Welcome to Rock Harbor Church's channel on Sermon Audio. We hope this message is a blessing to you and helps you in your daily walk with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So please settle in and grab your Bibles. Here's Pastor Brandon with this message. keeps going on and on as if like what they're doing has no ramifications or consequences when last year that the number one death thing toll comes from abortion and then we look at our economy and they're telling us that we don't have a right to drive a car and own a car and and they want us to go to electric and then when they want us to go to electric the the the cars that are electric They fail, right? They can't even do their routine of dumping the trash. And it's amazing to watch the absurdity and just pure foolishness and stupidness of people who just keep doubling down on the path they're on, even though God is trying to show the world, hey, what you're doing doesn't work. what you're doing is going away from me and it's failing you're failing children by teaching them that they can be any gender they want and and you're abusing children when you allow them to do uh sex changes and hormone blockers and all that but we just keep doubling down we just keep going for it and the churches keep doubling down they just keep going with what they want to do most churches are becoming woke they're losing people by the droves because of their wokeness and they just keep doing it. There's mega churches that used to run like two and three thousand people now they're down to a couple hundred people because of their wokeness which is yeah good I'm glad but the funny thing is they don't stop they just keep doubling down. And what's happening is God is trying to break the world, trying to break America, break the church through putting us through all kinds of crazy stuff to say, hey man, are you going to wake up? Are you going to stop going off the cliff and busting hell right open with what you're doing? And I don't know. I don't think the world or America is going to stop. I don't have much hope. I'm very, I don't want to say pessimistic, but I'm seeing the reality of things and nothing's stopping these school boards from making our kids gender dysphoria and making them confused. Nothing's stopping them. I mean, you guys saw that on the thing where Maine was basically grooming a gal, a little girl, past their mother's wishes. Hey man, what's going on here? So what you're going to see today is the theme of brokenness and why it's required and why it's necessary. It's necessary to get a culture's attention, it's necessary to get a nation's attention, and it's definitely necessary to get a person's attention. Now here's what we're going to learn. We're going to look at an example from Daniel chapter 12 of Israel and how they must be broken in the future and how they will be. And we're going to take our cues from that and then apply it personally because All of us, if you haven't already, have been through breaking periods with the Lord. He allows these things to enter our lives. We call them trauma, we call them pain, whatever you want to call them, and they come into our lives and they create a hell come to earth, basically. And you and I have a decision about how we're going to handle that trauma and handle that pain. And as you'll see today, some of Israel responds well to the breaking, and some of Israel does not respond well to the breaking. Because every human being still has a choice, because they're free will creatures. So a lot of times when people don't respond well to the things in their life that's supposed to drive them to God, they actually drive away from God because they make a decision not to be broken. They don't want to be broken. They don't want to be humiliated. They don't want to submit. And so they go the path and get worse. And what you'll learn as a believer, you still have that same choice. And if you choose not to cope well with the trauma, the pain, the events that are happening in your life, and you go down the path of protest, and you go down the path of, I'm not going to learn anything from this, you're going to become a much worse person than you are now. You become bitter, angry, unforgiving, frustrated with life, and really, it's not a good place to be. Versus responding well to the breaking becoming more like Christ Understanding what you're going through and what is God trying to teach you? That's a whole nother ballgame that makes you more wise that makes you more like Christ and that's where the decision lies Anytime something happens in your life. You make that decision whether you're gonna learn from it or protest it and And what you're going to learn is both aspects are here in this passage. And here's what we want to learn. What does it take to respond correctly to the breaking when God is trying to break us of something? Maybe it's a break away from sin, an attitude, a thought, whatever it might be. How do we respond correctly? And so we're going to study that right now. So in regards to the society, The example is, they're not breaking. So for instance, on the medical front, you can look at the not breaking issue. They refuse to acknowledge that there are side effects that are killing people abnormally from the experimental jab. So now you have a 16 year old girl, 16 years old, just dice, playing flag football. This is kind of unheard of, by the way. We have this sudden death syndrome, people just drop down. And we're talking about young people, okay? We're not talking about someone 150. We're talking about like, you know, 33, 25, 24, 18, 16, or whatever, just dropping dead. And no one will say, hey, I wonder if this is correlated to the experimental jab they took. Because they just keep doubling down because the culture refuses to be broken on this and admit failure. The medical community will not admit failure. They refuse to be broken on this, even though the evidence is happening right in front of them. Look at this, what Dr. Peter McCullough said. He just came out, and this was over what happened last Monday. at Monday Night Football, you remember they stopped the game and they called the game, this Bills player suffers cardiac arrest after being hit. And immediately, the funny thing about this, is the talking points that come immediately out of this, this is not related to the vaccine, that's the first thing out of their mouth. Why would you have to say that? And then some doctor gets on there, and who knows who he is, Dr. Strange Tooth or whatever, I don't know. And he gets up there and says, this is a thing where in someone's heart rhythm that they get hit during this period of time, and then that could send them in cardiac arrest. Okay, dude, let's just take how many years we've been playing football. Okay, on the NFL level, college level, high school level, Pop Warner. I have never heard of anyone getting hit and then going into cardiac arrest. Because if this was a common thing, we would see this more often throughout the decades and decades that we've played football. So you make up some concocted story that this guy got hit at the right time, at the right place, in the middle of whatever window it is, and then he goes into cardiac arrest. And by the way, nothing to see here, folks, it's not vaccine related. It's a joke. So Peter McCullough comes out, and look what he says. January 2021, to the time of writing, we've had 1598, or basically 1600 athletes, suffer cardiac arrest. 