to go from one destination to the other
once you have died.
27
“Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send
him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they
also come to this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them
hear them.’ 30
And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the
dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”
I wonder if there are people you know who are dead who
wish you could be warned about what’s up ahead.
People’s
destination on the other side of death is determined by what happens on this
side of death.
When Jesus was dying on the cross, one of the thieves who died with Him
came to believe in Jesus.
(Lk 23:43 NKJV) And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be
with Me in Paradise.”
Jesus promised to take this repentant thief to Paradise.
Heaven after Jesus
The Bible tells us that Jesus “preached to the spirits in prison” (1Pet.
3:19) and that when He rose from the dead, He “led captivity captive” (Eph.
4:8).
(1 Pe 3:18–19 NKJV) —18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the
unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made
alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom also
He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
(Eph 4:8–10 NKJV) —8 Therefore
He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts
to men.” 9 (Now this, “He
ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower
parts of the earth? 10 He who
descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might
fill all things.)
We believe this means that after Jesus died on the cross, He went to Sheol and emptied out the Paradise side, taking the
righteous with Him to heaven.
Jesus took the Old Testament saints with Him to heaven, though they were
still in their body-less state. Though
this was a change in address for these Old Testament saints, this was not a
resurrection – they still do not have physical bodies.
Jesus’ resurrection
When Jesus rose from the dead, He wasn’t just a spirit, but He had a
physical body.
(Lk 24:39–43 NKJV) —39 Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for
a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” 40 When He
had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. 41 But while
they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you
any food here?” 42 So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. 43 And He
took it and ate in their presence.
Jesus was the first to rise from the dead with a body that would never die
again.
His old body was transformed into a new, glorious body that could do some
pretty cool things like appear out of nowhere, walk through walls, and even
fly.
When we go through true resurrection, we will have bodies like His. (also 1Jn. 3:2)
(1 Jn 3:2 NKJV) Beloved,
now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be,
but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see
Him as He is.
(1
Co 15:49 NKJV) And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall
also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
Death now
Now, after Jesus’ resurrection, when a person dies, they are separated from
their body and their spirit will go to one of two places:
Hell – same place it’s always been in Sheol.
Heaven – to be with Jesus.
People in both locations are still in the “intermediate state” meaning that
they are conscious, alive, but without a body.
Paul said that for the believer, to
die means being with Jesus. (Phil. 1:23)
(Php 1:21–23 NKJV) —21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is
gain. 22 But if I live
on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I
shall choose I cannot tell. 23 For I am
hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which
is far better.
For the believer, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord
– in heaven.
(2
Co 5:6–8 NKJV) —6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at
home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by
sight. 8 We are
confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be
present with the Lord.
Rapture
We are getting very close to the time when the next true resurrection will
take place. It is an event known as the
Rapture.
Paul wrote to his Christian friends in Thessalonica about those who had
already died. People were concerned that
they might miss out on the second coming of Christ if they had already died.
(1
Th 4:13–18 NKJV) —13 But I do
not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep,
lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died
and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we
say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain
until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
Those of us who are alive on the planet when the Rapture
occurs will not be getting our new glorified bodies before those who have already died…
16
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ
will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always
be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
All those righteous people who have died since the
beginning of time will get their new glorified bodies first, then those of us
still alive on the earth will be caught up into heaven where we too will
receive our new bodies.
It’s an event that will happen
very, very quickly.
(1 Co 15:51–53 NKJV) —51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed— 52 in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will
sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53
For this corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
This will take place before the seven year Tribulation on the earth. In the blink of an eye the believers will all
be gone.
Post Trib
Righteous
At the end of the Tribulation, Jesus will return to the earth with us. He will take charge of the earth. And there will be another resurrection.
For the most part, this is the resurrection that Daniel is learning about
in Daniel 12:2. John records it like
this:
(Re 20:4 NKJV) And I saw
thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I
saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and
for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not
received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived
and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
This resurrection will be of all those who have come to
trust in Jesus after the Rapture, during
the Tribulation, but who ended up dying for their faith.
They will rule the earth with Jesus and with us for a thousand
years.
There is still one large group of people who have died and have not yet
received new physical bodies. The unbelievers.
Great White Throne
At the end of the thousand years, there will be one more resurrection.
(Re 20:5a NKJV) But the
rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished…
The final resurrection takes place before God’s throne of judgment.
(Re
20:11–15 NKJV) —11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose
face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw
the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And
another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were
judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
13 The sea
gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who
were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death
and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone
not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
It’s at this point that all the unrighteous dead from the
beginning of history are given new bodies, and will stand to face the judgment
of God.
