[PASTOR JEREMY MATTEK]
What exactly will happen
to believers on Judgment
Day?
And what will happen to
unbelievers on Judgement
Day?
Find out next from Pastor
Jeske on Time of Grace.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR MARK JESKE]
I have been in
white people's houses,
I've been in Latino
people's houses, and I've
been in black folks houses
and you know what?
The dust is the same color
in everybody's house
[Audience: Laughter].
And you know what dust is
made of, right?
It's made of us.
Something like 75 percent
of dust isn't just dirt
from outside; it's pieces
of you that have fallen
off.
We are - we really are
dust.
And what's another
characteristic of dust
besides it sticks to
everything that you want
clean in your house?
It blows around.
We're going to scatter, no
matter what happens.
Even though the
traditional burial
practices try their best
to discourage it, dust
blows around and blows
away.
God only needs one tiny
little speck of you and
even if he can't find one
little speck of you left
over - think of what might
be left of Adam and Eve.
They've been gone so long,
I'm sure they're - what
made up their physical
body at the time of their
death has disintegrated
and has now been recycled
- it's - atoms from Adam's
body have probably gone
around the globe 100 times
and they get recycled over
and over.
But see, God has his DNA
on file and it wasn't
until the dawning of the
computer age that I
actually wrapped my head
around how this could
work.
Adam's DNA is in the
cloud; God can reassemble
him just like that.
It's like all the plans
are there.
Your DNA is in the cloud;
in the heavenly cloud.
God will have no trouble
reassembling you and
here's my point:
Regardless of the way in
which your body ceased
breathing and moving, and
he's going to do it on a
grand scale.
He's going to do it
instantaneously.
And this now is the third
and final piece of my
celebration with you of
the resurrection of the
body, which we all in the
Apostle's Creed say we
believe in.
Month after month, when we
say the Apostle's Creed
together, "I believe in
the resurrection of the
body."
I believe in the
resurrection of Christ's
body.
I believe in the
resurrection of my body
and I believe in the
resurrection of
everybody's body.
The good and the bad.
The believers and the
unbelievers.
I'd like to invite you to
turn with me to an
incredible passage in the
book of Daniel, in Daniel
chapter twelve.
Daniel only has 12
chapters, so this kicks
off the finale of that
incredible book.
I don't know what you
think of when you're
thinking of the prophet
Daniel, what, if anything,
comes into your head.
When I was in Sunday
School back in the day,
when I was a kid, the
illustrations of the story
of Daniel in the lion's
den showed a young man
down there sweating as he
looked nervously at the
growling, drooling lions
around him and those
pictures stay in your
head.
The fact is, Daniel was
not a young man when he
was lowered down in that
pit of lions.
He was not a middle-aged
man like me when he was
lowered down into the pit.
He was a geezer, the way -
I may live long enough to
become.
He was in his probably -
by my math - in his early
eighties when he was
winched down into the pit
of lions.
And he's even older now
when we meet him.
Daniel, by my reckoning,
is 85 years old.
Don't anybody in your
eighties say that your
best years are behind you
and there's nothing left
for you to do for God.
You don't know what God is
using you for!
Daniel certainly was
surprised by visions that
were put in his head.
He was allowed to see
Jesus Christ himself.
The last three chapters of
Daniel are one lengthy
speech of Christ himself.
If you'll permit me to
just read you a verse from
Daniel 10 when this final
vision of a man begins,
Daniel was in Babylon.
He's standing on the bank
of the great river, the
Tigris.
"I looked up and there
before me was a Man,"
capital M, "dressed in
linen."
Linen is a symbol of
purity because it's so
creamy colored, it just
looks like something the
angels would wear.
"With a belt of the finest
gold around his waist," so
triumph, rank, wealth.
"His body was like
chrysolite."
How many - who of you
knows what chrysolite is?
It's kind of like a
biblical little - scrap
piece of biblical trivia.
Well, we don't use that
word very much.
Even gem - even jewelers
would probably not use
that term.
They would call it
peridot, or peridot,
depending if you use the
French pronunciation.
You know what color
peridot is or peridot?
It's greenish; yellow,
green.
So the linen he was
wearing had a kind of a
glowing like Emerald City.
He was looking like
spooky, other worldly, but
like a gem, so pure and
perfect and expensive.
"His face like lightning,"
so nobody was going to
mess with him.
"His eyes were like
flaming torches."
