WEBVTT 00:00:00.420 --> 00:00:02.260 Daniel 10. 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:05.560 This text of scripture for us, I'm going to be honest. 00:00:05.820 --> 00:00:12.820 I like to follow the way that the flow of a passage goes, so as the one that the narrative with the 00:00:12.820 --> 00:00:18.900 story follows, the experience that they're going through, I like to relate to that experience as much as we possibly can. 00:00:19.380 --> 00:00:23.960 If I could tell you my aim for the first chapter that we're going to look at, we're going to look at chapter 10 and 11. 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:27.700 I'll tell you why in just a minute, but as we start at chapter 10, here's what I want you to do. 00:00:27.700 --> 00:00:29.310 I want you to feel the freedom to freak out. 00:00:29.420 --> 00:00:29.580 Okay? 00:00:30.110 --> 00:00:31.620 We're going talk about that. 00:00:31.620 --> 00:00:32.680 Then, we're going to talk about some resolution. 00:00:33.180 --> 00:00:37.460 We're getting into the spiritual realm today, and everyone just wig out. 00:00:37.460 --> 00:00:44.660 We get to chapter 10, and then we're going to bring some reconciliations that relates to the Lord in our lives as it talks about the 00:00:44.660 --> 00:00:48.790 spiritual realm, and we're doing that because that's what Daniel did in this passage. 00:00:49.560 --> 00:00:54.440 One of the things that we've learned in the story of Daniel is that Daniel's story is not isolated to Danial. 00:00:54.480 --> 00:01:01.840 That Daniel's story is actually our story, and the New Testament writers did a wonderful job of trying to bridge that for us because what you see in 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:09.220 the life of Daniel, Daniel as a young man, probably a middle school age, maybe in their early high school carried often to captivity into Babylon, 00:01:09.220 --> 00:01:10.180 along with his people. 00:01:10.180 --> 00:01:17.240 He probably saw his parents slaughtered before his eyes, went through a lot of hardship, taken into a foreign land, and lives there for 00:01:17.240 --> 00:01:24.620 over 70 years under the Babylonian Kingdom, then the Persian Kingdom, and when you read the story of Daniel, the first six chapters 00:01:24.620 --> 00:01:31.640 are the narrative of his experience with his friends and how he lives for God in that culture, what it looks like for 00:01:31.640 --> 00:01:31.860 us. 00:01:32.360 --> 00:01:39.520 The reason the New Testament writers tied to the story of Daniel is they refer to the world that we live in like Babylon. 00:01:39.600 --> 00:01:46.680 Babylon is long since gone by the time the New Testament is written, but what the New Testament writers want us to recognize is that God also calls 00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:53.820 you to a particular place, that when you live in light of Christ in your life, it doesn't always fit in the world around you, and 00:01:53.820 --> 00:01:57.540 so that's why we're calling the series 'Cultural Collision', and we're just coming to the tail end of that. 00:01:57.660 --> 00:02:00.940 How do we live in light of what God has called us to in this world? 00:02:01.420 --> 00:02:04.120 First six chapters of Daniel, that narrative story. 00:02:04.140 --> 00:02:10.979 The last six chapters of Daniel are the apocalyptic, prophetic part of what God's going to do in the future. 00:02:11.380 --> 00:02:18.680 As God works in Daniel's life, he's also revealing how God's going to continue, but God is also revealing how He's going to continue to work into the future, 00:02:19.040 --> 00:02:23.380 how he is, Daniel is just a small picture of God's greater story in life. 00:02:23.740 --> 00:02:26.920 That small picture is that Daniel's people find themselves captive. 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:28.320 God sets them free. 00:02:28.720 --> 00:02:35.360 The greater picture is that all of us have been a slaved to sin, that the destruction of sin is around us, that we die as human beings. 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:40.260 The Bible talks about the wages of sin is death, and death doesn't just mean your body goes into a grave. 00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:43.060 Death also means your soul is separated from God. 00:02:43.060 --> 00:02:45.700 There's a spiritual disconnect in your relationship with God. 00:02:45.980 --> 00:02:53.940 You can't reconcile that, but God has pursued you for relationship to the point He becomes Flesh and dies for you, so Daniel's 00:02:54.040 --> 00:03:01.220 picture of his life is a greater picture of God's grand story of redemption for all of us, and so the last half of Daniel 00:03:01.220 --> 00:03:05.360 is God unfolding that greater story of how it's going to go about. 00:03:05.660 --> 00:03:12.760 Now, we even looked last week in Daniel 9 how God uses those last few verses of that chapter to even point to the 00:03:12.760 --> 00:03:18.970 specific arrival of when Jesus would come to this earth to die for our sins, how He would be cut off. 00:03:19.860 --> 00:03:24.560 In Daniel 10, we find ourselves actually looking at the last vision. 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:28.600 If you follow Daniel, Daniel fits nicely in chapter divisions. 00:03:28.760 --> 00:03:30.520 The books of the Bible aren't all like that. 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:36.620 When you study the chapters of the Bible, sometimes chapter divisions are not in a good place. 00:03:36.640 --> 00:03:43.720 Meaning, sometimes, it interrupts the author's flow of thought, and that's only because verse divisions, chapter divisions were added later to scripture. 00:03:43.740 --> 00:03:45.800 Those aren't ordained of God. 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:47.240 They're not inspired. 00:03:47.740 --> 00:03:55.140 That's something that was tacked on later in the 12th century and into the 15th century for us to be able to say like, 00:03:55.140 --> 00:03:57.320 "Today, turn to Daniel 10." You know where that's at. 00:03:57.760 --> 00:04:02.900 That's not inspired, but when it comes to the book of Daniel, it just so happens that it fit nicely with the chapter divisions. 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:10.100 Every chapter is a different aspect of the story of God's greater story unfolding to us, and when you get to chapter 10, chapter 00:04:10.220 --> 00:04:14.100 10 to chapter 12 is actually one vision, one theme being told. 00:04:14.120 --> 00:04:21.320 That's why today, I really want to try to drive through chapter 10 and 11 to let you see the mountaintops of this, and then, we're going to talk about chapter 12 00:04:21.320 --> 00:04:28.440 next week just so you anticipate what's coming forward in chapter 12, and God talks about an eternal picture, what heaven is 00:04:28.440 --> 00:04:35.540 like in thinking about that afterlife, and so I'll spend some time addressing what heaven is 00:04:35.540 --> 00:04:42.860 and if there's three heavens or if there's layers to heaven and how in the world you can make sure you can get to the top one, but if 00:04:42.860 --> 00:04:43.960 there are even three layers. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:46.080 We'll talk a little bit about that next week. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:46.660 Okay? 00:04:47.100 --> 00:04:51.960 That's where chapter 12 is going to take us, but today, we're going to look at 10 and 11 as this last vision unfolds. 00:04:52.440 --> 00:04:53.660 Seven was a vision. 00:04:53.660 --> 00:04:54.540 Eight was a vision. 00:04:54.540 --> 00:04:55.280 Nine was a vision. 00:04:55.600 --> 00:05:02.880 10, 11, 12 is this final vision that God's unfolding in the story of Daniel, which is a part of a greater 00:05:02.880 --> 00:05:04.650 story in which God wants to accomplish. 00:05:05.420 --> 00:05:07.100 I'm going to do this a little bit quickly. 00:05:07.900 --> 00:05:12.300 I'm going to walk you through what the text says so you can go back if you feel the light of the Lord to read through this. 00:05:12.340 --> 00:05:18.600 You can see how it's communicated, but I'm not going to dive into the specifics of every verse. 00:05:18.700 --> 00:05:25.000 I'm going to highlight it for us so you can see how the greater arching theme of this vision comes together. 00:05:25.540 --> 00:05:27.580 I looked at some commentaries that related to this. 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:30.600 I saw John Calvin when he wrote about Daniel 11. 00:05:30.660 --> 00:05:37.680 It took him a hundred pages to explain that, and we are not nearly going to do a hundred page worth of explanation on that today, but 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:41.670 you are going to see the theme of it, and what you're going to find out is you've been through the series together. 00:05:42.220 --> 00:05:46.680 We've actually talked about what the content of chapter 11 is when we dealt with Daniel 8. 