1100, and one of which had a deadly outcome, which means they died, okay? Now, What Peter McCullough did, Dr. McCullough is he took a 29-year period of virtually almost 30 years of looking at athletes, okay, from 1966 to 2004. And what he found within a 30, almost 30-year time period that 1,101 athletes under the age of 35 died due to various heart-related conditions, 50% of whom was infection. in a large population study. Since the end of 2021, throughout 2022, young age excess mortality has substantially increased in many European countries in concert with the vaccine program. Oh, so you get the message? In a 30-year time span, we had about 1,000 people die as young athletes, in a 30-year time span. In last year, we had 1,600. And no one wants to do the math and say, wait a second, something's up. Why are all these athletes dropping dead on the field? I mean, this guy nearly died. I think he's still alive. But notice this, they won't break. They won't humble themselves and admit failure. They won't do that. Anthony Fauci's not going to. And now, they're doubling down on the transgender thing, even though it leads to people having suicides and really creating multiple personalities in people. So now this guy, father legally changes gender to female in an attempt to gain custody of his kids. He says, I'm also a mom. Right? I'm also a mom. And what is these judges going to say? Well, I guess so, because the judges go along with this, right? The judges are activists, leftists, and they'll say, oh yeah, I guess you're a mom too. He legally changed his name. This is how crazy things are becoming. And they won't stop it. Now, so-called experts, so-called, I don't know where they got their degree at. I don't know. Say, there's no biological evidence for gender identity. Oh, really? So all the hundreds of years of scientific research and then now the new DNA research, which tells us that the DNA tells you if they're a male or female, is we just throw it out because it's not, it's not real, it's legit. There's no biological evidence. That is a bold-faced lie. It's just bold face life. But what are they doing? They won't break their lies. They won't Humble themselves and say we made a big mistake. We shouldn't be doing this LA Zoo had an all-ages drag queen show for children and infants Okay. What is the zoo have to do with drag queens? Oh because it's a zoo and Yeah, that's how the zoo is related to drag queens. So you have a drag queen event at a zoo and they had little kids, I mean I watched the Prager video on this and it was disgusting. I mean they are stuffing dollar bills or money into these guys and they are dancing with the kids and the parents just let it happen. It's just, they won't break. They refuse to be broken, even though the whole society is going to Hades in the handbasket, they won't stop. Now, like I told you, I told you this is a big deal, that if you recommend in your New Year's resolution for people to lose weight and to get in shape, that's white privilege. This is not like racism, it is racism. Anti-fatness is rooted in anti-blackness, and the reason why people are pursuing thinness is because they're pursuing proximity to whiteness. The reason why people hate fat people is because people hate black people, and appearing curvier, bigger, is associated with blackness, especially black women, and that's why they're discriminated in the workplace, overly sexualized, and this has gone back for centuries. and centuries. All systems of oppression, capitalism, sexism, racism, it all comes back to white supremacy, which is the foundation of the fabric of America and rules every sector and aspect of our society. Thank you very much. Is that ridiculous or not? I mean, this is laughable, but yet the culture supports that. The culture does. The amount of lies that were in here peppered through her speech No one ever calls her into account, or anyone that says this. This is like a trend, okay? And they're not held accountable, and they just keep doubling down, even though they're dead wrong. This is a problem with a society that won't be broken by God. And to add injury to insult, Now Barna comes out and says like 88% of Americans practice syncretism. And basically syncretism is the combining of your worldview with your religious views. It's basically a personalized or customized worldview dictated by the individual's preferences and desires and subjective truth claims. So what really, what Barna found out, what's happening to Americans is they're becoming a god unto themselves. and they're the ones calling the shots. And they might call themselves Christians, but it doesn't matter because they're making up the Christian God that they serve that allows them to do anything they want to do, right? And this is troubling when 88% of Americans act like this. That means they don't submit to God's authority. And notice what it says, Barner continued on and he says, because pastors teach what they believe, many churches are becoming centers of syncretism and secular thought. Perhaps without even realizing it, thousands of pastors have become leaders of a movement away from God towards narcissism. That is exactly what's happening. So the church is doubling down. It won't repent of this. It keeps moving forward. And this is the new church, right? Listen to this. Good morning and welcome to the church of Saint Margaret of Antioch in Toxteth. And today is Transgender Day of Visibility. My name is Reverend Bingo Allison and I am a non-binary transgender priest in the Church of England. As part of our commemoration of Transgender Day of Visibility, we have a morning prayer service that we're going to read now. And most of the liturgy is either directly quoted from scripture or is written by myself. What? What? Most of it comes from Scripture, but some of it comes from me. He or she, whatever, is putting this on par with Scripture? Are you crazy, man? What is the deal? And they double down. They won't break up for this. They're just going for it, man. And so what you end up seeing is this. Not only in the society's life, but in our own personal lives and people's personal lives, there's only two paths in life, right? The broad road of destruction and the narrow way. Okay. And the same is true even when you're a Christian, is when hard times hit you, you have a decision to make. What path will I take as trauma is hitting me? Will I take the broad road? Because the broad road leads to revenge. The broad road leads to unforgiveness, bitterness, anger. That's where that road leads. And if you want to take that road, which a lot of people do, they think they feel good about it, but it actually makes them worse as human beings. When you take the narrow path of how to respond properly to life's tragedies, you actually become better because you actually fellowship in the sufferings of the Messiah and you become more like Him that's the decision you and I have to make and hopefully we always choose the narrow way in trauma but anyway let's take a look at Israel ok let's see what happens to them at that time Michael shall stand up the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people What is this trying to say? Well, in context, we're talking about Israel's breaking, and they're gonna be broken during the tribulation period in the future as a nation, okay? But what God is first saying is saying, look, I'm gonna send you help during the breaking period. During the trauma, during the crisis, during the pain, I'm gonna send help. One of the helps will be Michael. Now in other passages we learned that there's 144,000, there's the two witnesses, there's Elijah, there's all this help being given to Israel during their trauma, during their breaking period. And that's the first principle God wants us to understand, is he will send help in the midst of the suffering. Okay? You always will do that as an act of grace. But the key is whether or not you will accept that help. Because you have to accept the help regardless of the time, regardless of the person, regardless of the form, or how the help comes, or where the help comes from. And why is that important? Because most people, God sends them help and they refuse the help. They refuse to be comforted. They refuse someone with wisdom that can help them. Because it doesn't come in the form that they want it to come in. They want life to be easy. They want life to be served up to on a platter. So it requires some work on your part. So that's why I gave you the picture in this