The Invisible War: Finding Strength in Crisis

• Spiritual Warfare [00:20:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines spiritual warfare as a cosmic conflict waged in the spiritual world that has real consequences in the physical world, using Daniel 10 to reveal this unseen reality.
• Worldly Chaos and Confusion [00:19:09 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor addresses the brokenness, division, and irrationality in the current world, asking why things are so chaotic and how believers can respond.
• Biblical Context of Daniel [00:24:18 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that Daniel 10 is a long introduction to a vision spanning from 536 B.C. to the final resurrection, detailing the conditions under which Daniel received this revelation.
• Daniel's Mourning and Fasting [00:27:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains Daniel's three-week semi-fast (no tasty food, meat, wine, or ointment) as an outward expression of his inner distress and burden for his people.
• National Crisis and Opposition [00:29:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor details the historical context of the exiles returning to Judah, the interruption of temple rebuilding due to opposition, and Daniel's heavy heart regarding this national upheaval.
• The Call to Prayer [00:32:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts Daniel's response to crisis (prayer) with the modern tendency to become sour or bitter, urging the congregation to be 'faithful prayer warriors' for their nation and leaders.
• Christophany in [Daniel 10](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+10&version=KJV) [00:33:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor analyzes the vision of the man by the Tigris, arguing it is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus (Christ) based on detailed descriptions, parallels to Revelation 1, and Daniel's unique reaction.
• Christophanies in Daniel [00:38:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies the figure in Daniel 12 as the pre-incarnate Christ, comparing him to previous appearances in the fiery furnace and Daniel 7, noting his priestly garments and radiant appearance.
• Human Response to Divine Glory [00:40:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes Daniel's 'holy terror' and physical collapse when encountering Jesus, drawing parallels to Isaiah and John to illustrate that seeing God's majesty overwhelms human frailty.
• Spiritual Warfare and Prayer [00:48:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains the cosmic conflict behind Daniel's prayer, where an angel was delayed by demonic forces for 21 days until Michael intervened, demonstrating that prayer triggers real spiritual battles.
• Application of Reverence [00:43:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses an anecdote about a pastor boasting of casual intimacy with Jesus to correct the misconception that familiarity removes awe, emphasizing that true encounter with Christ leads to humility and fear.
• Spiritual Warfare and Invisible Realm [00:50:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that spiritual warfare is real and hidden, using the examples of Daniel and Elisha to show that angels engage in battles behind the scenes.
• Territorial Spirits and Demonic Influence [00:56:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor details the concept of territorial spirits (e.g., Prince of Persia) assigned to nations and governments to oppose God's work and influence political outcomes.
• The Role of Prayer [00:59:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that prayer is the trigger for spiritual intervention, citing Daniel's prayer and the prayers of John Knox as powerful forces that disrupt demonic plans.
• Heavenly Perspective and Sovereignty [01:02:48 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor calls for believers to gain a heavenly perspective, recognizing that God reigns despite earthly chaos, illustrated by James Garfield's speech during the Lincoln assassination riots.
• Heavenly Perspective [01:02:48 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that believers must shift their view from the physical world to the invisible spiritual realm to understand the true nature of conflict.
• Spiritual Warfare [01:03:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor clarifies that the battle is not against flesh and blood but against forces in the invisible realm, emphasizing that believers fight from a position of victory.
• Salvation through Jesus Christ [01:03:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies Jesus as the one who died and rose again, stating that trust in Him is the only way to have a relationship with God and be on the winning side.

• Sermon Illustration [00:21:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor quotes Abraham Kuyper, who stated that if the curtain were pulled back to reveal the spiritual world, the struggle would be so intense that earthly battles would seem like a mere game, emphasizing that the real conflict is in the unseen realm.
• Sermon Illustration [00:23:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references Os Guinness's book 'Impossible People' and the concept of 'The World Without Windows,' describing how secular people live as if the world is a closed container with no awareness of spiritual realities beyond it.
• Sermon Illustration [00:32:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares an anecdote about Unitarian minister Edward Everett Hale, who, when asked if he prayed for senators in Washington, replied that he looked at the senators and prayed for the country.
• Sermon Illustration [00:39:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses a rhetorical analogy comparing the sound of the divine figure's words to the 'roar of a crowd at a football game' to help the congregation visualize the 'tumult' described in scripture.
• Sermon Illustration [00:39:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor compares the sound of Jesus' words to the deafening roar of a crowd at a football game to illustrate the overwhelming nature of divine speech.
• Sermon Illustration [00:40:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the story of Saul of Tarsus (Paul) on the road to Damascus, where his companions heard the voice but did not see the vision, paralleling Daniel's companions who fled in terror.
• Sermon Illustration [00:43:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares an anecdote about a deceased pastor who claimed Jesus visited him while shaving; John MacArthur corrected him, stating that if Jesus were truly present, the man would have fallen down rather than continuing to shave.
• Sermon Illustration [00:50:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the story of Elisha and the king of Aram from 2 Kings 6, where Elisha's servant saw the heavenly army surrounding Dothan, illustrating the invisible spiritual reality behind physical events.
• Sermon Illustration [00:50:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > The story of Elisha and his servant in 2 Kings 6, where the servant sees the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire protecting them from the army of Aram.
• Sermon Illustration [00:54:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > A quote by Dale Ralph Davis stating that history is deep, with unseen demons carrying out a hidden war beneath the surface.
• Sermon Illustration [00:59:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > A quote by Ray Steadman questioning if there is a demon assigned to the USA to disrupt faith and destroy religious liberty, noting the 'evil prince of America' has won promotions.
• Sermon Illustration [01:00:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > A historical anecdote about President James Garfield calming a riotous crowd in Washington D.C. after Lincoln's assassination by quoting Scripture to remind them that 'God reigns.'
• Sermon Illustration [01:03:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the vision of Daniel seeing 'one who stood above the waters' 500 years before Jesus came, identifying this figure as Jesus Christ who died for sins and rose from the dead.

• Pastoral Charge [00:33:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > To be faithful prayer warriors, stand in the gap, and intercede to God for the nation and its leaders.
• Pastoral Charge [00:45:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > To frequently meditate on God's nature and greatness.
• Pastoral Charge [01:03:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > Put faith and trust in Jesus Christ
• Pastoral Charge [01:03:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > Implicit call to put faith and trust in Jesus Christ (sentence cut off before completion)

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:00:04] Well, good morning and welcome to Faith Bible Church on this dreary Sunday morning. It's a wonderful day, however, to gather with you to worship the Lord together. Thank you so much for gathering with us this morning. My name is Seth Brown. I'm the pastor of Adult Connections and it is a pleasure to be with you this morning, whether you're here in the worship center with us or whether you're joining us online via the live stream. We are thankful for your presence as we turn our voices and our minds and our hearts to the Lord this morning. And so if you're new to Faith Bible Church this morning, thank you so much for being here as well. We are
[00:00:34] are appreciative of your presence and would love to meet you and get to know you.
