I am so thankful for the ways that Pastor Greg two weeks ago and Pastor Dave last week served all of us, and especially me, with their messages. They are anchoring, they're rudder setting. Greg set our sights on our incomparably great God. Dave set our sights on the purpose for which we're alive, to love God with all we are, and to reflect God in how we love others and put their needs above our own. I say just publicly thank you to Dave and to Greg for the way that they have served us, the way that they've served me. I've needed their preaching. Today I have the privilege of taking us back to the prophecy of Daniel. We're in chapter 10 today after being off for about a month. Lord willing, next week, we're actually gonna go back just a bit and return to chapter nine and deal with some of the complexities there before progressing into chapter 11, one of the most remarkable prophetic chapters in all the scripture. Daniel was a Jewish prophet. He died just over 500 years before Jesus was born. When Daniel was a teenager, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon began to conquer Jerusalem and Daniel was taken with many other young men as a slave to Babylon. Babylon, according to chapter one, attempted to reprogram this young man. They changed his name, they changed his diet, they gave him an education. But according to chapter one, they could not change Daniel's convictions. Daniel instead remained courageously committed to following the God of Israel, even though he would face persecution repeatedly in that foreign land that he would live the rest of his life. I want to quickly review the chapters we've already studied before reading chapter 10. I gave a very simple summary of chapter one. Chapters two through seven are a unit. They're all written in Aramaic, not Hebrew. And they describe how the God of Israel repeatedly proved that he's over, that he's in control over the most powerful human governments on earth. Daniel's God in chapters 2 through 7 proved that he is in control of putting leaders up and putting leaders down He's in control even as the most powerful dictators on earth do the most insane things to God's people persecuting them Daniel's God demonstrated that he is is over the changes in governments and the changes in empires, and he demonstrated that he knows the future and is leading the future to his intended end, which is that his Messiah and his kingdom would rule on earth. Chapters two and seven, the bookends of that Aramaic section, presented a sequence, if you remember, of four kingdoms. This slide is just a reminder of the one that was seen in chapter seven, but the same sequence is seen in chapter two as well, just in a different illustration. The sequence goes like this. Daniel's in Babylon, and Babylon, that empire, would be overthrown by Persia in 539. And Persia would be overthrown by Greece in 333 BC under Alexander the Great. and Greece would then be overthrown by Rome in 146 BC, during which kingdom God would establish his Messiah. While the first several chapters especially focus on Babylon and a little bit on Persia, chapter eight then zooms in on the kingdoms of Persia and Greece You might remember that chapter eight especially focuses on one horrific king who would come out of Greece named Antiochus IV. He was given the title Epiphanes or God appearing on earth. Horrible blasphemy in this God-hating king and this king who hated God's people. He was a major focus because he is going to be the preview of the ultimate anti-God, anti-Christ ruler at the end. Chapter 8 zoomed in on Persia and on Greece, and then chapter 9 zooms in on what's going to happen in that Roman kingdom when the Messiah is going to come and quote, be cut off and have nothing. When God's chosen king, his anointed one, his Messiah is going to be cut off, he's going to be killed and seem to have nothing. The final vision of the book in chapters 10 through 12, we're beginning this today, the final vision picks up and actually goes back and focuses especially on Greece and on that horrific ruler who's going to be a preview of the end. Today we're only going to study the introduction to this vision. It's three chapters long, chapters 10, 11, and 12. We're only going to look at chapter 10, the introduction to it. And so now I invite you to read with me Daniel chapter 10. We're going to begin in verse one. If you're using the black hardcover Bibles provided throughout the building, this begins on page 700. Daniel writes, in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel who was renamed Belteshazzar. The Babylonian king had done this about 70 years earlier now. So Daniel is probably in his 80s. The year is 536 BC, that's the third year of King Cyrus. And the word was true and it was a great conflict. That's like the title for the chapter. And he, Daniel, understood the word and had understanding of the vision. In those days, I, Daniel, so after that Intro, Daniel is now writing in the first person. I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all for the full three weeks. And on the 24th day of the first month, as I was standing on the banks of the great river, that is the Tigris, I'm going to stop there. and point out something significant about this date. It's the first month of the calendar and it's the third year of King Cyrus. That's significant because Daniel is committed here to a limited fast of cutting off certain delicacies and certain sorts of food and drink. He's committed to a limited fast in the month of Passover when he should be feasting, he should be celebrating. What's going on at this time? Well, if you read Ezra chapters one through four, you know that Zerubbabel has just led, based on Cyrus's decree, returnees back to Jerusalem and they're under severe opposition. I think the reason that Daniel is not celebrating during Passover season is