illustration of Elijah being fed by the ravens. Elijah had done his work with defeating the prophets of Baal, and now he's on the run, you know, and he's tired. He's going to take a respite there and God gives him this rest from Jezebel that's chasing him and he's got this rest there at the at the brook and God brings Ravens to feed him and You think what's the big deal? Well, it's a big deal because Ravens are unclean bird as an Israelite You wouldn't touch an unclean bird nor could you eat them or anything like that? so taking food from a raven and would be anathema. You would never do that. It's non-kosher. You would never do that. But God is trying to tell Elijah as a pitcher for Israel, Israel, you better accept the help I give you even if it's in the form of a raven. Because it's a test of faith whether you will take the help. Now, the help is difficult sometimes. Maybe it's a counselor, so you're having marriage problems or whatever's going on, and you're like, well, we're having marriage problems, we can't figure this out. And people will say, well, maybe you go to a counselor. I'm not going to a counselor! Yeah, but you haven't been able to figure it out on your own, and this has been going on for 20 years, and you still can't figure this out. Why don't you think you need help from a counselor? Well, I don't wanna act like I'm crazy. Well, that's not the point. That's your pride. Your pride is holding you back from getting the raven help. Well, I don't like that counselor. Well, too bad, that's your only resource. I don't like that church. Well, too bad, that's your only church to go to if you're isolated. What are you gonna do? What ends up happening with a lot of people is they will not accept the help God gives them because he's testing their faith on whether or not they will accept the raven. And a lot of people don't. And hence, if you don't accept that help during the trauma, during the crisis, You will go to the bitterness side. You will go to the regret and the unforgiveness because it's not tailored how you would want it. Well, Brandon, I have to work. Really? Okay. But you take off for medical reasons. Why wouldn't you take off for spiritual reasons? You get what I'm saying? I mean, people might make all kinds of excuses of why they don't go to counseling or why they don't go to seek wise advice. I'm too busy. Okay. Well, then have your marriage come apart. That's okay. If that's the way you're going to not get the help, well, Brandon, I can't take off. Well, wait a second. How important is your marriage as an example? You're not willing to take off to go get help. Well, the counselor shut down at five, Brandon. So they don't see me at work. That's why I don't go counseling. Really? That's your excuse. You're not going to go get help because it doesn't fit your schedule. Yeah, it doesn't fit my schedule. You see the problem there? you see the problem the raven has been given but they don't like the raven because it doesn't fit their schedule and hence they don't get the help if you don't get the help and the grace that God forgives you I already know what Hebrews chapter 12 says a root of bitterness will strike up in you in your soul so that's one of the big things as you can see what he does for Israel is he provides help among amidst I should say the breaking period okay so Daniel continues on, he says, there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. Now, it's referring to Israel, and it's basically saying this, in all of Israel's history, there will never be a time of crushing like this, ever. So, if you just look at the immediate history of Israel, the Holocaust, and that was bad in and of itself, but it's saying it's worse than the Holocaust. The Antichrist will kill more Jews in this next breaking. The Tribulation is the worst time in Israel's history. It is Jacob's trouble, and that's why all these names are associated to this period of time. It's called Jacob's trouble, not the church's trouble. It's the 17th week of Daniel, which refers to Israel's 490 prophetic years. It's Yahweh's strange work. It's Yahweh's strange act. It's the day of Israel's calamity. So Israel's associated to this day of breaking. It's a time of trouble. Day of wrath. Day of thick darkness. Day of the trumpet. Day of alarm. Wrath of God. Hour of trial. The great day of the wrath of the Lamb of God. The great tribulation. The hour of judgment. All these terms are used for this period of time. This breaking period of Israel. And it refers to Israel alone. Okay? So when you look at a prophetic scale, and to know where we're at on this, we're in the church age, and we're in the dispensation of grace, and you can see that fuzzy period of time, we call it the period of the rapture, that the rapture obviously is imminent, and then after we're gone, the tribulation starts, and you can see the seven years right there within the red. and that's Jacob's trouble and then after that Messiah comes back, second coming and you have the messianic kingdom and then after the messianic kingdom you go into eternity this is what it looks like so this is the time period that Daniel chapter 12 is focusing in on and I want to jump to this scripture just to show you something when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered The holy people in this context are Israel, okay? Are the children of Israel, okay? But it says, when the power of Israel has been completely shattered. So that's the purpose of the tribulation, is to shatter the power of Israel. Now, what is this power? Well, it's simple. It's the same power that we deal with, it's called pride. This is dealing with Israel's pride. And so their pride must be shattered in order for them to be able to receive the Messiah. And that's the same thing with you and I. When we came to faith in Messiah, our pride had to be shattered in the fact that you can't save yourself. You need the Messiah to save you and give you his righteousness while he takes away your sins. That's the humility you have to admit, that you can't earn heaven. Okay. But further on in our walk with the Lord, as we grow, your pride will continue to be shattered more and more as you cooperate with Him, and then it makes you more like Christ in your sanctification. This is the purpose of it. See, one of the things that Israel has, and they've always been plagued by this, and humans in general are plagued by this, God would bless Israel, okay, and he blesses them now, right? Right now, Israel is like the major inventor of all kinds of things going on right now in technology, engineering, everything. They are the new Silicon Valley, by the way. The medical advances that they're doing are phenomenal And they have more startup businesses Entrepreneurship on any place on the planet other than Israel Israel leads and all that Nobel Prizes come out of Israel There's no other nation that competes with Israel's Nobel Prizes. They invaded the drift system. They gave our farmers the drip system. I Mean, they're just amazing innovative. Okay but what tends to happen to Israel is instead of attributing those blessings to God giving them that, they start owning it and thinking they're self-made people. That's been their problem the whole Old Testament. It's a problem with us. There are no such thing as self-made people. The minute you think you got to where you're at because of you, your ingenuity, your intelligence, all that stuff, That's your pride That is pride because the scripture says the very breath that you breathe in and out comes from God If he didn't take if he took away your breath you would die. So there's the whole idea is You're not a self-made person and neither is Israel and that's where their pride comes from their military second to the United States and It's just incredible their ingenuity the growing they grow every vegetable and fruit on their land I mean, that's that's there's four climate zones in Israel or five I should think and Because of all those five climate zones, they