[00:00:37] And so we invite you to the Welcome Center after the service is right out these back doors here in the foyer.
[00:00:43] And there'll be some folks there to get to know you and get some information about you and who you are and how you found out about Faith Bible.
[00:00:50] And so, again, if you're visiting with us this morning, thank you so much for being here.
[00:00:54] As we prepare our hearts to sing to our Lord this morning and worship him through song, I do want to pass along a couple of quick announcements before we get to that.
[00:01:02] First off, our next New Member Connection workshop is this evening at 6 o'clock in the chapel at the other end of the church.
[00:01:09] And so if you're new to Faith Bible or if you're wanting to maybe join in membership to Faith Bible Church, we would love to have you there this evening, again, at 6 o'clock in the chapel.
[00:01:17] If you want to come to that event, find me in the Welcome Center after the service.
[00:01:21] I'll take your name and make sure we have spots for you.
[00:01:23] We have plenty of room in that event this evening.
[00:01:25] So we'd love to see you tonight at 6 o'clock for our next New Member Connection workshop.
[00:01:30] Second, as was briefly mentioned last week, this week we have donation boxes set up throughout the church for FaithWorks of the inner city.
[00:01:37] They are collecting dry food goods for folks down in the Shidler neighborhood of Oklahoma City that are dealing with a lot of COVID issues right now.
[00:01:45] And so those boxes are kind of scattered throughout the church.
[00:01:48] They're yellow.
[00:01:48] They're very visible.
[00:01:49] You can bring those dry goods anytime between now and I think we're going to do this for a couple of weeks.
[00:01:55] and we would love for you to join in and help out in that way and minister to those folks down in that part of Oklahoma City.
[00:02:02] And then lastly, we will be celebrating baptisms in our morning services on Sunday, February the 14th.
[00:02:07] So if you've trusted Christ and never followed his leading to be baptized, we want to talk to you about that.
[00:02:13] And so you can register on the church website between now and February the 1st and one of the pastors here at the church will get a hold of you and talk to you about that
[00:02:21] and set up a meeting.
[00:02:22] And so we would love to walk through that with you before then.
[00:02:26] So I don't think there's really anything else.
[00:02:28] Again, we appreciate you being here this morning.
[00:02:30] Thank you for your presence.
[00:02:31] I'm going to open our time of worshiping through song with a call to worship from Psalm chapter 9, verses 1 and 2.
[00:02:37] There the psalmist says this.
[00:02:39] I will thank the Lord with my heart.
[00:02:41] I will declare all your wondrous works.
[00:02:44] I will rejoice and boast about you.
[00:02:46] I will sing about your name, Most High.
[00:02:49] Pray with me.
[00:02:50] Father, humble us this morning as we come into your presence.
[00:02:54] God, give us a sense of your presence as we worship you through our voices this morning.
[00:03:00] God, only you are worthy of our praise and our worship.
[00:03:03] Use these words that we sing and the words that we hear this morning as they're preached to help us love you in a more deeper way, God, to know you in a more deeper way.
[00:03:13] Teach us, God, to be more like Jesus.
[00:03:15] we thank you for your love and your grace in sending him to die to be the sacrifice the atoning sacrifice for our sins we pray all these things in his name amen well would you stand let's

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:03:27] join our voices sing about the blood of jesus that sets us free so we as your people we turn

[00:09:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:09:44] our thoughts we turn our affections to you and to your character today we we purpose to do that together to turn our eyes from the worries of the world and let that cause us to gaze upon you
[00:09:58] in even a deeper way, to cause us to gaze upon you and your holiness today, God.
[00:10:04] We don't want to be consumed with anything else but you.
[00:10:09] And so we pray, God, that you'd help us to just focus on you and your holiness today, God, that we lift you to the highest place in our worship.

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:11:07] We're delighted to have you here with us this morning.

[00:15:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:15:25] We pray that our time of singing here today and our fellowship and our study of God's Word will greatly enrich you today. Thanks for joining us. For those of you who are here in person,
[00:15:36] as well as those joining us online here in the States, but also in other parts of the world, Donovan this week showed me a map of where everybody's listening, and there's people tuning in from all over the world. And so we're very grateful to have you as part of our
[00:15:48] family here at Faith Bible Church. And again, we pray that the Lord will use our time together this morning to edify and encourage you. And most of all, we pray that our great God will be
[00:15:58] glorified through everything we do here today. Let's look to the Lord in prayer this morning before we open his inspired and errant word together. Father, we pause this morning and acknowledge that you are the Lord of all of life, that you're the Lord of our lives and every aspect
[00:16:17] of them. Father, we think of the Apostle John when he was caught up to heaven. He said, I saw a throne and him who sat upon it.
[00:16:28] And Father, we draw great solace and strength this morning knowing that heaven has an occupied throne.
[00:16:34] What an antidote that is for our anxiety.
[00:16:36] How that eases our fears and reassures our concerns.
[00:16:41] Fathers, we think about our nation today.
[00:16:45] We pray for our country.
[00:16:46] Father, we pray for your hand of mercy to be upon us.
[00:16:50] That's the only way I know we'll have your blessing is through your mercy.
[00:16:54] Father, help us to remember that presidents come and presidents go.
[00:16:57] they serve four years or eight years, but you abide forever. You reign eternally, and the powers that be are all ordained by you and by your sovereign hand. Father, for all of us, the troubles
[00:17:12] and the turmoil of life can bring us down, but we're thankful that nothing will ever bring you down, that you're exalted forever in the heavens. Father, we pray through our time in the Word this
[00:17:22] morning and through our singing, our fellowship together, that you'll be large, we'll be small.
[00:17:31] Father, as we move forward into this coming year here at Faith Bible Church, give us one heart and one mind as we strive together for the faith of the gospel in these days ahead.
[00:17:41] Now, Father, as we open your living word, give us ears to hear your voice and give us your power and your strength to obey.
[00:17:48] We ask these things in Jesus' name.
[00:17:50] Amen.
[00:17:53] Well, if you'll take your Bible and turn with me to Daniel chapter 10, we are continuing our exposition of the book of Daniel.
[00:18:00] We've titled this series, The End Time and the Mean Time.
[00:18:03] And the message this morning is entitled, The Invisible War.
[00:18:07] And we're going to take two weeks to go through Daniel chapter 10, two sermons.
