Daniel 12 - What To Know About The End

Main Idea: Wisely wait for Christ’s return while obeying & sharing Him.

• Suffering is coming for God’s people.

  • To follow Christ is to follow Him into suffering.

  • A special time of suffering is ahead for God’s rescue of Israel.

• Resurrection is coming for all people.

  • There is a resurrection to life, glorification, rest, & reward.

  • There is a resurrection to disgrace, contempt, & condemnation.

• Patience is needed for God’s people.

  • Patiently study God’s Word to learn about Him & His will.

  • Patiently share the Gospel so others can believe in Jesus.

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HELPFUL RESOURCES FOR FURTHER STUDY

• Tabernacle Talks on 2 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 4-5, Mark 13, 2 Peter 3

• The Fathers On The Future by Dr. Michael Svigel

• Dispensationalism by Charles C. Ryrie

• Revelation: The Spirit Speaks To The Churches by James M. Hamilton Jr.

• Kingdom Come: The Amillennial Alternative by Sam Storms

Sermon Transcript (Auto-Transcribed by Apple Podcasts)

I've entitled the message today, What to Know About the End. What to Know About the End. One of my kid's favorite questions at night is, Dad, what are we doing tomorrow?

Sometimes I've got an answer for that. Sometimes I think I have an answer for that. And other times I've got no clue on what tomorrow is going to bring.

I can't actually control each day and what I do in it. I could have like a random meeting that comes up. One of my kids could get sick.

If you're one of those that was by York Road, a water main could break and tear up that whole part of town. There's a million possibilities of what could happen, and I control none of them.

But I'm so thankful that our God not only knows what the future holds, but He's guiding it, and He's the one in control of what will happen to you and I.

Today, we're gonna be talking about what God's told us about the very end of the story of humanity. And just so you know, it doesn't end with the ocean swallowing us or us nuking each other into oblivion.

Instead, it ends with death itself being destroyed, with all evil being justly punished, and with an everlasting reward for everyone that has come to know the Lord Jesus.

So what I'm gonna challenge us to today is to wisely wait for Christ's return while obeying and sharing Him. Wisely wait for Christ's return while obeying and sharing Him. Would you pray with me as we start today?

Ask God to speak to our hearts, that He would give us something not just for this week, but for some hope and certainty for our future as we await Jesus' return. God, thank you for today. Lord, thank you for every person that is here.

I pray for those that are sick today and not able to make it. I pray for those that are on vacation. And Lord, we again pray for the Keys and the Mills family, even as they've got their memorial service right after our service today.

God, I pray that you would speak to each person that is here. Lord, for those that know Christ, Lord, may there be just a joy and a delight in knowing that you will return.

Lord, may we not fear that day, but may we be expectant and joyful about the fact that you will come and everything wrong will be made right.

Lord, if there's someone here today that does not know you as Savior, they've never called on the name of the Lord to be saved. They've never repented from their sins and turned to Jesus.

God, I ask that today as they hear about who you are and what you've done, what you've promised, God, I pray that it would spark their hearts to worship you and that they would accept you as their Lord.

We love you and we pray all of this in the name above every name, Jesus, amen. All right, if you've got your Bibles, let's turn over to Daniel chapter 12. Head over to Daniel chapter 12 and we're gonna read through this chapter's only 13 verses.

I'm gonna make a couple quick highlights and then we'll dive into some things that we need to know about the end.

Daniel 12 and verse 1, at that time, this is the end of days, the time of the end, as we would read even in chapter 11 and verse number 40. At the time of the end, Michael, this was the angel that Daniel got introduced to.

He's the one that, if you will, is kind of the guardian angel over Israel. I absolutely don't have time to go on a rabbit trail about angels watching over us.

All I gotta say is Alabama, the music group, they might have been a little bit right when they talked about, I believe there are angels among us.

I can't sing any more than that, otherwise I'm gonna get copyright struck on YouTube and I can't do that. Michael, this guardian over the Jewish people, the great prince, he stands watch over his people. He will rise up.

There is a need for defense for Israel in the last times. He says, there will be a time of distress such as never has occurred since nations came into being until that time. Okay, this gives us a very particular mindset that we need to have.

That's not just, okay, we live in 2025. I think time is tough for Israel. So is right now the time that it's talking about?

Are we talking about this nation of Israel right here and right now? Well, you can think, he gives the caveat, there is a time of distress such as never has occurred since nations came into being.