virtually can grow anything anything on the planet Which that's where the promised land so That's where the pride comes from, and they have to be broken of that. And the core of the pride is they think they can earn heaven by their righteousness. That's the problem. That was my problem growing up Catholic. I thought I could earn my way to heaven through my righteous act. So whether you're talking about Israel or individuals, it's the same. It's the same. So then in this passage it says, at that time your people, the Israel, shall be delivered. Okay? But there's a caveat. Who will be delivered? Everyone who is found written in the book. The book here is a book of life. So there's a caveat to this. Only those who will be delivered from the trauma, from the shattering, from the breaking, are those whose names are written in the book, the book of life. Let's explain this so you can understand. There's the Book of Life and then in the New Testament there's another book called the Lamb's Book of Life that wasn't revealed in the Old Testament and then there's the books. Let's start with the Book of Life because this is the referent in Daniel. The Book of Life is about this. It's a book that God has that when you are born your name is put into that book. And your name stays in the book of the living and if you come to faith in him and are saved Your name will remain in the book of life But if you die and you're not saved your name is then blotted out of the book of life. Okay, and Now, when we get to the New Testament, there's another book called the Lamb's Book of Life. You don't start out in the Lamb's Book of Life, you only get into the Lamb's Book of Life when you get saved and born again. Okay, so that contains, so both books refer to the saving of people, but they refer to different time elements. Okay, so there's that. The books are plural. And the books are about the recording of all your works in this life, good and bad. Okay? So when you're at the bema seat of Christ as a believer, you will be judged by these books of what you did as a believer in this life. And hence, the books will testify to the rewards that you should be given. Okay? Now the books will also be used for the unregenerate, that stand before the great white throne judgment. They're going to hell, I mean sorry, they're going to the lake of fire and there's no doubt about that, but the books are used to judge how severe their torment will be in the lake of fire according to their works. So that's how the books plural are used. So as you can see in this context, everyone who is found written in the book. So what it's suggesting is not everyone in Israel will be found in this book. Not every human will be found. In fact, I already know from the Messiah, broad is the road of destruction and many who find it and few find the narrow path. So it's already setting up a split in Israel that's even occurring today. So, It says this about the split, many shall be purified, made white and refined. How so? Because they come to faith in the Messiah and by his blood they are forgiven and basically they have unspotted garments and their robes are now made clean because of his righteousness that's imputed to them. That's that side of Israel the same side of Israel, but look what it says on the other side, but the wicked shall do wickedly Now that's referring to Israel and that the wicked element in Israel is the element that refuses to come to faith in the Messiah and so it's making a contrast in between and We call it the remnant of Israel and just Israel biologically. That's what it's setting up. And that's the way humanity is set up. So the principle is this. Tribulation, hard times, trauma, pain that come into people's life only simply reveals what's already in the heart of the individual. If they want to cooperate and be humbled and come to faith and act accordingly, that's already in their heart when the pain comes. But when pain comes to the wicked, those who refuse to acknowledge what God's trying to do in their life, it just reveals their wickedness. They continue to be wicked. They continue to go about life. That's what's happening right now in America. There's a split. There's a major split. How do you realize that? How are you going to discuss reality when someone believes that you can determine if you're a male or a female based on how you feel? There is no common ground. There's no starting point with that. Someone's out of reality. And when someone's out of reality, that means they're crazy. You can't have relationships with crazy people. Hence, this is why our society is divided. This is not like a difference of opinion. This is good versus evil, crazy versus sane. And that's how it's splitting our country, right? But that's what happens. And so the hard times that we went through, look at the split that happened after experimental injection. Look at the split, it's still alive. Did you not see the split among the crazy Republicans this week? It's split. Do you know why? Because a lot of the establishment is globalists. They're rhinos. They want to follow Klaus Schwab. And the ones that resisted McCarthy were the ones who are more nationalistically more conservative and realize we want to get our country back to its Judeo-Christian values. And they protested Kevin McCarthy because McCarthy is part of the problem in the Republican Party. And that's just a political example of the split. There's a split happening everywhere. Let me talk a little bit more about Israel and what Paul says about them. For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery. What's the mystery? Something now is going to be revealed that wasn't revealed in the Old Testament. What? Lest you should be wise in your own opinion. Lest you should be thinking you know how to interpret Israel correctly. And the idea was, well God's done with Israel. No, no. That's conventional wisdom. You're wrong. God's not done with Israel. That blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. So, what is this blindness in part? People misinterpret this big time. They think that God has just arbitrarily blinded Israel to the Messiah, and that they just simply cannot see that Jesus is the Messiah because of God arbitrarily, through his power, withholding that from them. That is absolutely a lie. That is not what the scriptures are teaching. The scriptures are teaching, if you read Romans, the whole book, If you suppress the truth, then there's a penalty attached to suppressing the truth. And the penalty is, your heart will become darkened, your mind will go crazy, and you go spiritually blind. That's why those who double down on the experimental injection are going blind spiritually. That's why they're still wearing masks. That's why they're doing what they're doing. Because when you suppress the truth, here's the evidence, McCullough, Robert Malone, and no, no, no, that's not happening. Boom, you go blind. When you suppress the truth that God made male and female and you suppress it, you go blind. That's what's happening to our culture, they're blind spiritually. That's what's happening to Israel. Because they suppressed the truth about the Messiah, the penalty is what Romans 1 talks about, and they then go blind as a result of that. It's not God putting it on the Jews, it's them putting it on themselves. And the same would be true for you and I. Anytime you know the truth, and you suppress it, you will have a spiritual blindness in that area. And we have category blindness that we just simply can't see anytime you suppress truth. It's just a penalty. And he says, this has happened to Israel because of their rejection. They've put themselves in a state, but it's only in part. It's not all of Israel. There's a remnant that still believes, even to this day, that we have Jews in our congregation that are believers. They are Messianic believers. They haven't went blind. Why? Because they humble themselves and realize Jesus is their Jewish Messiah. Okay? Verse 26, and