[00:18:11] We'll have part one this morning.
[00:18:13] Actually, we won't have part two until two weeks from now, because next Sunday, we're going to have a guest speaker.
[00:18:19] Dr. Jonathan Murphy is going to be here from Dallas Seminary.
[00:18:23] He's one of my colleagues there.
[00:18:24] He's the head of the pastoral ministries department there.
[00:18:28] and you really enjoy Jonathan's ministry a great deal. He's become a great friend of mine and you'll really enjoy his ministry next week. So he'll be here with us and we'll pick back up in two weeks and finish here in Daniel chapter 10. I'm not going to read this chapter, it's long,
[00:18:44] but we'll go through the verses and we'll read the verses as we go along. I'm here this morning.
[00:18:49] Well, all of us, I think, would agree by any measure, it's been quite a couple of weeks here in our country. Certainly, it's been quite a week here this last week in our nation.
[00:18:58] Our world today, and certainly our nation, and those of us who live within the nation, I think especially Christians, are dominated by a lot of daunting questions today.
[00:19:09] We look around at our world today, and all of us, if we're thinking people, we have to ask ourselves, what's wrong with our world today? Why is it so terribly broken? Why is there so
[00:19:19] much confusion and chaos, even about basic things that everyone should agree upon. What on earth is going on, and how do we account for what's happening? How did we get here, and how are things accelerating and happening so fast in our country? And what can you and I do in these times
[00:19:38] in which we live to stand strong for the Lord and to stem the tide of what we see happening in our culture? These kinds of questions abound today. If you're a thinking person, you can't help
[00:19:50] but ask them, especially if you're a believer in Jesus Christ to seek and desire the glory of God in our country. Everywhere we look, there's division, there's conflict, there's unrest, there's irrationality, there's deception, there's corruption, there's violence. What in the world
[00:20:08] is happening? How do we explain what's happening? Well, I've got good news for you this morning.
[00:20:14] Daniel chapter 10 provides compelling answers to these questions. You're going to see that clearly this morning. In this chapter, the veil is going to be pulled back slightly, and we're going to get a rare glimpse into the spiritual realities behind the conflict that we
[00:20:32] see around us. The curtain is pulled back, if you will, and world history is unmasked here in Daniel chapter 10. We discover in this chapter there's an invisible war that's raging all around us.
[00:20:47] I mean, here this morning, if I could just kind of unzip, if you will, this dimension in which we live and just step into the invisible world, I would step into another dimension that's all
[00:20:57] around us, that's just as real as the world we see, but it's an invisible world that's influencing the physical world in which we live. It's a great spiritual war that's taking place.
[00:21:11] So Daniel chapter 10 is about the realities of this spiritual warfare that's raging all around us. It's spiritual warfare that Daniel is experiencing there in exile. So we see that conflicts here on earth reflect the conflicts in the unseen realm. There's a spiritual struggle
[00:21:32] behind the struggle that are written on the pages of history. In other words, there's something happening in an unseen world that's affecting what you and I read in the newspaper, in the headlines, online, every day. Abraham Kuyper was a great theologian. Interestingly, he served as prime
[00:21:53] minister of the Netherlands from 1901 to 1905. He was a great Calvinist theologian. And one of his famous quotes, he says this, if once the curtain were pulled back and the spiritual world behind it came to view, it would expose to our spiritual vision a struggle so intense, so convulsive,
[00:22:14] sweeping everything within its range, that the fiercest battle fought on earth would seem by comparison a mere game. Not here, but up there. That's where the real conflict is engaged. Our earthly struggle drones in its backlash. Now, Abraham Kuyper is right. The most powerful forces
[00:22:34] in this world are unseen. There's something far deeper and far more sinister in this world than what we see on the surface. But sadly today, the secular world, most people in this world, are blinded to this spiritual war. They either neglect it or they would even deny that it even
[00:22:54] exists. Os Guinness has a great book about our world today called Impossible People. And in it, he has a great section he calls The World Without Windows. And he says that our secular world today,
[00:23:07] people in it, they live in a world without windows. They think this world and what they see is a closed container, that there's nothing happening outside of it. They have no awareness of spiritual realities beyond this world in which we live. But Daniel chapter 10 makes it clear that
[00:23:25] we live in a world with windows. And he opens one of those windows just a little bit for us here in Daniel chapter 10, and just gives us a peek into the spiritual world that surrounds us. So Daniel
[00:23:37] 10 is about spiritual warfare in the unseen realm. Now, let me define spiritual warfare for us. A lot of definitions you could use, but I think this one, this is one from Ron Rhodes, captures it well.
[00:23:49] Ron Rhodes puts it like this, he says, spiritual warfare involves the cosmic conflict that's waged behind the scenes in the spiritual world, but has real consequences in the physical world.
[00:24:01] Spiritual warfare involves a cosmic conflict that's waged behind the scenes in the spiritual world, but that has real consequences in our physical world.
[00:24:12] That's what Daniel chapter 10 is about.
[00:24:15] Now let's put this chapter in its context.
[00:24:18] here in Daniel 10 we've come now to the final vision of the book of Daniel it's a long one it's going to go from chapter 10 verse 1 all the way to chapter 12 and verse 4
[00:24:29] now chapter 10 that we're going to be in this week and two weeks from now is actually just a long introduction to the vision it's a whopper of an introduction tells us how Daniel gets the vision
[00:24:41] and then in chapters 11 and the first part of chapter 12 we have the vision itself Now, what's fascinating in this vision, you'll notice it starts in verse 10, or chapter 10, verse 1, the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia. That's 536 B.C. When you get to Daniel chapter 12,
[00:24:58] verses 3 and 4, we've gone all the way to the final resurrection of the dead. So this is a vision that's going to take us from 536 B.C. all the way to the resurrection of the dead at the
[00:25:09] end of the age. So this is a sweeping vision that drags us all across the scope of history from 536 B.C. But again, chapter 10 is a very long introduction or prologue that tells us how
[00:25:23] Daniel gets the vision and about all the conflict that's taking place for him to receive this great vision. So let's get into this chapter now. I've got three simple points to direct us through it. And again, we won't finish this morning. We'll pick up in a couple of weeks again.
[00:25:40] But I want to look at the condition of Daniel, then the coming of Christ, and the cosmic conflict.
[00:25:47] And we'll just kind of touch on that final part this morning and get into that a bit.
[00:25:51] But the chapter opens with the condition of Daniel.
[00:25:54] Notice it begins, as I said a moment ago, with a very important chronological note.
[00:25:58] It's the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia.
[00:26:01] So it's 536 B.C.