Do you think that Egypt under the Ten Plagues had a rougher time of it than Israel does right now? Last I checked, there's no grasshoppers eating all of the crops of Israel. There's no river being turned to blood.

So right now is not that time. I'll throw in this.

Sometimes when people talk about the end times, in order to sell more books or sell more DVDs, people will sensationalize what is currently happening and they will say, listen, you gotta buy my 56 course, my 56 lesson course, and it will tell you how

right now really is the end of days. And Emmanuel Macron slash Brad Pitt are actually the antichrist. And if you just pay me lots of money, I'll tell you how all of this fits into the Bible.

The Bible, it's God's book, it's divine, it's not always instantly, instantaneously understood by us.

But if we read the Bible and read the words that it says and take them at face value, we can get some good insight for our life and not just be led astray by every wind of doctrine.

So here there is a time of incredible distress, worse than any other time in human history. He says, but at that time, all your people who are found written in the book will escape. This is the book of life.

You can read Revelation and read more about the book of life that God is not surprised by anyone that comes to know him as Savior.

We talked about this a little bit in John 6 and John 10, that before the foundation of the world, for everyone that has accepted Christ, their names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life, is what we're told in Revelation.

That just thrills my soul, because I know if God did it before all eternity passed, that I'm safe today, and God's not going to go, oops, I made a mistake, all of eternity passed. I guess I'll blot this name out.

Instead, we can have a certainty knowing that if our names are written in the Book, he says all of them will escape. Then verse two, many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake. This is resurrection.

This isn't just saying you go sleep in the desert, you're going to wake up. He says there is resurrection that is coming. He says some to eternal life.

And then he says in some to disgrace and eternal contempt. All of us are going to, if you will, live forever. The question is in what state will we live forever?

Will we have the eternal life that Jesus died to give us for everyone that will turn to him? Or will we have disgrace and eternal contempt?

Verse number three, those who have insight, wisdom, this isn't just the Harvard grads, this is those who have spiritual wisdom, that they believe what God has said.

Those who have insight will shine like the bright expanse of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. This is what's called in Christian theology, the beatific vision. You don't have to know that term.

It's not on the test. But it's basically this. When the resurrection happens, you and I get new bodies.

We get bodies that are like Jesus' body when he rose from the dead. A body that is indestructible. You can't puncture it.

You can't harm it in any way. It's not going to have diseases anymore. We're not going to have all of the cracking bones.

You're not going to sleep weird on it and then spend the whole next week going, Oh no, Lord, take me now. We are going to have new bodies. And these new bodies will be simultaneously a spiritual body and a physical body.

Paul goes into detail in this in 1 Corinthians 15. That's all I'll say about that for now. But those that listen to the Lord, that follow the Lord, they get resurrected.

They get new bodies. And not only do they get new bodies, or that's not the shortest end of it. It's they get to lead others to know the Lord.

And those people also get everlasting life. Do you know God didn't just save you for you? God saved you so that you would share the gospel with other people.

That the light that God has placed in you, Jesus, the light of the world, that you would pass on that light to others. Okay, that's the angel. He's been giving a long talk with Daniel since chapter 11 and verse number two.

Then he steps back from prophecy and he starts talking directly to Daniel. He says, you know, much like I might say, all right, Darryl, I'm going to talk about all this prophecy stuff. Now I got something that I want you specifically to do.

This is not just for all of the people. This is for you. He says, but you, Daniel, keep these words secret and seal the book until the time of the end.

Many will roam about and knowledge will increase. God says this, what's happening at the very end? It is a mystery.

And there's going to come a time for the mystery to be revealed.

Even as we look at the Book of Revelation, you can see so many things that were brought up in Daniel 7 through 12 that now a couple hundred years later, John the apostle says, okay, here's what we were praying for.

Here's what we were hoping for this entire time. And here's what Jesus has revealed is going to happen. But he says, Daniel, this isn't for right now.

So seal it up. This is going to have a time and place, but it's not right now. He says, put this away till the end.

Verse 5, then I, Daniel, looked and two others were standing there, one on this bank of the river and one on the other.

One of them said to the man dressed in linen who was above the water of the river, how long until the end of these wondrous things? I'm sure many of you would like to know that too. That you'd say, okay, God, how long until you're coming back?

Here's the question that the angels here ask. Then I heard the man dressed in linen who was above the water of the river. He raised both his hands toward heaven and swore by him who lives eternally that it would be for a time, times, and half a time.

