Certainty in Uncertain Times

Daniel Pel

Montgomery First SDA Church

9. Who Will Make it Right?

Yes, our topic tonight, what we're going to do is basically we're going to look at a prophecy of Christ's first coming, which is found in the Old Testament book of Daniel, and then we're going to segue into a prophecy regarding His second coming or some signs that Jesus gave us that we should be looking for when it comes to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

And I think this presentation will be both informative as well as inspirational, and that's my prayer.

So let's have a word of prayer and we'll get straight into it.

Father in heaven, we want to thank You for the opportunity we have of being here together this evening.

We want to thank You for Your Word which never leaves us untouched.

Lord, as we read it over and over again, the power in it is always there, Lord.

It's never that we run out of the power source.

Thank you that we have it available and among us also this evening.

And Lord, I want to pray that you'll bless in a very special way your Word and the study of it this evening.

And we ask for your Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us in this study, for I ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen." In the course of our time together so far, we have really been looking at a variety of Bible prophecies.

And I think I mentioned this on the opening night, that Bible Prophecy is like the signature of God.

Something happens and God just signs it and He confirms it and He already knew it.

And prophecy is amazing because it shows the trustworthiness of God and how each time He says something, He predicts something and it comes to pass.

He predicts something else, and it comes to pass.

And when this happens, you can really sense that God is trying to teach us and show us that He can be trusted, that we can actually build our lives upon the teachings of His Word.

And so this evening we want to look at some more Bible prophecy.

And there are a lot of Bible prophecies in both the Old and the New Testament.

And many of the prophecies in the Old Testament, they revolve around the first coming of Jesus, even though also you will find prophecies in the Old Testament that point to the second coming of Jesus.

And I think on the first or second night, I can't remember exactly, I actually showed this slide here with just quickly some of these prophecies that were made regarding the first coming of Jesus.

For example, there's a prophecy in Micah 5 in verse 2 concerning the place where Jesus would be born.

And does anyone remember what place that was?

And we find the fulfillment there in the New Testament story.

Also we have prophecies regarding the circumstances of the birth of Jesus that a virgin would conceive as we read about in Isaiah chapter 7.

And in Genesis chapter 49, all the way back in Genesis, we have a prophecy concerning out of which tribe Jesus would come.

You know, and this is important for us to look at these prophecies because some people will say, you know what, when it comes to Bible prophecy, maybe Jesus just knew those prophecies, certainly He did.

He read the Old Testament, He read the Torah, He read the Scriptures, and maybe He was just trying to fulfill those prophecies.

But obviously There are prophecies that are beyond the control of any human being when it comes to the birthplace and the circumstances of your birth and the tribe from which you come or the nationality from which you come.

Those are certainly not things that you can control.

And so it's very clear that these prophecies find their fulfillment in Jesus and that Jesus is really the 1 that doesn't just fulfill some of them or most of them, but all of them.

And that is really, again, the signature of God on this event.

We have prophecies concerning that Jesus would come from David, the son of David, as we find in Isaiah 11.1.

And what we're going to do this evening is look at a prophecy in the book of Daniel 9 concerning the very time of the first coming of Christ.

And this is a powerful prophecy, a very significant prophecy, and 1 that, again, really confirms our faith in Scripture.

So what we're going to do this evening in our first presentation, We're going to look at Daniel 9, we're going to look at a prophecy that talks about the first coming of Christ, we're going to see that He was exactly on time, but then more than that, we're not going to just remain there as it being a historic fulfillment and a historic prophecy, but then we're going to take that same prophecy and we're going to actually learn some lessons from it because that prophecy in many ways shows us also what is to come.

Some of the events around this prophecy are very significant for you and for me living today.

What I like to refer to or what many Bible scholars will refer to here is typology.

There are things that have happened in the Old Testament that kind of repeat themselves on a worldwide scale in our times today.

So the Bible is an interesting book because when you read stories in the Old Testament, though they are wonderful faith-building stories that have really taken place in past history, they're also stories that in a very real way and beautiful way picture things that are going to come even in our very world today.

This is what we can refer to as typology or shadows.

There's a shadow and it meets its fulfillment.

And so we're going to see how that works this evening, also regarding this prophecy here.

And yes, it speaks about Christ's first coming, but there are also events that really picture what things are going to be like before He comes the second time.

So we're going to get right into that, and so we're going to go to the book of Daniel, and in the book of Daniel, Old Testament book, I'm just going to give you a little bit of background here.

Many of you are familiar with this story.

Daniel was a young man, probably still in his teens, when Babylon, which was the great conquering nation at that time, conquered Judah and destroyed Jerusalem where Daniel lived.

And Daniel was taken captive along with many other Jews, and they were taken to Babylon.

And when you read the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, it starts right out there in the first chapter with the story of how they were taken from Jerusalem to Babylon.

