Daniel chapter 12, be reading the entirety of the chapter, a much shorter chapter than some that we have dealt with in the past, but let's give our attention now to the word of God. Daniel chapter 12, beginning with verse one. At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time, your people shall be delivered. Everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above. And those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book. until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others stood, one on this bank of the stream, and one on that bank of the stream. And 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? And I heard the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the stream. He raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time. And that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end, all these things would be finished. I heard but I did not understand. Then I said, oh my Lord, what shall be the outcome of these things? He said, go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days. Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days. But go your way till the end, and you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days. Thus far, the reading of God's holy word. Let's pray together. Oh Lord, our God, we thank you for your word. all scripture inspired by God, breathed out by him, profitable for doctrine or reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. We thank you especially for the book of Daniel and the many lessons that we have learned as we have worked our way through these passages. We thank you for this chapter tonight. that warns of trouble but also provides comfort and hope for those who are resting in Christ. Lord, would you bless your word tonight and cause it to strengthen us and to stir our affections for our savior and our redeemer. We pray in his name and for his sake, amen. Well, there have been several times over the past number of months as we worked our way through our study of the book of Daniel that I doubted whether or not we were going to actually make it to the end. But God is good, and here we are looking at the last chapter. Looking back over those first 11 chapters, we have seen some pretty unusual things. We've seen striking visions, scary looking creatures. We've seen great tribulation. We've seen lions and devastations of war and many persecutions for the children of God. Now as we come to this final chapter, that trend of unusual things continues on two fronts. On the one hand, we have a very unusual time called a great tribulation period in which the people of God are gonna suffer like never before in the history of man. But on the other hand, we have a very unusual time of blessing. and comfort given to Daniel and to us as those who wait for the time of the end. Now brethren, those two elements provide a rubric for us. They provide a framework through which we will be able to understand this final chapter in the book of Daniel. Let's begin, first of all, with the time of the end. This is a phrase that's used repeatedly throughout these last few chapters, especially where Daniel has this final vision of what's going to happen throughout the history of God's people. And chapter 12 opens with these words. At that time, Michael will stand up. The question is, at what time? Now remember this phrase, the time of the end, and also remember that we don't have chapter divisions in the original text. So chapter 11, as it were, reads right into chapter 12, and if you go back to chapter 11 in verse 40, We said in 40 through 45, here are events and descriptions of individuals that cannot refer to any king in history. This is most likely a figurative description, a description in figurative language of the man of sin at the end of time. who will rage against God's people, who will do much harm, and yet when Christ returns, he will destroy him, and his death will happen somewhere between Jerusalem and the coastlands, according to verse 45. So he will come to his end when Christ returns. Three things, I think, in this last chapter point to the fact that the time of the end is the end of the world and the return of Christ. Not any other time of trouble or tribulation that had happened before that. So three things that point to the time of the end being the end of the world and the return of Christ. And the first is this. We read in verse one that there will be a time of trouble far worse than anything that men have ever gone through since there were people on the earth. It's going to be a time of trouble far worse. Now remember, the Israelites had been through a lot of trouble in their history. They spent 430 years in Egypt as slaves. Was not an easy time. And God said, I've seen the affliction of my people and I've come down to deliver them. Think about, if you were here this morning for the Sunday school lesson, and the description of Jeremiah of the coming destruction of Jerusalem. That it was going to be something that paralleled the screams and the pain of a woman in labor. Remember, this is before epidurals, this is before state law, this is before anything a woman could take to ease her pain. This was in the day when you were gonna hurt and they gave you a stick to bite on to alleviate your concentration upon the pain. So they went through terrible times in Egypt. They went through terrible times in Babylon when Babylon destroyed Jerusalem. They went through terrible times when Antiochus Epiphanes comes on the scene and destroys Jerusalem and sets up the abomination of desolation. All of these things were troublesome times. But my friends, this was gonna be far worse. Worse than Egypt. Worse than Babylon. Worse than Antiochus Epiphanes. And if you look down to verse seven and the expression at the last of that verse, when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, When all their hope and all their strength is gone, then, then these things are going to happen. Now that is the time of struggle that Daniel is hearing is going to take place. Now what is interesting here is how this parallels, uniquely so, the words of the Apostle Paul, especially in 2 Timothy. If you turn over to 2 Timothy and chapter three, listen to what he says in verse one. Know this, that in the last days, an expression that covers all the way from Pentecost to the return of Christ. In the last days, perilous times, will come. Men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, and so on. They're going to be wicked and godless in every way in which they live their lives. And then what do we read in verse 12? Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. And verse 13. Evil men will grow worse and worse. This is going to exceed every time of trouble that has ever been known. And notice how Paul leads right into chapter four, I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing. and his kingdom, the end of the world, when Christ returns. So the words in Daniel about a time of trouble worse than anything man has ever known certainly parallels the appearance of the man of sin, men growing worse and worse, and Christ bringing it all to an end at the judgment. The second indicator that this time of the end is referring to the end of the world is also found in verse one. Look again, Daniel 12 in verse one. And what do we have? At that time, your people will be delivered. Now brothers and sisters, there have been various times throughout the history of the church and the history of God's people on earth that they have enjoyed periods of peace and relative safety and spiritual prosperity, but never, never since the days of Cain and Abel, Have the people of God enjoyed a full and glorious deliverance from the wicked and their persecutions? So this is yet to come. At that time, you are going to be delivered. There's gonna be this period of trouble that far surpasses anything anyone has ever seen, and at that time, you are going to be delivered. God is going to come to your aid in a dramatic way, and he is going to deliver you from your oppressors. That is yet to come. It will come. at the end of the world and the appearance of Christ. Third clue found in verse two, where we read, many who sleep will awake to everlasting life. Now I don't know if you realize how unusual this is. to be in the Old Testament and to have this language that many who are asleep, sleeping in death, are going to awaken to everlasting life. Most of the time, the Old Testament concept of life after death is quite obscure. They didn't have the revelations that we have about what life after death is going to be like. And so in Genesis 47 and verse 30, we're told that the patriarch, Jacob, slept with his fathers. He rested with his fathers. He was buried in the grave. And that is spoken of as what his existence was like. He was resting. But that's it. Perhaps Job is one that speaks a little bit more clearly in Job 19. Many of us will be familiar with the words of verse 25 and 26, for I know that my redeemer lives. And he shall stand at last on the earth, and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God." Exactly how much Job understood, it's hard to say. But at least he has some understanding that there's going to be some enjoyment of God in the next life. That he's going to see God in his glory and he's gonna behold him with his own eyes even after his body has decayed and been destroyed. So a little bit more to go on. Then the psalmist, in Psalm 16, in verse 10, when we read about, you will not leave my soul in Sheol, in the grave, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. Again, this is a beautiful expression, and Peter uses it in his sermon at Pentecost, referring to Christ and his resurrection. And yet, the point I want to make is that the notions, the understanding is vague. I know you're not gonna leave us to perish in the grave. You're gonna deliver us from that. But there's no full orb view of the glories of the world to come. such as we enjoy in the New Testament. These words, therefore, in Daniel 12, are perhaps some of the clearest and most explicit anywhere in the Old Testament, describing that those who are sleeping in death are going to awaken to everlasting life. there's a great deal of hope and comfort in these words. Now, as we think about these words and about what they're telling us, if you know your New Testament, you can't help but recognize how Daniel's words parallel the words of the Apostle Paul again. and particularly those words found in 1 Thessalonians 4. How often we turn to this passage, especially when a believer passes before us into the next world. Listen again to what the apostle says in verse 16 of chapter four, 1 Thessalonians. 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. 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. When is this going to happen? when Christ descends with a shout, with a trumpet, with the voice of the archangel at the end of the world and the return of Christ. Those that are asleep in Jesus will rise to everlasting life. This is very similar to the words of the Apostle Peter in 2 Peter chapter 3 when he describes the day of the Lord. The end of time, the coming of Christ. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. Verse 10, 2 Peter 3, verse 10. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. And then he says in verse 12, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God. because of which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Here's the hope. of that day when those who are asleep, when those who are dead and in the grave will awaken to everlasting life. Now you and I, like Daniel, may be tempted to tremble at the news that there is tribulation coming that's going to surpass anything that man has ever known. And yet, my friends, do not miss the encouraging promises that are joined and coupled with that announcement of great trouble. There will be trouble. but there will also be deliverance and there will be a resurrection of the dead in which those who are resting in Christ will rise and enter into everlasting life. That is what we see in this first section. The time of the end. A time of tribulation, a time of deliverance, a time of everlasting life. Well secondly, let's look more