So we already went through this back in chapter 7, and then I think we touched on it very briefly in chapter 9. This is three and a half years of what would be called the Great Tribulation.

So last week we talked about Daniel, he had his prophecy about seventy-sevens, and how the last of those sevens, that last period of seven years, is still to come. The last half of that time period is called the Great Tribulation.

Jeremiah would call it the time of Jacob's trouble. Jesus would tell us in Matthew 24 that it is the time of the abomination of desolation. This is when Israel is betrayed.

They turn their hearts to the Messiah. They finally turn to Jesus wholesale as a people, and God rescues them from this last three and a half years of great tribulation.

He says, when the power of the holy people is shattered, the holy people is what group of people? It's what nation? Israel.

It's what God has been going over this entire time. When the power of the holy people is shattered, all these things will be completed. So at the end of that three and a half years, you have a battle.

We would know it as the Battle of Armageddon, and at that Battle of Armageddon, the Jewish people lose. The followers of Jesus at the end of that time period, they lose the battle.

But then Jesus returns, and we'll go over that next week, so I don't want to give away too much for you guys. All these things will be completed. That's when you know that the end has come.

Daniel verse 8, and I think many of us could echo this, I heard but did not understand. Can you all say that with me? I heard but did not understand.

That's many of us. So I asked my Lord, what will be the outcome of these things? Verse 9, he said, go on your way, Daniel, for the words are secret and sealed until the time of the end.

God doesn't owe us an answer or an immediate answer for every question that we have from him. That's hard for me. I want answers for the things I ask, and I feel like, God, these are all very fair questions.

I think you should have answered me. Why did this happen? Why won't you allow for this to happen?

But God has his wisdom, his time, and so we are called to listen to him. He says, the words are secret and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, cleansed and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly.

None of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand. Those that choose to listen to God will have this life, they will understand.

But those that are wicked, they refuse to follow God, they won't understand the times that they are living in. Verse 11, from the time the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.

Happy is the one who waits for and reaches 1,335 days. Okay, I'm going to take just that. The initial there, 1,290 days, that's that last 3 1⁄2 years of the tribulation.

So he says, Happy is the one that waits through that time.

And even though there's great difficulties and governmental oppression of those that believe in the Messiah, he says, even though that's a hard time period, if you persevere and you don't give up on the Lord, you don't begin worshiping the

governmental beast as we'd read about in Daniel 7 or in the Book of Revelation. He says, if you don't give up and you stick with the Lord, you will be happy at the end of that time when God restores and renews everything.

And then mysteriously for our end in verse number 12, there's an additional 45 days that happens after that final battle of Armageddon, up until when the millennial kingdom of Christ is instituted. So, there's a whole bunch of conjecture.

Suffice it to say this, those that wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will rise up with wings as eagles. They will walk and not be tired.

They will run and they will not faint. I see some people that need some of that running and that not fainting. I love, this is not in my notes.

This is just for you because I feel like the Lord has it for you. I love the word wait in Hebrew. The word is like a vine that crawls up.

We've got our like AC unit outside and there's these vines that they just like wrap around and they put all these things around the grate, around the AC and it's really hard to tear them off.

That's the word that God inspires for us to wait on the Lord is cling on. It's not just like, okay, I'm going to sit here and wait for God. It's clinging on.

It's going, God, I can't make it through this on my own. Like I have to have you. If I don't have you, then all of this is going to end up in nothing.

My life is going to be pointless. God, I need you. I need you to be faithful to your promises.

I need you to be my healer. I need you to be the restorer. I need you to be my savior.

But everyone that calls on the Lord for that, everyone that waits on the Lord, that clings to him like a vine clinging to a tree or a fence or an AC grate, they will find God faithful time and time and time again.

So I'm thankful that when we wait on the Lord, he is faithful to carry us through. Verse number 13, the whole book ends with this. But as for you, Daniel, go on your way to the end.

You will rest and then you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance at the end of the days. Unfortunately, well, I say unfortunate. It's not really all that unfortunate.

If you know Jesus, one day, your life is going to change in one of two ways. Either you will pass and you will be in the presence of Jesus in heaven, or Jesus will return and you will be in the presence of Jesus forever.

In either case, we end up with Jesus. Daniel here, he died. He didn't get to see the Messiah.

