First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge

• Resurrection day will also be a separation day! (Read Matthew 25!) This should create a sense of urgency, to be burdened for unbelievers, to go and make disciples. There is much at stake!
• Yet, we can be comforted knowing that for the "wise" (those who fear in the Lord, for believers), our name is written in the book, our heavenly citizenship is secure!
• Jesus' resurrection guarantees OUR resurrection! (Romans 6: 5) We will rise in glory to everlasting life because we are united IN CHRIST's death and resurrection.
• We aren't to know the "When" or "How long" until the end time comes. God has revealed that to us. In fact, Matthew 24: 36 tells us, "But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."
• What we do know for sure is that the end is coming! Evil has an expiration date! We don't know that date, but God does.
• So what are we to do as we await that day? "Go your way, Daniel!" Keep doing what God has set before you. We should be much less concerned about WHEN the end will come, and much more concerned with how we live our lives in preparation for the end! God will reveal what we need to know when we need to know it. He will make sure the wise will understand, and be purified, cleansed, and refined.
• These end-time prophecies should move us to action, to pursue holiness, to keep living right NOW for God's glory. "Future destiny impacts present discipleship!" (David Platt)
• Because something glorious awaits us . . . Our future inheritance in God's everlasting kingdom! We go on living faithfully in this corrupt world, laboring on by the power of the Holy Spirit, waiting in hope and assurance of the inheritance that's stored up for us!

Jesus is the meeting place between the promises of God and the faithfulness required of humanity. The people waited for centuries for the LORD to fulfill his Word to them. The LORD waited patiently knowing his people could not ever, on their own, keep his law. The waiting ended in Jesus. He enacted our faithfulness and his Father’s promises. So God and humanity meet in Christ alone.

Jesus becomes the embodied fulfillment of all God’s promises to his people. He resets the whole meaning of promises made and fulfilled by what he suffers, what he conquers and what he gives us. All the promises of God find their Yes in him.

• Why is there so much information given about the conflicts between these empires? Because their power struggle directly affected Israel, who was caught in the crossfire. To them, this wasn't just a history lesson, it was prophecy! And so they knew what was coming and could prepare themselves for this prolonged season of suffering.
• This vision gives us a glimpse into the intertestamental period (the "silent four-hundred years"). And things unfolded just as God said they would. The prophecies of this vision were fulfilled with such accuracy, which not only would've reaffirmed the faith for "them then" but also for "us today." We can trust that God is control of history, and that it unfold according to His will.
• We, too, are caught in the crossfire of this world! We are in the middle of many secular and cultural battles. The church is being increasingly threatened by secular worldviews. It's becoming harder and harder for Christians to not surrender to the culture around us. And the world uses the same tools that Antiochus used to gain control... flattery, deception, seduction, bribery, intimidation, intrigue.
• But in his grace and love for us, God instructs us how to combat the tools the world will use. He tells us to "stand firm" and "take action." We will fall sometimes, but even then, God will use our failures to refine and purify us, to strengthen our faith.
• Some day, "at the end of time," a final Antichrist will arrive on the scene and wreak havoc on God's people... "yet he will come to an end, with no one to help him" (vs 45). When God's judgment falls on him, no one can save him. "The Lord will consume him with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming" (2 Thessalonians 2: 8). So as devastating and wicked as he will be, Christ will simply blow him away.
• Reflection: What does this vision teach us about man? About God? About Jesus Christ?

Welcome to the Lent 2021 study, "In Christ Alone: Discovering Where You Truly Live."

Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the LORD has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.