00:05:47.820 --> 00:05:48.760 Let me dive into this. 00:05:48.780 --> 00:05:53.630 You're going to see why I told you this morning it's okay to freak out a little bit, but we're going to get to a solution before this journey is done. 00:05:53.820 --> 00:05:54.420 Okay? 00:05:54.420 --> 00:06:00.660 Daniel 10, if you remember what the context of the story, Daniel's to the end of his life here. 00:06:00.660 --> 00:06:05.430 He's been in captivity for over 70 years, that the Persians have come in and conquered the Babylonians. 00:06:05.620 --> 00:06:09.060 Now, Daniel finds himself in leadership position under Persia. 00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:16.800 Cyrus has given the decree for the Jews to be able to go back to their Promise Land and establish what was lost from the destruction from the Babylonians, 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:24.620 and so they go to the Promise Land, and what we find out is they experienced hardship, and so Daniel becomes aware 00:06:24.620 --> 00:06:25.000 of that. 00:06:25.420 --> 00:06:27.960 In fact, the Book of Ezra overlaps Daniel here. 00:06:27.980 --> 00:06:35.560 Ezra 4:1-4 talk about the hardships that the people faced, that they go back in this land they want to rebuild, and 00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:39.800 they have struggles with the people that are living in this area, trying to prevent them. 00:06:40.320 --> 00:06:43.600 That's where Daniel 10 intercedes here, and it says this. 00:06:43.960 --> 00:06:47.830 "In the third year of Cyrus", so Cyrus gave this decree to return in this first year. 00:06:48.140 --> 00:06:51.120 Now, here we are, a couple of years into it where the Jews were allowed to go back. 00:06:51.660 --> 00:06:58.900 "In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar." That was Daniel's original 00:06:58.900 --> 00:07:00.800 name given to him when he came into Babylon. 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:09.760 "And the message was true." Then, he says, "it's one of great conflict, but he understood the message and had an understanding of 00:07:10.080 --> 00:07:17.120 the vision." What Daniel finds out in the context of the story is that his people, which he's longed 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:24.220 for, the return to the Promise Land, they're experiencing hardship, and this 00:07:24.220 --> 00:07:25.900 starts to affect Daniel. 00:07:26.640 --> 00:07:34.020 In fact, in verse two and three, it shows that it's really, it starts to wear on his countenance on the outside, how much this internal battle 00:07:34.020 --> 00:07:39.020 is weighing on him, and so it tells us in verse two and three, this is how Daniel reacts to it. 00:07:39.020 --> 00:07:43.260 "In those days I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks. 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:51.760 I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine into my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all 00:07:51.760 --> 00:07:55.680 until the entire three weeks were completed." Some of you guys might be able to relate to this. 00:07:56.040 --> 00:07:57.870 This word for ointment is actually lotion. 00:07:58.460 --> 00:08:04.140 Daniel lives in an environment much like our environment here, so three weeks for like lotion. 00:08:04.140 --> 00:08:07.060 This is lizard Daniel going a big sacrifice here. 00:08:07.060 --> 00:08:07.400 Right? 00:08:07.400 --> 00:08:14.420 Lizard Daniel is praying to God, and he's mourning, and he's fasting, and 00:08:14.420 --> 00:08:16.320 he's wearing this on him. 00:08:16.960 --> 00:08:23.960 In fact, if you read a little further in his vision, an angel shows up and starts to communicate this vision to 00:08:23.960 --> 00:08:31.060 Daniel what God is going to do, but it says in verse 16, Daniel really wants to drive home the point about how much he's wearing this. 00:08:31.620 --> 00:08:38.840 Ladies, I don't want to pretend to even relate to Daniel here in case you want to cast stones, but it says in verse 16, "Because of 00:08:38.840 --> 00:08:46.140 the vision, such pains have come upon me", and when Daniel describes it as pains, the word he's actually using here is birth pains. 00:08:46.500 --> 00:08:53.560 Now, I don't know where a guy gets off talking about experience and what that's like, so Daniel's on your own here, but he's 00:08:53.560 --> 00:08:56.060 thinking maybe in his mind, he's thinking, "I saw my wife do this. 00:08:56.360 --> 00:08:58.300 She crushed my hand, heard the screams. 00:08:58.620 --> 00:09:05.840 That was about as drastic of pains that I've ever experienced in this life", and so he's saying that the way 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:12.720 he wore this, it was to this extreme, and some of you maybe could relate to this. 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:18.460 Like have you ever cared about something so much in life that you might even wear the pain more than the people encountering it? 00:09:18.460 --> 00:09:25.680 Like have you ever watch your kids go through a particular hardship where as a parent, you're like, "If I could just put that on me because it 00:09:25.680 --> 00:09:31.600 does worse for me to watch them go through that, then for me, just to go through it for them."? 00:09:32.040 --> 00:09:38.720 I think Daniel is experiencing maybe that type of pain, but I want to say at the same time, I think it's what makes Daniel such a great leader. 00:09:40.160 --> 00:09:47.180 Daniel recognizes the need to the point for him, it becomes a burden, and I think in our lives, God can use that as a motivator 00:09:47.180 --> 00:09:52.300 to be a difference-maker in this world, and so He sees a need, He fills the burden. 00:09:52.300 --> 00:09:53.160 and responds. 00:09:53.280 --> 00:09:58.000 I think the way it works in the Christian life is that God told us the two greatest commands. 00:09:58.020 --> 00:10:05.100 He summed up all along two commands, love God, love others, and so if you love God, you're going to love the things God loves, and the thing that God loves is people 00:10:05.100 --> 00:10:11.690 because He created them in His image, and He came for them and died for them, like God's been pursuing them, and so the thing God loves is people. 00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:19.520 Now, one of the things I think happens to us as people is you go through different life experiences, and when you see people encountering certain 00:10:19.520 --> 00:10:26.520 experiences that you can relate to and for different reasons, you're more burdened by that, and you carry that weight, and so in 00:10:26.520 --> 00:10:33.540 the Christian life, I think it works like this, that you love God, and God shows you that He's created people in His image, and you love people, and as 00:10:33.540 --> 00:10:40.640 you walk that Christian life, God refines your passion for particular places and might be for particular people. 00:10:41.460 --> 00:10:48.860 For Daniel, he having going through the experience of being taken captive and seeing the devastation that happened to his people, his 00:10:48.860 --> 00:10:56.060 passion was to get back and to see that restored what was lost, and so Daniel carries that need and 00:10:56.060 --> 00:10:57.780 that burden, and responds. 00:10:57.780 --> 00:11:05.020 I think the same thing is true for us, and so maybe on relating to Daniel, the question for you becomes, "What is it that God's 00:11:05.020 --> 00:11:06.010 made you passionate about? 00:11:06.300 --> 00:11:14.240 What is it that you think that you might wear in this world more than other people, and how does God have you in that position to respond?" 00:11:14.300 --> 00:11:21.520 You might be unique than anyone else in this room and in that particular area of life, and that might be the platform that God is calling you to 00:11:21.520 --> 00:11:25.610 reach out if you're not already, but I think God works that way in our lives. 00:11:25.740 --> 00:11:32.800 In fact, I think about the apostle Paul in the 2 Corinthians 11, writing about his own ministry. 00:11:32.800 --> 00:11:38.070 He describes everything that he experienced, but the unique thing for me is just to see what he says in the end. 00:11:38.700 --> 00:11:45.340 In 2 Corinthians 11:25, listen to this is in the middle of Paul just going through the things that he has encountered in his life. 00:11:45.340 --> 00:11:46.560 I just want to read this to you. 00:11:46.940 --> 00:11:49.110 He says, "Three times I was beaten with rods. 00:11:49.280 --> 00:11:53.880 Once I was stoned." "Three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. 00:11:53.880 --> 00:12:01.120 I have been on frequent journeys and dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own countrymen, dangerous from the gentiles, 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:06.030 dangerous in the city, dangerous in the wilderness, dangerous in the sea, dangerous among the false brethren. 