When you looked into his
eyes and he, of course,
has a human body, all you
saw were two big burning
holes of intensity of
power, of anger, but also
of insight, intelligence,
and omniscient knowledge
of everything going on, of
resoluteness of purpose.
His eyes just sizzled and
those who saw him usually
were scared.
Daniel fell, fell down.
He passed out cause his
senses just were on
overload.
"His arms and legs like
the gleam of burnished
bronze."
So he had like dark brown
skin.
Hey - Is that not
cool or what?
He didn't look like pale
and ivory looking; he's
got bronze skin.
He looks like he's at
least Middle Eastern,
looked like one of the
brown folks, maybe like a
black guy.
Isn't this amazing?
At least, that's how he
chose to represent
himself.
He may end up looking to
all of us the way we look
back in the mirror.
Who knows.
But I just think it's so
interesting that this is
the second place in
Scripture, including
Revelation, where Jesus is
described as having skin
the color of bronze.
I just think that's too
cool because so much
Christian art makes Jesus
look Norwegian.
I just think there needs
to be equal amount of art
making Jesus [Audience:
Laughter] look a little
farther down the
Coppertone scale.
[Audience: Laughter] So
his voice was like the
"sound of a multitude."
When he opened his mouth,
it probably reminded
Daniel of what the
Israelites felt like when
they were gathered around
Mount Sinai.
When God's voice rolled
down Mt.
Sinai, the people weren't
saying how cool to hear
God talking to us.
Remember what they did
when they heard him speak?
Ran for cover.
They were terrified.
They begged Moses, "Make
him stop or he's going to
kill us with that voice."
This was Jesus, and the
teachers know about this,
this was Jesus' outside
voice.
When he was teaching his
disciples, he used his
inside voice.
Daniel got to hear his
outside voice and he
passed out from the
intensity of the
experience.
He was afraid.
Now, Jesus calmed him down
and he had, at this point,
of course, not yet
suffered and died.
This is a vision of the
future.
This is not what things
were like at that moment,
but this is what Jesus
looks like now.
This is the Jesus that
St. John saw: Triumphant,
powerful, resurrected, on
top of everything,
resolute in purpose, in
command and in control of
every last thing in the
universe.
Letting things play out
until the exact right
moment when he will speak
a word and all of the
grinding and winding of
history is going to stop
abruptly and everything is
going to have a new, fresh
start.
There will be a gigantic
review of every human
being.
Now, we could dawdle
through all of chapter 11
- an astonishingly
detailed prophecy of the
hardships of the next four
centuries.
The Bible calls - we call
it the "silent years"
because there's a gap
between Malachi and
Matthew.
There's nothing in
Scripture that talks about
what happened in those 400
years except this.
And with astonishing
clarity, Jesus lays out
the wars that are going to
happen and the collisions
and clashing between the
pieces of Alexander the
Great's once immense
empire.
It's going to break apart
into four pieces and
they're going to fall
against each other and
attack each other and be
at war and those were
literally fulfilled but
those wars also symbolize
the way in which Satan is
going to try to torment
and kill people and
ultimately destroy their
relationship with God.
It is not a happy chapter;
it is a prophecy of
hardship for the people in
Daniel's future, but it's
also a prophecy of what's
coming for you and me, as
well, for that violent
conflict on earth is not
going to stop.
Now comes happy news,
though; it wasn't all hard
news for Daniel.
Chapter 12 shows what the
end game is going to look
like and this is going to
give Daniel some hope.
He's still in Babylon.
It's the year 536 B.C.
and it was that year that
the Jews were given their
edict of permission to
return because the
Babylonian Empire was
ended.
The Babylonians thought we
are going to have a
thousand year empire and,
in fact, it ended
overnight and the Persians
took their place almost
instantaneously; it's an
astonishing story.
Cyrus, the Persian, is now
the overlord of the entire
Middle East and will be
for - in his country -
will be for a couple of
centuries.
Chapter 12 begins: "At
that time," looking far
into the future, "Michael,
the great prince who
protects your people, will
arise."
You know who Michael is?
He's the archangel.
He is the commander in
chief of all the angel
armies.
Scripture, in many places,
points out the angels are
not just a generic,
gigantic mass; everyone,
like ants in a colony,
where everyone's just
exactly the same as the
other.
The angels have specific
jobs, they have unique
names and personalities,
they have minds, they have
will where they can make
choices that matter.
They have different
abilities and their
differing ranks, they have
different jobs to do.