so all Israel will be saved. Now wait a minute, you mean all the country? No. You have to parse this out. You have to look at the other scriptures. Daniel has already shown you that there's a split in Israel between the wicked and the righteous who come to faith in the Messiah. He's already showed you there's a split. So it can't be all of Israel. So what is the all of Israel referring to? It refers to this split, and if I want to know the exact number and percentage, I go to Zechariah 13, and it tells me that two-thirds of Israel will not come to faith in the Messiah, and only a third will. So, ah, now I marry that with the Apostle Paul, so basically the remnant and the one-third become all of Israel that gets saved. So it's a small minority of the Jews that get saved. The majority don't. That's what Paul is trying to say. But I want you to notice this in the last, verse 27. For this is my covenant with them, the Jews, when I take away their sins. And he will take away their sins because they come to faith in the Messiah. For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. And don't ever forget that passage. The gifting and calling of Israel is irrevocable. We're not done with Israel because of that passage. Israel will be the head of the nations in the end. So what is the principle? Deliverance occurs when we humble ourselves, admit our need and desire to change. That's how you take on trauma. You take on trauma with the mentality and the attitude of, I'm being broken for a reason. I need to learn something about myself. And when I see what I need to learn, I see a deprivation in me. And so now I admit to God, I have a need that only he can fix. And that's where you start changing. That's what leads to change. You have to first admit what the problem is. So, the application then is, what am I supposed to do? You're supposed to discover your spiritual poverty. Okay? Spiritual poverty means what you're lacking, what your deprivations are inside of you. Now, if you don't know it, you have to discover it. What's the best way to discover it? Read your Bible. Because the Bible is like a mirror. and the mirror will reflect back to you. And the other quintessential way of discovering your spiritual poverty is compare yourself to Jesus. You look to Jesus, who is perfect, and what you will find out is when you look at Him, you become very imperfect very quick. You fall short of Him big time. We all do. That's the way it is. So you discover your spiritual poverty through scripture and in taking in what it says about you and comparing yourself to the Messiah. And that leads you to grieve over your sin against God. Because at the core of this, If you're going to have true repentance, you have to actually grieve over what you did to God. And then you have to grieve over what you did to others. See, what happens to people, and what's gonna happen to the two thirds of Israel, they don't see the impact of what their sin does to others. They actually believe they can sin in isolation. Well, I'm just going to go over here and I'm going to do what I want to do. I'm not bothering anybody. And that's the lie we bought in when the Supreme Court said, yeah, gay marriage, and now we put it into law about gay marriage. What do we care, Brandon, what happens in their bedroom? Because that's not the nature of sin. The nature of sin is it affects horizontally everyone around them. It's a plague. It's a cancer that spreads. It's leaven in the loaf. And what people don't realize is you can't sin in isolation. It affects the horizontal. So people say, well, I'm just going to do what I want to do. Yeah, but it's going to affect your spouse. It's going to affect your kids. It's going to affect your immediate family. It's going to affect your church. And they don't see that. And particularly, they don't see how it affects God. They think God is some celestial Santa Claus, some celestial genie, that when they do what they want to do, well, you know, boys will be boys, and girls will be girls, and girls are sometimes saying they're guys, and guys are sometimes saying they're girls. But anyway, you know, this is the Santa Claus God that says, you know, hey, you guys, you live according to your heart. Do what your heart tells you. You ever heard that? Your heart's desperately wicked. It will tell you the wrong thing. Now watch this. I want to show you this. This is very, very important in the breaking process. This is Zechariah 12. This is talking about Israel coming to faith in the Messiah, that one third. But look at how they come to faith. They, Israel, will look on me whom they pierced. So this is a Jewish idiom, looking upon him, is a Jewish idiom for faith. Now, we get the precedent from this idiom from Moses. And when Moses held up the bronze serpent on the staff, they were told, look to that and you will be saved. So basically, the idea was not that the serpent on the bronze pole was gonna save them, it's the idea that I trust what God is saying, that if I do this, the snakes will stop biting me. It's a faith issue, okay? And so to look upon Messiah, because Messiah related himself to the bronze serpent, as the bronze serpent was lifted up, so shall the son of man be lifted up, and anyone who looks to him, Jewish idiom, will be saved, right? And the idea then is, you have to do what God tells you to do, and he's saying, my son is your only way of salvation. You must believe in him is the idea of looking to them. So that's the first thing Israel has to do. They have to believe. Second, look at what it says, whom they pierced. Whom they pierced? Well, let's unpack this because this verse has been misinterpreted by the reformers and by reformed theology, and it's turned things into anti-Semitism because of this verse. Notice it says whom they pierced. This is where the Germans and Martin Luther and Calvin and every other anti-semite Christian Who said the Jews were Christ killers? You ever heard that term? It comes from this passage and it's the misinterpretation of this passage Let's be specific Who crucified Jesus? It's the Romans Okay? Let's practically just talk about this. It is the Roman soldiers who nailed him to a cross, right? It is Pontius Pilate who sentenced him to the cross. It is also Pontius Pilate that sends him to the cat of nine tails. So where are the Jews in all of this? What are you talking about? They pierced him. It was the Romans. In fact, that's why Messiah, when he's on the cross, prays. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Who is he praying for? Israel? No. Because the religious leaders knew what they were doing. He's praying for the Roman soldiers who are actually nailing him to a cross. Because they don't know who's in front of them. They don't know the Alpha and the Omega is being nailed to a cross by them. They don't know that. And Pilate didn't know it either. He had some idea that something's different about this guy, but he refused to go any further. And so Pilate is still in ignorance as well. He is praying for the Roman soldiers who are in ignorance. That's what that prayer is about. So what is this thing that whom they pierce, talking about Israel, it's called collective guilt. Okay, it's called collective guilt. Now let me explain this. The religious leaders knew who Jesus was. They full-blown knew what he was. The Sanhedrin, the Sadducees, the Pharisees, they all knew. So I am separating them out from the commoner of Israel, okay? You have to keep them separate. Because in your text it will say, the Jews did this. And it's not referring to all of Israel, it's referring to the religious leaders. The religious and political aspects. They are the ones who gave him over to Pilate for insurrection and violated 22 laws of the Sanhedrin in doing so. They gave him over to be crucified by these Gentiles. Hence, the religious leaders, as Messiah said to Pilate, who is more guilty? You are the ones who handed me over to you. Right? It's the religious leaders. They are more guilty