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:14.300 I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food and cold and exposure." He's 00:12:14.300 --> 00:12:21.380 describing the circumstance, and you just think like, "Paul, why would you take that job?" Like if someone advertised, got a new job opening, 00:12:21.380 --> 00:12:25.100 and this is what you're going to experience, why would you register for that? 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:26.890 Why would you apply for such a position? 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:30.620 Then, he really starts to open up why at verse 28. 00:12:31.460 --> 00:12:38.500 "Apart from external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches", and 00:12:38.500 --> 00:12:45.700 so I think what motivated Daniel is this love for God that drove him to the gentiles really to declare the gospel that would set 00:12:45.700 --> 00:12:52.700 them free, and so the reason Paul allowed these burdens in his life and 00:12:52.700 --> 00:13:00.120 the experience of that is because he was trusting in God and delivering this message, and so it says that he fills the daily pressure and concern 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:07.180 for all the churches, and so God had put this burden in his life, and He also had the abilities or He also had the gift in this 00:13:07.180 --> 00:13:10.310 from the Lord to respond in a particular way. 00:13:11.640 --> 00:13:19.320 You see this with Daniel, and the truth is that Daniel is wearing this to the 00:13:19.320 --> 00:13:21.940 point where it says that he has no strength. 00:13:23.380 --> 00:13:30.440 When it starts to deal with the spiritual realm within this passage, Daniel is looking at the physical of what's 00:13:30.440 --> 00:13:30.900 happening. 00:13:30.920 --> 00:13:37.420 He's thinking about his people, thinking about the trouble that they're going on, and he's seeking God's face. 00:13:37.880 --> 00:13:45.300 He's fasting, he's praying, and he's turning into a lizard, and he's asking God, "God, how does this fit? 00:13:45.340 --> 00:13:52.600 I see that you've called us to return to this land, but now we're experiencing these challenges." Daniel is looking at the physical before 00:13:52.600 --> 00:13:59.660 him, but here in the story, now God's going to pull this back and just let him see the greater picture of what's taking place and how 00:13:59.660 --> 00:14:03.240 the gospel really becomes the answer in all of that. 00:14:03.580 --> 00:14:04.820 When God gives us... 00:14:05.700 --> 00:14:07.480 We recognize the need and we see a burden. 00:14:07.620 --> 00:14:14.620 I think it's important to recognize for us that the gospel really is the solution to all of that, and that's where Daniel is now going 00:14:14.620 --> 00:14:16.840 on this vision with God. 00:14:17.560 --> 00:14:23.320 It tells us in verse 12, "Then, He said to me..." This is an angel that appeared to Daniel. 00:14:24.140 --> 00:14:31.440 This angel shows up and says, "Don't be afraid, Daniel for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:38.620 God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words." I think for us, it's always 00:14:38.620 --> 00:14:45.920 important to remember that the battles that we face in life, though they are physical before our eyes, 00:14:46.280 --> 00:14:49.080 there's always something much deeper taking place there. 00:14:49.520 --> 00:14:56.890 There's always a spiritual aspect to it, and in fact, I would say for us being a part of God's people, 00:14:57.020 --> 00:15:04.300 that the part of living out a life for Christ is just to recognize that what God calls us to in this world, it's not about behavior 00:15:04.300 --> 00:15:09.020 modification, or not about making bad people good. 00:15:10.500 --> 00:15:16.930 Our message is about bringing dead people to life, and so it's not about behavior modification, but heart transformation. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:25.140 Now, the beauty is this, when God gets your heart and transforms it, He will transform your life, but 00:15:25.140 --> 00:15:32.380 our battle isn't primarily begin with just the physical realm, but to take it a step further, and if we stop with just the physical realm, we 00:15:32.380 --> 00:15:39.920 do a disservice for what God has created His church for and the message that we carry, and so Daniel is not completely grasping 00:15:39.920 --> 00:15:43.590 all of this, and so this angel appears to him and delivers this message. 00:15:43.820 --> 00:15:46.920 For those of, just look at this text if you want to dive into this. 00:15:46.940 --> 00:15:49.930 Let me just share a couple of things with you if you read through this week. 00:15:50.460 --> 00:15:56.880 This angel shows up in verses four to six, and it describes the countenance of this angel, so pretty radiant countenance. 00:15:57.000 --> 00:16:04.060 In fact, it matches a lot of Jesus' description in Revelation 1:13-16, so some people comment this angel 00:16:04.060 --> 00:16:11.160 and say, "Was this a pre-incarnate Christ or just an angelic being?" I personally think it's an angelic being, and the reason is 00:16:11.160 --> 00:16:18.180 even though it matches the identity with the way Jesus is described in Revelation 1:13-16, it's also 00:16:18.180 --> 00:16:24.000 going to tell us that this angel is held up by a spiritual force of which nothing's going to hold up Jesus. 00:16:24.740 --> 00:16:26.580 If Jesus wants to be there, He will be there. 00:16:27.160 --> 00:16:34.420 Then, it appeals to the one who will live and reign forever in chapter 12 verse seven, and so if it were Jesus, 00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:36.500 He wouldn't be appealing to a higher authority. 00:16:37.420 --> 00:16:39.860 I think this is an angelic being showing up. 00:16:40.140 --> 00:16:41.770 He comes to Daniel in his weakness. 00:16:42.340 --> 00:16:49.620 Now, I think it's also important to recognize that if we're going to talk about the spiritual world this morning, in a physical world, 00:16:49.740 --> 00:16:53.860 as a physical being, I have no ability to do anything about that. 00:16:55.740 --> 00:17:01.440 I have no strength to fight that physical battle, so in that sense, freak out for a minute. 00:17:01.580 --> 00:17:08.680 I'm going to tell you some spiritual stuff today, and I'm going to tell you about a real spiritual world about this demonic forces and how the things 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:12.359 that Satan represents and who he is, and we don't have the strength. 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:19.900 There's a time for just concern, but there's also a solution, and the solution is outside of yourself, that God gives you a place to connect 00:17:19.900 --> 00:17:23.160 to Him in strength through that, and this is where Daniel is. 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:24.069 He's in weakness. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:27.240 His people are hurting. 00:17:28.339 --> 00:17:35.420 He's physically not even in the Promise Land to help him, and spiritually, he feels weak, and so this angel comes, and in fact, this angel ministers 00:17:35.420 --> 00:17:38.500 to him three times in providing strength. 00:17:38.940 --> 00:17:45.940 Daniel in chapter 10 verse 12 is seeking God for that connection to understand how he 00:17:45.940 --> 00:17:49.540 in this physical world can fight this spiritual battle for the power of the Lord. 00:17:51.020 --> 00:17:52.340 I like what it says in verse 12. 00:17:52.340 --> 00:17:57.540 I just want to highlight this as you think about your own spiritual walk with God, the story of Daniel. 00:17:57.580 --> 00:18:03.230 One of the things that I have loved in my own personal life with the Lord in going through this, is how much it's talked about humility. 00:18:04.380 --> 00:18:10.900 It tells us to humble yourself before God, and I think we did this a week or two ago where I showed you how James says the same thing. 00:18:10.980 --> 00:18:11.820 Peter said the same thing. 00:18:11.820 --> 00:18:16.840 We looked at two passages where Petere and James both said, "Humble yourself before God. 00:18:16.840 --> 00:18:24.620 He will exalt you in due time." It's saying to us if you want to speak the language of God, speak in 00:18:24.620 --> 00:18:25.120 humility. 00:18:26.660 --> 00:18:30.290 In this passage, Daniel doesn't come to God as if God owes him anything. 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:34.280 Daniel doesn't come to God commanding that, "God, do something", as if God was his servant. 00:18:34.520 --> 00:18:42.000 Daniel understands that, God, He is Lord, and there's something about creature coming before Creator that's sacred and 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:46.920 humbling to the soul, and here's the cool thing, is that when he humbles himself, it says this. 00:18:47.020 --> 00:18:54.220 "Your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words." Then, the angel 00:18:54.220 --> 00:19:02.440 explained something that happens that for me, I'm just like say, "What's 00:19:02.440 --> 00:19:09.500 happening here, and how do I wrap my mind around this?", because in verse 13, it's like, "But the prince of the Kingdom of Persia was 00:19:09.500 --> 00:19:17.820 withstanding me", so and it's the angel saying, "I was going to come, and 00:19:17.820 --> 00:19:23.860 I want to come immediately, but the prince of the Kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for 21 days." "Then, behold, Michael, one of the chief princes came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:31.380 Now, I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future." 