And there are many
different names for them
and we hardly know squat
about what any of those
names mean.
We just know that they are
called the armies, the
divisions, of the Lord.
And some of those names,
like Seraphim, seem to
indicate some sort of
ability to project power.
Seraph, in Hebrew, means
to burn; so what are the
burning ones?
I don't know.
Are they the ones carrying
the flaming swords, like
the ones to keep Adam and
Eve from sliding back into
the Garden of Eden?
I don't know.
I have no idea.
The cherubim are a
description of high ranks
of angels but what that
really means other than
they are the high command
of the angel armies, we
don't know.
But they had authority and
Michael is their chief.
It comes from some
beautiful Hebrew words,
Mikha'el, which means, "Who
is like God?"
What a beautiful name.
"He is the great prince
who protects your people."
So here more than anywhere
else in Scripture we get
like the curtains pulled
back a little bit.
We get to peek at what's
going on behind the scenes
to see that God is really
busy.
He hasn't just said,
"Alright, well, mess
around down there you
little people and I'll
send you the Savior and
I'll send you - I'll try
to keep you from beating
on each other too badly.
But I'm basically checking
out and I'll be back in a
couple of thousand years."
This is not true.
He's working it every day
and the angels are like
working twenty-four-seven
to keep you and me from
being just chewed alive by
the forces ranged against
us.
Michael and his angel
armies are working it to
protect us.
"There will be a time of
distress such as has not
happened from the
beginning of nations until
then."
In other words, things on
earth are going to get
worse and worse.
Don't look surprised when
you hear about what is
going on in our world;
don't look surprised.
Don't be surprised.
Assume that Jesus' own
words, "that the love of
most will grow cold," is
going to come true.
We're not getting better
and better at evolving
into a kinder, gentler,
wiser, more loving human
race.
We are devolving until the
time when the Lord says he
had enough.
"But at that time, your
people," meaning the
people who believe what
you believe, Daniel,
"everyone whose name is
found written in the
book," those who have been
saved by grace through
faith, the believers, have
their names written in the
book.
Every one of them will be
"delivered," will be
saved.
God's not going to miss a
one of them.
He knows who they are, he
has the names, he has
their DNA, he has their
records, he knows their
addresses, he knows what
they look like, and he has
plans for them that will
not be disrupted.
"Multitudes who sleep in
the dust of the earth will
awake: some to everlasting
life, others to shame and
everlasting contempt."
All this will happen
through the word of God.
Jesus, in John 5, said the
same thing once.
I've just got to share
this, these words of Jesus
with you.
He was speaking to some of
the Pharisees and some of
the Jews who were
persecuting him.
He said, "I tell you the
truth, a time is coming
and has now come when the
spiritually dead will hear
the voice of the Son of
God and those who hear
will live."
And the Bible calls that
the first resurrection;
when you're converted from
being an unbeliever into
being a believer.
That's like rising from
spiritual death and your
heart starts beating
again.
Jeremiah calls it,
"Getting a heart of flesh
instead of a heart of
stone.
For as the Father has life
in himself, he's granted
the Son to have life in
himself and given him
authority to judge.
Don't be amazed; a time is
coming when all who are in
their graves will hear his
voice and come out."
So the voice of Jesus
Christ, the word of
Christ, converts people in
the first resurrection.
And when he speaks it
again, when the world
hears the voice of Christ
again, all of the corpses
- whether they were neatly
buried in airtight,
watertight, basement
vaults in their own
private cemetery basement
where literally all of
those chemicals inside of
them have retarded their
disintegration so
completely, there's more
or less an intact body
left, maybe even with some
of your clothes looking
pretty good.
Or maybe somebody fell off
a boat and was lost at sea
and a day later, there was
absolutely nothing left of
him or her because they
became part of the marine
life around them, is
irrelevant to God.
At the word of Christ,
every human being's body
is going to be
reassembled.
I believe in the
resurrection of all the
bodies because Scripture
teaches the resurrection
of all the bodies and I
invite you today to
reaffirm your belief in
the resurrection of all
the bodies.
Daniel says it's going to
happen: "Some to
everlasting life, others
to shame and everlasting
contempt."
Isn't that interesting the
way he puts that?
Normally, when you think
of what's going to happen
to unbelievers, we're
thinking pain, right?
You're going to hell.
You're going to burn on
and on.
But Daniel's record for us
here of the words of Jesus
coming to him centuries in
advance of Christmas, when
he was born and lived on
earth, doesn't mention the
physical torment.
