Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
What about those who have not come to know Jesus? Christians believe that Jesus reaches out to those who do not know him, even in ways we cannot understand. He longs for all people to be saved, and he would never condemn someone who had had no chance to know him.
I have conducted many funerals, but never have I had an experience approaching this one. Nevertheless, every funeral service which I conduct presents me with a great challenge. Funerals must deal with the ugly reality of death and the reminder that each of us must come to terms with it. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection (Romans 6:5). It is easy to see that the first half of verse 1 pertains to Michael and the last half to the period of the Great Tribulation, but it is difficult to accept the connection between the two. When Michael arises, the time of Israel’s trouble begins. At first this does not seem possible. Michael is “Israel’s prince” (10:21), the “great prince who stands guard” over the sons of Daniel’s people, Israel (12:1). How could the “protector of Israel” precipitate this time of such great suffering? What he bought was not the canceling of the commandment to hold fast, but the fulfillment of the commandment to hold fast.If I am going to hold fast to my well-anchored hope, then I will need some sin-conquering help from God. And that is what verse 21 says I get: “[God] is working in us that which is pleasing in his sight “namely, our holding fast to the well-anchored hope.” And notice the next three words: “through Jesus Christ.” That means that our High Priest, our never-dying, Melchizedek-like High Priest obtained by the blood of the eternal covenant not just firm attachment at one end of the anchor, but at both ends. It is firm in heaven, and it is firm in us. This is the salvation he obtained by his blood: the hope of heaven, and the holding fast to get there. We are not left to our own weak hands to hold on. The anchor of our souls is bound to us as well as to heaven. God’s Plan Is Coherent His death would be the “entrance into his rest.” His hope was that he would rise from the grave to receive the blessings which God had promised. The prophecies of God’s Word, in which Daniel found courage and comfort, were certain because he would rise from the dead to receive his “allotted portion at the end of the age.” Conclusion Here are my four reasons for thinking this, which I pray will give you a deep sense of God’s sovereign care for your perseverance and hope and encouragement. You are not left to yourself to hold on the storms of life. 1. Hope Belongs to Salvation Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26). The Apostles were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.”
The same was true for those in Daniel’s day as well as for those in the last days. They needed no new revelation. They needed to believe God’s promise of salvation which was revealed to them in the Old Testament Scriptures, just as every Old Testament saint was saved by faith (see Hebrews 11). While the last days would be characterized by a rapid increase in knowledge, this will not turn men toward God. Instead, men in the last days will vacillate, manifesting no consistency. They will go here and there seeking new knowledge (see Acts 17:16-21). The prophecy of the Book of Daniel proves to be of great value to those living in the last times, for it gives insight into the events taking place around them. The Length of
But it's not the full-on cynicism of so many Hollywood novels -- and it is a Hollywood novel, with (incidental) star-sightings and name-dropping galore, and the occasional handshake --, with Malloy, however much he is successfully a part of the industry, not overly caught up in it: we hardly learn anything about his work beyond which studio he's currently under contract with, much less see him actually at work. Then I, Daniel, looked and behold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the river, and the other on that bank of the river. 6 And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be until the end of these wonders?” 7 And I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed. But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.” The answer is given in verse 18. It says that we are to “have strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us.” The hope is something “set before us.” It is the future objective reality that we hope for. It is heaven and the blessing promised in verse 14 and the sum of all the good that God has sworn to be for us in Jesus. But I do not want to be ambiguous on this point. Not everyone is in heaven now. Some people won't make it. The Bible speaks of the saved and the lost. The saved are those who trust Jesus Christ as their eternal Savior. The lost are those who do not trust Christ as Savior. This is the great dividing line of humanity-you are either saved or you are lost. And there is no middle category. You will either spend eternity in heaven or eternity in hell.
Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. The Bible also tells us that heaven is the dwelling place of God. His throne is there, the angels are there, and the Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven. Philippians 3:20 says very plainly that "our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." That's why Jesus told the thief on the Cross, "Today you will be with me in paradise" ( Luke 23:43). Heaven is Not That Far Away Malloy was married, but it didn't work out, and in Hope of Heaven his main squeeze is young -- barely in her twenties -- Peggy Henderson, who works in a bookstore. In the Christian understanding, human beings are a unity of body and soul, of matter and spirit. We are created in the image and likeness of God, and we are made for eternal life with him. Deep down we sense that our true homeland is in heaven.Miller is a no-show for the meeting they set, but then runs into Malloy at a restaurant and introduces himself. In the bible a “vocation” is a calling, a purpose. The fundamental human vocation is to live a life of holiness, to be a saint. Not just to be a saint in heaven, but also to become a saint on this earth.
What does it mean for there to be a new heavens and new earth in Revelation 21:1? Does it mean that old one has been completely destroyed and an entirely new one has arrived, or does it mean that the old world has been modified and renewed, perhaps "updated," to use modern language? Consider some other relevant verses. What do you make of it? This is the anchor of verse 19, which continues verse 18: “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul.” In other words: what anchors our soul is not our subjective confidence, but the sure objective reality that God has promised. This is our anchor. And this is what we are to lay hold of. The Certainty of Our Hope The prophecy of Daniel is not the revelation of God’s plan of salvation; it is the revelation of God’s plan for the future. It reveals how God’s salvation will be fulfilled, not how it is made possible. Daniel focuses on the manifestation of God’s salvation in history, not its means through the coming, death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. It means bank on that hope. Trust in it. Feel secure in it. Be satisfied with it. Long for it the way you long for the coming of the dawn after a long, dark, scary night. There are at least five practical things you can do to move your heart toward “laying hold of your hope.”
Sections
Those without hope of eternal life try to avoid the reality of death. They are, in fact, enslaved by the fear of death (see Hebrews 2:15). Great amounts of money and effort are spent to conceal the ugly face of death. The gospel of Jesus Christ faces death head-on, with the proclamation that while death is the consequence of sin, Christ is the cure for sin and death. While the Old Testament saint trusted in God to raise them from the dead, so that they could receive the promised blessings, they did not grasp as fully that their resurrection from the dead would be the result of the death and resurrection of Messiah. This was promised in the Old Testament and declared to be fulfilled in the New: Your dead will live; their corpses will rise, you will lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits (Isaiah 26:19)
Great Deal 
New Comment