than Pilate. Okay, follow me on this. So the religious leaders are the culpability, but they represent the nation. And so what they decide affects all the nation. Okay? So it's just like the same that you and I, we look at Sleepy Joe in Washington and the crazy decisions they're making, or we look at Gavin Newsom in California and the crazy decisions they're making, right? I didn't vote for these people, but yet, I'm affected by their decisions, aren't I? Whether I like it or not, I'm affected by them because voting and elections have consequences, don't they? So, you and I would say, well, they don't represent me. Yeah, I know, but we're part of America and we share in the collective guilt of what our leaders do. Ah, okay, now we're on to something. That's what we're saying, whom they pierced. in essence, it's a collective guilt, not just for Israel, but for the entire world. How so? We all put him on the cross. We, in essence, could have been the Roman soldiers knelling to a cross, but we are culpable because he went there because of the mess we made. So you have to see this in a more global sense, not just making an anti-Semitic rant against Israel, it's all of us. So as you look to Messiah and faith, and especially in your brokenness when this is happening to you, you must understand that what you and I have done and are doing Results in putting the Son of God on the cross That we are guilty for that So when you see the cross, there's no doubt there's freedom and there's forgiveness, but you can't forget what he's on there He's on there for our sin what we did we put him there and there was no other solution under heaven, on earth, anywhere that God could have come up with that would redeem us and bring us back to a relationship with Him. So He has to put His Son up there. And so when you see Messiah on the cross, it's because of you and me. And you have to acknowledge that, that we're the ones who made the mess. And then look what it says, for Him as, yes, they mourn for Him. as one mourns for an only son, and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem." Wait a second. What does the passage say in whom they must grieve? Themselves? Have a pity party? About the mess they made? No. Who are they supposed to grieve in the text? Jesus! Now wait a second. This is part of the breaking process. When God is breaking you and me, you have to understand that you should mourn for what you did to God. That's the true response of being broken. Why am I being broken? Because God doesn't appreciate the way you are. You have forced his hand to do something because you're so stubborn you wouldn't move And so we had to break me and break you and it's not fun in order to get us to change and so we have grieved God in our sin and Forced his hand to do something So it's an offense to God when we don't move. It's an offense to God when we decide not to forgive. It's an offense to God because we're sinning against Him first and foremost. Joseph said the same thing when he was tempted by Potiphar's wife. I will not do this thing against God, right? That's the first thing out of his mouth. And then he added the horizontal, but he started with the vertical. So part of the breaking process is you must grieve for the Messiah and what you did to him. We put him on the cross. Look at their pleading. The pleading of Israel can be seen in Psalm 79, Psalm 80, and Isaiah 64. Listen to these words from Israel. Remember when Jesus said, you shall not see me again until you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord? Here's their calling out for him to save them from the Antichrist. Give ear, O shepherd of Israel. Who's the shepherd of Israel? Jesus, he's the great shepherd, isn't he? You who lead Joseph like a flock. You who dwell between the cherubim and shine forth. The only person I know that dwells between the cherubim is the Alpha and the Omega. Ah, the shepherd of Israel is the Alpha and the Omega. That's what Jesus calls himself in Revelation 1. Stir up your strength. Come and save us. Return, we beseech you. Oh God of hosts, look down from heaven and see. Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand. Who's the man of God's right hand? It's Jesus. He sits at God's right hand, right? Upon the Son of Man, who's the Son of Man? Jesus. Whom you've made strong for yourself. Restore us, O Lord God of hosts. Cause your face to shine, and we shall be saved. It's calling upon Jesus to come and rescue them. Come save them. And you have established who our deliverer is. He's the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. But, notice in this passage. They realize the only thing that can get them out of the situation is the Lord. They have no other resources. It's just Him. That's part of breaking. He wants you to know that He's the only resource you need. Notice in Isaiah 64, this is very interesting. Oh, that you would rend the heavens, tear open the heavens, that you would come down. Talking about Jesus, right? That the presence, that the mountains might shake at your presence like they did in Sinai. You are indeed angry. Wait a second, Joel Osteen told me God's never angry. Rick Warren told me he's not ever angry. But wait a second, I'm seeing something here that I must acknowledge. You are indeed angry. Why? Why are they angry? For we have sinned. In these ways we continue, and we need to be saved. We haven't stopped sinning, and this has made you angry. Wait a second. In your breaking process, part of the breaking to do things right is you must acknowledge that God is angry when you sin. He's not happy. He's not joyful. Yes, you have been forgiven, but notice He's angry with Israel. And they continue to sin. Now look down in verse 9. Do not be furious, O Lord, nor remember the iniquity forever. Indeed, please look, we are your people. Take action. We know you're angry. So what you have to understand in the breaking process, when I'm being broken, it's being broken for a reason. He's not happy with the state that we're in. He doesn't like it. He's furious in the fact that we would stay stuck in a particular sin. And he wants us to move out. This is why we talk about broken fellowship with the Lord, even as a believer, because he cannot have a relationship with someone that's breaking fellowship with him. But let's look at something else. Verse six, but we are all like an unclean thing. So this is the idea of a sacrifice not being acceptable to God in the temple. So we're an unclean thing. They acknowledge their real state. This is spiritual poverty. I'm an unclean thing. Okay, I'm not perfect. I'm unclean. How unclean am I? Well, he goes on and says, and all of our righteousnesses Serving soup in a soup kitchen. Giving a peanut butter and jelly sandwich out to a homeless person. Being nice and giving up your parking space at Target. All those kinds of things that are making you a good person are like filthy rags to Him. And oh, the English is not doing you a service of what the Hebrew really says. It's yedim uch baged. Your, all your little righteous acts, if you're trying to gain righteous with me, are nothing more than a used menstrual rag for a woman. I didn't say it. I didn't say it. He did. When you try to earn your own righteousness apart from God, that's how he views it. That's pretty scary. For you have hidden your face from us. And that's why. Because you need a foreign righteousness from the Messiah to be given to you in exchange for Him paying for your sins on the cross. That's the message He's trying to get across to Israel. Right? You have to take a foreign righteousness. You can't earn this thing. Okay. So here's the principle. Avoid confusing the category of sin with categories of mental, emotional, physical, and social problems because it would prevent us from owning what we're doing. It becomes our identity and gives us no hope of changing. What do you mean? Notice that they're acknowledging sin, sin, sin. But what happens with the church now, because of modern day