[00:26:03] and he says a message was revealed to daniel whose name was belta shazar or belta shazar now a lot of people wonder why does daniel mention his name here of belta shazar probably remember that goes all the way back to chapter one when his name was changed from daniel so it's a connection
[00:26:23] all the way back there and i think in some ways what it's doing here is it's showing that god has sustained Daniel all these years. It's reminding us of his name that was changed long,
[00:26:34] long ago. Daniel probably at this point is about 85 years of age, but he's still pressing on. He's still burdened for his people. He's still burdened for the glory of God. He's remained faithful.
[00:26:48] And in that, he's a great model to us of how we should live our lives. Notice it says, and the message was true. You say, well, why does he say that? Well, when we get into it here in a
[00:26:59] little bit, you're going to understand why I say this because you're going to say, that's hard for me to believe this is really true. He says, this message is true. You can take it to the bank.
[00:27:09] And he says, it's one of great conflict. Literally, it means warfare. So in chapter 10, we're going to see the spiritual warfare in the heavenly places. In chapter 11, he's going to move on and talk about warfare on the earth.
[00:27:24] So his whole vision is about warfare, spiritual warfare, along with military warfare.
[00:27:30] And he says he understood the message and had an understanding of the vision.
[00:27:35] In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three weeks.
[00:27:39] I didn't eat any tasty food, nor did any meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed.
[00:27:49] So Daniel here is distraught.
[00:27:51] He's mourning and praying and seeking God for three weeks.
[00:27:55] Now, why is Daniel so distraught?
[00:27:58] Well, you remember Daniel, if you've been with us the last few weeks, Daniel had been praying for the end of the 70-year captivity.
[00:28:07] People of Judah were taken to Babylon for 70 years.
[00:28:10] Daniel was taken in the first wave of that captivity.
[00:28:13] But Daniel, in reading the prophet Jeremiah, realized the 70-year captivity was just about over.
[00:28:20] So he began to pray, to seek God, to let the exiles go back to their homeland.
[00:28:25] And God had answered that prayer, and King Cyrus the Persian issued an edict in 538 B.C.
[00:28:32] to allow the people to go back to the land of Judah and to rebuild their temple.
[00:28:39] Now, only a small number of the Jews went back, almost 50,000 of them.
[00:28:44] There would have been hundreds of thousands, if not millions of them there in that area.
[00:28:49] So only about 50,000 of them took the opportunity to go back.
[00:28:53] Now, people often, well, why didn't Daniel go back?
[00:28:56] Well, first of all, he's 85 years old.
[00:28:58] It's a pretty long, arduous journey from Babylon back to the land of Israel.
[00:29:03] But also, he'd been given a prominent place in this new government, and he probably believed he was more valuable to God in Babylon than he was in Judah.
[00:29:12] So Daniel stays in Babylon.
[00:29:14] Now, two years have passed.
[00:29:16] In other words, the exiles go back in 538, the decree of Cyrus.
[00:29:20] Now it's 536 BC.
[00:29:23] And reports have made their way to Daniel in Babylon of what was happening to the exiles who'd returned.
[00:29:29] He'd gotten some word about what was taking place there.
[00:29:33] And we know if we go back and read the book of Ezra, they got back there and there was a sense of euphoria.
[00:29:38] They started rebuilding the temple, but immediately some opposition began to arise.
[00:29:43] and the people left off rebuilding the temple. In fact, the building of the temple got interrupted for 15 years. The work there came to a crashing halt because of opposition that quickly arose.
[00:29:58] So this is a time of crisis for Daniel's people. This is a time of crisis for the people of Judah, for Daniel's nation. In other words, it's a time of national upheaval.
[00:30:09] So Daniel's homeland is in deep crisis.
[00:30:13] Daniel's people are facing strong opposition.
[00:30:17] Does that sound familiar to anybody about anything we see today?
[00:30:22] So Daniel's heart is heavy for his homeland.
[00:30:25] He's suffering a time of great discouragement.
[00:30:28] He's concerned about this chaos.
[00:30:30] He's deeply pained by what's happening to his people and what's happening to his country.
[00:30:36] So Daniel identifies with the people back in Judah.
[00:30:41] Now think about this.
[00:30:42] It would have been easy for Daniel in Babylon to just take it easy and say, you know what, I'm not going to worry about that.
[00:30:48] I've done my time.
[00:30:49] I've done my part.
[00:30:50] I'm 85.
[00:30:51] It's time for me now to just relax and kind of enjoy myself.
[00:30:56] Now Daniel is deeply burdened for his nation.
[00:30:58] And for three weeks, he gives no attention to personal comfort or even cleanliness.
[00:31:04] He neglects the care of himself.
[00:31:06] Now, he didn't totally fast.
[00:31:08] He says, I didn't eat any tasty food.
[00:31:11] It's kind of a semi-fast here, if you will, kind of a partial fast.
[00:31:15] Nor did any meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use ointment at all.
[00:31:20] They would use these ointments on their body or lotions back then.
[00:31:23] Basically, what he's saying is, I didn't use deodorant for three weeks, and I didn't take a bath.
[00:31:28] I mean, he's probably looking pretty bad and smelling pretty bad when this three-week period is over.
[00:31:33] but the condition of daniel he wants his outward condition to express what's in his heart of mourning and distress and being cast down and having a heavy heart now again maybe that's where you are this morning maybe mourning over what you see happening out there in our country maybe
[00:31:52] you're pained and perplexed at what you see taking place many of us can relate to this a sense of heaviness about the condition of our country and our government. Many are discouraged and disheartened. What should you and I do? Well, we ought to do what Daniel did, and that is he
[00:32:10] prayed. He sought the face of God. He set his face toward God. He went to the one who could really do something about it. He prayed fervently and faithfully for his nation that was back in
[00:32:23] the land of Judah. I love this. Daniel doesn't become sour. He seeks the Lord. I think a lot of Christians today are allowing what's happening in our world to make them sour and bitter.
[00:32:36] Daniel doesn't become sour. He seeks the Lord. He doesn't just look around at what's happening, but he looks up to heaven and he seeks the one who can do something about it. And that's what
[00:32:47] you and I need to do in these times in which we find ourselves. We need to pray fervently and faithfully for our nation and for our leaders, just like Daniel did. There's a man years ago
[00:32:59] named Edward Everett Hale. He was a Unitarian minister, spent some time in Washington. Someone asked him once, he says, when you're up there in Washington, do you pray for our senators?
[00:33:11] And he says, no, I look at the senators and I pray for our country. Oh, we may be able to relate to that as well today in the world in which we live. But Daniel prayed for his country, and you and I
[00:33:22] need to pray for our country as well. So let's be faithful prayer warriors for our nation and for our leaders and stand in the gap and intercede to God for what's happening in our country today.