He wasn't around for a couple of 500 or so more years to see Jesus in Bethlehem or in Capernaum or in Jerusalem. But as he was waiting on the Lord, he went to his rest.

And then he was promised he would rise to receive his allotted inheritance at the end of the days. You go, all right, Bryon, what do I do with that? What am I supposed to do this week?

There are three things that are coming for us that we need to know about the end. How many things are there coming for us? Three.

Okay, you've got it there on your handout. We're going to preach through it. First, suffering is coming for God's people.

Michael. Oh, come on. I was hoping for a good message.

What to know about the end? I want to hope suffering is coming for God's people. First, to follow Christ is to follow him into suffering.

The apostle Paul told Timothy, everyone who chooses to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Jesus said, in this world, you will have trouble. Be of good cheer.

I have overcome the world. James, the half brother of Jesus, tells us, consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. The Christian life is not the trouble free life.

So suffering is going to come for each and every one of us.

Jesus himself suffered hunger, thirst, homelessness, family rejection, religious oppression, unjust governmental oppression, taxes, abandonment by friends, foreign occupation of his homeland, personal temptation by Satan himself, and a million other

things. We have a day where we get in an argument with someone because we're trying to control them, and we're ready to throw in the towel. We're like, oh God, how can I go through so much suffering?

And he says, do you have any idea what I went through for you? Not just the cross, but all of his life, he suffered. And so if we're going to follow Jesus, we're going to follow him into some times of suffering.

Can I encourage you? Choose to suffer well this week. When you're sick, pray and thank God for what you still have.

When there's relational difficulties, thank the Lord that the other person is still around in your life, that you can still share Jesus with them.

When there's financial difficulties, thank the Lord that he has brought you this far, and thank him for every item that you possess, and remind yourself that it all truly belongs to him. He can give it and he can take it back as he sees fit.

Suffering's coming, but here's the good news. The ultimate suffering, this time of tribulation, is not something that is mentioned for us as the people of God.

Instead, as you can see there on your handout, a special time of suffering is ahead for God's rescue of Israel. Went over this briefly last week, so this is just a little review.

So the story of humanity is, in its first part, the story of Israel, and then you have the story of the church. So for all of humanity, we are rescued from sin and death through what Jesus has accomplished.

And the story of Israel in particular is that Jesus would come from that family lineage. And God also promised them a land and a familial relationship with the son of David reigning over them forever.

Is the son of David currently sitting on a throne in Israel? Everyone, yes or no? No, he's not currently sitting on a physical throne in Israel.

But God will fulfill his promises to end sin, to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to reign over his people, who will finally love and worship him. But we'd say, okay, how do we get from where we are right now?

I think Israel has, I think they have like a democratic republic is the form of government that they currently have. How do we get from there to Jesus being on the throne?

The answer is the tribulation, this seven year period that's broken into in scripture a relatively peaceful first half and a world ending second half with humanity's evil on full display and God orchestrating miracles and judgments like he did in the

first Exodus. This is the time of Jacob's trouble as the prophet Jeremiah called it. Jesus talked about it at the end of his earthly ministry.

The apostle Paul addressed it in his letters to the church in Thessalonica and the apostle John wrote about it in the revelation of Jesus Christ.

So if God mentioned it in all of these places, do you guys think that it's important or that God wanted us to know about it? If he wrote about it again and again and again over the course of centuries? Absolutely.

The point of this specific time period is not to torment mankind, but to rescue them. I'm going to say that one more time because people have a lot of thoughts about the tribulation. The tribulation is God's final rescue attention getter for mankind.

It is not intended to be a time of just punishment or torment or anything like that.

It's for all the people that have said through the ages, oh man, if God just like wrote something in the sky, if he did some big miracle in my life or some big obvious sign that I could see, then I would believe on him.

It's God doing that for seven years straight and humanity at large still going, hmm, but I don't really like the way that he did it.

And it's heartbreaking in that sense, but the time is meant for God to rescue whoever from humanity will call on Christ there before his final rule.

The other point of this time period is to bring justice on those that inflict unspeakable evil on others, especially those that believe in Jesus. Like in the initial Exodus, those that follow God and worship him will find safety from his wrath.

But those that refuse to repent of their evil will experience the natural results of rejecting the source of life.

Next week, we're going to look at why I believe that this tribulation is still ahead in God's timetable, that this didn't happen proverbially in AD 70 or back in AD like 160, 150, or sorry, 150, 160 BC with Antiochus Epiphanus.