00:19:31.940 --> 00:19:32.180 He's saying... 00:19:32.860 --> 00:19:35.490 I want you to understand how God is bringing Shalom. 00:19:35.760 --> 00:19:38.140 God is restoring all things in Him. 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:45.460 The whole purpose of the gospel from Genesis to the end is really what's unfolding here, how Jesus is pursuing us for redemption in 00:19:45.460 --> 00:19:45.960 Him. 00:19:46.100 --> 00:19:47.160 That's this picture. 00:19:47.180 --> 00:19:50.380 You saw it telling off in Daniel 9 last week. 00:19:50.600 --> 00:19:57.640 That's what he's going to do, but in verse 13 is where he says the interesting thing here, where I'm just like, "What do I do with this?" Now, I don't want you to walk out of 00:19:57.640 --> 00:20:04.980 here and just continue to freak out this morning, but I do want you to think about this, that this angel is talking about how he is fighting the spiritual battle 00:20:04.980 --> 00:20:10.560 against this Persian ruler, so he's entering into the spiritual realm. 00:20:10.800 --> 00:20:14.710 In fact, when you study the spiritual realm in scripture, you're going to see the way that it's often described. 00:20:15.460 --> 00:20:22.480 We're going to look at it in Ephesians in a minute in chapter six, that there's principalities and powers, spiritual forces of darkness, that in the context that 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:29.520 that's written, it's actually saying there's rankings of demonic forces in the spiritual realm, sort of like the picture of an army, how an 00:20:29.520 --> 00:20:36.540 army might have different officers and different positions, that the demonic realm is organized 00:20:36.540 --> 00:20:40.470 in such a way, to the point it looks like they're even charged of regions. 00:20:41.900 --> 00:20:49.260 Now, you see in this story that there's one in the area of Persia, and if you read on in verse 20 of this chapter, you're 00:20:49.260 --> 00:20:50.780 going to see the same thing over Greece. 00:20:51.520 --> 00:20:58.640 There are these spiritual battles that are influencing and affecting your world, and so Daniel is looking at this, thinking like, 00:20:58.900 --> 00:21:06.410 "What am I going to do?" I mean, "How do I have anything to do with this?", and this is like jaw-dropping, 00:21:07.220 --> 00:21:11.140 difficult to just begin to fathom and picture. 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:16.840 Now, I want to give a couple caveat of warnings before I dive too far into this. 00:21:16.900 --> 00:21:17.980 Okay? 00:21:21.320 --> 00:21:28.480 I want to just say, talking about the spiritual realm, this isn't to ignore physical 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:29.280 problems at hand. 00:21:30.320 --> 00:21:37.480 I mean, we don't want to just spiritualize everything to point where we're okay with what happens in this physical world, but we recognize the actions that take place 00:21:37.480 --> 00:21:41.280 in this physical world transcend just the moment of that taking... 00:21:41.300 --> 00:21:48.440 There's something deeper at rest, and so if we don't take it further into the gospel, and I'll explain this in a minute, that we do 00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:54.940 a disservice by merely addressing the physical problem, but that isn't to ignore the physical problem at hand. 00:21:54.960 --> 00:22:00.040 We certainly should address the immediate needs, but recognize we don't stop there. 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:08.120 The second is this, I don't want to over-spiritualize everything, meaning while there's a spiritual component, we're 00:22:08.120 --> 00:22:09.780 still responsible for our actions. 00:22:10.820 --> 00:22:14.220 As human beings, at the end of the day, the things that we do, we're still accountable for it. 00:22:14.220 --> 00:22:21.320 Like I had a cousin once that used to go around and do things they couldn't when they were younger, and they would always try to get out of it by saying the devil made them do it. 00:22:21.560 --> 00:22:28.860 It's like saying, I remember once that my cousin destroyed her VCR with my 'Little Rascals' tape 00:22:28.860 --> 00:22:37.720 in it, and I did not like that at all, and one time, my cousin stole some jewelry, and again, the devil 00:22:37.720 --> 00:22:39.600 made him do it. 00:22:39.700 --> 00:22:39.700 It's like this is like the answer is all okay. 00:22:39.700 --> 00:22:39.700 You weren't accountable for anything that you've done. 00:22:39.700 --> 00:22:39.700 The devil made her do it. 00:22:39.700 --> 00:22:40.330 Let's just let her go. 00:22:40.660 --> 00:22:46.080 That's not how it works, and so there is accountability to her actions too. 00:22:46.100 --> 00:22:53.200 I'm not just trying to pass the buck here, but what I want us to understand is there's something deeper at work within our world 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:56.520 that is more than just the physical. 00:22:57.400 --> 00:23:04.480 It deals with the spiritual, and who better to encounter that and respond to it than the ones that 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:08.240 God has called into this world to be a light and piercing the darkness? 00:23:09.860 --> 00:23:10.880 This is a fairly... 00:23:11.720 --> 00:23:13.250 This is a serious subject. 00:23:13.540 --> 00:23:20.680 When you look at pictures of the Old Testament just to brush you up on your Satan theology, there are some pictures of Satan 00:23:20.680 --> 00:23:23.010 in the Bible that are very concerning. 00:23:24.140 --> 00:23:30.860 When you start just in the beginning, you see Satan's destruction happening from Genesis when he begins to lie to Adam and Eve. 00:23:30.860 --> 00:23:32.040 He perverse the truth. 00:23:32.620 --> 00:23:39.140 Satan's got nothing wrong with people holding to a form of the truth. 00:23:39.760 --> 00:23:40.930 It's just all of the truth. 00:23:41.040 --> 00:23:41.140 Right? 00:23:41.360 --> 00:23:45.800 He's got nothing wrong with people even pretending to be good or living to be good in this world. 00:23:46.080 --> 00:23:51.740 It's when God is involved that Satan has a problem, and so in the beginning of Genesis, you see how Satan comes in. 00:23:52.060 --> 00:23:53.340 He's described as a serpent. 00:23:53.600 --> 00:24:00.680 He shares this twisting of the truth of Adam and Eve, gets them to buy this lie, and then put themselves in the position of God rather than surrendering to God 00:24:00.680 --> 00:24:01.840 in relationship. 00:24:02.900 --> 00:24:06.400 Here's the interesting thing, that when Satan shows up, he's described as a serpent. 00:24:06.660 --> 00:24:13.220 Now, some of you guys might know this if you're here when I talk through Genesis, but I don't believe Satan is a literal snake in the Garden of Eden. 00:24:14.100 --> 00:24:21.200 I think that the word 'Serpent', if you do a word study in Genesis on the word 'Serpent', that you find that word 'Serpent' actually has multiple 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:28.240 meanings in that text, and when you read words for Satan in the New Testament, you ask, "How do they get all these different names for Satan in the New 00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:31.380 Testament?" It drives back to the word 'Serpent' in the Old Testament. 00:24:31.600 --> 00:24:32.230 Let me give you an example. 00:24:32.360 --> 00:24:40.000 If you look at the word 'Serpent' in the Old Testament in the Garden of Genesis, it can mean dragon, it can mean light, and 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:40.570 it can mean accuser. 00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:47.650 Then, when you look at Satan as he plays out into the New Testament in Revelation 12:10, he's called the 'Accuser of the brother'. 00:24:48.620 --> 00:24:55.100 What that means is Satan wants to take your past and put it on you to immobilize you from living in the future with Jesus. 00:24:56.210 --> 00:25:03.540 Satan wants you to define yourself by the things that you lived in the past so that you wear that guilt on you and you don't live in your newness of relationship 00:25:03.540 --> 00:25:05.280 with Jesus today and into the future. 00:25:05.980 --> 00:25:10.060 Jesus however wants to put His righteousness on you so that when God sees you, He sees the beauty of who Christ is. 00:25:10.980 --> 00:25:13.820 Satan, he's the accuser of the brother. 00:25:14.040 --> 00:25:21.040 In 2 Corinthians 11:14, he's called an 'Angel of light', which means he wants to give the appearance of goodness, but 00:25:21.080 --> 00:25:25.100 deny who God is, so no problem with half truths. 