because he's heard news of what's been happening in the past two years in Jerusalem and how oppressed These people in Jerusalem are under their enemies there. So Daniel was fasting, and his fast was meant to do what fasting does. Every time he experienced a craving for a little bit of meat, that craving became a prayer prompt to say, pray for God's people. That's more important than that meat that you're craving. And as soon as he would have a craving that other people are celebrating, why don't you drink a glass of wine and enjoy yourself? He would say, no, I need to pray for the people in Jerusalem because they are under oppression and God, I pray that you would rescue them. Daniel was fasting and fasting was accomplishing its purpose. Verse five. I lifted up my eyes and I looked and behold a man clothed in linen. with a belt of fine gold from Ufaz around his waist. His body was like beryl, that is a gemstone that's pastel in color. His face was like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze. And the sound of his words was like the sound of a massive crowd. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. So I was left alone, and I saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me. Then he repeats it. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength. Then I heard the sound of his words. And as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in a deep sleep with my face to the ground. That might be because these words coming from a voice that sounded like a multitude could have sounded like a crowd of 10,000 or 50,000 people coming at him. And Daniel falls. So as Daniel is fasting and praying during what should have been the celebrations of Passover, God sent an angel to give him a message. The people around Daniel, this is a bit like what happened a few centuries later when Saul or Paul on the road to Damascus is confronted by Jesus, and the people around him have a general impression that something terrifying's going on, but they don't get the details. It seems that here in Daniel it's similar, that the people around Daniel sense that there's an experience happening, it's dreadful, and yet they don't get the details of it. Because the descriptions of this angel are so similar to Jesus in Revelation 1, some interpreters think that it's actually an appearance of Jesus here before he was born in Bethlehem. And there's nothing wrong with that interpretation, I'm just not convinced by it. The fact that this angel goes on to describe his struggle and his need for the archangel's help and things like this, I think makes it unlikely that it's Jesus. I think instead it's better to view this angel as being like the angels described in Ezekiel, reflecting various facets of God's glory. Pick up reading in verse 10. And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. It's not clear if this is the same angel or another. Verse 11, Daniel chapter 10, verse 11. And he said to me, O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you and stand upright, for now I've been sent to you. And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard and I've come because of your words. I'm an answer to your prayer. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days. That's a reference to a demon, a rebel angelic force who has some sort of governing authority over Cyrus's government. He says, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia. And I came to make you understand what's to happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision is for days yet to come. When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and I was mute. And behold, one in the likeness of the children of man touched my lips. Again, it's not clear if this is the same angel or one of the two previous, if there were two, or if this is someone different. He says, then I opened my mouth and spoke, and I said to him who stood before me, oh my Lord, by reason of the vision, pains have come upon me, and I retain no strength. How can my Lord's servant talk with my Lord? Daniel says, how can I talk with you, the great archangel? Or angel who has come from the help of Michael the archangel. For now no strength remains in me and no breath is left in me." Again, one having the appearance of a man touched me and strengthened me. And again, it's not clear, is this one of the ones he previously encountered or is this a different one? And this one, verse 19 said, O man greatly loved, fear not. Peace be with you. Be strong and of good courage. And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened. And I said, let my Lord speak, for you've strengthened me. Then he said, do you know why I've come to you? But now I will return to fight against the Prince of Persia, and when I go out, behold, the Prince of Greece will come. But I tell you what is inscribed, I will tell you what is inscribed in the Book of Truth. That was referenced back in verse one. There is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince. I don't think this angel is saying I have no other angels to help me, but probably something more like I have no other battalions to help me at this point. I think he's referring to leaders of angel armies. That's Daniel 10. It records Daniel's encounter with angels who bring him, as you will see in chapter 11 and 12, a very detailed vision or prophecy. The vision that Daniel receives is going to, as I said before, especially deal with how the kingdom of Greece oppresses Israel. These are in the centuries before Jesus. It's going to climax in this king called Antiochus Epiphanes. Chapter 11 is going to zero in on the kingdom of Greece and focus on the oppressions that are still ahead for the Jews. Chapter 12 then, end of chapter 11, all of chapter 12 is gonna then I think fast forward way ahead to the end of time where there's gonna be even heavier persecution and