The Climax of History (Part 2 of 2)

Guest (Male): When you're dead, you're dead. You may have heard this suggested, but this is not how the Bible describes death. We'll find out why today on Truth For Life as Alistair Begg examines death and the reason it doesn't actually end our existence. Our study is focused on the opening verses of Daniel chapter 12.
Alistair Begg: We're reminded all the way through Daniel of angelic activity. Angelic activity stands behind more things than we know. The Hebrews says that you have entertained angels unaware. We've been unaware of granting them hospitality, and we may have been unaware of receiving help from them. Psalm 91 says he will give his angels charge over you to guard you in all your ways. That shouldn't cause us to call in question the reality of their presence or their power. In fact, one day, we'll see things from such a perspective that the scope of angelic activity will actually become apparent, and we'll discover how much we were the beneficiaries of angelic activity about which we knew nothing. The encouragement is surely this for the people who will face this, and for in every era where the people of God face persecution: that the God who has brought them to this impasse knows their names. He knows them as individuals. I love that little chorus: "He knows my name. He knows my every thought. He sees each tear that falls and he hears me when I call." So the vastness of the tribulation is set within the protection and promise of deliverance. The Bible makes it clear that everything is going somewhere, but it makes it equally clear that everyone is going somewhere. Look at the text if you've got your Bible open: "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth," which is a reminder from dust you came to dust you will return, "shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." What is the great division between men and women in our world? People say it's color, ethnicity, intellect, or finance. No, the only distinction that the Bible actually recognizes, and I mean this in ultimate terms, is whether your name is written in the book of life or whether it isn't. Whether you have bowed the knee to Jesus Christ as your Savior, Lord, and King, or whether you haven't. Whether you have received the truth of his word as you would receive a gift, or whether you have said, "No, I wouldn't like it." The distinction that exists in time is not neutralized in eternity. That is part of the point that's being made here, and it is a very important point. Contemporary culture, imbibing chunks of New Age philosophy, Hinduism, and so on, is increasingly pervaded with the notion that somehow or another, whatever happens in life, it will all be set to rights when you die. The rich won't be rich, the poor won't be poor, no one will be angry, and everything will be just hunky-dory. But when you read the Bible, it says that's not the case. The things that separate us in time will separate us in eternity. Think about this. The people will be raised either to everlasting life or to shame and everlasting contempt. The testimony of the Old Testament is that the dead are still alive. You're going to have to go and look at this yourself, but if you read the Bible, you will realize that it describes those who have died as still alive. Abraham was gathered to his people. He died, but he was gathered to his people. He went to where his people were. In the Old Testament, Sheol is not hell. It's not a place of torment. Sheol in the Old Testament is the manner in which the Old Testament asserts that death does not terminate human existence. Think about it. You're not a body with a soul; you are a soul with a body. The real "you-ness" of you is never extinct. You will go somewhere. I will go somewhere. I will be alive somewhere. I'll be dead, but I'll be alive. Otherwise, who are we singing to? "Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above." How can they sing? Because they're alive. What the Bible actually affirms is that the dead experience a change of place and a change of state, because the dissolution of our body alters everything. That's why I've always said to you when you have these poems about "I am not dead, I'm still here, I'm in the next room," that's not true. You're not in the next room. Before the silver cord is snapped or the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is shattered at the fountain or the wheel is broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, the spirit returns to God who gave it. That's the change not solely of place, but it's also the change of state. So the dead are still alive, in a different place, and they are alive as individual persons, so that our personhood is retained in death. That's why Abraham was gathered to his people. That's why when they go to David and they talk to him about the death of his son and his mourning over the death of his son, he says, "He will not come to me. He's dead, but I will go to him." Why? Because he's alive. So the question is, in this final separation, where are you going to be? Either raised to everlasting life or raised to everlasting contempt and shame. The Old Testament is replete with anticipating bodily resurrection. People say you read the Old Testament and there's no resurrection. It's not true. It's not framed out ultimately until we