00:25:25.120 --> 00:25:32.340 He just doesn't want you to hold the full truth because that's where the power is possessed, so he'll let you be good all day, as along as he doesn't connect to God, and so he gives his appearance 00:25:32.340 --> 00:25:35.560 as an angel of light, which is of deception. 00:25:36.460 --> 00:25:43.200 Then, he's called in Revelation, he's also the 'Dragon', and so we see all those mentalities resting in Satan. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:51.020 In fact, 1 Peter 5:8 tells you he is a lion seeking to devour 00:25:51.020 --> 00:25:51.320 you. 00:25:52.100 --> 00:25:59.220 It's like Peter is saying, "Just for a moment, consider how serious the spiritual warfare is that's taking 00:25:59.220 --> 00:26:02.480 place and the lions around us." Even in your own life. 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:07.080 Even in your own life, there's a battle taking place. 00:26:07.400 --> 00:26:14.440 When you think about what Daniel is going through, Daniel is thinking about a people group of which are experiencing 00:26:14.440 --> 00:26:20.950 this hardship, but even in your own life, it gets that specific. 00:26:21.500 --> 00:26:21.620 Right? 00:26:23.980 --> 00:26:30.440 What happens if we neglect the spiritual part of life when we only address the physical? 00:26:31.280 --> 00:26:38.150 What happens is we only address surface level issues and we never get deeper to the problem. 00:26:39.040 --> 00:26:46.300 Within any of us, there could be this war raging as it relates to anger, or anxiety, or fear, 00:26:46.300 --> 00:26:49.400 or addictions, or lust, or greed. 00:26:50.660 --> 00:26:57.740 I want us to know there is a problem if God's people fall short by only 00:26:57.800 --> 00:27:05.680 addressing the immediate physical need, because what God has created His church for is 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:12.700 not just to look at the temporal, the physical that we live life in it, but to understand there is so 00:27:12.700 --> 00:27:19.760 much more of which God is orchestrating together, and this angel is now explaining to 00:27:19.760 --> 00:27:22.560 Daniel, just pointing back the spiritual realm. 00:27:23.420 --> 00:27:30.620 We all face spiritual battles, but unfortunately, human tendency is 00:27:30.620 --> 00:27:37.680 to just answer them humanly, but the gospel, Biblical gospel 00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:42.600 is the means to the power of the spirit. 00:27:44.760 --> 00:27:53.260 What I mean is like when you read the Book of Romans, Book of Romans is the gospel, and 00:27:53.260 --> 00:27:56.060 when Paul starts to lay out the thesis of that book. 00:27:56.100 --> 00:28:03.600 I think he says in Romans 1:17, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel." Why? 00:28:04.520 --> 00:28:06.910 Because it is the power of God and to salvation. 00:28:07.620 --> 00:28:09.290 The word 'Power' is literally the dynamite. 00:28:10.520 --> 00:28:17.140 It's like saying to us when we talk about the spiritual realm, if you feel helpless, you feel powerless, you don't know how this connects. 00:28:17.140 --> 00:28:20.840 The answers begins and ends in our lives through the gospel. 00:28:22.540 --> 00:28:29.620 When we think about in Christian circles, when we think about living the gospel, this is forever the fault 00:28:29.620 --> 00:28:32.960 of maybe modern Christianity is that we say it like this. 00:28:33.040 --> 00:28:33.640 This is how we present it. 00:28:33.700 --> 00:28:37.620 We'll say, "The gospel is how you get saved, so come to Jesus and get saved. 00:28:37.620 --> 00:28:38.740 Now, you trust in Jesus. 00:28:38.740 --> 00:28:44.580 Now, the rest is all up to you", but the gospel doesn't just transform your life the moment you trust in Jesus. 00:28:45.240 --> 00:28:48.860 The gospel is all about transforming your life every moment of every day in Jesus. 00:28:48.860 --> 00:28:55.460 It's like the same thing that saved my life is the same thing that gives me the strength to continue in life in Christ in this world. 00:28:55.740 --> 00:28:57.800 It's not something I just embrace once and leave by. 00:28:58.020 --> 00:28:59.880 It's something that renews me every day. 00:29:00.220 --> 00:29:05.080 Every day, when I wake up, I take off the self-righteousness of Nathaniel. 00:29:05.080 --> 00:29:05.760 At least I should. 00:29:06.260 --> 00:29:13.380 There are some days, I put that sucker back on, but every day, I should take that off of me and say, "Lord, this is 00:29:13.380 --> 00:29:17.720 me being renewed in you, being rescued by you. 00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:24.820 Now, existing in this world for you, but how can you shine that through me?", and so the gospel isn't just a 00:29:24.820 --> 00:29:25.480 piece of my life. 00:29:25.700 --> 00:29:26.660 It's every part of my life. 00:29:26.700 --> 00:29:31.580 Let me just show you how it connects to the encounters of the world around us. 00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:40.360 For example, you might experience in life at some point, or maybe this has been you, a young lady that struggles with her identity and 00:29:40.360 --> 00:29:42.040 worth apart from her body. 00:29:43.180 --> 00:29:46.460 In the physical world, the answer is just to simply say, "Oh no. 00:29:46.460 --> 00:29:46.860 You're pretty. 00:29:47.700 --> 00:29:48.240 Don't worry about it. 00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:49.140 You're pretty." Right? 00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:56.440 This identity that she's looking for, but the question really is deeper than the external, and 00:29:56.440 --> 00:30:05.800 because it's driving to theme of, "Where do you even find your worth?", or "Why do you exist?" Simply 00:30:05.800 --> 00:30:08.400 just saying to someone that struggles with beauty, "Oh no. 00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:15.560 You're pretty", is just to pacify the answer in a physical realm, but when you understand the context of the gospel, the identity of who 00:30:15.560 --> 00:30:22.620 a human being is, being created in the image of God and being pursued for relationship with God to the point that 00:30:22.620 --> 00:30:29.840 God would become flesh and give His life for someone, that's saying to us that the value of that human being is far exceeding 00:30:29.840 --> 00:30:38.280 the external circumstances for which we're trying to tell them they're beautiful, and you're beautiful, but 00:30:38.280 --> 00:30:45.480 the depth of your beauty is far richer than just the external, that God has created you in the beauty 00:30:45.480 --> 00:30:52.600 of who you are, being redeemed by Christ to experience that relationship with Him for all of eternity, to 00:30:52.600 --> 00:30:59.820 simply just stop, but the physical is to separate ourselves from 00:30:59.820 --> 00:31:07.020 the reason for which we exist and the point of which that I think the angel is pulling back the spiritual realm so that we can get a grasp within 00:31:07.020 --> 00:31:14.120 our minds that there's more at play in life than just the physical, or maybe 00:31:14.120 --> 00:31:21.220 a young man uses his strength to destroy rather than to construct 00:31:21.220 --> 00:31:28.960 and build because he doesn't understand God made him strong for a reason, and how it fits into the purpose of his existence, and 00:31:28.960 --> 00:31:35.840 if his heart isn't redeemed, he will only glorify himself and use his strength to take advantage of others. 00:31:38.680 --> 00:31:39.960 He needs an identity. 00:31:41.840 --> 00:31:46.020 God make you for you, that God make you for Him. 00:31:47.600 --> 00:31:54.760 If He made you for Him, then how does your strength fit into the glory of the [inaudible 00:31:51], which He wants to achieve within your life as 00:31:54.760 --> 00:31:56.390 you know Him personally? 00:31:59.620 --> 00:32:00.660 It ties to the gospel. 00:32:02.940 --> 00:32:09.100 I mean, it's practical as, even in the political realm, which seems to be all over the news these days. 00:32:09.220 --> 00:32:16.220 A leader, a political leader who rather than learning to rob people with gun, robs people with pen. 00:32:17.640 --> 00:32:18.580 It's still wrong. 00:32:18.700 --> 00:32:18.840 Right? 00:32:19.500 --> 00:32:23.000 It's not just political leaders. 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:30.000 I mean, it could be poor people, like when you got $2 and you spend four, you got problems, but there's 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:38.440 something about understanding that whatever you try to take in this life to recognize, it doesn't ultimately belong to you, rather 00:32:38.440 --> 00:32:45.680 than you're a steward of it and responsible for the way in which you use it because everything created 00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:53.580 ultimately belongs to God, and He's culminating all things in Him, and seeing 00:32:53.580 --> 00:33:00.680 how that connects to your relationship with God, which is the gospel defines the way you live out the 00:33:00.800 --> 00:33:01.580 things in your life. 00:33:02.020 --> 00:33:02.120 Right? 