What the Bible says about December 21, 2012

Part II

Prayer -  

Heavenly Father, we thank You and praise You that when we worship You, You answer all of life’s tough questions; thank You, Lord. So many times people wonder if God speaks to us today.  Thank You, Lord, that You now speak to us through the words in the Bible. We thank You that the Holy Scriptures are Your words and when we read them, it is You speaking to us, addressing those issues in our life. Lord God, help us to hear and give us understanding as we consider the time of tribulation to come and Your second coming. Help us to hear Your words, to be prepared, and to prepare others for that time. We pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Scripture Readings -  

If you’re thinking that these Scripture readings look the same as last Sunday – you’re right! We are continuing with the same theme - “What the Bible Says About December 21, 2012.” God has the answers right there in the Bible. Our sermon today is based on the first reading from the Book of Daniel that talks about the time of tribulation and your deliverance.

Old Testament – Daniel 12:1-3   At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people – everyone whose name is found written in the book – will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.

The second reading answers questions that people have about why the end of the world hasn’t come already. My grandmother used to say, “How can God let this world go on with all the problems that it’s having and with all the people rebelling against Him?”   The second reading answers that question - it’s because God is merciful and He’s giving us time to reach the unbelievers with the Good News of Jesus as Lord and Savior. God doesn’t want anyone to spend eternity in hell and this reading really nails that thought home.  

Epistle – 2 Peter 3:9-15  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed is coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elopements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.

Last Sunday in Part One of our series, we went over chapter 13 of the Book of Mark and heard about what Jesus had to say about the end time, and the destruction of the Temple.

Gospel – Mark 13:1-9, 32-37  As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?” Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he’ and will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Therefore, keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back – whether in the evening or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch’!”

Sermon –

Today is Part Two in our sermon series about events surrounding December 21, 2012. We are talking about this date because it’s been in the news; magazine articles have been written about it, there have been specials on the History Channel about it, and there’s even a movie, 2012, that has been out for about a week and a half. December 21, 2012 has been the subject of much news because it’s the date the Mayan calendar, a very ancient and very accurate calendar ends. It’s also the date the Long Count calendar and other ancient calendars end.

Centuries ago these calendars predicted something that would happen on the day of the winter solstice, December 21, 2012. When the sun rises on that day, the sun and the earth will be in direct alignment with the black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy and the earth will complete a wobble on its axis. These two events have never before happened in the recorded history of the earth.  The speculation is that the effect of these events on Planet Earth, either suddenly or over a period of years, is a “Pole Shift”, where the magnetic poles shift would shift and the equator would, for example, run through Alaska. Everything would be changed; the magnetic fields affect the sliding of the earth’s plates and this pole shift could trigger earthquakes and tsunamis. The Mayans predicted that the result of these events would ultimately destroy the earth by massive flooding, water covering areas where there is now dry land.

The events surrounding 2012 are probably one of the greatest evangelism opportunities that you and I have had for a long time. This stuff is in the news and people are interested. This is a great, great opportunity to prepare people for the end, to tell them that the end will come, that a time of distress will come and that they need to be prepared. Jesus will return, it’s inevitable, and this is a great time to bring up the subject and ask people if they are prepared – and we prepare for the end, for this time of distress, by confessing our sins and looking to Jesus Christ, He’s the one who lived a perfect life for us - we haven’t - He’s the one who paid for our sins - we don’t have to - and through faith in Christ, we are forgiven. And when we have forgiveness, we have everything – and everything includes being prepared for Christ’s second coming, being prepared to go to heaven, being prepared for the end of the world, and being prepared for 2012!

That’s the message we want to get out, but in order to do that, we have to be knowledgeable about what the Bible says. One of the things people will bring up is that all these people and events that predict the end - the Mayan calendar, the Long Count Calendar, Nostradamus - are very accurate. And they’re right, they do have accuracy and that’s why it’s so important to remember what Jesus said in Mark Chapter 13. Before He started talking about the end times, He said, “Watch out that no one deceives you”; He warned that there would be false prophets. Why do people listen to false prophets? Because they do have accuracy; if they were always wrong, no one would listen to them! So there is going to be a certain amount of truth, a certain amount of accuracy in the false prophets; there is going to be a certain amount of accuracy in the Mayan Calendar and here is going to be a certain amount of accuracy in Nostradamus’ predictions. But we need to remember that Jesus said, “Watch out!” and established His accuracy in the first part of Mark Chapter 13.

