It is always such a great joy to be able to minister the word of God to you. And I would invite you to take your Bibles and turn once again to Daniel chapter 12. We are making our way through this book. We'll look at a couple more verses here this morning. Under the heading "Israel's Final Deliverance." Given the brutality of war that we are witnessing today, it should be of no surprise to any of us that there is one coming as God has prophesied through his word, called the Antichrist who will oppress and persecute people like never before. And his primary focus will be on Israel, as we have studied thus far, when last week we looked at Daniel chapter 12, and verse one. Furthermore, given the moral freefall in our country, it should be of no surprise that God is even currently judging America in the wrath of his abandonment, America has become a land of sodomites and drag queens and entitlement snowflakes, climate change wackos. I mean, it just goes on and on, doesn't it? It's just hard to believe that people are caught up in these things worse yet, even the evangelical churches got caught up in this whole woke cult running around telling people that they need to repent of their whiteness of repent of how their ancestors abused a certain group of people and aligning themselves with the Neo-pagan Marxist ideologies of critical race theory and all of these things. Of course, this is typical, by the way of liberalism, this is nothing new. Man's problem, for them, is not his inherent depravity, his sinfulness. No, no, no, no, that's not the problem. The real problem is societal oppression and political corruption. So the gospel needs to be all about social justice, rather than God's justice, reconciling sinful man to a holy God. And as we have been examining, God chose Israel, to be an example of how he pursues both individuals to be reconciled unto himself and how he judges and blesses nations as national entities. And through the nation of Israel, we know biblically that He will restore fallen humanity and bring salvation and being bring restoration to all of the nations eventually, in his millennial kingdom. When Jesus returns, we know that he will rule the nations from Israel. And through that rule, and through those people, and all of the redeemed, He will bless all of the nations as a microcosm of how God deals with individuals, and nations. He judged Israel because of her rebellion against Him. This is, by way of reminder, of what we have studied thus far. We know biblically that he deliberately determined 490 years to accomplish his purposes in delivering his people, Israel. Daniel 9:24 reveals to us the nine, I'm sorry, the six objectives to be accomplished in this regard. And this is really at the heart of the gospel, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, referring to Christ's sacrifice, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. You see, God's kingdom plan is ultimately all about bringing glory to himself, and that can only be accomplished through the death, the sacrificial death, of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the gospel is all about reconciling sinful man to a holy God, not resolving social inequities, and ethnic injustices. That is not the gospel. For this reason, we as a church, I reject this whole evangelical wokeness movement and refuse to fellowship with those that embrace that. That is a distortion of the biblical, the true gospel. That is a gospel that will not save, it will only produce further division and damn people to an eternal hell. And Satan knows it very well. I'm reminded of Galatians one, verse eight, or Paul said, "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he used to be accursed! For am I now seeking the favor of men or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond servant of Christ." Now, to be sure, any student of Scripture will very quickly recognize that it is man's innate sinfulness, not what's happening in society, that is the real problem. Just ask the people in Ukraine. Moreover, when we examine Bible prophecy, the whole fool's paradise of liberalism quickly dissipates, its exposed for what it is. Because what we see biblically, in prophecy, is that the whole world is moving inexorably towards a day of divine judgment, a day of retribution. And God has a kingdom program, that he has ordained in eternity past and he is implementing precisely and perfectly, a kingdom program that cannot and will not be thwarted. And in that I find great relief and joy. Indeed, his kingdom, under the rule of the Messiah King, the Lord Jesus Christ, will eventually resolve all of the ills of society, of this fallen world. And as we examine Daniel's prophecy, we see that the progression of the Gentile nations that have oppressed Israel will one day be defeated forever. God's kingdom will be established, and that involves both spiritual as well as material elements. He has sovereignly chosen his covenant people Israel to be the vehicle to accomplish his plans. Both national Israel and her land are frankly, microcosms of what he will do with all people groups. As God blesses Israel, He will bless all of the nations of the world; His kingdom, will affect every aspect of life on Earth. When we re-examine these things, biblically, we see that his kingdom will affect people socially, geographically, agriculturally, even the animal kingdom and on and on it goes. The second Adam must accomplish what the first Adam did not do. And that is to rule and subdue the earth for the glory of God, that must be accomplished, and it will. But all of God's blessings are linked to Israel's acceptance of the Messiah, as well as the nations of the world. And then once the kingdom age is complete, the eternal state begins when Jesus hands his successful mediatorial Kingdom reign to God the Father, as we read in First Corinthians 15.