And then you go into the rest of the story, and basically it's the story of the prophet Daniel living in Babylon, receiving dreams and visions and prophecies from God in this foreign land.

And remarkable prophecies, some of which we have looked at in the course of this seminar here.

Remember the statue in Daniel chapter 2, the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, with this man made of different metals and how Daniel basically interprets that dream as different kingdoms that will come and fall?

And then you have prophecies like in Daniel chapter 7 about these beasts coming up out of the sea, and there's an angel there instructing Daniel concerning those beasts, and he says to Daniel, these 4 beasts are for kingdoms.

And we looked there at the different kingdoms that came and fell, and we even looked at the arise of this anti-Christ power of Bible prophecy.

Lots of fascinating, incredible stuff there in these prophecies.

And you just look at history and you see how prophecy and history are just right besides each other.

It's like hand in hand, and it just confirms over and over again the authenticity and trustworthiness of the Scriptures.

Now the prophecy that we're going to look at this evening is found in Daniel chapter 9, And what had happened is Daniel was in Babylon now for a long time.

And when we get to the chapter 9 of the book of Daniel, Daniel is very mindful of the fact that they are soon, that the Jews are soon going to be released to return back to Jerusalem.

He believed that based on another prophecy of another prophet that lived prior to him, and that was the prophet Jeremiah.

And Jeremiah, a book that you also find in the Old Testament, said he had written a prophecy and said that they would be 70 years in captivity in Babylon.

So Daniel was mindful and aware of that prophecy, and now as we get to Daniel chapter 9, those 70 years were about to run out.

And so he is aware that, hey, the time of captivity is coming to an end.

Soon, we are going to go back to Jerusalem, go back to Judah, and we're going to be able to restore the kingdom again.

And so Daniel chapter 9, what we find there is that Daniel is praying.

He's praying for his people because he realizes that the reason why they are in captivity is really because they had walked contrary to the ways of God.

They had turned away from the commandments of God, and they had followed other nations around them.

The calamity had come upon them, and they were taken captive.

They're about to return, and Daniel is praying for his people that there will be a spirit of revival and reformation in their midst, so that as they return, they will be able to fulfill the very purpose for which they were raised up, for which they existed, and that was to put the very glory of God, the light of God on display for the nations around them.

So this is where we come into Daniel chapter 9, and I want you to just take notice of these words here.

Daniel chapter 9, and I'm reading here beginning in verse 1.

It says, in the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, which was a king of the Medo-Persian empire, of the lineage of the Medes, as it says here, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish, how many years?

So Daniel is aware this period is coming to an end, soon we're going to be able to return to Jerusalem.

Now we go on here in Daniel chapter 9, and you can go back and read the entire chapter.

It's really a beautiful prayer that Daniel prays for the people.

But as we jump down to verse 21, I want you to take notice because his prayer is interrupted.

I wish my prayers were interrupted this way.

Because what happens is while he is praying, the angel Gabriel visits him.

How many of you would like that to happen?

And gives him instruction concerning what is going to happen with the people of God, with the Jews, as they are ready to return and restore and rebuild their city and their country.

And this is what the angel says, powerful.

Daniel 9, beginning in verse 21, yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering.

And he informed me and talked with me and said, oh Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand.

And here comes a prophecy, here we are launched into a prophecy that Gabriel gives to Daniel regarding his people, which are the Jewish nation.

Take notice what Gabriel says, verse 24, "'Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy." So a list of things are given that have to happen within a certain time period, and the time period is 70 weeks.

Gabriel says, okay, 70 weeks I give to your people, right, for your people, for your holy city, that's talking about Jerusalem, okay, to do what?

To finish the transgression, to make an end of sins.

Now, that's interesting because we got to understand these words in the context of where they are.

Let's just rewind the story a little bit here.

8. Heaven and Hell – Fact or Fiction?

Alright, well this presentation tonight, the second presentation is really going to connect very well with our first presentation.

We're going to look at the truth about hell.

These are the type of questions we want to get answered from Scripture.

And we're going to do that and I think that our first presentation is really going to serve as a foundation for what we're going to discover now in our second study.

You know, when I ask the question or when we do this little word play, you know, you say a word and people have to, you know, say their first...what first came up in their mind when you say that word.

If I would say the word hell, many people would have kind of a picture of this, what I have here on the screen, like, you know, some kind of, you know, pool of flames and fire where the devil is in charge and where people are suffering, being tortured throughout the ceaseless ages of time.

Now this idea really has caused a lot of people to turn away from God because they cannot bring together this concept with a loving God, with a God that is love and that actually cares for us and has...

And so a lot of people have turned away from God because they find it incompatible, incompatible the idea of everlasting torment of hell with God is love, which the scripture tells us that He is.