have the resurrection of Jesus. But when you read your Bible backwards and you read Psalm 16 and verse 11: "In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures forevermore." Or the Psalmist's words: "When I awake, I shall be satisfied with seeing your likeness." What does that mean? It means that when I am gone from here, when there is the dissolution of my physical frame, I will be satisfied when I awake to see your likeness or even with your likeness. This is the hope of Christianity. This lies at the very heart of what Jesus has come to do. It's amazing. Two entirely different destinies, final separation. The continued conscious life beyond the grave for both the righteous and the wicked leaves no place for annihilationism, which is one of the contemporary views. You don't believe that. I know you don't, because God, by creating you, set eternity in your heart and in my heart too. I know there is something more than this. I can't be a human being without that awareness. I may seek to repress it, but I know it. Even those who would deny the words that I'm speaking to you now may be prepared to take you up the stairs of some rickety little staircase in some small town in mid-Ohio and introduce you to a spooky lady who will try to get in contact with your great aunt Mabel. But if you're dead, you're dead, who are they trying to get in touch with? No, the demons often know more and tremble than the people of God do because they won't pay attention to the Bible. If the penalty for sin is death, which it is, every time somebody dies, Genesis 3 is fulfilled again in our seeing: "In the day that you eat of this, you will surely die." And die they did. Death was immediately written into the DNA. If the penalty for sin is death, how can those doomed to die receive eternal life? That seems to me to be the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question. If you don't have a view of the world that can answer this question, you need a new view of the world. If I am going to die, and if my death is the penalty for sin, how in the world is this to be dealt with? That is where Jesus comes in. By his death on the cross, Jesus paid the penalty for sin. By his resurrection from the dead three days later, he conquered death for all who believe in him. Listen to Jesus again: "For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." That is unbelievable. This is good news. Here is the answer to the human predicament. Here is the diagnosis of the human predicament and its antidote, provided by the same Creator against whom I have rebelled and have decided I really don't want any interest in at all. It is this God who loves me in Jesus and who comes to seek me out, not because I've been a good fellow. No, not a good fellow at all. That's why the wonder of the advent is so good. What is his name? Jesus. Why? For he shall save his people from their sins. So that all who look to him and believe in him shall have everlasting life and I will raise them up in the last day. Have you looked to Christ? Have you believed in Christ? In the privacy of your own home, in the security and isolation of your own heart, have you? Finally, there's a fearful persecution, there's a final separation, and a futile investigation. Where do you get that from? Just from the final phrase of verse 4: "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." I take it what this refers to is the fact that mankind in its futility continues to search for truth while leaving God out of the picture. There will be a great quest. Think about the explosion of knowledge just in the 21st century. It's almost beyond comprehension. How are we doing in terms of hatred, in terms of man's inhumanity, in terms of the wars of the nations, and so on? What do we discover? We discover that it is just a sorry picture because it's the picture of humanity trading the truth of God for a lie and then charging around and looking for what only God can give. If we do not find rest, peace, and forgiveness as provided by God in Jesus, then we'll have to go look for rest, peace, and forgiveness somewhere. Is that you? Santa Claus is not just coming to town, he's in town. And if you go there, you can sit on his knee. Not that I'm suggesting it for any of you, but you take the little ones and they sit on his knee and what does he ask them? "What would you like for Christmas? And have you been good this year?" And of course, they lie through their teeth. "Oh yeah, exceptionally good, untidied my room, picked up my clothes, yes, helped my mother, been nice to granny," all that kind of stuff. I fear that some people have just got that built into their psyche when it comes to the question of the gospel and of meeting God. That somehow or another, you think that's how God is operating, that he comes to us and he says, "Have you been good this year?" Have you? Because I haven't. Have you been naughty or nice? God isn't operating like that. He's operating on this basis: that he gave his only Son to live and to die for us to replace the guilt of our shame and to grant us peace with him. Salvation is not granted to us because we've done well. Salvation only comes when I acknowledge that I've sinned, that I know I displeased him, and that I need a Savior. The end of verse 4 is similar to Amos chapter 8 where it says they shall wander from sea