It says the people who
were not believers and are
face-to-face with the one
who they blew off and
rejected, they indeed are
going to suffer pain.
But what Jesus mentions to
Daniel is they're going to
suffer shame and
everlasting contempt.
Do you know what contempt
is?
Somebody's disgusted with
you.
The mental suffering is
mentioned here.
Shame is when you say to
yourself over and over,
"What a fool I've been!
What an idiot."
Contempt is when you hate
others and hated by others
and worse, you hate
yourself.
This is what awaits.
Not only the physical
discomfort of whatever God
designs for people who had
no use for him on this
earth, people who wanted
to be free from God
essentially are going to
be given what they say
they want, which is a
terrifying thought.
If God withdraws all his
presence and goodness,
there's nothing left but
shame and everlasting
contempt.
Where people are angry at
everybody else and blaming
the people who put them
there, but also hating
themselves.
This is what awaits people
whose names are not
written in the book.
"Those who are wise will
shine like the brightness
of the heavens," like the
sun itself.
This is talking not just
about people who've been
to college, not that kind
of wisdom.
This is talking about what
Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3,
that you are wise for
salvation.
If you are connected to
Christ, you will shine
like the sun itself.
And even more so, those
who will shine even more
brightly are the ones "who
lead many to
righteousness, like the
stars for ever and ever."
Those are God's all-stars.
Not the people who've
accumulated the most money
or become the most famous
or have the most power
over everybody else or the
biggest twitter following.
But what impact did you
have in sharing your faith
with people around you?
Those are God's all-stars
and he will find ways to
thank and recognize and
clap and cheer for people
who have spent their lives
bringing other people to
give them a shot.
You can't convert anybody
else.
You can't believe for
anybody else.
You can't change someone
else's heart but God can.
What you can do is give
them a chance by just
sharing the word that does
all those things.
And that gives people like
that the right to be
called those who lead many
to righteousness.
Now he said, "You, Daniel,
close up and seal the
words of the scroll until
the time of the end."
But you've got to
understand what that
means.
That doesn't mean lock it
up so nobody can read what
I just told you.
This means write it down
and preserve it so it will
last, so it can be shared.
This is the opposite of
hiding it or putting it in
a vault.
This means make sure this
vision was not just for
you, Daniel.
I'm giving it to you to
share so get it written
down and, indeed, Daniel
clearly followed
instructions because we
have that incredible
message today.
And it was not lost or
perished; it is being
shared.
And through printing and
through communication,
those messages can keep
rolling out today, as
well.
"Many will go here and
there to increase
knowledge," and I think
Jesus' point is but here
is the truth that
ultimately matters.
That through faith in the
Son of God, who lived his
perfect life and died his
perfect, innocent death,
who shed his innocent
blood, who laid it down
freely of himself out of
pure love and who did it
all in such utter
perfection that nothing
hindered his resurrection
of the body, guarantees
two powerful things: The
forgiveness of your sins
and the favor of God and
it guarantees also your
personal resurrection so
that you have nothing to
fear on this grand day of
the resurrection of all
flesh.
When essentially, private
judgment days that have
been happening as people
die one by one, where all
is now made public, and
you and I are on our way
to a grand reunion where
we will be gathered
together, back again with
all of our Christian loved
ones whom we've laid to
rest.
We will get them back not
only in spirit, but we'll
get them back in their
physical selves, as well.
One dear lady talked to me
this week and said that
some pastor told her years
ago that we wouldn't
recognize each other in
heaven; we'll all be so
completely changed, we'll
be somebody else.
And it's enough, he says,
because you'll have Jesus,
you'll have God, and
that's enough for you.
Well, God is awesome and
he truly is our all in
all, but I think that poor
woman was cheated out of a
fact that we're
individuals, too, and our
individuality will be
preserved.
When Jesus himself in his
resurrected body walked
among his disciples, he
was still himself.
He had not become somebody
else.
In fact, we will get to
see what he looks like
because he took his body
with him to heaven and you
and I will, too.
Alright, let's wrap this
all up.
So what?
So what, indeed.
Number one: Be careful.
Be careful to hang onto
this word.
Don't lose it or drop it.
Keep this close to your
heart.
This is your asset number
one on your personal
balance sheet.
This is treasure number
one in the things you
value.
It's more important than
your money, your house,
your car, or your
reputation or anything
else.