concretely at the comfort. and the hope that is given to Daniel and to us in this final chapter. Once again, there are three things that are revealed to Daniel and to us to allay our fear and our anxiety. No one likes to hear Troubles waiting. You're gonna have a really, really hard week this week. That's not something you wanna hear. But if you do hear it from someone who's reliable and knows, which I don't think is anyone on earth, but if you do hear it, there's promises given. There are promises made here to encourage and strengthen and remove and calm our hearts. and give us rest. And the first is, again, verse 1, the ministry of angels. That's our first word of comfort. The ministry of angels. Verse 1 says, at that time, Michael will stand up. Well, Michael who? And who is this person? Who is this individual? And we're simply told that he is the great prince who is charged with watching over the people of God. The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. My friends, this is not some insignificant detail that Michael is the one charged with watching over us. Michael, sometimes referred to as an archangel, because he is a leader of the angels. Michael is mentioned in two other places. You know what they are? One, is the book of Jude and verse nine, where we read, yet Michael, the archangel, in contending with the devil when he disputed about the body of Moses. I don't want to make too much out of this, but it's interesting here that Michael is disputing with Satan about what's gonna happen to the body of Moses. And my friends, I think we can draw from that God cares about what happens to our bodies even after we die. But here, Michael is represented as contending with Satan over the body of Moses. The second place where we see him, in addition to Daniel and Jude, is Revelation chapter 12. In Revelation chapter 12, verse seven, and war broke out in heaven. Remember the theme, the sub-theme that we've seen, especially in this last section, that the great conflict that's really raging is not here, but up there. There is a war going on. in the spiritual places, in heavenly places. War broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, Satan, the devil, and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail. You see what we're given here, that angels are involved. Particularly, Michael is involved. He's the one who has been given charge and watches over the people of God. In both these situations, Michael is wrestling, as it were. He's at war, he's in a fight with Satan himself. But in both cases, Michael, because of his strength, because of his power, because of his position, because he comes in the name of the Lord, he prevails even over Satan himself. My friends, what's the point? The point is this, all who are under this angel's watchful care will be kept safe and secure. Great trouble is coming. but you have the ministry of angels on your side. Michael, who watches over the people of God, will keep, he will protect, he will bless, he will comfort, he will provide for the people of God. How many of us know Psalm 91 and particularly the reference there in verse 11? He shall give his angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. Brothers and sisters, we can be very comforted by this fact that there are angels watching over us, keeping us, and that great conflict that is going on all around us. Remember, brethren, we do not stand against the evil of this world and the spiritual world on our own strength. We are being held as it were. He gives his angels charge over us. We are being kept. We don't come to God on our own accord. We don't stay with God on our own accord. It is because God in his grace upholds us and blesses us and keeps us and protects us. He holds us. in the palm of his hand. I was thinking about that verse in Isaiah, in Isaiah chapter 49, Isaiah 49, striking words. In verses 15 and 16, when the Lord says, can a woman forget her nursing child? How? How could that possibly happen? that a woman could forget her nursing child. And yet the depravity of the human heart is such that she may forget. She may turn her back and walk away. But the Lord says, yet I will not forget you. She might forget, as impossible as that seems, but I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands. God is saying, I love you, I care for you, I hold you dear and close to me, and no one, no one can destroy that union between you and me. Deuteronomy has that tremendous passage in chapter 32 in verse 10 where it says the Lord kept him, the Lord encircled him, the Lord kept him as the apple of his eye. What a beautiful expression of the fact that the Lord keeps us and holds us dear. The second thing that comforts us is the hope of glory. Because not only does God protect us and deliver us from the evil one, and if you think about the Lord's Prayer, that's something we should be praying for every single day. Deliver me from the evil one. But not only does God keep us and protect us, he holds out to us a very real and a very certain hope of glory. If you were here this morning, we heard about the certainty of the second coming and the possibility that it might be today. Well, my friends, here it is again. There is a certainty here about our hope of that glorious estate in eternity. And verses one through three, Daniel receives a boatload of assurance about what's coming. And we with him. And we're going to zero in on this expression that we read at the end of verse one, everyone, everyone who is found in the book, those will be delivered. Those will enjoy that everlasting life. Everyone whose name is written in the book. This is a common expression, relatively so. The Apostle Paul talks about his co-workers in Philippians 4 and verse 3, and he says, whose names are written in the book. And then, of course, we have the words in Revelation and chapter 21. Revelation and chapter 21, we have another reference, where we hear in verse 27, 21, 27, and there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles the heavenly realm, the new heavens and the new earth, nothing that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. So