00:33:02.480 --> 00:33:03.540 What do you do with what you have? 00:33:05.060 --> 00:33:05.510 Is it yours? 00:33:07.140 --> 00:33:08.180 Only Jesus can say that. 00:33:08.240 --> 00:33:08.420 Okay? 00:33:10.320 --> 00:33:13.200 Rather, the prayer becomes, "God, I'm a steward of the things that you've given me. 00:33:14.540 --> 00:33:21.160 How can I leverage this for Your glory?", because God is bringing His hand of redemption into this world. 00:33:22.900 --> 00:33:23.620 It's a part of the gospel. 00:33:27.320 --> 00:33:29.060 Paul says it like this, Ephesians 6. 00:33:30.520 --> 00:33:31.740 I like how he starts this on. 00:33:31.820 --> 00:33:34.290 I feel like I had time to write it all to you, but I'm just going to read it. 00:33:34.300 --> 00:33:41.440 It says, "Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might." It's saying you really don't have the strength to do anything 00:33:41.440 --> 00:33:45.160 in the spiritual realm, but in the Lord, you do. 00:33:46.580 --> 00:33:47.720 Then, he says this great word. 00:33:47.720 --> 00:33:49.140 He says, Ephesians 6:12. 00:33:49.200 --> 00:33:49.660 Look at this, guys. 00:33:49.960 --> 00:33:53.120 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood." I like that. 00:33:54.700 --> 00:33:58.660 God is not about us beating up on people just to get them to do what we want. 00:33:59.380 --> 00:34:01.070 It's not about modifying behavior. 00:34:02.400 --> 00:34:04.350 It's about transforming lives, so it says it's our struggle. 00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:12.000 It's not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and against the powers, and against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness 00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:13.239 and the heavenly places. 00:34:14.900 --> 00:34:19.810 Paul is saying, "What is actually taking place in this world?" Did you see it physically pointing out? 00:34:19.900 --> 00:34:27.179 It's a revelation of what rests in the heart of man, which is being influenced by a spiritual realm, and the only 00:34:27.179 --> 00:34:34.199 thing that sets us free from that is the truth of who God is and the power that's possessed in 00:34:34.199 --> 00:34:41.400 that truth is carried by God's people, and so when we jut address the physical realm and we just declare someone wrong because 00:34:41.400 --> 00:34:48.820 they did something that we didn't like, it's a disservice to the world, because the heart of everything that we represent in 00:34:48.820 --> 00:34:53.480 life is the gospel, and that is what transforms, not to modify your behavior. 00:34:54.940 --> 00:35:05.680 Paul is saying this, "Don't use truth to beat people up." Yes, we're accountable for things we do, but 00:35:05.680 --> 00:35:08.220 it's to understand that there's something deeper taking place. 00:35:11.000 --> 00:35:12.770 Mom, dad, I think that even affects down to our parenting. 00:35:15.680 --> 00:35:17.560 It's not just about getting your kid to fall in line. 00:35:19.820 --> 00:35:27.100 It's about speaking to their heart, understanding who they are and why they exist, and 00:35:27.140 --> 00:35:29.160 helping them mature in the image of Christ. 00:35:31.280 --> 00:35:32.800 Just modify the behavior. 00:35:32.820 --> 00:35:39.840 You can win the battle, but you'll lose the war, because if all we are as a church is 00:35:39.840 --> 00:35:46.560 just about going in and just speaking against social injustices and telling people why they're wrong, we do a disservice to this world. 00:35:49.380 --> 00:35:51.120 There's something deeper at rest. 00:35:51.120 --> 00:35:55.740 In fact, when we get to chapter 12, you're going to see that this is a spiritual life of eternity. 00:35:56.120 --> 00:35:58.300 This is life and death forever before God. 00:35:59.480 --> 00:36:02.500 The message you carry is that of freedom, to experience it now and forever. 00:36:04.720 --> 00:36:06.480 Paul then says it like this. 00:36:06.640 --> 00:36:13.920 He says, "Lets put on the armor of God." He says, "Therefore, take on the full armor of God." He thinks about a Roman soldier and he describes the 00:36:14.040 --> 00:36:21.240 spiritual life connection that he says, "To resist in the evil day and having done everything to stand firm." He's saying, 00:36:21.280 --> 00:36:21.980 "Look, guys. 00:36:22.280 --> 00:36:30.460 In this spiritual realm, even the war that wages within you, there's always this place of trying to influence you to compromise, to make light of 00:36:30.460 --> 00:36:33.000 the gospel or to qualify", like it means some sort of explanation. 00:36:33.540 --> 00:36:33.640 Look. 00:36:34.080 --> 00:36:36.820 Let me just say, I don't want to be offensive in this world. 00:36:37.640 --> 00:36:38.620 I want to love people deeply. 00:36:38.860 --> 00:36:40.220 We say this as a church. 00:36:40.240 --> 00:36:45.470 We want to love the hell out of people, because we understand that they're created in the image of God and how valuable they are. 00:36:46.680 --> 00:36:50.240 We don't want to be a stumbling block in any way, but this, the gospel. 00:36:51.460 --> 00:36:52.900 The gospel in itself is stumbling. 00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:58.880 Sure, we want to find different ways to connect it within our culture, but we don't want to qualify it to death, like make some kind of excuse. 00:36:59.440 --> 00:37:00.640 I heard this guy on TV. 00:37:00.640 --> 00:37:00.960 He was basically... 00:37:02.160 --> 00:37:03.900 He was a Biblical teacher. 00:37:03.900 --> 00:37:10.940 At least he said he was, but he wasn't teaching the Bible, but they asked him, "If you encountered this type of person", which I'm not going to get into who it was, but 00:37:10.940 --> 00:37:18.420 they're like, "If you encountered this type of person, would you say that what they're doing is right or wrong?" He just says, "I'd simply want to get to know them first, which 00:37:18.420 --> 00:37:23.260 if I could just speak into the TV, I would just say to them on a sudden moment, "The man's full of garbage. 00:37:23.860 --> 00:37:24.740 He is full of garbage. 00:37:25.120 --> 00:37:30.140 There is no way he gets up on a Sunday and tries to teach people and just says, "You know guys, I want to share the truth with you, but I can't. 00:37:30.360 --> 00:37:32.540 I've got to get to know you first." No. 00:37:32.960 --> 00:37:36.400 There's a piece of the gospel, it's like it says to us, "This is what liberates. 00:37:37.800 --> 00:37:44.940 This is what sets you free." There's a reason Jesus came in Matthew 14, it says, "I am the way, the truth and the life. 00:37:44.940 --> 00:37:48.660 There is no way to the Father, but through me." There's exclusivity there. 00:37:49.420 --> 00:37:53.540 To undermine what Jesus did on the cross is just to blasphemy against God. 00:37:53.560 --> 00:38:01.540 If there were another way, Jesus would not have taken the cross, and so you don't want to underplay that, but 00:38:01.540 --> 00:38:06.560 just to share it, and in all honesty, share how it's liberated you. 00:38:08.360 --> 00:38:15.560 Then, my identity outside of Jesus, like if you go back into my past and you ask people high school and collage, "What was Nathaniel like?", 00:38:15.980 --> 00:38:23.640 they'd be like, "If you think about the pastoral position he holds now, and I told you, "Give me a list of all the jobs he would have in the future", that 00:38:23.640 --> 00:38:24.900 would probably be the last one. 00:38:25.420 --> 00:38:29.400 He would probably be better at carrying the position of devil himself before [inaudible 00:38:29]. 00:38:29.900 --> 00:38:35.120 Jesus transformed my life, so there's something about standing there. 00:38:35.120 --> 00:38:42.320 Let me just encourage you, don't compromise, and the way you display Jesus in this world communicates about really 00:38:42.320 --> 00:38:50.640 who you think Jesus is, and you have different platforms in this life to demonstrate that, social 00:38:50.640 --> 00:38:54.160 media, and people look at that. 00:38:55.580 --> 00:38:57.590 Is it Jesus or is it humanism? 00:38:59.540 --> 00:39:06.540 Verse 14, "Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth." The truth is the foundation that sets us free, and the Bible tells us, "Have him put in 00:39:06.540 --> 00:39:11.420 the breast plate of righteousness." If you think about the breast plate, it protects your internal organs. 