I'm going to tell you next week why I believe from the scripture that this is still to come and why I believe that Jesus will come for his bride in what's called the rapture before it begins. But for you and I, what do we do with this information?

Number one, we pray for Jesus' return. Do you pray for Jesus to come back? John encourages us to pray this at the end of Revelation, where he says, the spirit and the bride say come.

And he says, even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. So we pray for Jesus' return. Number two, we share the gospel.

Every week back on our table, we've got some gospel tracks. We've got little like one page ones. We have little booklets, whatever fits your fancy.

Share the gospel with other people. And then number three, hopefully anticipate the return of Jesus. Don't fear Jesus' return.

Look forward to it. Ask that it would come even in your lifetime. Okay, so number one, suffering is coming for God's people.

Can everyone say, aww? Secondly, resurrection is coming for all people. Resurrection is coming for all people.

We saw this in the passage. First, there is a resurrection to life, glorification, rest, and reward.

John would tell us in Revelation 20, I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image and who had not accepted the mark on their

foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.

Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

So God says, there's a time of resurrection coming for you in which you will reign and rule with Christ. You will be a priest of God for a thousand years.

Because Jesus rose, everyone who calls on Jesus as their Lord, the one in charge of their life, will experience a physical resurrection. And in that body, like Jesus' resurrected body, we will live for all of eternity.

First on this earth, and then when God renews this earth to what it should have been initially before we messed it up, we will live physically forever in that new heavens and that new earth. What will that life be like?

Well, you can attend Pastor Ron's class. He's preaching actually over at our kind of mother church, Middle River Baptist today.

You can go to Pastor Ron's class on Wednesday nights, and they're going through a book that talks about this kingdom of Jesus here on earth. But suffice it to say, that life is a life without pain, without disease, without grief, without death.

What would you do for a thousand years if you didn't have to worry about your survival, about making a mortgage payment, about having to make money? What would you do with your life? What would you create?

Where would you visit? What would you see? Especially since at any point, you can go bodily visit Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

How would you spend that thousand years? That's that resurrection life that is coming. And even after that thousand years, we've still got all of eternity with Jesus as well.

But this is the hope that God has placed before us. They're on your sheet. As you see those words, life, glorification, rest and reward were raised to life, a undying, un-diseased, un-hampered life.

Secondly, glorification, like I mentioned earlier, will be like Jesus and we will see him as he truly is. You can think back to the Mount of Transfiguration where they saw Jesus shining in all of his glory.

We'll get to see Jesus as he truly is in all of his splendor. We will experience rest as you even look at Hebrews 3 and 4 where the writer there tells us that there's still a Sabbath rest, a soul rest coming for the people of God.

We anticipate that day. It's, if you will, in the seven day narrative of creation in Genesis 1, you have on the seventh day, God rested. And he just, if you will, he keeps on resting.

He didn't have to re-create some portion of the earth. There is an everlasting rest that our Lord has, that he's not worried about his survival. He's not worried about having to make a quota.

And so for us, one day, there's just a total soul rest that is coming. I don't know about you guys, from week to week, I get tired. I get exhausted.

It's exhausting dealing with me. It's exhausting dealing with sometimes when you have toddlers that are sick and you're, you know, up at three in the morning, you're like, listen, come to bed. I'll snuggle you.

I'll put some Vicks Vapour Rub on you. It can be tired. It can be exhausting.

But there's coming a day of rest. So if you're tired today, know that a day of Sabbath rest, full and complete rest with your God is coming in the resurrection. And lastly, there is a day of reward that is coming.

God didn't have to give us anything for loving Him and serving others, but that's what He has promised.

That for those that share the gospel, for those that look forward to the coming of Jesus, for those that want to live in right relationship with God and with others, God has promised crowns. He's promised rewards.

The Apostle Paul would tell us over and over again, things like eternal, lasting, meaningful rewards. Or as Jesus says in His parables, that what we do in the here and now will affect our resurrection life one day.

So what you invest today in the kingdom of God, if you will, pays dividends in that great Sunday. The kindness that you show now, I think of those even right now that are serving downstairs.

God has a reward waiting for those people in the great Sunday. I don't think any of them have been slept, you know, 20 or 50 bucks or something by Teresa for their hard work.

It's just out of the love that they have for their friend who's going through a time of loss that they said, I'm going to love you because Jesus loves you and so I love you. And there is a reward coming one day for what we do even now.