Now, what I have just rehearsed for you is obviously a radically different worldview for most in our culture, nevertheless, because it flows out of Scripture, it is true. Now, you will recall that the closing verses of Daniel 11 describe Antichrist's military and political career. And then in chapter 12, we discover three important precursors to the establishment of Christ's earthly millennial kingdom. And I think these three precursors will give us a bit of a framework to understand what is revealed here in the rest of Daniel. Let me give those three precursors to you as just a little outline. Here we will see that Israel will first experience a type of unparalleled tribulation. Secondly, Israel will experience a supernatural deliverance and then finally, kingdom citizens will be raised from the dead.

Now last week, we looked at the first part of this: Israel will experience unparalleled tribulation. Notice Daniel 12 one, "Now at that time, Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time." And as we studied last week, this intense suffering at the hands of the Gentiles will occur during Daniel's 70th week of judgment or the time of the Great Tribulation. Jeremiah 30, verse seven, speaks of this, as do many other passages. There we read, "Alas, for that day is great, there is none like it; and it is the time of Jacob's distress, but he will be saved from it." And as we examined last week, this includes Michael's victory over Satan, that will occur 12 0 days, or three and a half years, before the Messiah's Second Coming, according to Revelation 12, verses six and verses 14. And that brings us to where we are today.

The second precursor to the kingdom will be Israel will experience a supernatural deliverance. Notice at the end of verse one, "And at that time, your people, everyone who is found written in the book," which, as you know, is God's record of the righteous redeemed, all of those, "will be rescued." Don't you know this would have brought great comfort to Daniel, because remember, he's praying for his people. He's trying to understand when are they going to be rescued from Babylon. And of course, God is answering this way beyond that discreet period of time. All the Gentile nations that would dominate Israel, beginning with Babylon, and then Persia, then Greece, then Rome, and eventually the 10-nation confederacy of the Antichrist, the revived Roman Empire, all of those will eventually come to an end.

Now, I want to spend a little bit of time talking about how Christ will rescue his people, quote, "at that time." And, of course, all of this centers around the gospel. So let me take you to a few other passages of scripture for a few minutes this morning. The first way he will rescue his people is through the two witnesses whom Antichrist kills, and who will be resurrected, and will visibly ascend to heaven. We learn about this in Revelation 11, if you will turn there Revelation 11, beginning in verse three. "And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1260 days;" that's the last part of the Tribulation, "clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands that stand before the Lord of the earth." By the way, just a quick note here that the two olive trees and two lamp stands were symbolic of the oil of the Holy Spirit's power that would perpetually fuel the lamps of divine truth pertaining to saving grace. We saw them in the tabernacle, in the temple. That's what it's referring to here. He goes on to say, "And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies." Boy, sometimes I wish I had that power, don't you. "So if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. These have the power to shut up the sky so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss," referring to the Antichrist, "will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt." That's referring to Jerusalem, it's so wicked it's being symbolized by Sodom and Egypt, "where also their Lord was crucified. Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three days and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth." In other words, this will be a time where the unregenerate, those that hate Christ will rejoice that two of his good witnesses have finally been defeated, who wants to hear all of that stuff about the gospel. But it doesn't end there. "But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them. And they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them." That has to be one of the greatest understatements in all of the Bible. "And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, 'Come up here.' Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. And in that hour, there was a great earthquake, and a 10th of the city fell; 7000 people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past; behold, the third one was coming quickly."