bodily resurrection of both wicked and righteous. Here's how I'd state the main point of chapter 10. God wants even his most faithful followers like Daniel. God wants even his most faithful followers to know that our lives at present won't get increasingly easier but harder. The unfolding of human history involves, verse one, great conflict or times of war and great hardship. The unfolding of human history involves great conflict through which we're called to endure. Daniel, in a moment of weakness, receives this vision. He is a faithful man of God. And he's not told, oh Daniel, you're such a godly man, you're gonna have it easy. No, when we think that godly people are gonna have it easy, we get the scriptures upside down. Daniel is told by these angels that there are dreadful things in the future. And yet he is encouraged to endure these great conflicts ahead. And the people for whom Daniel is writing, Daniel is writing this prophecy and passing it to his people saying, we need to be aware that great conflict is ahead and we need to be equipped to endure it. I want to dig into this chapter more deeply and I want to explore two fuels for our endurance, two constant daily foundations for our endurance in this great conflict, and you might have picked them up as you were reading with me through the passage or have been reading throughout the past week. Two fuels, how-tos for endurance. The first is this. Christian, when you're at your weakest, excuse me, when you're at your weakest, be certain that God loves you greatly. When you're at your weakest, be certain that God loves you greatly. It's important to see how God deals with Daniel. God's answer to Daniel's long season of prayer is not immediate relief, but added stress. You say, thanks a lot. That's not what I wanted to hear this morning, but it is the way of God with his faithful people. Daniel is begging for God's blessing, probably on Jerusalem and the persecuted returnees there. Daniel is begging for God's help, and God doesn't immediately make things easier for Daniel, and he does not point Daniel to, you know what, circumstances are gonna turn for the better. When Daniel thought he couldn't get any more discouraged, God further burdened him. Sometimes we think we can't handle more stress when God knows that in his strength we can and we must. It's sort of like an Olympic trial coach. Just heard this testimony about Bobby Kersey. He knows how to push his athletes to their limits to bring the best out of them. You might say, I don't want to be an Olympic athlete. It doesn't matter to me. God's wanting to refine us like gold and fire. When those angelic messengers came to Daniel in his weariness, they terrified him. And they essentially said, Daniel, the situation's worse than you realize, and it's gonna get worse than you expect. Try that message on for size. You're weary? Oh, there's a lot more conflict going on in the world than you know about. And it's gonna get worse, just wait. For Daniel, it wasn't just that things were bad in Jerusalem. These angels come and they remind him that things are chaotic in the spiritual realm. That there's war, that there's chaos in the spiritual realm. You might say to me, thanks a lot. I thought you were gonna give us hope and help for endurance. I thought you were gonna give me a foundation to stand on. Feels like you're pulling out the floor from under me. Well, here's the foundation. When these angels came to Daniel, they did not tell him that circumstances were gonna get better. They reminded him twice, you're loved by God. God loves you, they use the word, greatly. Another translation says, you're very precious to God. God's messengers then twice reminded Daniel, you don't need to fear. You can be strong and courageous in full view of all of the conflict that's going on now and in the future. You're loved, you don't need to fear, you can be strong. Be filled with faith in God and in his love for you and in his sovereignty over all that's going on in the world. That's what Daniel needed. Can you be certain that God would speak to you the same way he spoke to Daniel? I think some of us might think, that was Daniel. That was Daniel. I mean, he was someone special. I mean, kind of like once in world history, Daniel. The Daniel. God loved him. Does God really love me? Would God really say that he loves me greatly? Now, I need to make a clarification. There are some in here that cannot be certain that God loves you in this sense. You can know that God loves you in one sense if you have not repented of your sin and trusted Jesus. Here's the sense you can know that God loves you. John 3.16 says, God so loved this sinful world that he gave his one and only son so that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life. God doesn't want you to perish. He gave Jesus so that salvation could be offered to you. Romans 5 says that Jesus showcased God's love for his enemies when he died on the cross. Jesus died for sinners. He doesn't want you to remain in your sin and die for your sin and experience eternal punishment for your sin. God loves you. He's not sent Jesus back so that you can repent. Yes, God loves you. But in the sense that Daniel was told God loves you greatly, that's different. That's for those who've been reconciled to God, for those who are in right relationship with God, for those who can look to God as their father, who can draw near to God and take refuge in him. If you've never repented of your sin and trusted Jesus, I urge you to receive the love gift that God's offering you. Repent of your sin. Trust in Jesus. Call on Jesus. Say, Lord Jesus, you died for my sins. You rose again. You're coming again. I need you to save me. Would you wash me from my sins? Would you change my heart? This is what you need. You need to call out to Jesus and receive the gift of God's love that he