The scriptures say God is love, Not that he's just loving as an attribute, that he is actually love itself.

And so this idea of God is love is a scriptural truth that is important for us to understand and that's why we must investigate then if it really is, if this really this teaching about hell that is predominant within Christianity today, if it actually has its roots in Scripture, in the Bible.

And what I love about the Bible is it's just so plain.

You know, you can go and actually find out these things.

We don't have to be left in doubt regarding the nature of God and the character of God and the teaching about hellfire.

And again, the Scriptures are going to peel back the layers of tradition that have been accumulated and placed upon the Word of God throughout many centuries.

And that's why we first of all just want to look at the Word itself.

Now the word hell appears in the Old Testament and in the New Testament quite a number of times.

In the Old Testament, the word hell is translated 31 times from the Hebrew word sheol, Sheol, which simply means the meaning of the name Sheol, the word Sheol is grave or place of the departed.

So immediately when you look at the very word itself and the meaning of the word in the original language, it kind of already gives us a different picture here.

When the Bible talks about hell in the Old Testament, it talks about Sheol, and that word was translated to the word hell in the English language.

But if you just looked at the meaning of the word Sheol, it really means the place of the departed ones.

It didn't indicate or explain anything about some fiery pool where people are suffering throughout the ceaseless ages of time.

In the New Testament, there are 2 Greek words that are translated as hell, the word hades, and the word Gehenna.

Now the word Gehenna is interesting because it was actually taken from a place that they called Gehenna, which was a dump just outside of Jerusalem.

So just outside of Jerusalem, there was this dump place where they would basically just throw all their garbage.

And in order to get rid of that garbage, they would actually burn it.

You have a large city like Jerusalem and outside of the city is Gehenna, the place of burning where they would burn all their trash.

And because they had continual new trash, there was a continual fire that was burning in order to get rid of this trash.

And so there was a continual fire and this word Gehenna is connected in the New Testament to describe this place of hell.

So just looking at the original words and their connections with events of the past already kind of help us to understand a little bit better where this is heading.

Now let's take a look at then the 3 main questions concerning hell.

And these are the 3 questions we want to answer.

Because I'm not up here tonight to say that there is no hell because scripture teaches that there is a place that is called hell.

And as we go back, we see that there is a place that the Scripture declares, that the Scripture describes where the wicked will be destroyed.

So I'm not saying that there is no such a place.

The Scripture teaches that there is such a place, but we must ask the very simple and yet very important questions, and that is, when is this going to happen?

And I think that third question is especially of importance because again, how do we reconcile in our minds the idea of an eternal hell with the character of God being love?

So these are 3 questions we want to answer.

And I'm going to right away give away my premise here, which will kind of come back in the end, and that is this.

You see, sin is the problem in our universe.

Sin is what has caused misery, suffering, pain, death.

Sin entered when mankind disobeyed the explicit Word of God.

And so Christ came into this world to take our sins upon himself so that he can give to us eternal life.

Sin is the problem, sin is what needs to get rid of, and hell is a place of destruction and it is to destroy sin.

Now what Scripture shows is that those that hold on to sin and don't let go of it are destroyed with sin.

And that's a very sad thing, but it's a very real thing.

When God wants to get rid of sin, first, I mean, for God as we're going to discover, it is all about destroying sin.

And it is sad when someone holds on to sin so much that they're destroyed with it.

It is a sad thing that was never, never in the purpose of God.

And This is where we get into these questions, when, where, and how long.

Now in the last chapters of the book of Revelation, which is the last book of the Bible, basically in chapter 19, 20, 21, and 22, the last 4 chapters of the Bible, we have a chronology of the final events from the second coming of Christ basically rolling into eternity.

And So what the Bible portrays is Revelation 19, and we don't have time now tonight to go into the depth of Revelation 19 or 20 or 21 and 22, so I'm kind of giving you the bigger picture here.

By the way, on our last presentation, which is coming Sunday, we will look a little bit deeper at this prophecy of the thousand years in Revelation 19 and 20 and 21 and 22.

But for now I just want to give you kind of the big picture here.

And what you find in these last chapters of the book of Revelation is that Christ comes back in Revelation 19, the second coming of Christ.

Revelation 20, we have a period that is mentioned of a thousand years in which the righteous are reigning with God in heaven.

And then after those thousand years, or what is many times referred to as the millennium, which comes from the Latin words, milla, thousand, annium, years, thousand-year prophecy.

After that, Revelation 20 goes on to describe the final battle that will take place when Satan is released for a short time, and there's this final battle that takes place.

It's also referred to as the Battle of Gog and Magog.

You can read about that in Revelation chapter 20.

We'll talk more about that on Sunday evening.

And then Revelation 21 and 22, you read about God restoring this earth.