So many will see this, and indeed, they will be rescued; they will come to faith in Christ. Well, not only will God use his two witnesses to rescue his people, but secondly, his 144,000 sealed disciples. Revelation seven, verse four, we read, "And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel." This will be the greatest missionary force in the history of the world that will be unleashed by God himself during the last half of the tribulation. Revelation 14 and verse three describes them as those "who had been purchased from the earth." Verse four, they're morally pure servants that "follow the Lamb wherever He goes." Verse five says, "And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless." So these will be preserved from the impending plagues, from the four winds as we read in this prophecy, that will fall upon the unbelieving world. They will be preserved, they will be sealed so that they can be instruments of God's saving grace and serve him in his elective purposes for Israel, and for all who would come to faith in Christ. In other words, they too will preach the gospel, and many will be rescued. The bulk of the nation will be nourished according to Revelation 12, six for 1260 days. And you will recall that will happen while the pursuing armies are swallowed up by the Earth, in verses 15 and 16.

And of course, finally, the most glorious of all aspects of God's rescue will occur when Christ returns as the Messiah King. I read a little bit of this earlier in our scripture reading. Look at Revelation 19, just beginning in verse 11. "And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges in wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him, which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed and fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it, He may strike down the nations and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty and on His robe, and on His thigh He has a name written, 'KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.'" Beloved, that is my Jesus. I hope it's yours.

Zechariah 14 also describes Israel's rescue in magnificent detail. There we read beginning in verse one, "Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered and women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will be moved toward the north and the other half toward the south. You will flee by the valley of My mountains for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, then the Lord, my God will come and all the holy ones with Him!"

As a footnote, in Matthew 25, verses 31 through 40, Jesus describes how the few believers that survive the great tribulation will be honored. Those that were beheaded because of their faith in Christ will be resurrected from the dead to reign with Him. Revelation 20 verse four speaks of this as well. "Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who have been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus, and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for 1000 years."

And this beloved leads us to the third precursor of the establishment of Christ's earthly millennial kingdom. And that is, kingdom citizens will be raised from the dead. Oh, how I love to reflect upon this magnificent truth, because I have loved ones that have gone on, and they're going to be raised from the dead. And when I die and you die, we're going to be raised from the dead. Notice what it says, back to Daniel 12 and verse two, "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life." And of course, that will include those beheaded for the witness of Jesus during the Tribulation, "but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt."

Let me remind you of some of the great truths that are revealed in Scripture with respect to death and resurrection. At death, we know biblically that the soul vacates the body. In fact, for believers we read in First Corinthians five, "To be absent from the body is to be," what? "present with the Lord." We await that time, Paul tells us in Philippians 3:21, "when Christ will transform our lowly body." And as I age it gets lowelier and lowelier, "and conform it to his glorious body." And in Acts, chapter 24, verse 15, we read that there will be "a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust." There's no such thing as a mere mortal do realized that? Everyone will live forever. But you will live either as the just, one that has been justified by faith in Christ; you will live in glory with Christ, or you will live as the unjust and you will be raised to everlasting judgment and torment because you ignored the gospel, you laughed at it, you scoffed at it, you preferred your sin. You thought that your works were good enough to get you in Heaven, you bought all of the great lies that Satan has perpetrated upon the world. But for the just, oh, this resurrection is our promised hope. And it has been the promised hope of the redeemed down through redemptive history. A hope that is based upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You see, his resurrection guarantees our resurrection. Jesus said, "'Because I live, you shall live also,'" in John 14. Because of Jesus death, think of it dear friends, that tyrant of all tyrants will hold no fear on those who have been saved by His grace. We have been released from the grip of death. Yes, we will die, "but for me to live is Christ," Paul said, "and to die is gain." "Oh death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting?" First Corinthians 15.

Now, may I remind you, or maybe for some of you, teach you what the chronological order of resurrection really is? We see this described especially in First Corinthians 15. So if you'll go there for a moment, we'll look briefly at a few of these passages. In verse 20, of First Corinthians 15, we read, "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep," referring to the righteous dead, whose spirits have gone on to be with the Lord but await their bodily remains being...awaiting recomposition and resurrection and so forth. So notice this, Christ's resurrection is the "first fruits." In other words, the first installment of the harvest of the elect to those who are asleep. They are to be considered the full harvest. And this is so exciting, please understand, Christ's resurrection didn't occur somehow in isolation. If it had, it would have no impact on the rest of the harvest. No, you see, he was, as we read here, "the first fruit" of the rest of the harvest that already existed. Think about that. You see you can't have a first fruit, if there is no other fruit, if there is no existing crop. And that existing crop was and is the elect of God that has existed in eternity past to this very day and for eternity. So although their souls are in heaven, enjoying the unfathomable riches of being in eternal glory, their bodies which were fatigued, and perhaps disabled and all used up, the bodies are in the grave, the soul is with the Lord. Or perhaps their bodies are scattered all over the earth, we don't know. But one day, the DNA of that decomposed body will be recomposed, and they will wake, they will rise in unimaginable power and in unimaginable glory and they will be united with their glorified soul. That Prince of preachers the 19th century in London, Charles Spurgeon, stated this in his own inimitable way and when he commented, quote, "The righteous are put into the graves, all weary and worn. But such they will not rise. They go there with the furrowed brow, the hollow cheek, the wrinkled skin. They should wake up in beauty and glory. The old man totters fither, leaning on his staff, the palsy comes there trembling all the way. The halt, the lame, the withered, the blind journey in doleful pilgrimage to the common dormitory. But they shall not rise decrepit, deformed, or diseased. But they shall rise strong, vigorous, active, glorious, immortal, the shriveled seeds so destitute of form and comeliness shall rise from the dust of beauteous flower. A green blade, all fresh and young shall spring up, where before there was the dried, decayed grain." I had a friend tell me the other day that his kid said, what they're going to say at his funeral is, "well the nut is gone, but the shell remains." And there's some measure of truth to that. But in Scripture, we see death in the symbolism of sowing, do we not? First Corinthians 15, verse 42, "So also is the resurrection of the dead," Paul tells us, "It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body."

Oh dear Christians, the implication of the resurrection of Jesus Christ exceeds the importance and the power and the potential of all other events in history. Think about it. It is rivaled only by the actual creation of the universe. You see, within the resurrection body of the Lord Jesus Christ, existed the supernatural power source of eternal life and God's everlasting kingdom. Dormant within the resurrection body of Christ that appeared to Mary, is the seed of resurrection glory for all whom the Father had given him. Think about that. The infinite power source of the universe and God’s everlasting kingdom was and is, within him. If you are united to Christ, in saving faith, if you truly love him and submit to him, think about this now, you are like a nuclear warhead waiting to explode in unimaginable power and glory. And what a precious comfort this is to every child of God. And is for this reason Paul said in Second Corinthians four beginning in verse 16, "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory, far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." So the power contained in the resurrection body of Jesus is infinitely power, for it houses the omnipotent power of our Creator God. And one day we will behold his body, we will see him as he is. And what's amazing is he will look like us in many ways. From his glorified body, will emanate the effulgence of his celestial glory, his majesty. The resplendent light of his glory will blaze from him more brilliant than the light of the sun. And to think Christ is "the first fruits." That means the rest of the fruits are going to have some resemblance to the first fruits, right? That's not very complicated. In other words, he has a precise sample of a coming harvest, which means our resurrection bodies will, in many ways, be like his. Minus the incommunicable attributes that are his alone.

Now, back to First Corinthians 15, notice the resurrection of those who belong to Christ in verse 22. At the end, he says, "In Christ, all will be made alive." Verse 23, "But each in his own order." Then he says, "Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming." And Paul goes on to describe the rest of the harvest of which Christ was the first fruit. And he says, "each one in his order." The term "tagma" in Greek, it was a military term used to describe the arrangement of troops. And so we see even in the resurrection of all people, God has an order; he is an orderly God, he is purposeful in all that he does. So here we learn of the order of the resurrection harvest, which comes in three stages at Christ's coming. Again, notice that Christ the first fruits, and after that those who are Christ's at his coming. Now, the first stage of resurrection is for those who have come to saving faith from Pentecost, to the time of the rapture, and they will be joined with living saints at the rapture, First Corinthians 15:23, "those who are Christ's at His coming." This will include the resurrection of all of the church saints, both dead and alive at the rapture. According to First Thessalonians four beginning of verse 16, this will be when "the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."