offers. But Christian, you who have trusted in Jesus, you've turned from your sin and you've called on Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, you can claim that God loves you greatly, all because of Jesus. God loves you with the same kind of love with which he loves his son, not just with the same kind of love with which he loves Daniel, but with the same kind of love with which he loves Jesus. You've been united to Jesus. It's all by grace. It's not because you're such a great person. It's because Jesus is, and you've been united to him. Christian, all because of Jesus, you can be certain that God is forever committed to your best. He loves you, he loves you greatly, and you never need to fear. God loves you in the same way that a good, good father loves his child, even though that child is weak. God loves you, Christian, in the same way that a faithful, faithful husband keeps on loving his wife, even though her affections may ebb and flow. God has committed, Christian, to loving you from eternity past and year after year into eternity future. You're going to keep discovering the immeasurable riches, wealth of his grace and love for you. He loves you greatly all because of Jesus. That is a foundation for endurance in great conflict. You can say with Paul, nothing will ever separate me from God's love in Christ. No angel, no demon will ever separate me from his love in Christ. Point number two, the second foundation or fuel for endurance. Christian, when you're at your lowest, you must remember that you're not alone in the battle. you're not alone in the battle. It's not clear, as I pointed out in the reading, exactly how many angels appear in the chapter, but God sends angels to minister encouragement to Daniel, and just their presence lets Daniel know that he's not alone. There is a class of beings we call angels, messengers, who are in some ways unlike human beings and in other ways like human beings. Here are a couple of ways they're not like human beings. Angels are individual creations. They're not like a race. They don't procreate, reproduce, and give birth to those like their kind. They're not a race like that. They're individual creations. And if you read the Bible, some angels have wings. Some appear to be more like flaming torches. Others appear to be like animals. Others appear to be like machines with wheels. Some have multiple eyes, some have multiple faces. Angels are not all alike. They're all individual creations. It's like if you look at a National Geographic encyclopedia of zoology right now, there are all kinds of animals in the animal kingdom. And if you just say, oh, that's an animal. It doesn't really tell you whether it's a bear, a fish, a lizard, or something else. It could be any kind of animal, right? That is the realm of angels. Unlike humans, angels don't appear to die. They can be imprisoned in chains, and angels apparently have no way of being saved. There's a large group of angels that scripture seemed to indicate fell and rebelled against God under their leader, Satan, the great adversary, the chief adversary. And there's no way for them to be reconciled to God. Judgment awaits them. But like humans, like humans, angels are designed to reflect something about God. They're designed to reflect God in their power and in their governance over certain aspects of God's creation. They're designed to reflect God in their intelligence. And they're designed to reflect God in the way they were meant to serve as leaders. But like I said, many rebelled, and we call that group of rebelling angels demons. Now, let me just go on a tangent before I come back. If you have trouble believing that angels and demons exist, I would encourage you to read the Bible. Maybe read through the Bible and just keep track. Now, I wouldn't make this the main focus of your Bible reading. The main focus of your Bible reading should be read a chapter and summarize what that chapter's main point is and then move on to the next chapter. Get the main idea. But you might keep a little notebook and say wherever angels or demons appear, I'm gonna jot a little note. You're gonna come up with hundreds of references. And then I would also encourage you to read missions history. Maybe one recent history in missions is read Christianity Today's 1996 article on the deaths of Jim Elliot and his team. The article is called, Did They Have to Die? And you will find out why the Haurani tribe did not go and recover the bodies of these five martyrs. It's because they witnessed angels all around. Read well-documented contemporary studies of angelology and demonology across various disciplines. Read Scott Moreau's Deliver Us from Evil, Billy Holloway's Playing with Fire. Read Shandon Guthrie's The Apologetic Value of Christian Demonology. This is journalism, psychology, missions, philosophy. Read across disciplines. These sorts of studies provide substantial evidence of paranormal activity that corroborate the scriptures that really need no corroboration. You should believe God, take him at his word, and say, God said it, I believe it. Scripture reveals to us what this world is really like. So now, coming back to Daniel 10, let me just quote one commentator. This is Ian Dugid. Many of us go through life expecting it to be a picnic. And as a result, we're mentally dressed in light clothing and sandals, expecting sunshine, sand, and fun. We're unprepared for things to go wrong. And when they do, we immediately start muttering something about the fact that life shouldn't be this way. Daniel 10 is written to help us understand that life is hard and why life is hard. It shows us that the conflicts we experience here on Earth are a counterpart of a greater spiritual conflict that's presently ongoing in the heavenly realm. An awareness of this great spiritual conflict will help us be prepared for the