to sea and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it. "I don't want to believe in a God like that. I don't want to believe in a God who won't allow me to do this." So you want to create your own God. Well, he's not there. You'll never find him. You can run to and fro for the rest of your life. That's the point that's being made. Why do we never get an answer when we're knocking at the door with a thousand million questions about hate and death and war? Because we're running to and fro considering everything and everyone except the one who has the answer to the question, because we don't like the diagnosis, so we won't take the cure. In the gray of the morning, my mind becomes confused between the dead and the sleeping and the road that I must choose. I'm looking for someone to change my life. I'm looking for a miracle in my life. That might be you this morning. Is there a miracle worker? Yes, there is. He's called Jesus. They were coming down the street, the disciples and the whole crowd of them, and a fellow started shouting out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" The disciples said, "Hey listen, Jesus is doing a lot of big stuff, he doesn't need to be fiddling around with you, an old blind beggar lying at the side of the road." "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" And Jesus heard them and he said to the disciples, "Go and call him." It was horribly embarrassing for them because now they've got to go and go, "Oh yeah, we were wrong about that, we were only kidding. It was Peter, he always says bad stuff like that. My name is Philip, I'm not like him at all." But he said, "You should come, Jesus is calling you." And the Gospel writer says, "And throwing aside his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus." That's wonderful, isn't it? Because he heard that Jesus was interested in him. And Jesus said, "What do you want me to do for you?" And he said, "Teacher, I'd like to recover my sight." Because he was blind. By nature, I'm blind, and I may come to Jesus and ask him to help me to see. Help me to see that I'm blind and that I need someone to restore my sight. And when I do, in the mystery of his grace, I discover that my name has been written down in his book. I wonder, has yours? It may be today. Everyone who looks to him and believes in him. That doesn't sound too hard, does it? It's actually very hard. I might as well invite the people who are in the graves down the road here on South Franklin Street to come out. I've got as much chance of anybody coming out of one of those graves on South Franklin Street as I have of saying to you, "Why don't you look to Jesus Christ and believe in him?" It's not possible. But he can bring them out of the graves, and he can bring you out of your darkened stupor into a living, personal, saving relationship with himself.
Guest (Male): You're listening to Truth For Life with Alistair Begg. Alistair returns in just a moment to close today's program. Today we have a free offer we'd love for you to take advantage of. It's an ebook that explores seven unrivaled attributes of Jesus. For example, you'll dive into how Jesus is the Son of Man, how he's the suffering servant, the Lamb on the throne, the Great High Priest. The title of the book is "Name Above All Names," and it was co-authored by Alistair and Sinclair Ferguson. Through the rich insights of these seasoned pastors and theologians, you will deepen your understanding of just who Jesus is and how he is revealed from Genesis to Revelation. Let me read just a brief excerpt: "Jesus has done everything that we needed to be saved from sin. He's done everything that we needed in order to be saved from the judgment of death. And he has done everything necessary to set us free from the bondage of the devil. In a word, he's done everything we need done for ourselves, but could never do for ourselves." In just seven chapters, this book makes an excellent seven-session Bible study. Your entire group can download the Name Above All Names ebook. It comes paired with a chapter-by-chapter study guide, and it's free today. Go to truthforlife.org/name. And be sure to share this link with your friends. In fact, do it today. This is the last day we're making this free offer. Again, the link is truthforlife.org/name, and the book is titled Name Above All Names. Now here's Alistair with a closing prayer.
Alistair Begg: Father, thank you that your word is clear in its essentials and it just tells us again and again that salvation belongs to you, the living God. I pray this morning that as we hear your voice, that we will not harden our hearts, but that we might turn to you, looking to you and resting in you. Thank you that the great testimony of conversion is just simply that this is a wonder of what you have done, not about even what we have done, but what you have accomplished and what we have accepted. Hear our prayers for Jesus' sake. Amen.
Guest (Male): Thanks for listening this week. Hope you enjoy the weekend and are able to worship with your local church. On Monday, as we continue our study of Daniel's apocalyptic visions, the inevitable question is, how long will it be before these events take place? Alistair addresses that question Monday. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth For Life, where the learning is for living.