Read this quote from a pastor from the 2nd century earlier this week, and I just loved it. It said this, the just rehearse in corruption and are prepared for salvation. If you will, we've got a grand play that is going on some day.

It's in corruption when we won't die, we won't get diseased, we won't fade away, we won't need rest anymore. And right now we get to rehearse for that play that I walk today.

Like I don't have to worry about my survival because I believe that God will care for every one of my needs.

I get to forgive today like I am already in that kingdom where I need nothing from anyone, that I have everything that the Lord has ever desired to give me. And so I can forgive like I am eternally fine.

Because the truth is this, we are eternally fine. That every day that we walk, we're walking towards that door. That whether it's our death or Jesus' return for his church, we are going towards everlasting life.

And so I can live my life now, not like people on this world that are trying to, if you will, live their best life now. Live your best life later. Live your life now in recognition of the fact that God is keeping the score.

He's got the account that is ready. So live your life now investing in the kingdom of God eternally. And secondly there, there is a resurrection to disgrace, contempt and condemnation.

Revelation 20 also says this, I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life.

And the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books. Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it and death and the grave gave up the dead that were in them. And each one was judged according to their works.

Death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Scripture says that at the end of that thousand years of Christ's rule, there will be another resurrection. One strictly for those that did not believe in Jesus and the word of God.

This resurrection, often called the Great White Throne Judgment, is where God will deal out justice for all of humanity's evil. No one comes to that judgment because God doesn't like them. Jesus paid the price for sin in full on the cross.

And it's only through rejecting Jesus that anyone will end up facing God's justice.

After God deals justly with sin and evil, Scripture says even death and the grave are destroyed in the fire that comes from the presence of God, like we read about in Daniel 7. What does life look like with no more death?

I can't imagine it, but I'm looking forward to that day. Friend, one day God will judge those that have refused his free forgiveness offered in Jesus Christ. Have you accepted Jesus' forgiveness and turned to him as your Lord and Savior?

If you refuse him, there is no other recourse. There's no other way of salvation. All of your evil, your worst moments, every cruel or filthy word you've ever said, every unkind or wrong action you've done will be laid bare before all of creation.

And you will experience shame for how you rejected the God who made you, who loved you, who died for you, who extended grace and forgiveness to you. And yet you spat in his face and refused to be saved. Friend, turn to Jesus today.

Accept his forgiveness. And you will never have to experience that judgment day. Don't love your sin.

Don't pursue it. Run away from that evil master who will only pay you in death and destruction for everything that you give him. So first, suffering is coming for God's people.

Secondly, resurrection is coming for all people. And then, last, later day, shortly, patience is needed for God's people. First, patiently study God's word to learn about him and his will.

We can see even as the angel is interacting with David, he says, seal up this stuff. Those that have insight, those that have wisdom about what God has said, it will lead to life. It will lead to good things.

So for you and I, patiently study God's word to learn about him and his will. While awaiting Christ's return, God wants you to get to know him. He wants you to learn how to be like him.

He wants you to learn your place in his world and in the family of faith, the church that he has created and placed you into. Don't view Bible reading or study or discussion as something for other people. It is for you.

Many people are afraid or confused or scared by the Bible or prophecy, and the truth is that the only reason to be like that is that you don't know what God has said.

If you'd like more information on any of this stuff, I've got resources on your sermon handout.

We've got resources on our website, on our YouTube channel, and you have your very own personal Bible teacher available to you throughout the week, except on Fridays.

But you have someone that if you want to grow and to know more of God's Word, like study it, give your life to it. There is nothing more meaningful that you could give yourself to.

And then lastly, they patiently share the gospel so others can believe in Jesus. Like we read in verse number three of our passage, those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.

Share the gospel, what we've talked about, of Jesus coming, dying in our place for our sins. He was buried, he rose again, and now he offers forgiveness to everyone that will call on him as their Lord, their Savior.

They get to experience total forgiveness of sin, God's own Holy Spirit living inside of them, and they will live with God forever. They'll be resurrected just like you and I. Have you believed in that gospel?

Have you shared that gospel with anyone else? Please feel free to do so today. All of us have people in our life that need to hear the gospel.

Will you share it with them? So, what to know about the end? Suffering is coming for God's people.

Resurrection is coming for all people, whether the resurrection of life or the resurrection to eternal contempt. And then patience is needed for God's people. Today, will you wisely wait for Christ's return while obeying and sharing him?