challenges of life here on earth by being clothed in appropriate spiritual armor. Duguid goes on and he says, we should not suppose that since Persia and Greece are ancient history, these angels are now just resting on their laurels. The satanic forces opposed to the church continue to use powers and institutions of this world in their struggle against God's people. And yet God's decrees, the edicts that are written in, quote, the book of truth, that's Daniel 10, are the ultimate determiners of future realities. He says life isn't a picnic, but a battleground. The devil is a powerful opponent, far too powerful for us to take on in our own strength. Arrayed on our side, however, is God's strength. Martin Luther, very famously in his hymn, described this world with devils filled. That's probably not what you came to church wanting to hear this morning. But it's reality. There's demonic force behind all of the opposition to God in this world's governments and in this world's false religions. There's a lot about this conflict that we don't understand. Daniel 10 leaves us with a hundred questions about what's going on in the spiritual realm, and we have to be careful not to speculate. But we also have to be careful that we don't just ignore it and say, oh, I don't want to think about that. We have to be realistic. And this is where the encouragement comes in. The reality that there are angels and demons, some of which are opposed to God and opposed to us, that reality is something you should accept and you should never be afraid of. Christians get put on their back feet all the time. when they hear spooky stories about maybe this is going on in that house or that house. And you want to say, Christian, believe what you believe. Is Jesus risen from the dead or not? Is Jesus ascended and seated far above all principality and power or not? Why are you scared? Don't be spooked out. Angels and demons are real, and so is Jesus. Speak that kind of truth to yourself. You're not alone. There are angels on God's side all around. And there's Jesus who said he'll never leave you or forsake you. Whoa. Our God is the Lord of hosts. That title is used of him repeatedly throughout the Old Testament. The way one modern worship song puts it, he is the God of angel armies, whom then shall I fear? As I conclude, I want to speak to the two who were baptized this morning. Chloe's here. Where's Karis? Oh, you're sitting right there. All right. Dave did such an outstanding job of explaining your union with Christ, and I just want to come behind and reiterate whose name you were baptized into. Both of you girls, I think I speak for the whole church when I say this, it is so obvious that God's hand is on you. You're going to face hardships as you serve the Lord in years ahead. If you're a heroic saint, like a Daniel or a Ruth, you're gonna go through some really hard times. But today, you've just been baptized into the name of Jesus. You guys testified, each of you testified to the gospel of Jesus. And you said, Jesus died for all my sins. He rose again. My faith is in him. And I want to tell you that the key to getting through the hardest of times is what you just said. It's not something different from what you guys just talked about. You don't need more than what you just talked about. Instead, you need what you just talked about. Paul puts it like this in Ephesians 6. He says you need to be armed with spiritual armor. And then what he basically says is, you need to wear the gospel as your helmet, and you need to wear the gospel as your breastplate, and you need to wear the gospel as your shield, and carry it as your sword, and wear it on your feet. You need the gospel, faith in the Lord Jesus, to guard you, to help you stand in all of the trials that you'll face. You don't need something other than Jesus. You just need to keep trusting Jesus. And you need to be reminded that the name into which you were baptized this morning, Jesus, that name is the name above every name. Centuries before Jesus was born, flickering torch-like angels were shouting constantly at Jesus, holy, holy, holy, none like him. Jesus came and angelic messengers shouted in the dark fields of Bethlehem that the king was born. Karis, you know we read this just this week in our family devotions. Matthew 26 says that Jesus, when he was arrested, had one of his followers come pull a sword and say, get rid of that, get rid of what's going on. We gotta stop this. Jesus, you can't be arrested. And Jesus told Peter, he said, put down your sword. Don't you know that I could call 12 legions of angels? Jesus could have called 10,000 angels and not have gone to the cross and he didn't. Jesus rose from the dead and angels announced his resurrection. Jesus ascended into heaven. Revelation 5 says since then he's been surrounded by the praise of angels. And when he returns to take over on this planet, he's gonna be accompanied by innumerable angels. The name into which you've been baptized is the name above every name. It's the name of Jesus. And I don't know where you girls are gonna be, but when you face hard times and when you feel like The darkness is winning. You need to be reminded of the name of Jesus into which you were baptized. His name is above every name. Stand strong in it. Church, let's do the same. Savior, you can carry us through every valley. In this world of great conflict, You're our hope, our refuge, our strength. Lord Jesus, it's because of you that we're greatly and forever inseparably loved by God. Lord Jesus, because of you, we don't need to fear this world with devils filled. Lord Jesus, you're our hope, you're our strength, our stability. I pray that every believer in here would keep trusting you, that we would arm ourselves with faith in your gospel. And I pray, God, that every unbeliever would be drawn to you. Jesus, be glorified. Amen.