This relationship that you
have with Christ is why
your name is written in
blood in the book of life,
the book of life, which
guarantees your
forgiveness and your
immortality.
Second, be confident
because by God's grace
giving you what you could
not earn and by faith,
which also was given to
you, you are connected
with him and your future
is guaranteed.
That means you can absorb
any kind of abuse or
whacking; whatever life
gives you.
Whether your financial
situation is trashed or
people turn on you and
people you thought had 20
friends and you wonder
some days if you even have
two, you can overcome
that.
You can live with that
because you know this only
temporary.
You can deal with anything
that comes your way
because you know it's only
temporary.
You can be trapped in a
warzone and know this is
only temporary.
What I'm reading in
Scripture is eternal.
I can endure this and it's
worth the wait.
So be confident.
Finally, thirdly, be bold.
Be careful to hold on, be
confident, but thirdly, be
bold because you have
people close to you who
don't quite get or believe
what I've been talking
about for the last 20
minutes.
I feel sorry for them.
What have they got to look
forward to?
Nothing.
All they have is a mind
game where they maybe are
pretending or making up
scenarios where God likes
them and where they get to
go to heaven.
But they have nothing to
base it on, an actual
fact, and because it's not
based on the word, they
know it's a fraud and
they're just making it up
and they have no
confidence because it's
not based on the solid
promises of the one who
bled, suffered, died, and
rose.
And you and I cannot
change other people's
minds and hearts, but we
can give them a shot.
So my final charge to you,
in addition to be careful
to hold on and to be
confident for yourself, is
to be bold and give the
people in your life a
chance.
They may reject it.
Just remember, they're not
rejecting you; don't take
it personally.
But just give them a
chance and share good news
that you are loved and
forgiven in Jesus Christ
and help them to believe
in the resurrection of the
body to eternal life.
Say it with me one last
time: "I believe in the
resurrection of the body."
[Audience and Pastor: I
believe in the
resurrection of the body].
I do, too, and that's good
news for God's people.
Amen.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR JEREMY MATTEK]
Thank you, Pastor
Jeske, for that incredibly
important message.
Hell is real and so is
heaven and so is the Jesus
who gives it to us.
I'll be back in a minute
to pray.
[PROMOTION] "Why can't you
be more put together like
her?
You're such a mess." "What
kind of man are you?
Don't be such a wimp."
"How can you expect anyone
to like you when you're so
lame all the time?"
I wrote this book, "A Change
of Story," because we all
tell ourselves stories and
some of those stories take
us to somewhere good and
some of those stories
spiral down into more and
more temptations into dark
places.
It's at those moments,
like Asaph or David, where
we have to hear God's
story for us.
And so, in this book,
you'll see what God's
story is for you and how
God can connect you to
that story so that you can
change where you're going
and start leading a life
closer to God.
And it's our thanks for
your donation to help
reach more people with
God's timeless truths.
So get your copy of
"A Change of Story" when you
give today and begin your
journey away from negative
thoughts and into the true
story of God's love.
[PASTOR JEREMY MATTEK]
Thank you so much for your
kind support of this
ministry.
So many more souls are
able to hear the gospel
because of good friends
like you.
Let's pray together.
Lord Jesus, Thank you for
the wonderful assurance
that you give us in your
word; the assurance that
we don't need to be afraid
of Judgment Day.
As we think about standing
in front of our Father in
heaven, our hearts can be
filled with fear as we
think about our mistakes,
as we think about our
regrets.
As we think about standing
in front of our Father in
heaven and having to give
an answer for everything
that we've done.
But Jesus gives us the
best answer of all:
Forgiven.
Forgiven.
That's what we are because
of the life and death of
our Savior and our friend,
Jesus.
Help us keep our hearts
focused on him and our
minds fixed on him so that
Satan's accusations
against us don't hold any
weight in our hearts.
Rather, set our hearts
free with the assurance
that we will rise to be
with Jesus in the heaven
that he has prepared for
us.
And as we walk each step
there, help us also to be
faithful in sharing that
assurance with others,
too.
So many hearts are living
in fear and you've given
us the message that can
set them all free.
Help us to do that
faithfully.
In Jesus' name we pray,
Amen.
I'm Pastor Jeremy Mattek
with Time of Grace and it
all starts now.
[MUSIC]
[ANNOUNCER] The
preceding program was
brought to you by the
friends and partners of
Time of Grace.
No comments:
Post a Comment