The second stage of the resurrection harvest is for those who come to faith during the tribulation. You see, most of the people will be martyred, but it will also include all of the Old Testament saints as well. They will all be raised to reign with him during the millennium, Revelation 20, beginning of verse four, "And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus, because of the word of God and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead, and on their hand and they came to life and reigned with Christ for 1000 years." So back to Daniel 12 two. This is what it's speaking of here, "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground, will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others,” referring to the rest of the unsaved, "to disgrace and everlasting contempt." You can read about this as well in Isaiah 26 and Romans two verses five through eight, where it explicitly states that there will be a resurrection of the righteous as well as of the wicked.

The third stage which Paul calls, quote, "The end." In first Corinthians 15:23, refers to those who die during the millennial kingdom, they will probably, we don't know for sure they will probably be instantly transformed at death into their eternal bodies and spirits. And so this only leaves those who are the ungodly, those who have rejected Christ. And that occurs, they will be raised at the end of the millennial kingdom, at the Great White Throne Judgment of God, Revelation 20. And they will then be sent to Hell. Acts 24:15, "there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust." And John describes a, quote, "resurrection of life and the resurrection of judgment,” in John 5:29. But oh, dear Christian, once again, the implications of the resurrection for all who belong to him, are utterly inconceivable. And I feel so sorry for those that do not know Christ, because to the natural man or woman, the things of the Spirit are foolishness, and they cannot understand them. So they hear all of this and they think, I can't believe that anybody would believe this stuff. Well, obviously, they can't, not because of a lack of intellect, but because they're spiritually dead. And until they come to faith in Christ, none of these things will make any sense and none of this will be their hope, or their joy. But all the resurrection implications for us are absolutely astounding. Romans eight verse 23, "we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly," catch this now, "for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved." You see, our redemption includes more than just our soul and our spirit. Our redemption also includes our bodies. And this will occur when Jesus returns and raises our bodies from the dead. Glorification is the stage, one of the stages, the final stage, in the whole process of redemption, when he fashions for those that he has redeemed and those that is he has inhabited, into a glorified body and reunite that with their soul. It's astounding. Again, think about this. The seed of our DNA will one day blossom forth in the eternal perfection of divine holiness, divine glory, the majesty of Christ. Why? Because we are united to him. Christ is the first fruits of this resurrection harvest and his resurrection guarantees ours. Likewise, we will be given a glorified body like his; you might say he was the prototype.

Again, back to First Corinthians 15, verse 49. And "just as we have borne the image of the earthly." We shall also bear the image of the heavenly. John says in First John three two, "when He appears, we shall be like Him." Paul stated in Philippians 3:21 that Jesus will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body. So this is referring to a supernatural metamorphosis and instantaneous re-creation. Well this makes all of the suffering of life just kind of pale into insignificance doesn't it? Don't you long for that day? Paul said in First Corinthians 15:19, "If for this life only, we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied." Aren't you thankful that we have a hope beyond this life?

Beloved, never forget the fact that as believers we are forever united with Christ in every aspect of His work of redemption, which includes his resurrection. We have died, we have been buried and we are resurrected with him. Paul said, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ that lives in me." You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Amazing theological concepts. And while we await for our glorified bodies, our true essence as glorified saints is concealed in this world. We can't even see it ourselves. Other people look at us, we look just as ugly as everybody else, right? But because our life is hidden with Christ in God--I know this is corny, but it's kind of like Superman, you know, he just looked like Clark Kent until he got in the phone booth or whatever it was, and all of a sudden, there he is. I told you it was corny, but I think it gets the point across, doesn't it? I mean, that's who we really are. Peter says that we have been born anew to a living hope, how? Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. First Peter, one three. Jesus resurrection, you see, is explicitly connected with our regeneration, our new birth, that supernatural instantaneous impartation of spiritual life to the spiritually dead, that spiritual resurrection that happened within our nature within our soul. And you see, when Jesus rose from the dead, he had a new quality of life, he had a resurrection life, in a human body and human spirit, they were perfectly united for fellowship and obedience to God forever. And in Christ's resurrection, you see, he earned for us a new life just like his. And when we are born again, we receive all of the new resurrection life in our spirit. At that moment of the new birth, we are made alive with new resurrection power, waiting for that to happen in one day, our resurrected bodies will follow suit. Hallelujah. This resurrection power of Christ is the supernatural power of God, dear friends, that is at work within us right now. Right now. Paul prayed for the Ephesians that they would know, quote, "what is the immeasurable greatness of His power in us who believe, according to the working of his great might, which he accomplished in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and made Him sit at His right hand in the heavenly places." You see this resurrection power includes everything we need to live a life that is honoring to Christ; a life that can have victory over remaining sin in our life. In fact, Romans 6:14 says that sin will no longer have dominion over you. It includes our power for ministry, to work for the sake of the kingdom.