Daniel is given this assurance of the hope of glory. Everyone written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be delivered. The big question for each of us tonight is, is your name written in that book? Those who have been written in that book are those that were chosen before the foundation of the world and in time brought to a conviction of sin and faith in Jesus Christ and have confessed their sins and been cleansed of those sins and have the assurance that we are in Christ. Has that happened in your life? Has God worked? to give you faith, to bring you to repentance and sorrow for sin? Are you looking in faith to Christ as the only Savior and Redeemer of God's elect? This is what Daniel was promised. How much of this did he understand? Did he understand what this book of life was? We can't say for certain, I'm not sure that he did, not in the sense that we do, but I think he did understand this, it was gonna be good. Whatever God was promising here was gonna be good. Those whose name was in the book are going to be washed, are going to receive life eternal. This may remind you of several passages. We really don't have time to turn to them all, but think of 1 John 3 and verse 2. Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But this much we know, when we see Him, we are going to be made like Him. We're gonna be made like our Savior. Or Colossians 3 that we read this evening for our call to worship. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will appear with Him in glory. You are going to be united with Him at that time. And then, of course, 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says in verse 51, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. Do you remember what that means? The twinkling of an eye is literally the movement of an eye. It's the amount of time that it takes for you to look at one person and change your view to the other person sitting beside them. And I think scientists have determined that is one 100th of a second. And my friends, in one 100th of a second, we are gonna be changed. We are gonna be made like Christ. We are gonna put on perfection. absolute, pure holiness in the sight of God. Now do you see, brethren, this promise is not some vague Old Testament notion of glory, of life after death. This is the firm, solid, certain assurance that no amount of suffering, even if it's the worst suffering that has ever occurred in the history of mankind, no amount of suffering can take away or destroy our union with Christ. We are in Christ and we are safe and secure. Nothing, brothers and sisters, nothing can take away our hope of being with our Savior forever and ever and ever. And in that day, we're gonna shine like the sun in its strength. We're gonna shine like the stars of heaven. It's almost more than we can comprehend. Well, let's look at the last thing, and that is the limits of human understanding. Now, we've gone through this book of Daniel, and we've done our best to untie some pretty hefty knots in the text. But even then, there are going to be things that we just don't quite understand. And we see that with Daniel. Daniel was granted direct revelation from heavenly beings, probably from Christ himself. And yet, there were things he did not understand and could not understand. After receiving this final vision, he's told in verse four, shut up the words, seal up the vision, Daniel, this is about the time of the end, and it's not gonna make sense to anyone until that day. Daniel then hears from the one clothed in linen, most likely a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ, and the two others, he hears it's gonna be for a time, and times, and half a time. And Daniel heard but he did not understand. He heard the words, so verse eight tells us, he heard, but he did not understand. So he asked for specific clarification. What does that mean? A time, times and half a time. And he's told, Daniel, go your way. This is about the time of the end. I think the simple lesson here is this. We are not going to understand every detail. We're not going to know the how, the when, the where all of these things are going to unfold. But brothers and sisters, we can rest in this. The lesson of the book of Daniel, God is sovereign. and he's working all things after the counsel of his own will. Doing as he pleases in the kingdoms of heaven and among the kingdoms of the earth. Raising up kings and putting them down according to his pleasure. Changing the times and the seasons if he chooses. God is sovereign and all that he has appointed is going to come to pass. so that we can sing like the hymn writer. This is my father's world. And even though the wrong seems often so strong, God is the ruler yet. He is the only true and living God. And if we are trusting in Christ alone for our salvation, if our names are written in that book, brethren, we can rest. We can be calm no matter what happens. We can rest in this glorious promise, blessed, are those who wait till the end. Most of us in this room, if not all of us, will lie down in the grave with our fathers. But one day, brethren, one day, we are going to arise And we are going to receive our inheritance in glory. And we are gonna be forever with the Lord. I can't think of a better summary than the answer to question 38 of our shorter catechism. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection? At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted on the day of judgment and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God for eternity. We are going to be made perfectly blessed and fully, fully enjoy God for all eternity. May God be praised. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for these glorious encouragements that we receive in this final chapter of the book of Daniel. Would you take them, imprint them upon our minds and upon our hearts and upon our lives. May we live each day with that blessed hope of the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Lord, bless us tonight. Strengthen us by your word and by your spirit to your glory. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.