[00:33:35] So that's the first thing that Daniel does, the condition of Daniel, he prays. Now the text moves quickly and suddenly from the condition of Daniel to the coming of Christ. I love this in verse 4,
[00:33:47] he says, on the 24th day of the first month. Now, we can actually go back and figure this out. It's April the 23rd, 536 BC. Now, have you ever had something happen in your life or something maybe
[00:34:00] happen in our country, and you remember the exact day, and you remember where you are and what you were doing when it happened? It was so dramatic. Daniel remembers this day. He remembered it till
[00:34:10] the day he died, because he's going to see a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ, a pre-incarnate vision of Christ. And he says it's the 23rd day of April, 536 BC. So Daniel's been fasting now
[00:34:24] and denying himself physical comfort for three weeks. So from April 2nd to April 23rd of 536 BC is when this is happening. By the way, I'll just throw this in here. Many people don't believe
[00:34:38] Daniel wrote the book of Daniel. We're going to talk about that quite a bit here in a few weeks.
[00:34:41] Can we really trust the Bible and trust the book of Daniel?
[00:34:45] Notice how specific this is.
[00:34:47] It's April the 23rd, 536 B.C.
[00:34:49] Somebody writing this 400 years later, how would they know these kinds of dates to put these exact figures in here?
[00:34:56] This is a book that comes from the pen of Daniel inspired by the Holy Spirit.
[00:35:03] So he says, it was the 24th day of the first month.
[00:35:06] I was by the bank of the great river that is the Tigris.
[00:35:10] Now, the city of Babylon's on the Euphrates River, and the nearest point from where Babylon is that you can get to the Tigris River is about 35 miles away. So Daniel's probably some 35 to maybe 50
[00:35:21] miles away from Babylon. And people say, well, why was he there? We don't really know. He may have been sent there by King Cyrus on official business. He may have actually gone there to get
[00:35:32] away to have a time to be alone to pray. But Daniel is standing there by the Tigris River, and he's standing with some other men there, and maybe they're having a prayer meeting.
[00:35:44] Maybe Daniel's gotten some other men to come join him to pray. But while he's there, and he's there with these other men, I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man
[00:35:54] dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Euphaz. His body was like beryl. His face had the appearance of lightning. His eyes were like flaming torches. His arms and
[00:36:08] feet like the gleams of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult.
[00:36:14] Now I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, while the men who were with me did not see the vision.
[00:36:20] Nevertheless, a great dread fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves.
[00:36:27] Now the question is, who's this man that appears to Daniel here? Many commentators believe that this was an angel. Now I don't want to get into too much detail here, but we're going to look a
[00:36:38] little bit later in verse 10, and an angel, a being's going to touch Daniel and set him back up on his feet. And that being is going to go on and tell how he's had heavenly warfare and had to
[00:36:51] have Michael, the archangel, come help him fight a demonic spirit. Now, if this is the same person in verse 10 as the person in verses 5 and 6, it can't be Jesus, because Jesus wouldn't need help
[00:37:04] fighting some demonic spirit. So I'm going to make a distinction between the person here in verses 5 and 6 and the person that touches Daniel in verse 10. But let me give you four reasons why
[00:37:16] I believe this man in Daniel 10, 5, and 6 is Jesus. It's a pre-incarnate vision of Christ, a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus. First of all, angels are never described in detail in Daniel anywhere else, but Jesus is in Daniel 7.13. He says, I saw one like a son of man,
[00:37:36] he's coming on the clouds in power and great glory. Angels are never described in any detail.
[00:37:41] Also, Daniel never has this reaction to any other angels when they appear to him.
[00:37:46] Also, there's a clear parallel between this passage and Revelation 1, where the radiant resurrected Christ appears to the apostle John. You might want to read that this week on some of your Bible study. And then fourthly, we'll look at this in some weeks, but in Daniel 12, 5 through
[00:38:04] 7, we're going to meet this man in Lennon here standing above the Tigris River again, and the other angels are consulting him as if he has some kind of superior knowledge. So for that reason,
[00:38:16] I believe this is the glorified, radiant Christ. And if that's true, then this is the third Christophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ in the book of Daniel. Remember back in the fiery furnace, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and remember a fourth man was in the furnace. We said we
[00:38:36] believed that was a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus. In Daniel 7.13, Daniel has another Christophany. He sees Jesus as the Son of Man. He's coming in the clouds in power and great glory.
[00:38:50] This one he sees is dressed in linen, which are priestly garments.
[00:38:54] He's dressed in gold, which speaks of majesty.
[00:38:58] His body is like beryl.
[00:39:00] Some say chrysolite.
[00:39:02] Some believe it's topaz.
[00:39:04] Whatever it is, it's some kind of flashing gemstone.
[00:39:08] His face is like lightning.
[00:39:10] His eyes are like flaming torches that are piercing and penetrating.
[00:39:14] His legs and feet are like burnished bronze, which speaks of judgment.
[00:39:18] and his words are thundering. Literally it says his words were like a tumult. In other words, like a roar of a crowd. It's kind of like the roar of a crowd at a football game. You all do
[00:39:30] remember what that was like, right? I mean, it's kind of hard to remember. It's been a while.
[00:39:33] Hopefully we'll get back to that soon, but just like a, just a, you know, a sound that's just deafening of a crowd. And Daniel says in verse seven, literally in the Hebrew, you could write
[00:39:46] it like this, I saw, I Daniel, I alone. Daniel's the only one who saw this vision. The other people who were with him didn't see it. He says, while the men who were with me didn't see the vision,
[00:40:00] a great dread fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves. So these other people who are with Daniel don't see this, but they sense that something supernatural is occurring, and they're seized with a sense of terror and dread, and they fled the scene.
[00:40:17] It reminds me of Acts chapter 9.
[00:40:20] You remember when Saul of Tarsus is struck down there and he sees the resurrected Christ and the men who are with him can't see the vision, but they can hear some of what's happening and they're seized with terror and fear.
[00:40:34] But Daniel here is struck with holy terror.
[00:40:37] Look at verse 8.
[00:40:39] I was left alone and saw this great vision, yet no strength was left in me.