00:39:11.460 --> 00:39:13.450 That's what you want to preserve in order to sustain life. 00:39:13.860 --> 00:39:21.820 The way I'm getting life on this world is not because God's looking at me and saying, "He's pretty good." It's because when God sees me, He sees Jesus, and 00:39:21.820 --> 00:39:28.980 so in verse 15, the having your, "Shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace", the idea of peace which is reconciliation 00:39:28.980 --> 00:39:36.060 to God, like not only you experiencing that righteousness, but you go into this world to go beyond the physical, to let other people see how the can be 00:39:36.060 --> 00:39:43.120 transformed in their lives, taking up the shield of faith, and walk and trust in Christ because the evil one is throwing these flaming 00:39:43.120 --> 00:39:44.500 arrows towards you. 00:39:44.720 --> 00:39:52.080 It says to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, and the helmet of salvation, which is protecting your mind in Christ and 00:39:52.080 --> 00:39:56.080 the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God, the sword being the only offensive weapon here. 00:39:56.940 --> 00:40:00.120 When we talk about doing spiritual battle, there is a way to build yourself up. 00:40:00.240 --> 00:40:02.650 Then, it goes on and says actually, "Pray in boldness" in the next verse. 00:40:03.660 --> 00:40:05.260 There is a way to build yourself up. 00:40:06.060 --> 00:40:07.540 You don't attack spiritual with physical. 00:40:11.520 --> 00:40:12.460 You attack it with Jesus. 00:40:14.480 --> 00:40:18.440 You find shelter in Jesus, what He's done for you. 00:40:20.860 --> 00:40:24.600 Let me just show you this as a way of illustrating, and then we'll tie it to a conclusion. 00:40:24.700 --> 00:40:26.120 Chapter 11 really quick. 00:40:26.120 --> 00:40:26.470 Here we go. 00:40:29.140 --> 00:40:31.700 Chapter 11 verse 21 is where an interesting phrase starts. 00:40:31.740 --> 00:40:35.360 I'm going to reach you to the point of how we get to verse 21. 00:40:36.020 --> 00:40:42.360 When you get to chapter 11, what you actually see is chapter 11 is a prophetic vision about the Persians and the Greeks. 00:40:42.780 --> 00:40:45.040 Same thing in chapter eight, Persians and the Greeks. 00:40:45.940 --> 00:40:52.940 What the angel does is it tells Daniel how this is going to work out, and he says to Daniel, "There's going to be 00:40:52.940 --> 00:40:54.170 four more Persian kings". 00:40:55.640 --> 00:40:59.300 Then, in verse two, he talks about three of them. 00:40:59.320 --> 00:41:00.640 Verse three, he talks about one more. 00:41:00.940 --> 00:41:07.920 Then, in verse three, a Greek king will arise, and on verse four, that kingdom is going to be split in four. 00:41:09.080 --> 00:41:16.160 Then, verse five to verse 20, when that kingdom is split in four among the Greeks, they're going to war, especially the north 00:41:16.160 --> 00:41:22.160 and the south, and caught in the middle between the north and the south are those in the Promise Land, God's people. 00:41:23.160 --> 00:41:30.180 That war goes back and forth, until in verse 21, Antiochus comes, and we've talked about Antiochus before, and we talked about Hanukkah 00:41:30.220 --> 00:41:31.140 if you were a part of that. 00:41:31.160 --> 00:41:38.260 If you want to go listen to the stories about Antiochus, get back in this in the Hanukkah series, but he talks about Antiochus, and Antiochus comes in and commits what's 00:41:38.300 --> 00:41:39.860 called the 'Abomination of desolation'. 00:41:40.560 --> 00:41:43.200 He goes in the temple of the Jews, and he desecrates it. 00:41:43.860 --> 00:41:50.720 If you want to historically read about that account, you can read first and second Maccabees, two books written during this time period in which Jews are slaughtered. 00:41:51.420 --> 00:41:54.500 80,000 at one time in one day. 00:41:54.720 --> 00:42:02.140 It says this in verse 21, "In his place", talking about this ruler that goes, "A despicable person, who was Antiochus, will arise, 00:42:02.480 --> 00:42:09.640 on whom the honor of kingship has not been conferred", so Antiochus wasn't necessarily the next in line, but he gets the kingship, "But he will come in 00:42:09.640 --> 00:42:17.260 a time of tranquility and seize the kingdom by intrigue." In verse 31 though, "Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary 00:42:17.260 --> 00:42:24.360 of the temple fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifices, and they will set up the abomination of desolation." Now, 00:42:24.380 --> 00:42:31.420 here's what's interesting as the story unfolds, is when you start to read verse 36, verse 40, scholars look at 00:42:31.420 --> 00:42:38.720 this and they say, "I don't think this is talking about Antiochus anymore because it's not talking about anything that Antiochus did in his life." 00:42:40.080 --> 00:42:44.450 They can see Antiochus definitely in the story, but then all of a sudden, it seems to be talking about another figure. 00:42:45.200 --> 00:42:45.950 A future figure. 00:42:46.200 --> 00:42:51.700 An anti-Christ, and so what Daniel is seeing happen here is the physical realm tying into the spiritual. 00:42:52.400 --> 00:42:57.240 The Bible has a precedent for this, like if you read Isaiah 14, talking about a king in Babylon. 00:42:57.660 --> 00:43:00.180 In that same chapter, Isaiah 14, talking about the king of Babylon. 00:43:00.280 --> 00:43:01.650 It's also a description of Satan. 00:43:02.400 --> 00:43:04.560 Ezekiel 28 talking about the ruler of Tyre. 00:43:04.780 --> 00:43:10.110 Its' also a description of Satan, and here in Daniel 11:4, he's talking about Antiochus. 00:43:10.820 --> 00:43:14.140 It's also it becomes a picture of the anti-Christ. 00:43:15.020 --> 00:43:22.300 Jesus in fact coached from this in Matthew 24:15, saying this isn't the future, but the point is that God is illustrating 00:43:22.300 --> 00:43:27.940 to Daniel how this physical realm doesn't just end with the physical if there's some spiritual happening. 00:43:28.180 --> 00:43:28.740 He goes like this. 00:43:29.100 --> 00:43:31.520 "At the end of time, the king in the south will collide with him. 00:43:31.720 --> 00:43:38.700 The king in the north will storm against him, with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships, and he will enter countries, overflow them and pass through. 00:43:38.920 --> 00:43:45.840 He will also enter the beautiful land, which is where the Jews are, and many countries will fall, but these wouldn't be rescued out of his hand. 00:43:45.840 --> 00:43:52.900 Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon." The interesting thing about Edom, Moab and Ammon is 00:43:52.900 --> 00:43:56.840 that Moab wasn't even a civilization at this point or at least to recognize one. 00:43:57.380 --> 00:44:04.380 They were people from that people group that they had no rulership, but what it's actually saying is that is that the ones that are going to be spared 00:44:04.380 --> 00:44:10.320 under this ruler are the enemies of God, and they're all turning against God's people. 00:44:11.320 --> 00:44:18.480 In verse 45, "This ruler will pitch his tent of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain, yet he will come 00:44:18.480 --> 00:44:25.580 to his end, and no one will help him." What it's saying here is Antiochus 00:44:25.700 --> 00:44:26.620 didn't die this way. 00:44:26.700 --> 00:44:33.350 This is not where he met his end, but this is why they're saying that this probably isn't talking about him, but what it is actually painting a picture of is the battle of Armageddon. 00:44:34.300 --> 00:44:42.440 If you remember, I showed you not too long and we talked about Armageddon, that it's a battle in front of the hill, and the only thing that separated this hill from 00:44:42.440 --> 00:44:49.460 the sea was this piece of land, and so it looks like this figure standing between this mountain and the sea, and which is known as an area 00:44:49.460 --> 00:44:56.720 to dominate if you're going to be a world leader, and so, this is where he meets his demise, and this is where the story 00:44:56.720 --> 00:45:02.600 all collides, chapter 12, where we're going to talk more about next week, but this is what God says. 00:45:03.020 --> 00:45:04.360 He's driving all to this point. 00:45:05.620 --> 00:45:12.640 "And there will be a time of distress, such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time, and at that time, your people, 00:45:12.700 --> 00:45:19.780 everyone who is found written in the book will be rescued, many those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these 00:45:19.780 --> 00:45:23.840 to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. 00:45:25.220 --> 00:45:32.420 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 00:45:32.420 --> 00:45:37.260 and ever." Let me just say this is where the angel sing to Daniel. 00:45:37.260 --> 00:45:40.720 Daniel, take the spiritual realm serious. 00:45:42.440 --> 00:45:48.960 There is an eternity at stake, and who better to encourage people to life than you. 00:45:50.280 --> 00:45:52.560 Who better to wage that war than God's people. 00:45:54.020 --> 00:46:01.060 In verse three, he describes "Those who have insight will shine brightly, and those who lead the many to righteousness like the 00:46:01.180 --> 00:46:09.880 stars forever." In verse two, he says, "The destruction in those that destroy God will deal with", but 00:46:09.880 --> 00:46:12.440 what God's looking for you is this eternal scope. 