psychology, is the church now takes the category of sin and moves it into the category of syndrome. Okay? When you move it into syndrome, that's your identity. Well, I'm this way because I was hurt when I was younger, and I'm a victim, and I'm dealing with abandonment issues, and I deal with rejection issues, and you know, that's just me, and that's the way I act. No, that's your confusing sin with syndrome. You might have went through that, and you might have proclivities, but you're supposed to stop that. Because that's a sin to keep acting that way. Your identity now is in Christ, not in your pain. Do not identify yourself with your pain or your addiction. Well, I'm an addict. Quit saying that! If that's your identity, you will live according to that identity. You are a new creation in Christ. All things have passed away, all things are new. You have a new identity, live by it. Quit blending your syndrome with your identity. Well, I was hurt, I was hurt. Okay, I acknowledge that, but when you gonna get over it? When you gonna get on your two feet and start standing up for what you need to be doing? Because I can tell you this, if you keep playing a victim, you're gonna get broken more and more and more until you learn the lesson. And that's not pretty, because I've been there, I've done that. Don't confuse the two. It's a big deal, man. So, let's continue on. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. So it's the split, right? Those who come to faith in the Messiah will be resurrected and glorified. Those who don't, they'll also be resurrected, but they'll be resurrected in their bodies with shame and contempt as they get themselves thrown into the lake of fire. Here's the principle. Those who allow themselves to be broken in order to receive help will be rewarded in the future. That's what he's saying with the everlasting life, with resurrection. It's a promise and the promise is do right now. Sacrifice right now for the future. delayed gratification, right? And wait until those rewards are given by faith. But see, the problem is our culture doesn't like this. The culture doesn't want to wait. The culture has grown up with get it now. America and Americana, we taught our people Delayed gratification. We taught our people in America, sacrifice now, and then the payoff comes later in life. But the young people do not want to sacrifice now. They want to live how their parents live, who are 30 and 40 years older and more established. And they want it all now. This is the concept that comes from the Bible. Sacrifice now for future rewards. Jesus said this, look at the reward in this. Blessed are the poor in spirit. The poor in spirit means spiritually broken, spiritually humble, spiritually in need. For theirs, what's the reward? Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So they get to have the kingdom age if they humble themselves before God. What this word means when it's codified all together, and the thrust of it is this pouring spirit means something like this the person has allowed themselves to be humbled enough to receive help that's what really essence of spiritual poverty means that they're humble enough to receive help Most people are not humble enough to receive help. In fact, they don't want any help. I've got this one. I'll dandle it. I'll handle the stress. I'll handle anxiety. I'll handle my addiction. I'll handle this. Good luck. You're going to fail. Because you have to become poor in spirit and understand you're humble enough to receive help. If you're not humble enough to receive help, you're not going to get it. You will turn your back on it. The first category of resurrections, and we're talking about resurrection, is this. The category includes believers. Stage 1 is the resurrection of the Messiah. Stage 2 is the rapture. Stage 3 is the resurrection and rapture of the two witnesses. And stage 4 is the resurrection of the Old Testament saints during the 75-day interval. And stage 5 is the resurrection of the Tribulation Saints during the 75-day interval. So in the first resurrection, there are five phases in the resurrection. Now, you see in Daniel, he just lumps everything into one big thing. But the New Testament breaks it out and there are actually five stages to this. There are actually two stages in the second resurrection. The second resurrection includes the damned. The first stage is the Antichrist and the False Prophet are resurrected and cast into the lake of fire. And the second stage is after the thousand year rule of Messiah at the Great White Throne Judgment, the unsaved dead are resurrected, they're judged before the Great White Throne Judgment, and then cast into the lake of fire. So as you can see, there's two categories, and in each category are stages of the development of the resurrection. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." This passage has been misunderstood. What it's trying to say is, shut up the words because the people at your time, Daniel, are not going to understand it. Even Daniel doesn't understand it. But the people living towards the end will. And especially when the book of Revelation is written, they will understand it. And what's gonna happen in the end times? Many will run to and fro. It's the idea of panic, looking for answers. Some people, believe it or not, are awake. They understand what's going on in the culture, in society, and the world. They understand what's going on in the churches, and they're running around, trying to find somebody to explain this to them. Someone that can connect dots for them. That's you and me. And many will do this, not all, but many will do this, seeking the answers to what's going on in the last days. And notice it says, and knowledge shall increase. Now, that's been misinterpreted. And so a lot of prophecy teachers will say, well, that's the increase, the exponential increase of knowledge that's been happening in the world. And yeah, we have all this knowledge. In fact, AI is eventually gonna become sentient and they're already doing experiments with them. Now, so yes, knowledge is increasing. But that's not what this passage is referring to. It's not knowledge in general, because if you went to the Hebrew, the Hebrew tells you exactly what this knowledge is. Now if you see there I put a square there with a Hebrew letter and that's what's called a He and in the paleo Hebrew it was symbolized by a guy worshipping the Lord with two hands up and so that became the symbol for He, it's the letter H in Hebrew. So, the letter H is there, the chay is there, with, you have a dalith, you have a yayin, and then you have a tav. That's the actual, the word. And it's pronounced da'ath. Da'ath. But, because the hay is in front of the word, that's the definite article in the Hebrew, which means, THE knowledge. Not just knowledge in general, but it's THE knowledge. What knowledge then is it referring to? A specific knowledge. It's referring to, in context, the prophetic knowledge that Daniel has been giving to us and is told to seal up and then eventually the book of Revelation and the last days church will understand it the best. So the knowledge with people who want this knowledge, who run to and fro to get this information, will reveal to them what's happening because they will understand the knowledge of Scripture, the prophetic knowledge. Okay. That's you. That's you. That's why you're sitting here. You understand that there's something going on in the world that's not right. It's evil, it's heading to a direction, and you are able to connect dots with all this that's going on. Most people out there don't have a clue. They're clueless, man. They don't understand. So, what are we gonna do with this? Now, hold on, let me get there. Then I, Daniel, looked, and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank, two angels. And the one said to the man clothed in linen, we think this is probably the Lord. who was above the waters of the river. How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be? And