[00:40:44] my natural color turned to a deathly pallor and I retained no strength. But I heard the sound of the words. As soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face with
[00:40:56] my face to the ground. Jesus is too much for Daniel. Daniel, think about this. He's a good and godly man, probably the most godly man on the face of the earth at this time, yet he's unable to
[00:41:10] stand in the presence of this pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. I mean, one way to put it here, Daniel is shattered by this experience. I mean, literally he passes out and goes comatose when he sees this. Because what we have here is loftiness meeting lowliness. The immortal is
[00:41:30] facing the mortal. Deity is colliding with depravity. And there's nothing casual about this encounter. Nothing flippant or carefree about it. And the reading I've done this week, here's the way different people describe it. Daniel's overcome. He's overwhelmed. He's
[00:41:48] devastated. He's undone. He's terrorized. He trembles. You go down to verse 10 and 11. He's shaking. Gets up on his hands and knees and he's shaking. He's speechless. He's breathless. He's comatose. He collapses face down in the dirt at the feet of Jesus. So he's overcome here with
[00:42:07] reverence and awe. And he literally has to be restored to consciousness. So he's swallowed up here by the glory of Jesus Christ. And you see the same thing in many other places in Scripture.
[00:42:22] Isaiah chapter 6. Isaiah sees the Lord high and lifted up. By the way, it's kind of a similar setting to here. That passage, Isaiah 6, starts out in the year that King Uzziah died. It's a
[00:42:36] time of great transition, time of national upheaval in Judah. When the year that King Uzziah died, in other words, Uzziah's throne was empty, but God's throne was occupied. I saw one seated on a throne. And of course, he appears there before God. He says, I was undone. Just realize he's a
[00:42:56] man of unclean lips in the presence of deity. Remember Revelation chapter 1, the Apostle John?
[00:43:03] Now remember this, the Apostle John, he's probably around 95 years of age.
[00:43:07] Remember, he was Jesus' closest friend on earth.
[00:43:11] There at the Last Supper, he's leaning his head there on the breast of Jesus.
[00:43:15] I mean, that's the intimacy and the closeness between these two men.
[00:43:19] And yet John sees the radiant, resurrected Christ there in Revelation 1.
[00:43:23] And what does it say there in that passage?
[00:43:25] He fell at his feet as a dead man.
[00:43:29] I heard someone make a comment years ago I've never forgotten.
[00:43:31] and it says, better to be dead at the feet of Jesus than alive anywhere else. But the closest person on earth to Jesus falls down at His feet like a dead man when He comes into His presence.
[00:43:46] John MacArthur tells a story years ago. I read this story years ago. It's actually about another pastor. I won't mention the other pastor. He's deceased now. But he was boasting about his intimacy with Jesus. And this man said this to John MacArthur. He said, Jesus and I are good
[00:44:02] friends. Sometimes when I'm shaving, he comes into the bathroom with me. MacArthur said, literally?
[00:44:08] And he said, oh yeah, he comes in his body. And John MacArthur asked him, well, what does he do?
[00:44:13] He said, he just puts his arm around my shoulder while I'm shaving. And MacArthur says, is that right? What do you do then? And he said, I just keep on shaving. And MacArthur said, then that's
[00:44:23] not Jesus. I mean, that's an extreme example. When you see Jesus, you don't keep on shaving, right you fall down at his feet that's the that's uh where john ends up it's where isaiah ends up
[00:44:40] it's where daniel ends up so there's a key point here for us this morning in this passage we don't want to miss as daniel faces this crisis in his homeland his country among his people he's mourning
[00:44:53] the troubles of his people he's heavy-hearted over the condition of his homeland god gives to Daniel a fresh vision of himself. And maybe you need a fresh vision of Jesus here this morning, a gripping, glorious revelation of Christ to give you strength and to give you hope.
[00:45:14] And I pray you think often of God and who he is and of his greatness. I mean, I don't know if you all do this, but one of the times I think about this is when I lie in bed at night. I lie there
[00:45:24] in bed at night and you think about God. You think about someone who never had a beginning and he never has an ending. You think about His greatness, you think about His majesty, and I'm praying to
[00:45:34] Him, and I think that He's hearing the prayers of everybody in the whole world. There's not a maverick molecule in the universe. He's got it all under control. And when I lay there and think
[00:45:45] about that, you just kind of shrink into the sheets. When you think about His greatness and His majesty and His power, and we need a fresh vision of God when we face times of crisis in
[00:45:56] our personal lives, but also when we face crisis in our nation. So what do we do in troubled times, when our nation's in trouble, in dangerous times of transition? The first thing we do is we pray.
[00:46:07] That's what Daniel did. And the second thing we do is we get a fresh vision of Christ. We get a perception, a new perception of who He is and of His greatness. That's why God gives this to Daniel
[00:46:20] at this time. Now that brings us to verse 10, the cosmic conflict. We'll just get this introduced here this morning, and we'll pick up here in a couple of weeks. But notice verse 10, then behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. Now, my view is this is not
[00:46:37] the same person who appeared to him in verses 5 and 6. This now is an angel. Because again, we're going to find out this angel does spiritual warfare and has to have Michael come help him
[00:46:47] defeat a demon. That can't be Jesus. But he says, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. So we move here from terror to the touch. And this is the first of three times that
[00:47:03] angels are going to come and touch Daniel in this chapter to raise him up. So one person I read called this celestial first aid. These angels are coming and kind of helping Daniel. But it's a
[00:47:13] reminder from Hebrews 1.14, it tells us that are not angels ministering spirits that are sent out to minister to those who will inherit salvation. So this angel is sent here to minister to Daniel.
[00:47:27] Now what follows here in these verses is this description of this high-level cosmic combat that's taking place in the spiritual realm. What I want to do this morning and in two weeks is develop five keys to understanding this spiritual warfare and the warfare we face.
[00:47:45] So we'll look at the first two of these this morning. These all begin with the letter O, but the first thing is, is this spiritual war is obscured. What I mean by that, it's invisible to
[00:47:55] us or hidden. Spiritual warfare, while invisible, is real and raging. Now this is a fascinating account here. Let me begin reading in verse 12. So Daniel's shaking in his sandals here, and the angel says to him, do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set
[00:48:15] your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I've come in response to your words. So Daniel started praying three weeks ago, right?
[00:48:26] So three weeks have gone by, and he says, Daniel, when you started praying, your words were heard.
[00:48:31] By the way, it tells us demonic spirits can't keep God from hearing our prayers. They can delay the answer, but they can't stop God. God hears the moment we pray. And then listen to what this
[00:48:42] angel says, but the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing me for 21 days. Then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I've been left there with the kings of
[00:48:53] Persia. And I've come to give you understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future. So what this angel tells Daniel is, Daniel, you were praying there on earth, and God heard in heaven when you were praying
[00:49:11] and dispatched an angel with a special delivery message for you. However, Satan dispatched one of his demonic spirits to intercept that answer and to try to thwart the work of God. And so somewhere between heaven and earth, this good angel was accosted by an evil angel, by a demon.