00:46:12.460 --> 00:46:19.600 What this does is it puts things in perspective, because when there's a spiritual realm and it looks dangerous to you can cower in fear, 00:46:21.260 --> 00:46:25.200 but when you know how the battle ends up, you can walk in victory. 00:46:26.180 --> 00:46:33.180 Now, for some of you, this illustration I'm about to show you may not drive at home, but for kid in the '80s, this is 00:46:33.180 --> 00:46:34.960 the best picture in life. 00:46:34.960 --> 00:46:35.060 Right? 00:46:36.080 --> 00:46:37.260 Let me tell you why. 00:46:39.060 --> 00:46:43.930 Back when I was eight years old, I had a Nintendo. 00:46:45.180 --> 00:46:52.280 You look forward to World three, level one in Mario, because you knew right before you could climb the 00:46:52.280 --> 00:46:59.680 stairs to grab the flag to celebrate your victory of that level, right before the end, there was this turtle that would go down the steps, and 00:46:59.680 --> 00:47:07.000 if you could time your jump just right and land on that turtle, you could repeatedly jump on that turtle until you received infinite lives. 00:47:07.440 --> 00:47:09.320 Some of you are like, "I know what you're talking about." Right? 00:47:09.460 --> 00:47:11.900 Most of you are like, "I hate video games", but that's okay. 00:47:11.900 --> 00:47:12.800 Just follow me here. 00:47:12.860 --> 00:47:12.960 All right? 00:47:13.900 --> 00:47:14.480 Here's the point. 00:47:15.240 --> 00:47:22.700 In all of this Mario, turtle jumping for infinite lives, fighting that went on, if 00:47:22.700 --> 00:47:29.820 you could get to this point where you could get infinite lives, you knew the princess was as good as rescued from the Bowser before you even got 00:47:29.820 --> 00:47:30.480 to level eight. 00:47:31.260 --> 00:47:36.750 In level three, when your life was secured there, you knew the end of the story. 00:47:36.880 --> 00:47:43.940 You jut had to play it out, and so from that point forward, it didn't matter if a little shrub from a pie came up and 00:47:43.940 --> 00:47:44.460 ate me. 00:47:44.740 --> 00:47:47.580 It didn't matter if a fish underwater tapped me and die. 00:47:47.740 --> 00:47:49.320 It didn't matter if I fell in a hole. 00:47:49.540 --> 00:47:56.540 Eventually, I knew if I just kept playing, but I was going to get to the end, and the princess would be mine, and the Bowser would be dead, 00:47:56.920 --> 00:48:04.280 and in 1980, whatever, when I lived in Chesapeake, Ohio, I was a little kid, and I had that moment where I landed 00:48:04.280 --> 00:48:09.920 on that turtle, and I knew infinite lives were mine, everyone in that house heard the victory. 00:48:09.920 --> 00:48:10.040 Right? 00:48:10.480 --> 00:48:17.820 It took me until two in the morning until I got to the end, but when I got to the end, everyone that slept under our roof was awake, and they celebrated 00:48:17.820 --> 00:48:18.480 with me. 00:48:18.820 --> 00:48:26.080 I found this level of tenacity within me at that moment I didn't realized I had, but the next day when I woke up, 00:48:26.460 --> 00:48:28.020 I had a double victory. 00:48:28.320 --> 00:48:29.800 I stayed up so late playing this game. 00:48:30.020 --> 00:48:37.080 My mom didn't send me to school because the next day, I woke up with what looked like chicken pox, but it turned out, it was just hives from the excitement of winning 00:48:37.080 --> 00:48:38.300 this video game. 00:48:38.800 --> 00:48:46.200 What I'm saying is for some of you, this might connect or not, but when you think about eternity, what 00:48:46.200 --> 00:48:53.460 the Bible is driving to in Daniel 12 is to say, "The victory is already on your side", that resting in 00:48:53.460 --> 00:49:00.680 yourself, yes, you have no power, but when you know the princess is yours and 00:49:00.680 --> 00:49:07.780 the Bowser is going to go down, when you get to level eight, who cares, because the victory 00:49:07.780 --> 00:49:08.720 belongs to you. 00:49:11.020 --> 00:49:17.270 The church, early church lives there, but when you go read 1st Century Council, the early church of... 00:49:17.280 --> 00:49:24.380 The quote is from, I think it was Tertullian, where it says, "The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed." They faced death 00:49:24.380 --> 00:49:31.480 so bravely, that the comments, their persecutors, the comment of the persecutors repetitiously made was to say, "These 00:49:31.480 --> 00:49:38.680 guys lived their lives as if they're immortal, like they don't think they're going to die", and the reality is they didn't. 00:49:39.740 --> 00:49:47.160 In fact, John Newton was the slave trader that wrote 'Amazon Grace', the last words that he's known to utter in this life was, 00:49:47.220 --> 00:49:54.440 "I'm leaving the land of the dying to go to the land of the living." Quite honestly, if your faith is in Jesus, you really haven't even started 00:49:54.440 --> 00:49:55.080 to live yet. 00:49:57.340 --> 00:50:00.500 Jesus Himself in the last moments with His disciples said this. 00:50:01.460 --> 00:50:07.090 "In the world you face, you will experience persecution, but take courage. 00:50:07.760 --> 00:50:15.020 I have overcome the world." Meaning, infinite lives of Mario is yours. 00:50:16.840 --> 00:50:17.290 "Don't be worried. 00:50:17.380 --> 00:50:25.500 Don't be afraid when you're underwater or facing that pot of plant, fireballs or not, whatever." 00:50:25.880 --> 00:50:27.160 Jesus has the victory. 00:50:28.780 --> 00:50:29.770 Where is that victory rest? 00:50:30.960 --> 00:50:34.700 It's the gospel, because we're not about modifying behavior. 00:50:36.820 --> 00:50:38.640 I want to experience transformation in Christ. 00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:47.060 That message of God's redemption for you is it, and when you shy away from 00:50:47.060 --> 00:50:51.540 it, you move away from the power that changes this world. 00:50:53.740 --> 00:51:00.760 Jesus came not only to redeem your heart, not only to give you victory, but for you to celebrate 00:51:00.760 --> 00:51:07.900 that victory, and to share that victory, and to let other people embrace Christ in 00:51:07.900 --> 00:51:08.140 that victory. 00:51:09.780 --> 00:51:15.060 If you're here this morning, you're wondering what that is, let me just tell you, God created you for Him. 00:51:17.100 --> 00:51:18.130 God made you for relationship. 00:51:19.580 --> 00:51:20.410 Let me give you the bad news. 00:51:20.780 --> 00:51:21.260 You don't have it. 00:51:22.920 --> 00:51:27.640 No one's belonged with it, and the reason is because sins separate you. 00:51:29.220 --> 00:51:31.020 God's holy, and you're not. 00:51:32.340 --> 00:51:40.680 God's perfect, and you're not, and men have made feeble attempts to try to reconcile that, and we call that 'Religion', where 00:51:40.680 --> 00:51:47.740 you do good to try to earn God's favor, but it's impossible because there's nothing you can do to 00:51:47.740 --> 00:51:48.800 ever remove your wrong. 00:51:50.060 --> 00:51:54.060 There's nothing you can do to ever take away the sin that you've brought against the Holy God. 00:51:54.100 --> 00:51:56.960 Nothing, but here's the great news. 00:51:58.260 --> 00:51:59.180 Jesus still loves you. 00:52:01.840 --> 00:52:05.840 Jesus created you for a purpose, and Jesus wants you to know Him for eternity. 00:52:07.660 --> 00:52:14.880 Jesus wants you to wrap your identity in Him and to know the worth that He has placed on you, and God wants you to enjoy that, your relationship with 00:52:14.980 --> 00:52:17.140 eternity for eternity with Him. 00:52:18.280 --> 00:52:19.340 That's what makes heaven heaven. 00:52:20.240 --> 00:52:21.020 It's not the location. 00:52:21.980 --> 00:52:25.000 It's His presence, living in His grace forever. 00:52:26.400 --> 00:52:33.520 Heaven is next to Jesus forever, and so Jesus came to this world and Jesus took on 00:52:33.520 --> 00:52:40.520 your sin, and Jesus died for you that you can be reconciled to Him, and find your identity in the one who created you 00:52:40.520 --> 00:52:41.570 for His purpose anyway. 00:52:43.560 --> 00:52:50.640 God gave His life for you not so that we can make light of it, but that we could embrace it, that we could come to Him and say, 00:52:50.860 --> 00:52:56.400 "Jesus, I am a sinner." My religion is not going to save me. 00:52:58.320 --> 00:53:06.800 My good works won't save me because I don't have the power to take away my sin, but You do, and 00:53:06.800 --> 00:53:14.280 You forgave me, and You made me new, and every day, every day, 00:53:14.340 --> 00:53:21.770 I get to wake up and live in that in my failures, God still sees Christ's righteousness, 00:53:22.440 --> 00:53:29.760 and when I feel like I've blown it, God gives me opportunity to lift my head on high and still live for His glory, to 00:53:29.760 --> 00:53:31.440 know Him and to enjoy Him. 00:53:32.860 --> 00:53:33.540 That is the gospel. 00:53:35.140 --> 00:53:42.420 When you go into the brokenness of this world church, don't stop at the modification of behavior, but to clear the freedom 00:53:42.420 --> 00:53:48.040 that we have in Jesus because He makes all things new every day.