He restores a new heaven and a new earth and then it goes on to describe that there will be no more death, no more suffering, no more crying, all tears will be wiped away, there will be no more death.

He will recreate everything And then you can just read, I mean, chapter 21 and 22.

If you're ever depressed, pick up your Bible and read those chapters.

Because those chapters just describe the beautiful, beautiful reward that is awaiting those that put their faith in Jesus.

It describes just the beauty of that city and the beauty of God and the beauty of everything that we can experience in that world that He has prepared for each 1 of us.

So the book of Revelation, dealing with last day events, especially the last 4 chapters, give us an overview, chronological picture of Christ coming back, a thousand year prophecy, a thousand years of the righteous being in heaven.

That's when Jesus has come back, that He takes them with Him to heaven.

They were there a thousand years, and then they come back to this earth, and there's this final battle, this battle of Gog and Magog, and then there's a final destruction.

Now we're going to go more into detail of this prophecy, as I mentioned on Sunday, but for tonight what we want to understand is where is hell?

Revelation chapter 20 portrays the final destruction of sin, the burning up of sin and sadly sinners that have held on to sin.

That is removed, this final destruction and removal of sin is described in Revelation chapter 20 and it takes place on this earth.

Right after that, you're launched into chapter 21 and we have the description of the new earth where there is no more death.

Now if the new earth is created, just imagine this for a moment, okay?

7. What Happens When a Person Dies?

You have braved it through the cold weather tonight?

I'm happy for you to be here and, you know, you can always listen to these things online, but it's something else being actually present in the room, Amen?

When the Holy Spirit works and when we open up the Word of God.

Though I must say I'm very thankful for the opportunity for these messages to go online.

And so just to remind you, what's the website?

As John already mentioned, the presentations of this series will be available there, as well as the presentations of Duane Lemon, for those of you that were with us for the health series.

And there's actually another series there that I would also like to mention.

Pastor Samuel did a series last fall, maybe some of you attended that, the Blueprint series.

Very good series, so you can also share that material with others and go over that.

Very deep studies in prophecy based around the sanctuary message, and the sanctuary has so much to tell us.

I keep bumping into people in different places where I go and they'll say, yeah, I've seen you on Amazing Discoveries TV or I've heard you on AudioVerse, and these are kind of resource websites that basically get the message out there.

And it's really a blessing to know that these messages are reaching people all over the world.

Another website that I can just add is our ministry website, which is livingwater.no.

NO stands for Norway, but even though you go to that website, there's a lot of English material, so don't be afraid.

As a matter of fact, when you get in there, you'll see, you'll come right onto the homepage that will be in English.

And there's a lot of audio messages there, video messages, Bible studies, and other resources.

And spread this information with others around you, so that the Word of God can spread.

So let's get into our presentation for this evening.

We are going to look at the very important question, which is really a 6, 000-year-old question, and that is, what happens when a person dies?

And we're going to allow the Word of God, the Bible, the Scriptures to unmask some of the lies of the enemy that have crept in and that are taking a hold of many people in this world today and have also found their inroads into Christianity.

And we want to allow the Bible to be our authority tonight as we look at this question, what happens when a person dies?

We're going to invite the Holy Spirit to be with us, and then we're going to go on this journey together.

Heavenly Father, thank you so much that we can be gathered here.

Thank you that we have your word among us, that we can open it and study it, and Lord that there is a blessing in it for each 1 of us.

And so we pray for your guidance, we pray for your spirit to make the topic tonight very clear.

Lord, I don't believe that human eloquence or my words can really make the impression that needs to be made in regards to this important question and this important topic.

I'm very aware of that and I pray that your spirit will be here and that your spirit will be our instructor and guide for I ask this in the name of Jesus.

We're going to start with looking at some of the claims of Spiritism.

Now when we're talking about the question of death and what happens when a person dies, you will notice that there's a lot of interest around this question in our world today.

If there is something on the rise in our society and in our culture, it is Spiritism, the fascination of the supernatural.

What happens when a person dies is just 1 of those questions that links into this all over absorbing theme of there being something more.

Now, Spiritism is really founded upon 2 basic pillars or 2 basic foundation or principles, you could say.

Number 1, that there is conscious life, that conscious life exists after death or this is what we refer to as natural immortality.

Back to Menu

All Teachings

9. Who Will Make it Right?

56m

8. Heaven and Hell – Fact or Fiction?

45m

7. What Happens When a Person Dies?

1h

6. Who is the Next Superpower?

56m

5. How Can We Find Inner Peace?

56m

4. What is Your Picture of God?

38m

3. Has Religion Failed?

1h 16m

2. Is the Bible Trustworthy?

51m

1. A Chaotic World? – Where is God?

48m

Revival as It Is in Jesus

48m

Revival and the Present Truth

37m

Revival of Primitive Godliness

34m

Sound Doctrine