Many people think their eternity is secure because they are pretty good people. They have some vague idea that God will weigh their misdeeds against all the good things they’ve done, and they’ll manage to “get in.” Others believe they’re righteous because they were baptized as a child or have taken certain sacraments. Still others believe it’s because they belong to a certain church or have performed certain religious activities. But … Could this kind of righteousness, actually, keep you out of heaven?
We will all spend eternity somewhere. Some will spend eternity with God. But sadly, others will spend eternity suffering and eternally separated from Him.
Jesus compared that time of judgment to a shepherd separating sheep and goats. Both sheep and goats sit in our churches every Sunday. On the outside, we look much the same, but one day, the “Great Shepherd” will separate the two. The sheep to everlasting glory. The goats to everlasting punishment. Do you know for certain where you will spend eternity? Don’t leave it to chance!
And what about the people who sit around you on Sundays? Are there those who come in and go out without ever really being involved in the life of the church? Whose lives don’t reflect a relationship with Christ? Could God be calling you to get involved?
Does it seem to you that evil is not only increasing—but becoming bolder?
Violence.
Sexual exploitation.
Abortion.
Hatred.
Road rage.
Murder.
Anger that quickly turns vicious.
Sometimes it can seem as though wickedness is multiplying faster than we can even process it.
And that raises some unsettling questions.
Why does evil seem to spread so easily?
Why do people become more brazen when others around them reject God’s truth?
And what are believers supposed to do when it looks as though wickedness is gaining ground?
Daniel lived in a world like that.
He watched pagan rulers oppose God’s people, attack their faith, and exercise enormous power.
Then God showed him even more—future kingdoms, future persecution, and future suffering.
But He didn’t stop there.
God also showed Daniel how the story ends.
And the promise Daniel received may be exactly what we need when the evil around us feels overwhelming.
We’ll also look at one reason wickedness multiplies, the importance of walking in the light, and the hope God gives His people when the world seems increasingly dark.
Even believers who know where they will spend eternity can wonder what life beyond this one will actually be like.
Solomon said that God has placed eternity in our hearts.
Maybe that helps explain why our culture seems so fascinated with what lies beyond the grave.
Movies and television are filled with vampires, zombies, ghosts, and the so-called living dead.
But Scripture gives us a very different picture.
The Bible tells us there really was a time when graves opened and people who had died came out.
And it tells us something even more astonishing:
It will happen again.
But not with decaying bodies and filthy grave clothes.
Those who belong to Christ will receive bodies fitted for eternity.
Paul describes a day when the Lord Himself will descend from heaven, the dead in Christ will rise, and believers who are still alive will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord.
So what exactly will happen?
What happens to believers between death and resurrection?
And why did Paul say these truths should comfort us?
Today we’ll look at the resurrection of believers, the Rapture, an extraordinary event that occurred after Christ’s crucifixion, and the hope God has given us concerning eternity.
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