[00:49:32] And when the two angels clashed, a titanic battle erupted. It erupted there in the spirit realm, and it raged on for three weeks of time. Now, we don't know how the demon opposed the angel.
[00:49:46] People ask questions, well, what were they fighting with? What kind of weapons do they have. I have no idea. The Bible doesn't tell us. But it was a real battle. It's this titanic struggle between them. We don't know how these angels and demons fight or what their weapons
[00:50:01] are, but it's a real battle. And then after three weeks of intense titanic warfare, God's angel, with the help of Michael the archangel, defeated the demon, and the angel continued his journey to earth and finally got Daniel the answer and is going to give him the vision we're going to
[00:50:17] read about in chapter 11. Now, what a scene that is. Some of you probably had no idea that anything like this was in the Bible. But Daniel prayed, and angels went to war. Think about that. Think
[00:50:32] about that the next time you pray. Daniel prayed, and that's what triggers all of this that occurs.
[00:50:39] Now, there are other places in the Bible where the curtain is drawn back, and we see this invisible world of spiritual warfare. Back in 2 Kings chapter 6, there's a fascinating account there.
[00:50:51] I won't have time to read it all, but the king of Aram was up in Damascus in Syria, was fighting against Israel. And every time the king of Aram would send his troops down to try to get involved
[00:51:05] in a battle, Elisha, God would come and tell Elisha what the king of Aram was doing, and he'd go tell the king of Israel, and the king of Israel would cut it off. So the king of Aram
[00:51:14] gets really frustrated, and he says, it's like Elisha lives in my bedroom. I mean, he knows everything I'm doing. So he goes down and takes his troops and surrounds the place where Elisha is living there at a place called Dothan. And you'll notice down in verse 14 of 2 Kings 6,
[00:51:34] it says, he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded of the city, and it's the city of Dothan. Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early
[00:51:43] and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots were circling the city. And his servant said to him, alas, my master, what are we going to do? But he answered, do not fear, for those who
[00:51:53] are with us are more than those who are with them. Elisha prayed and said, O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he saw, and the mountain was
[00:52:04] full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, strike this people with blindness, I pray. So he struck them with blindness
[00:52:15] according to the word of Elisha. And actually what ends up happening is blind men get led into the capital city of Israel, into Samaria. And when their sights restored, they realized they're in the capital of Israel in the enemy's camp. But it's a powerful picture here of what's happening
[00:52:32] in the spiritual realm. In fact, it highlights the truth of 1 John 4.4, greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. Ephesians 6.12 kind of parts the veil a bit for us as well and says,
[00:52:48] your struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and powers, against world forces of spiritual wickedness, against spiritual darkness in the heavenly places. That's our real fight. And you know, you think about this today. We think all of our fight is against politicians.
[00:53:06] Republicans think the fight's against Democrats. Democrats against Republicans. These people against these people. Paul says our fight is not against flesh and blood. There's something much deeper that's happening behind the scenes. There are powers that are influencing what's happening
[00:53:22] in our world today. There are these world forces of this darkness. They're the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. One other passage you might look at on your own is Revelation 12. There, Michael the archangel and the good angels go against Satan and the evil angels,
[00:53:41] and this is going to happen in the future during the tribulation period, and they're going to expel Satan from the heavenly realms once and for all. And Michael is the leading warrior in that great heavenly battle against Satan. It's in Revelation chapter 12. You want to read about it.
[00:53:59] But Dale Ralph Davis says this.
[00:54:01] This is a great quote.
[00:54:02] He says, History is not only long, stretching over time, but it's deep.
[00:54:08] Beneath its surface, unseen demons carry out a hidden war.
[00:54:13] History's long, but it's deep.
[00:54:16] Beneath the surface, demons are carrying out this invisible war.
[00:54:20] So the first thing we learn about the spiritual war is that it's real.
[00:54:23] It's obscured and concealed and hidden to us, but it's an invisible war that's real.
[00:54:28] Now, the second thing, and this is where we'll pick up next time, but the second thing about spiritual warfare is it's organized.
[00:54:35] Spiritual warfare engages a well-organized enemy.
[00:54:39] Make no mistake, Satan is real.
[00:54:41] He's introduced in Genesis 3 in the Bible, doesn't go off the scene until the end of Revelation chapter 20.
[00:54:48] He's alive and well, and he has his angels.
[00:54:52] Satan, of course, wasn't created as Satan.
[00:54:56] He was a good angel.
[00:54:57] But he rebelled against God, and he was judged.
[00:55:00] And when he did that, a third of the angelic host fell with him.
[00:55:04] Revelation 12, 4 says that the tail of the dragon swept a third of the stars from heaven.
[00:55:10] And they became the demonic evil angels that opposed Christ and obeyed Satan.
[00:55:15] And we don't know how many of them there are, but just in Revelation 9, there are 200 million demons that are pictured there.
[00:55:22] And certainly that's not all of them.
[00:55:23] so satan leads a vast well-organized kingdom that opposes god's work in a very real high level cosmic combat first john 519 says the world that we live in this whole world lies in the lap of
[00:55:38] the evil one satan is called in the new testament the god of this world jesus called him the prince of this world he's called in ephesians the prince of the power of the air but satan though is not
[00:55:51] omnipresent. He can't be everywhere at once. He can only be one place at a time. Now, as a spirit being, he can probably move very quickly, but he can only be one place at a time. So he exerts his
[00:56:04] influence through a vast network of demons that extend his power. There's various orders of these demonic powers. Ephesians 6, it talks about principalities, powers, world forces of this darkness, spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places. Those are probably different
[00:56:23] orders or different kinds of demonic spirits. And we also find here in Daniel 10 that these demonic spirits are assigned to certain nations. Look at verse 13, the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me. So this good angel is trying to bring the answer to Daniel, and the prince of
[00:56:40] Persia stands against him. That can't, of course, be a human prince of Persia, because no human prince could withstand a mighty angelic being. So, some refer to these demons as territorial spirits. They're assigned certain geographical areas. But what we have here is a high-level
[00:57:01] demon who's been assigned by Satan to rule Persia, to influence and direct the government there, to keep God's plans for Persia from succeeding. Now, you'll notice the end of verse 13, Daniel was left with the kings of Persia. Those may be a bunch of lesser demons. So these demons
[00:57:18] may have ganged up on this angel. So they're ganging up on him. He's trying to bring this answer to Daniel. So he needs Michael the archangel to come and help him. So Michael comes and helps
[00:57:27] this angel. They come and form an angelic tag team, if you will, a double team. And they're able to break through finally after three weeks. But the point here is that Satan's network of evil
[00:57:38] is a vast invisible structure working behind the scenes to influence the governments of this world.