Now back to Daniel 12. As we wrap this up here this morning, this third precursor of the kingdom, you first have Israel's rescue, followed by the resurrection, which will then lead to the kingdom and blessings in God's kingdom. Verse three, "Those who have insight will shine brightly, like the brightness in the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever." He speaks of "those who have insight," it can be translated those who are wise, or those who have spiritual discernment. It's the same expression by the way that was used in chapter 11, verse 33, and verse 35, where it referred to those who lived in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes who were willing to die for their convictions, and who were willing to make it a priority to help others become wise, with respect to knowing who God was, and being obedient to Him, even as they battled the lies of Antiochus Epiphanes. So they will have insight. "Insight", it carries the idea of having the ability to see something with mental clarity, to see something for what it is, to have spiritual discernment. That's what it means. And in this context, it refers to spiritually discerning Christians during the time of the tribulation, who will, as he says here "lead the many to righteousness." And oh, dear friends, this is what we need today, isn't it? This is what we need in the church today. Most evangelical Christians today have the theological acumen of a second grader and the spiritual discernment of a transgendered seventh grader. They just don't understand what Scripture says. They don't know what it says. And when they hear it, they mock it. Think of all the Christians who support these political leaders that hold the things that are an absolute abomination to God. Think about that. Our kids are being exposed and poisoned by the urban culture. All of the vulgar music and Hollywood idols and sports figures that hate God and our kids are expected to embrace the Neo paganism and Marxist ideologies of critical race theory and Black Lives Matter and all of the other garbage that is out there today. Instead of celebrating and rejoicing in the blood bought unity found in the multiethnic household of God. That's what our kids need to understand. Oh, how we need believers within sight, those with spiritual discernment willing to help others.

So again, notice here in closing, "Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever." We know that when Jesus returns, he will remove the ungodly and only his redeemed will enter the kingdom. As Jesus said in Matthew 13:43, "Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." My, what motivating truths for evangelism and discipleship. Let me ask you, dear friends, are you a witness for Christ in your sphere of influence? Are you actively engaged in presenting the gospel? Persuading others to see the horror of their sin and the glory of the cross? Is that how people would describe you? Or are you a chameleon Christian that is able to change your color depending upon the situation you're in. So that nobody will know that you stand for something that they might be opposed to. Because after all, you don't want to get canceled. Oh, dear friend, if that is you, please repent of that. Please repent of that.

Well, we'll stop here this morning. Three important precursors to the establishment of the Kingdom. Though the days in which we live are getting darker and darker, know this, that the darkest hour is just before the dawn, right? Judgment is coming. But so too, is our Messiah King. And one day he has promised that the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Let's pray.

Father, thank you for the eternal truths of your word, may they bear much fruit in our lives, to the praise of your glory. And I pray if there be one here today that knows nothing of what it is to truly see their sin to acknowledge it, to long for forgiveness, Lord, we know that they're not going to see that unless you do a mighty work within them. And so we would plead with you by the power of your spirit; to so overwhelmed them with conviction that they will literally run to the cross and plead for the mercy that you will so quickly give. We thank you. We give you praise for all things in Jesus name. Amen.