Last week in Part I of our series we talked about Jesus’ accuracy. To recap: in Mark Chapter 13, Jesus said to His disciples, “Not one stone (of the Temple) will be left on another; every one will be thrown down” and it happened.  Then He talked about false prophets coming and they did.   He talked about the Gospel, the news of Jesus, would go out to all nations – and it did; everyone heard the Good News of Jesus Christ in their own language on the Day of Pentecost. And in Mark 13:30,   He predicted the time frame in which all this would happen when He said,  “I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until these things have happened.” Jesus said these things would all happen in the disciples’ generation – and they did.   By 70 AD when the Temple was destroyed, “these things” had occurred.

So when people talk to you about the accuracy of the Mayan Calendar or Nostradamus or the Long Count calendar, make sure you tell them about Jesus’ accuracy. And then hit them with the big one – He even predicted his own death! He predicted that He would go to Jerusalem, be betrayed, die for sin and rise three days later - and He did. Jesus is extremely accurate - listen to His words in the Bible and you will not be deceived.

Last week we answered some questions in regard to 2012 –

• Will  the earth be destroyed by water?

       The answer is – NO! Genesis 9:15 - After the flood, God made a promise, and        even set a rainbow in the sky to remind us that the world will never, never, ever          again be destroyed by water.

• Will the seasons disappear if a pole shift occurs?

        The answer is – NO! Genesis 8:22 - After the flood God made a promise and said, “As long as the earth endures, until Jesus Christ comes back, the seasons, planting time and harvest time, will not end.

• Will the end come on December 21, 2012?

            The answer is - NO! Mark 13:32 - If someone tells you the end is going to happen on a certain date, you know that it’s wrong because Jesus, who is extremely accurate, said, “No one knows the day or the hour.” As a matter of fact, Jesus said that the end will come at a time when people are not expecting it. It may be 3:00 this afternoon! Everyone is thinking that the end is going to happen in 2012, but God could sneak it in this afternoon! The Bible says the important thing is to repent. John the Baptist’s message was “Repent”. When Jesus arrived, His message was “Repent”. And repentance means, simply, turning toward God, and following Him.  He has a plan for you, grab on to Him and go with it.

We don’t know what’s going to happen in 2012 but the Bible tells about a period of great distress that will happen before Jesus returns, before the end comes. Daniel 12:1 says, “There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then.” We know a time of distress is coming because the Bible is accurate but we don’t know if the events of 2012 will set off a time of distress, or if something will happen tomorrow that ushers in a great time of distress.

We may wonder why a loving God would allow a time of distress. Three Bible verses answer that question. The first one is II Samuel 14:14. People ask, “How do you know the Bible is true? You know it’s written by men!” Since that’s the mindset, what does God have to do if He is going to get people to turn to Him? He’s going to have to create such distress that people will throw anything they trust in out the window and say, “My only hope is to give the God of the Bible a try. There is no other hope.” That’s what II Samuel 14:14 tells us. And remember this, hell is so absolutely terrible, it is so bad, it is so painful, and it is endless, that God is willing to do absolutely anything to get people to turn to him. No time of distress is too great if it causes people to turn to him and keeps them out of hell. In fact, hell is so bad that God took His own sinless Son and brutally murdered him so that you and I wouldn’t have to spend eternity there; that’s how bad hell is. No time of distress is too great if it causes people to repent, to turn toward God and trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

The next verse is 2 Peter 3:9 from our Epistle Lesson which says, “The Lord is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” God desires all to be saved; He’s going pursue people. The last verses are II Corinthians 1:4-8. People will say, ‘You know that God promises He is never going to give me more than I can handle.”  To that we say, “Baloney!” God will always give you more than you can handle so that you turn to Him, and you know it’s His strength that brings you through your distress.

So, what will happen at that time of distress? Daniel 12:1 says, “At that time, Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise.” Michael is an archangel, an angel of the highest order. When God created the angels, the Bible tells us that He created two archangels, Lucifer and Michael. Lucifer rebelled against God and, in that rebellion, took about one-third of the angels with him, became known as satan and the evil angels are his demons. If you want more information on that I refer you to our two-part series from mid-August. God reminds us that even though Lucifer is the great destroyer of His people, God has an archangel, Michael, who is the great protector of his people.