he says, then I heard a man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half a time. Basically three and a half years. So Israel's breaking will happen the last half of the tribulation for three and a half years. That's how long they will be broken. Okay? And that's, and it's coupled with Daniel 7, and when, so it's related to this three and a half years, when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, and all these things shall be finished at the second coming. That's how it's all connected, okay? Although I heard, I did not understand. So there's Daniel telling you, I didn't understand what was happening here. Then I said, my Lord, what shall the end of these things? it will be the end of these things and he said go your way Daniel for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end now they're unsealed and you and I understand it Daniel didn't you understand his prophecies better than Daniel did ok but look what it says and none of the wicked shall understand but the wise, the maskeline shall understand now that's where I want to bring this knowledge, the knowledge to us Only the maskalim understand the knowledge. This goes for the world, and this goes for the church. Not everybody that says they're a Christian is a maskalim, or a wise one. In fact, the majority of Christians are not wise, because they don't understand the knowledge. Okay, so follow me on this. He says, none of the wicked shall understand, none of them. Gavin Newsom, you think he knows the prophetic scenario? No, of course not. Joe Biden, no. Kamala Harris, no. They don't understand the prophetic scenario. Even though they use the words out of scripture, they don't even know they're using them. When they say peace and security, that comes from 1 Thessalonians chapter five. When they say you can't buy and sell, that's Revelation 13. They're using their terminology and they don't even know. because the wicked won't understand even if you open the bible and it says read this this is what you're doing it's right over their head because they're wicked and the same thing is true with what's going on with Israel because they decide to be wicked and not respond to the gospel they continue to ignore the truth and they continue to act wicked in that sense so it's the masculine that take the knowledge and they do something with it ok, let me fast forward here's the rewards to the masculine who have the knowledge those who are wise, the masculine shall shine like the brightness of the firmament. This is a reward given to the masculine, the wise. And it's referenced to Psalm 19, the heavens declare His glory. It's saying that these ones, these masculine in heaven will shine and declare the glory forever and ever as a reward. and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever." So one of the aspects of having the knowledge and being a part of the Masculine is that they turn many to righteousness in the last days. Huh. What do you mean? Well, it not only encapsulates just people getting people saved, it's more than that though, it's more broader. And what it means is that if you're a wise one that understands the prophetic scenario, you have the ability, more than any other Christian, to turn people towards more of a righteous life. more of living for Christ, more of discipleship, not just simply salvation, but changing things. You have the ability to fight the society, to push back against the society, to be salt and light against society. It's the masculine that are doing the work. You are that masculine, because you know what's happening, and you're pushing back, aren't you? You're saying, not on my watch, it's not happening here. and you turn many to righteousness because of you connecting dots. And this is related to Daniel chapter 11 verse 33. And those of the people who understand shall instruct many. Now it's referring to the Maccabean era, but that's where we get the idea of the masculine. There was masculine in the Maccabean era that taught Israel about Antiochus Epiphanes and the prophecies about him. And they were able to give knowledge to the rest of Israel. That's the same thing for us. that our job is to take these prophetic scenarios with the current events and use our brokenness because the only way you get to be wise is you allow yourself to be broken. Those who are broken are revealed more. That's how it works. If you refuse to be broken, you will be shut off from understanding because you refuse to understand the situation you're in. When you, when you, when you are broken, more light is given to you. And then you're broken and more light is given to you. And then more light is given to you to where you become a masculine. A wise one. Who has allowed themselves to be broken to understand the prophetic scenario. That's you. Now, let me end on this. We'll do this next week. But let me end on this. Now this is perplexing. This threw me aback, and I was shocked to hear it. Dennis Prager talked about it, and there's a book out there, and I'm gonna have to email his website or something to see if I can get the name of the book. But Dennis Prager says there's a book on the theology of the concentration camps, the theology of the Holocaust. And this is what they found. The percentage of Jewish atheists Versus the percentage of Jewish believers in God. Okay, not believers in Jesus but believers in God They follow the Torah they follow God, right? I want you to see this the percentage of them that went into the Holocaust after going through the Holocaust after going through that breaking and shattering of Israel in the Holocaust when they came out of the percentages didn't change. Those who believed in God continued to believe God all through the Holocaust and after. Those who were atheists continued to be an atheist through the Holocaust and if they survived, afterwards. Guys, what does that tell you? It's supporting what you just learned in Daniel chapter 12. That even if God puts you flat on your back, that is not a guarantee that the person will respond correctly. Because he leaves their free will intact and they have the choice of whether they're gonna respond correctly or incorrectly. Because He created us in His image and He leaves that integrity and free will intact. Now that's scary. That's real scary. That someone could go through the Holocaust and still come out an atheist. Because it tells me that when two-thirds of Israel go through the Holocaust of the Antichrist, two-thirds of the Israel will not come to faith. That's scary to me because I'm thinking, wow, what's going to wake people up? Is death going to wake people up? Is sickness going to wake? Not all the time. Not all the time. What if their lives become a disaster? Will it wake them up? Not all the time. There's no guarantee in that. It all comes down to the decision of the individual. But you can help by being a masculine and taking the truth to those who want to hear it. And that's our job. Let's pray. Father, thank you, Lord, for what we can learn from Daniel chapter 12 about the masculine, the brokenness that is required to be one of these masculine, to teach others your ways, teach others about Jesus and their need for him. Father, in our own brokenness, in our own times of trouble, help us to correctly respond. And Father, if there's anyone here that hasn't been humbled enough to come to faith in Messiah, that they would do so today, knowing that their righteousness is like filthy rags before you, and that only the righteousness of Christ can save them. Speak to hearts now, as we have a time of invitation. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Thanks for joining us for another lesson. We hope that this message is a blessing for you and helps you grow towards a more mature understanding of God's Word. For more information about our ministry, we invite you to check out our website at rockharborchurch.net. Until next time, remember, keep looking up for our redemption draws near.