Rev. David Holwick Q Book of Daniel, #11
First Baptist Church Mother's Day
Ledgewood, New Jersey
May 11, 2008
Daniel 12:1-4
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I. Some of us have no one to call today.
A. My last sermon on Daniel coincides with Mother's Day.
I looked for common ties.
The last chapter of Daniel focuses on resurrection and God's
final victory.
It dawned on me that for many people, myself included,
Mother's Day means thinking of someone who has died.
Even after all his detailed prophecies on kings and wars,
Daniel concludes with a message of hope.
Following an intense period of persecution, which the New
Testament calls the Tribulation, there will be a
deliverance.
The righteous dead will live again.
We have that hope for our own loved ones, too.
One thing about mothers who have died is that you can
remember them as you want.
I think of my mom in the 1960s, with black-rimmed glasses
that had little points on top, and a beehive hairdo.
Mom was the main figure in my life back then and it is
comforting to think of her that way.
But it is even more comforting to think of what will come
in the future.
Because the Bible says death is not the last word.
Resurrection is.
II. Everyone loves the idea of heaven.
A. Heaven and resurrection are melded together in our minds.
1) Heaven is being in the presence of God in a spirit state.
a) Most Christians believe you go to heaven following death.
b) However, our time in heaven is rather limited.
2) Resurrection is the supernatural physical existence we
get in the future.
a) Not only new bodies, but a new earth.
b) The image in the Bible is that heaven comes down to
earth rather than being separated from it.
c) This is what the Lord's Prayer means when we say,
"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
B. The joy of heaven has been diluted.
Commentator Charles Colson sees many examples of this trend.
NEW YORK TIMES columnist David Brooks has noticed that
heaven is seen in totally sentimental terms now.
He calls it "soft-core spirituality" and it is exemplified
by Mitch Albom's book, THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN.
Rather than being a place where God is worshiped and glorified,
Albom's heaven "an excellent therapy session."
This vision of heaven is a billion people, all talking about
themselves.
Another popular image is heaven as Club Med.
According to the inspirational book A TRAVEL GUIDE TO HEAVEN,
heaven is all about "having fun" in "the ultimate
playground, created purely for our enjoyment."
We tend to think of heaven as being all about us --
the answer to all our questions,
the end of all our sufferings,
the beginning of endless fun and excitement.
God is limited to being our "cruise-director."
Compare this idea with C. S. Lewis's vision of heaven.
In his book THE GREAT DIVORCE, new arrivals to heaven must
learn to want God more than they want their own sins,
their own desires,
or even their own family members.
Only then can they experience the joy that God has prepared
for them.
#27236
C. The requirements for heaven have been erased.
There is a growing tendency to believe that all good people,
whether or not they consider Jesus Christ to be their savior,
will live in heaven after they die on earth.
According to research by the Barna survey company, in 1999 the
public was almost divided on the matter:
53% agree, 40% disagree.
This is a reversal of the results just 5 years previously.
Half of all adults (51%) believe that if a person is generally
good, or does enough good things for others during their life,
they will earn a place in Heaven.
Even many who have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ
have some fuzzy ideas here.
11% believe that they will go to heaven because basically they
are a good person.
10% - of Christians! - do not know what will happen to them
after they die.
2% of Christians believe that when they die they will NOT go to
heaven.
#13822
III. Warning -- there is more than one resurrection.
A. Daniel presents two alternatives.
1) The first is the good resurrection of believers.
2) The second is the resurrection of those who don't know God.
a) These people also "exist" forever.
b) But without God or hope or love. Just darkness.
c) Daniel calls it the resurrection of shame.
B. Jesus completely agrees with Daniel.
1) The resurrection involves everyone, but with two destinies.
John 5:28-29 --
"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all
who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out
--those who have done good will rise to live, and those
who have done evil will rise to be condemned."
2) If that sounds a little harsh, his introduction to this
is pure grace:
John 5:24 --
"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes
him who sent me has eternal life and will not be
condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."
a) The moment we commit ourselves to Jesus, we have a
guaranteed part in the good resurrection.
b) It is almost as if we are resurrected that instant.
C. The book of Revelation gives more details on both resurrections.
1) To show the qualitative difference, Revelation calls one the
first resurrection, and the other the second death.
2) Those in the first resurrection serve God and reign with him.
Revelation 20:6 --
"Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first
resurrection. The second death has no power over them,
but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will
reign with him for a thousand years."
3) Those in the second death spend their existence in hell.
Revelation 20:14 --
"Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
The lake of fire is the second death."
a) Revelation 21:8 gives the moral standard God uses:
"But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the
murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice
magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their
place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
This is the second death."
b) Note that unbelief is right up there with murder and
adultery.
IV. Wouldn't a single option be nicer?
A. Many reject the harshness of heaven vs. hell.
1) How uncouth for Mother's Day!
B. The only thing that matters is whether it is true or not.
Phillips Brooks was an Episcopal bishop in the 1800s who is
most famous as the author of "O Little Town of Bethlehem."
Toward the end of his life he was recovering from an illness
and asked that no friends visit him.
But when Robert G. Ingersoll, the famous agnostic, came by,
the bishop invited him in at once.
"I appreciate this very much," said Ingersoll, "but why do
you see me when you won't let your other friends in?"
"It's like this," said the bishop.
"I feel confident of seeing my friends in the next world,
but this may be my last chance of seeing you."
#1209
V. You can have the good resurrection.
A. You must belong to God.
1) Make a spiritual decision to accept Christ as your Savior.
2) Focus on God, obey his Word, work with other believers.
B. We have hope when there is no hope.
1) Never give up on faith.
Ron Mehl tells the true story of a mom and her daughter,
though he doesn't disclose their last name for privacy
reasons:
Carol lost count of the sleepless nights she spent on her
knees praying for her teenage daughter, Heather.
Even so, Heather sunk deeper and deeper into a promiscuous,
drug-abusing lifestyle.
As the months turned into years, Carol's friends encouraged
her to forget about Heather.
But Carol never stopped believing that Heather would
eventually change her ways and come home.
In fact, Carol believed that right up until the day she
heard of Heather's death.
Carol wasn't sure she had the strength to face the task of
cleaning out Heather's apartment.
As she opened the door, she was surprised to discover that
it was relatively neat and clean.
On the table was a stack of mail waiting to be sent.
The first letter in the pile caught Carol's attention.
It was addressed to her.
The first words were all she needed to read:
"Mom, I have news for you.
I just received Jesus Christ as my Savior.
He's changed my life, and I'm so thankful."
#16268
2) Has Jesus changed YOUR life?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 1209 "This May Be My Last Chance of Seeing You," by Southern Maryland
Christian Information Service, from the Internet, downloaded
August 21, 1998.
#13822 "Who Is Going To Heaven?" by Timothy Peck, www.sermoncentral.com,
email newsletter, April 23, 2003. Statistics are from
Barna Research Online.
#16268 "Cleaning Out a Dead Girl's Room," by Ron Mehl, Dynamic Preaching
newsletter, March 31, 2003, quoting from Mehl's book, MEETING
GOD AT A DEAD END (Sisters, OR.: Multnomah Books, 1996),
p. 44-48.
#27236 "An Everlasting Playground: Understanding the Nature of Heaven,"
by Charles Colson, BreakPoint Commentary, March 23, 2004.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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