[00:57:45] The prince of Persia, the kings of Persia. Satan is very active in politics. He loves politics.
[00:57:55] Within the corridors of power, dark sinister forces are at work shaping the policies of world government. And you can be sure that if there's a demonic spirit of Persia, that there's a demonic spirit of the United States and other nations. You can be sure demonic spirits are
[00:58:13] active in the U.S. Senate, in the White House, in North Korea. There's a prince of Iran. There's a prince of China. There's a prince of Russia. They may even be divided up all the way down to the
[00:58:25] state and municipal level. There may be a prince of Oklahoma City and a prince of Edmond. You go on down to verse 20, and he mentions the prince of Greece who's coming. This is powerful because
[00:58:37] in Daniel's day, Persia ruled the earth, but the next great empire was going to be Greece.
[00:58:42] So you think about that. Satan is focusing on the nations with the most influence in that day, Persia, and then Greece. And I think it's the same today. And if that's true, that we could say that the U.S. must be number one on the hit list.
[00:58:57] Listen to these words by Ray Steadman. He said this probably 40 years ago. And this just sounds like it's written today. Is there a demon assigned to the United States of America on a mission?
[00:59:07] to disrupt faith, destroy religious liberty, wage war against the innocent and unborn, undermine education, destroy truth, embolden evil, ridicule righteousness, pervert justice, and discredit the gospel of Jesus Christ? As you look around at events in our society,
[00:59:25] doesn't it seem obvious? In fact, the evil prince of America has undoubtedly won several promotions for his successful activity in recent years.
[00:59:36] Sad, but true.
[00:59:38] That's what we see happening today in our world.
[00:59:41] Look, it's a time of heaviness for many of us as believers in our country, a time of deep concern, facing growing opposition.
[00:59:49] What do we do in times like this?
[00:59:51] How do we face what's happening in our culture and in our country?
[00:59:56] We do what Daniel did.
[00:59:58] We pray.
[01:00:02] You all know the quote, I'm sure.
[01:00:03] Mary Queen of Scots is reputed to have said that she feared the prayers of John Knox more than any invading army. I think Satan fears those prayers as well. That's what triggers all of this are his
[01:00:15] prayers. Someone summarized this chapter really well. They said, angels and demons exist. Angels and demons engage one another in spiritual combat. Certain demons and probably certain angels are given particular geographical and governmental assignments, and our prayers in some genuine
[01:00:32] measure enter into an effect of battles being fought. Daniel's prayer is what triggered all this. We need to pray, but we need perception. We need a fresh vision of Christ, of His power and His greatness and His sovereignty. I was reading here not long ago a story from the life
[01:00:53] of James Garfield. It's interesting, James Garfield was the second president to be assassinated after Abraham Lincoln, and there's a story about him of what he did in light of the assassination of Lincoln. So the second president to get assassinated commented upon the assassination
[01:01:10] of the first president. But he was elected to Congress, James Garfield was. He began his first term in 1863. He got there in time to serve during Lincoln's re-election, his second inauguration, and then Lincoln's assassination. But Garfield was attending to his business investments in
[01:01:27] Wall Street when he learned of President Lincoln's assassination on April the 14th. But on April the 16th, he was back in Washington, D.C., and a riotous crowd broke out. Some think it was up to 50,000
[01:01:41] people, and they were afraid of what this riotous crowd might do in the Capitol. And so James Garfield stepped forward, and this is what he said. Fellow citizens, clouds and darkness are around about him. His pavilion is dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. Justice and judgment are the
[01:01:59] establishment of his throne. Mercy and truth go before his faith. Fellow citizens, God reigns and the government at Washington still lives. Now who today would say that of a politician? What is he doing? He's pointing them to who God is. He says, fellow citizens, clouds and darkness are round
[01:02:19] about Him, talking about God. His pavilion is dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
[01:02:25] Justice and judgment are the establishment of His throne. Mercy and truth go before His face.
[01:02:30] Fellow citizens, God reigns. The government at Washington still lives. He was giving the people a vision of God, of His greatness. That's what you and I need today, a vision of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ that's great. And the final thing we need is perspective. We need to get a
[01:02:48] heavenly perspective. In times of heaviness, we need to understand that all the conflict in this physical world is traceable to the war that's raging in the invisible realm. We need to understand what's really going on in this world around us, that we don't wrestle, we don't war against flesh
[01:03:07] and blood. You know, one of the great things, and we'll pick up on this next time, but you and I are not fighting for victory, we're fighting from victory. That one who stood above the waters,
[01:03:17] that Daniel saw, 500 years later he came, and we know him as Jesus Christ. And he came and died on the cross for our sins, and he came and he rose from the dead. And it's only by trusting in him
[01:03:31] that we can have a relationship with God, and that we can be on the winning side in this great spiritual war that's taking place. So if you've never put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ,
[01:03:42] I pray that you'll do that this morning. You'll believe in Him. You'll receive in Him. Receive Him. And for those of us who know the Lord in these times in which we find ourselves, let's pray.
[01:03:52] Let's get a fresh vision of who God is and His Son, the Lord Jesus. Let's get a perspective.
[01:03:58] We're not fighting flesh and blood. There's something far deeper going on behind the scenes than what we can see. Well, let's pray together. Our Father, we come before You this morning, and we thank you for our Lord Jesus. We thank you that the one Daniel saw
[01:04:16] came centuries later, came as a man, as Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, and gave himself for our sins and achieved the victory once and for all over the enemy. Father, if there's anyone here
[01:04:31] this morning who doesn't know him, who's not in him today, I pray that they trust in Jesus Christ and take him to be their Savior from sin. Father, help all of us in these times in which we live.
[01:04:44] Help us not to get sour, but help us to seek you, to pray, to be asking you to give us a fresh vision of yourself and your word, and to be more and more getting a heavenly perspective so we can
[01:04:57] understand what's really going on in this world around us. Father, give us perspective. Give us peace. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's stand and sing together.

[01:05:08] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:05:08] again thank you all for being here with us this morning we appreciate you worshiping with us here

[01:09:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:09:26] this morning and again jonathan murphy dr murphy will be here next week so i hope you'll come and join us for that um i'll be down front here after the service our elders who are present will be
[01:09:35] down front as well we'd love the opportunity to get acquainted with you pray with you maybe if there's a need you'd like to share with us if you are visiting go out these doors uh here in the
[01:09:44] back on the right side, there's a welcome center. And there's some folks there that'd love to give you some more information about our church. Well, let's bow our heads now for the benediction as we
[01:09:53] leave here with the Lord's blessing upon us this morning. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who
[01:10:06] are sanctified. All God's people said, amen.