:2 everlasting life … everlasting
contempt
life – chay
– living, alive; life (abstract emphatic); life
everlasting – ‘owlam
– long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting,
evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world
everlasting – ‘owlam
– long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting,
evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world
In case you didn’t notice, EVERYBODY will be resurrected one day. Good and bad, believer and unbeliever.
Everybody will receive a new body that is meant to last forever.
Some will receive a body characterized by everlasting life.
Others will be resurrected to shame and everlasting contempt.
The word translated “contempt” is found in
shame – cherpah
– scorn; reproach
This is like the
“shame” you experience when you are found to be the one to blame for some bad
thing that happened. Another translation
is “condemnation”.
contempt – dera’own
– aversion, abhorrence
It’s a word used
in:
(Is
66:24 NKJV) “And they shall go forth and look Upon the
corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not
die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.
Lesson
Choose now
Everyone will live forever.
Some will live forever in heaven with God.
Some will live forever in the lake of fire.
Once you die, it’s too late to change your destination. The Catholic Church has this concept that
people work their way out of “purgatory”, or can even be bought out of
purgatory, but it’s not Biblical.
It’s the choice you make on this side of death that determines where you
spend eternity on the other side of death.
The Bible says,
(Heb 9:27 NKJV) And as it
is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment…
You get no second chances after death.
How does the “judgment” work?
None of us can be good enough on our own.
It’s only when we trust in Jesus, and Jesus pays for our sins, that we
can be “good enough” for heaven.
(2 Co 5:21 NKJV) For He made Him who
knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of
God in Him.
He paid a debt He didn’t owe because we owed a debt we
couldn’t pay.
For us to find everlasting life, we must choose to believe in Jesus.
(Jn 3:16 NKJV) For God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Joshua told the nation
(Jos 24:15 NKJV) …choose for
yourselves this day whom you will serve…
You have to make a choice.
To be undecided is to be decided.
When you walk into an office building and stand before the elevator, you
have to choose – up or down. There’s no
“undecided”.
The Bible says that “today” is the day to make your choice.
(2 Co 6:2b NKJV) Behold,
now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
I pray that today you will make the choice to believe in Jesus.
:3 Those who are wise shall shine Like the
brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the
stars forever and ever.
:3 Those who are wise shall shine
Shining like the “brightness of the firmament” is a way of saying a “sunny
day”.
Jesus said,
(Mt 13:43 NKJV) …the
righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
This is “glory”. Our new,
resurrected bodies will have “glory”.
They will shine.
Jesus is God. When He took on human
flesh He sort of “veiled” or covered up His glory. One time He gave the disciples a peek of what
“glory” looked like:
(Mt 17:2 NKJV) and He was
transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became
as white as the light.
The special effects aren’t that great in that movie. I think a better picture of “glory” peeking
through comes from the 1985 movie, “Cocoon”
Play “Cocoon –
Light peeking out” clip
Who are the “wise”?
(Pr 9:10 NKJV) “The fear
of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One
is understanding.
Do you respect the Lord? Do you have
a healthy “fear” of Him? Do you believe
in the Lord?
Then one day you too will have a “glorified” body. You too will shine like the sun.
:3 those who turn many to righteousness
(Like the stars forever and ever)
This is a promise of something extra special to those who would be involved
in God’s plan to bring people to Himself.
When we are aware of what “forever” is all about, it ought to motivate us
to want to share Jesus with others. We
ought to want to take as many people to heaven as we can.
Lesson
Reach the Lost
James wrote,
(Jas 5:20 NKJV) let him know that he
who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and
cover a multitude of sins.
Solomon wrote,
(Pr 11:30 NKJV) The fruit
of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who
wins souls is wise.
We are actually commanded by Jesus
to bring people to Him:
(Mt 28:19–20 NKJV) —19 Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20
teaching them to observe all things that
I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of
the age.” Amen.
The Bible says that when we are
filled with the Holy Spirit, we are given the “power” or “ability” to be His
witnesses
(Ac 1:8 NKJV) But you shall
receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be
witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of
the earth.”
Jesus Himself was criticized by the religious people of His day because He spent
too much time with “sinners”.
One time He was invited to a party
at a tax collector’s house…
(Lk 5:29–32 NKJV) —29 Then Levi
gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax
collectors and others who sat down with them. 30 And their scribes and the
Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do You
eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 Jesus answered and said to them,
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not
come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost. This was at the very heart of who He was.
Do you have Jesus’ heart for the lost?
You’ll be hearing more and more about the upcoming Harvest Crusade next
month, but in September, you could host a mini Harvest Crusade in your own
living room.
If you are interested in opening your home for the Harvest America event
(Sept. 28 or 29), let me or one of the other pastors know. And go to HarvestAmerica.com to sign up to
host the event.