Daniel writes that in this time of distress Michael arises and protects “your people”. So just who are Daniel’s people? Daniel was a Jew so does this mean that the protection is only for the Jews or is it much broader? Are we included in “your people”? The Bible reference to answer that question is Galatians 3:26, “You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed your selves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” If you believe that Jesus is your Savior, you belong to Christ and you are Abraham’s descendent. if you belong to Christ, you are the chosen people; you are Abraham descendents and “heirs according to the promise”. So what God is telling us is that “your people” are those who believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Daniel had the same belief that you do; He believed in the God of the Bible, He believed that the Messiah would come. You believe in the God of the Bible, you believe that the Messiah did come. We have the same faith.

And Daniel continues “Everyone whose name is found written in the book will be delivered.” This underscores what we just talked about. Chapter seven of the Book of Daniel talks about the final judgment. God, The Judge, takes His place in the courtroom and “the books” are opened (verse 10). “The books” list the good and bad of people. That’s a scary thought because God demands perfection and written in “the books” is the bad stuff. However, Daniel 12:1 says “the book” which refers to “The Book of Life”. Revelation Chapters 19, 20, and 21 also talk about “The Book” and say that everyone who believes in Jesus as Lord and Savior has their name is written in that Book. Those whose names are in the Book of Life, those who know Jesus as Savior, go to heaven. They are the ones who are protected; they are the ones who are delivered.  If your name is in the Book of Life, you have nothing to worry about.

And what type of deliverance it will this be? The Bible uses several different words that we translate “deliverance”. One of the words is simply if there is a time of distress you are kept out of that distress; it doesn’t come near you or have an effect on you. For example, if there is a devastating event on the other side of the world, it doesn’t touch us over here. Another type of deliverance, is the Hebrew word Natsal which means you are actually in the distress, you can’t avoid it, you’re in the middle of it, but God delivers you and takes you out of the distress. So just because you get into distress, don’t think God has forgotten about you, He hasn’t. Natsal says you will get into the distress and God will deliver you from it.

Then there’s a type of deliverance that we have never talked about before in this congregation because I first discovered it about two weeks ago when I looked up the Greek word that is translated “deliverance” in Daniel Chapter 12. The word is mawlat, and the root of mawlat means “slippery” or “smooth”. What God is saying is that we are delivered by slipperiness and that’s a key concept. A good illustration of this is water - you can’t grab hold of water. If I’m the bad guy and you are like water, I can’t grab hold of you; you escape by slipperiness. Mawlat means you will be delivered by slipperiness, distress will slip right off of you.

When I read this, I thought, “Well, that’s kind of a weird concept.” And then I started thinking about all of you and the things you’ve told me that have happened over the course of time.   For example - about two or three years ago one of our members was going in for a very serious cancer surgery - surgery that would normally generate worry, anger and fear - but he was completely calm. As he went into surgery, he kept his favorite Bible verse with him: Isaiah 26:3. When the nurse asked him if he would you like something to calm down and he said, “No, I have God’s word, and that keeps me calm.” What happened? He got mawlatted! That worry, anxiety, and fear never took root in his heart and mind, it slipped right off!

Another person this congregation mentioned to me that they were going into a very serious situation, a meeting that would change their life because they were going to get fired. They had a lot worry and anxiety about the situation but told me that as they were walking up the stairs to the boss’s office and they had a great feeling of peace, that God would protect them and everything would be ok. What happened? They got mawlatted! The worry, the fear, and the anxiety just slid right off of them and they had peace.   God provided for them and life is much better now. That’s mawlat – God’s deliverance – fear sliding off; God’s third type of deliverance, provided for you because of your faith in Jesus Christ.

Then Daniel 12:2 continues, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.” The end will come, there will be the resurrection of the dead and you will go off to heaven. Then verse 3 says, “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.” God is telling us in this verse that good works do not get you into heaven but, in Heaven, He does reward your acts of service.

This is important stuff and now you know - and you can tell others - what the Bible says about 2012!   And more importantly, you know what will happen to you during the end times - God’s deliverance is there.

Prayer -  

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your words that give us instructions and help us to understand the end times; help us to pass this Good News on to others.  We pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen