Willow Ridge Sermons

November 16th, 2025 • “And he 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 said, 'Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.'" – Daniel 10:19

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Creators and Guests

Host

Beau Bradberry

Senior Pastor

What is Willow Ridge Sermons?

Sermon audio from Sunday services at Willow Ridge Church.

Welcome to the Willow Ridge Sermons Podcast, where you can listen to audio from our most

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Well, good morning. If you have your Bible, and I hope you do, I want to invite you to join us in

Daniel chapter 10. It's where we'll be this morning. We've got three weeks, including this

week, left in our Daniel series, and then we'll be starting our Christmas series. And I know it

doesn't feel like Christmas outside, but Christmas is coming. And one of those things is, as you

walked in, I know you saw the Christmas tree. And so what we have on there is we have some of these

wooden ornaments. We're partnering with our partner school, White Knoll Elementary, to come alongside

some families that are in need during this time of year. And one of the ways that we're doing that

is with helping to provide some gifts for some families at Christmastime. Dave shared with me,

I forget how many exactly. There was probably somewhere close to 100 of these wooden ornaments

that started off on the tree this morning, and now we're down to about 17. So thank you guys for

already picking them up. We've got about 17 more that we need to take care of. And so if you haven't

gotten one, please stop by on your way out. But then just kind of an administrative piece for us

for this, there is a sign-up sheet. We're trying to be aware and to register who has what so that we

know, so that we can help coordinate that. So you'll see there's a clipboard right beside there. If you

grabbed one of these ornaments and did not fill out the information on the clipboard, please stop by

there afterwards. If you're confused about what to do, that's fine. It can be a little bit confusing.

You'll notice like on this one that I have right here at the very top, there's a number and a letter, and

that's 2D. So I will go down to 2D and then fill out the information that I have with this. And then

if you got any questions about what you need to do with these, Dave would be more than happy to answer

that and excited for an opportunity to bless some families here in our community. I want to echo what

Pastor Dave said. If you are a first-time guest, we are so happy that you were here. We count it as a blessing

and an honor that you chose to be with us this morning. And at the end of the service, my wife

and I will be back there at the connections table. If you wouldn't mind stopping by there just so that

we could personally thank you, maybe learn your name. And if you do have any questions about who we are

as a church, we would be extremely excited and happy to be able to answer those for you. There's a lot

going on in the life of our church. There's something for everyone, and we want you to get connected

and be a part of that. Well, as we go into Daniel 10 this morning, we'll cover all of Daniel chapter 10.

I want to read to you verse 19, and then we'll go to the Lord in prayer. Verse 19 says,

God, we're for some of us. We're for some of us. We walked in here today feeling defeated by the world.

God, I pray that we could be encouraged by your spirit. God, we come in here today feeling

overwhelmed in the situations that surround us. And God, I pray that we would be strengthened by the

truth of your word. God, maybe we walked in here today feeling as if we're without hope. And Lord,

if we could be reminded of the hope that we know in Jesus Christ. Or speak to us through your word. May

everything that is said and is done be of you and be done to glorify you. And it's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Amen. Well, when we were walking through Daniel earlier, we talked about how the first

six chapters are largely dealing with the biography, the historical count of Daniel. And then as we move

into the next section of the chapters in Daniel, we're going into the prophetic pieces. And we're diving

into some stuff. I mean, Daniel, the last half of Daniel in Revelation, there's a lot of similar

imagery. There's a lot of symbolism. There's a lot of things that is Daniel. Or when you look to

Revelation, John describes those in our earthly minds. It's hard to fathom what is exactly happening

and taking place. Well, I want to tell you before we get into this, because this is going to kind of

help us as we approach Daniel chapter 10. There's some crazy stuff that is happening in Daniel 10.

They're not crazy. Like I don't believe that it happened. Crazy in that I do believe that it happened.

And I think that it's things that you and I as believers, we don't set our minds to often enough

in the reality that these are the pieces of the course of history that have played, are playing

out, and will play out in the future. So what we're going to do through Daniel chapter 10 is we're

going to look at maybe a couple of verses at a time. I want to explain to you a little bit of what's

going on there in case there's any questions. And then at the very end, we're going to hit six

application points that we can look at. So as most of the chapters in Daniel, Daniel chapter 10 starts

off with kind of giving us a time stamp. And this time stamp is important. So join me in reading Daniel

10 verse 1. In the third year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel, remember whose name

was Belshazzar. And the word was true, and it was a great conflict. And he understood the word

and had understanding of the vision. When we find Daniel in Daniel chapter 9, remember Daniel is in

God's word. He is reading what it says from the books, from the prophet Jeremiah. And he sees that

Israel's exile, the exile that he's a part of, would only last or would last in fullness and

complete completion, 70 years. And we're approaching for Daniel that time of coming to pass in Daniel

chapter 9. And so Daniel prayed. That's what drove Daniel to his knees in prayer, that Daniel began to

pray for that God would restore his people. And if you remember what we looked at last time, that God

answered. And he answered way more than Daniel could even possibly fathom or expect. So now when we come

into Daniel chapter 10, we find that we're in the first year of King Cyrus, I'm sorry, in the third

year of King Cyrus. Well, here's what happened. Here's what happened between first year and third

year. In first year of King Cyrus, as God said it would, a decree went out, and the Jewish people were

allowed to return home. They were allowed to return from exile. So there should be this great, joyous

reason to celebrate. But what we find here in the third year of King Cyrus is that here's what's

happened. We find Daniel disappointed. We find Daniel, and we'll see this here in a moment, we find

Daniel defeated. Because when we look at historically of what happened between the first year and the third

year, they're allowed to return. So what has happened two years later? Only about four percent, roughly about 42,000,

we know from Ezra chapter one, have actually made the return journey home.

They either thought it would be too difficult to rebuild, too difficult to recapture life, but

probably more likely than not, that God's people, instead of being like Daniel and resolved from

blending in with the Babylonian culture and the Babylonian way of life, this pagan way of life,

have become indoctrinated and engulfed and absorbed within the culture. They don't want to go home.

They don't want to go to the land that God has for them, of what God has promised for them and what

God has fulfilled for them. Instead, they just want to stay right where they're at. They're good in their

comfort and their expectation of where they find themselves. And this breaks the elderly heart of

Daniel. Remember, Daniel's at the end of his days. Daniel's going closer and closer, this elderly man

who for most of his life, from 13 to roughly 85, 86, 87 years old, has what he has known as Babylonian

captivity of where he finds himself. But Daniel also hasn't returned. So why hasn't Daniel returned?

If Daniel's so upset because people haven't returned, then what's Daniel doing? Well, Daniel's living for mission

right where he's at. Daniel sees as the spiritual leader of the people that for their sake, that he's better used

for the mission of God, appealing for them to return and appealing to God through prayer that they will

return. And so what we see in verse 1 is it uses this term that there would be this great conflict.

So what Daniel's going to receive a vision through his response to his prayer, and this vision is going to speak of

spiritual warfare. It's going to speak to matters of suffering. And so Daniel is going to give what one author referred to

this week as a painful but necessary word. I think it's so important that when we look at God's word and we see the things

that we begin to wrestle with, is that God and his faithfulness sometimes needs to give you and I, it's like he gave

Daniel a painful but necessary word. So let's look at verses 2-3. We'll kind of find this condition

where Daniel finds himself. It says,

in those days, in those days, 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 three full weeks. So where Daniel finds himself in

this condition for his people, this God's people, but rebellious people, is that Daniel is in this

physical process. Like this isn't a mindset where Daniel says, I hate what you're doing, but Daniel is

literally, physically mourning and grieving over the condition where they find themselves in, because

God's people have found themselves spiritually indifferent to who God is and what God's called

them to be. So it says that, that basically he eats nothing pleasant, right? There's nothing that when

you think of, it's like, that's good that he's doing. Like, I don't know, like, like he's eating rice

cakes and sauerkraut. Like, that's what he's getting by on, you know? This is what he's eating, but then

also, like, he's not following, like, the customary grooming habits. Now, now it says that he had, that there

was no, um, nor did I anoint myself at all. So there's some aspects to this. So when we see

Daniel, Daniel's a physical picture of what he's walking through. He's starving. You see, they would

anoint themselves with oil for three different reasons. They would anoint themselves with oil,

number one, it would be used, this oil would be like, for medicinal purposes. Like, they're in the desert,

right? There's the bugs, there's the insects, there's the scorpions, there's the, there's the

plants. Like, everything is harsh with where they are, and so it's medicinal. So Daniel doesn't anoint

himself. Unlike where we live, where it's always human, it's not human. And I don't know if you know

this, but there are places out there in the world that, like, you step outside, and it's not that you

start sweating, but your skin starts drying. And it'll dry, and it'll crack, and it'll split.

And so they would use oil to anoint. But also, not in places like we have, where you can shower a

couple times a day, go down to CVS, get you some good deodorant, kind of take care of things, right?

They would use oil to help them for hygiene purposes with that. So we find Daniel. Daniel's

neglecting to eat. He's mourning through this. He's allowing himself not to be physically cared for,

even to the point to where he stinks, because he's so grieved by where God's people find himself.

And all this is happening. All this is happening during the time of the Passover and the Feast of

Unleavened Bread. So in a time when God's people would be celebrating, in a time when God's people,

like, let's enjoy, man. Let's throw down. Let's have a good time. Like, let's let this be what it's

about. This is the condition that we find Daniel, like a true desperation for God to come and for God

to work and for God to move. So let's read verses 4 through 6.

On the 24th day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, that is the Tigris,

I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen with a belt of fine gold from

Uphaz around his waist. His body was like barrel, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like

flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sounds of his word like

the sound of a multitude. And so here's where we find Daniel, standing on the bank of a river,

grieving, mourning, not for the physical death, but for the spiritual death that he sees around him.

And who shows up? Who shows up? Jesus does. Jesus does. Like, hold up, hold up. We're in the Old

Testament. Jesus is like a Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John thing, right? Well, what we see here is what's

called a Christophany. It's an image. It's a pre-incarnate imagery or visitation of Christ.

And we believe that this is Jesus because we talked about Daniel and Revelation, that we're not going

to have time this morning, but if you were to look at Revelation 1, 12 through 15, we see this same

depiction that John gives of Christ. So we see Daniel 10, Revelation 1, we see this is Jesus.

And Daniel will see a vision coming up. Daniel is going to see a vision that writers and directors

of Hollywood cannot come up in their own minds. Daniel will see a vision of a cosmic conflict and

battle between angels and demons. He's going to see something that at its very core is going to rock

him. But before all of that, before all of that, he sees Jesus and in the imagery of Jesus.

I don't know why you picked out what you wore today, but I picked out what I wore today because

my jeans didn't need to be ironed and neither did my shirt. That was the strategy. That's why you're

getting what you got today, right? But when we see the imagery of why Jesus is the way he is,

there's a reason for that. It's communicating something. It's something that Daniel would have

known that Daniel would have seen and played into the picture for him to help him understand. And

before you see what's going to rock you, before you see what's going to rattle you, let me talk

to you for just a moment of what you're going to see in Jesus, Daniel, that's going to rock you and

rattle you, but for different reasons and confidence of who God is. And this is the picture that he sees

of Jesus. He sees that he's clothed in linen. What that carries with it is the meaning of perfect and

holiness. What he's wearing is a golden belt that he's sovereign in majesty. What he sees that he has a

body of barrel or crystal that he is radiant in his glory. He has a face like lightning, omnipotent in

power. He has eyes of torches, omniscient in sight. He has arms and legs. Some translations say feet of

bronze, righteous in judgment. And the words like the sound of a multitude and the imagery that you would

see within there is, is the picture of rushing water. Not the slow babbling of a creek, but see the rushing

water of a river raging as it floods. The picture of his authority. Folks, Daniel sees Jesus.

Look at verses seven to nine. He says, 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 saw a great vision and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed

and I retained no strength. Then I heard the sound of his words and I heard the sound. And as I heard the

sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground. So here's what's just

happened with this. So Jesus appears. This is what we find. This is what we see. There are people with

Daniel. There's some people with Daniel. They don't see him. Only Daniel sees him. But I think this is,

this is more impressive. While they didn't see what Daniel saw, they still felt terrified

in standing before the presence of God. And they fled from it. And they fled from it. I'm in that picture

of the world. Standing before the presence of the Holy God, they fled. But Daniel, Daniel's not a lot

better. And we see this response. We see it of what Peter says. We see it of John's reaction and revelation.

We see it of Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6. And now we see it in Daniel, in Daniel chapter 10.

I like the beautiful phrasing of this. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed. Here's what that

means. He turned pale white. It says, I retained no strength. His legs got weak underneath him.

And then it says, I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground. He passes out.

He's out cold. You see, standing as a sinful man. And remember, Daniel, I'm not going to compare you

to Daniel. But let me compare me to Daniel. And that's not stacking up well for me. Daniel and his

devoutness to the Lord still before the holiness of God. And that his response is, boom, he's out,

he's out cold. So look with me. So what happens? It's no good to reveal a vision, boom, when you're

gone. Verse 10. And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said to

me, oh, Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you and stand upright. For

now I have been sent to you. And you had spoken these words to me. I stood up trembling. And 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 have come because of your words. So an angel

comes. And this isn't Jesus anymore. He sees Jesus. He falls out. An angel comes. The angel touches him,

awakes him. And then the angel says two things to him. The first thing is he comforts him. He comforts

him. I love the part. The angel doesn't back down with what I'm going to say or what is happening.

And you know, sometimes when we read God's word and the reality of everything that's around us,

we want to throw ourself cliche expectations or things to maybe hopefully get our mind not thinking

on them. The angel doesn't do this. And what the angel speaks to is the truth of who Daniel is in God,

which is my prayer, which is my prayer that this is who you know you are in God. Oh, Daniel, man greatly

loved. Oh, Daniel, man who's greatly loved. I'm going to touch you. You're going to come up. The Bible

says that Daniel's only able to get to his hands and his knees. And he says, stand up. Stand up. Oh, man

greatly loved. And then he says, listen and pay attention because I've been sent to give you

a divine revelation. Daniel, don't miss this. Don't miss this. You're going to want to lock in.

You're going to pay attention. Wake up. Let's get the smelling salts because we're going to get to moving,

buddy. Verse 13. Here's what he says. It's going to get a little crazy for us. It's going to get a

little crazy in the things that we read because you and I are not accustomed to seeing things like

this. It says, the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days. This is an angel speaking.

So he's been battling someone for 21 days. That's a fight. But Michael, one of the chief princes,

came to help me for I was left there. Now went from prince to kings of Persia and came to make you

understand what has happened 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 was mute.

And behold, one in the likeness of the children of man touched my lips.

Then I opened my mouth and spoke. I said to him who stood before me, 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?

For now no strength remains in me and no breath is left in me.

This is the part when you and I want to live in what's known and what's logical and what our world

tells us versus what the truth of God's word tells us. So I want to encourage you on your faith

journey with me. Let's embrace what the truth of God's word says. So Daniel's been praying for this

for three weeks and here's what we find that he has heard his prayer. He's heard his prayer and God sends

his messenger to come and to share. But the messenger he sent faced spiritual opposition.

The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days. Now, every theologian of sound doctrinal belief

believes that this prince is no human prince, but a demonic power. And that this demonic power had

influence over the Persian empire. And it's only when Michael, the archangel guardian of Israel came to assist

that the messenger was freed to reach Daniel. And then from that, kings of Persia.

You see, what we're seeing in scripture is that the spiritual realm and the matters that are at work

in our world are real. There's spiritual battles that are taking place. We're talking about this

to some depth at the end of our message. But not everything in our world fits into this neat

human perspective of things. But if it was true for the time of Daniel, we believe it's true today.

And we'll look to New Testament explanations for that. And it's a lot for Daniel to take in.

And so as he's battled everything that he's going through, now he's unable to speak.

And it touches his, Daniel touches his lips. But it says that Daniel, through all of this,

that he could retain no strength. Literally, his breath and his strength have left him.

Verses 18 through 21.

Again, one, having the appearance of a man, touched me and strengthened me.

And he said, O man greatly loved, fear not, peace with you, be strong and of good courage.

And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened.

And said, let my Lord speak, for you have 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.

It ain't over yet.

A three-week battle will rage on.

And when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come.

Another battle will happen and take place.

But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth.

There is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince.

The archangel for what we see.

So for the third time, the angel touches and strengthens Daniel and gives him a three-fold message.

He says, fear not.

Peace be with you.

Be strong and of good courage.

And then Daniel says, I'll return to the fight.

But he will reveal to him the book of truth.

Now, question for you this morning.

Have you ever had something like this happen to you?

If you have, I would love to chat after the service.

I'm guessing no.

I'm guessing as we read and encounter these words, that these are big pieces for our minds.

I want to draw down to six things that we can take from this morning so that we can apply the truth of Daniel chapter 10 to our life.

As we work through God's word in an expository manner in the preaching and teaching of God's word.

That it's not just enough to explain every verse, but that we need to apply this to our life.

Point number one.

That we live in a broken world.

We live in a broken world.

Daniel sees what's around him.

He sees the disobedience.

He sees the rebellion.

And he sees it.

Have you ever thought this?

From people who ought to know better.

But yet he sees them and they're ought to know better to choose the things they ought not choose.

And so when you and I look at the world around us, like let's be honest, it ain't good.

But it ain't heard of either.

It's not good of what we see and the depravity and the destruction of the world around us.

But I hope as we've been journeying through and we saw this and it's rampant through the Old Testament.

And when we see the struggles even within the church in the New Testament is that there is no newness to the depravity that's around us.

But the difficulty and the frustration and the paganness that Daniel lived in is the paganness that we live in now.

The difference is Daniel's broken by it.

Daniel's mourning for it.

Daniel's not embracing it.

Daniel's hating it.

He says, I don't care if that means that I don't eat.

He says, I don't care if it means that I smell bad.

It doesn't mean if I have boils and sores on my hands.

It doesn't mean, it doesn't matter to me if my skin splits wide open.

It doesn't mean that I'm surrounded by people who ought to know better as they know who the truth of God is.

But they don't and they reject it.

And Daniel, in his grief, prays.

And he prays.

What if we responded like Daniel?

Daniel did not put his hope in the broken systems of the world.

If there's anything, here's as political as I'm going to get this morning.

If there's anything that politics and government have taught me over the last several weeks,

is this, that politics and politicians and government are going to do what's best for politics and governments.

But why do we put our faith so often in the political and the governmental realm of this world,

when Daniel, who works in it and is appealing to people to go back and be obedient for who God is,

says that the only appeal that I have is legislation is not going to make it happen.

It's the work and the move and the appeal of God in the heart of man to do it.

Folks, what does it look like if instead of putting our hope in government,

who always does what's best for their political agenda and their governmental ways,

what if we put our hope in all things,

in a God who always does what's best for his people

and always comes out of his heart of sacrifice?

Always.

We live in a broken world.

Number two.

Like we could give up.

We could give up after number one if there wasn't number two.

Number two is this, Jesus is alive.

Jesus is alive.

We see Jesus in Daniel 10.

We see it's the same Jesus in Revelation 1.

Jesus is holy.

He's sovereign.

He's glorious.

He's powerful.

He's all-knowing.

He's righteous.

He's authoritative.

He is Jesus.

Jesus.

And the Jesus that we see in Daniel 10.

And the Jesus that we see in Revelation 1.

And the Jesus that we're worshiping on November 16th are all Jesus.

He is still holy.

And He is still holy.

And He is still sovereign and glorious and powerful and all-knowing and righteous.

And you remember the last one?

That when He spoke, it was like rushing water.

He is still authoritative in what He does and what He calls His people to.

Three questions.

Number one, do you believe that Jesus is alive?

Do you believe that Jesus is alive?

Do you believe that He died on the cross, was buried, and that He rose again?

Do you believe that Jesus is alive?

And in that, do you live your life in the truth of who He is?

Do you live your life in the truth of who He is?

Not just in who He was, but in who He is.

And then as this, do you live your life in submission to Him?

Do you live your life in submission to Him?

The third thing.

Spiritual warfare is real.

A couple things in here.

In Daniel 10, what is evident and what is true from God's Word,

and I believe it is literal truth in God's Word,

is that there's demonic and satanic forces at play in two worldly governmental systems.

I said that's as political as I'm going to get, right, earlier.

That's what we see.

We see two.

Persia and Greece.

It doesn't say like a demon or demonic,

but what we see is demons at work in what is happening and what is going on.

And you think, but Bo, that's like crazy talk, right?

That's a long time ago.

Like, things like that don't really happen anymore.

And that's the danger that we fall into.

When it comes to Satan and his workers,

that we begin to think that it's mythology,

that we begin to think that it's some Lord of the Rings far out their place

that's not real but is good literature on paper.

Why do I believe it?

Well, because of what Jesus says.

Jesus says in John 10.10,

Jesus says the thief comes,

the thief, Satan, the deceiver,

that he comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.

And then Jesus says,

and I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

All right, so if you're like, well,

well, Jesus is speaking symbolically.

Well, then if Jesus is speaking symbolically,

then Jesus would have been speaking symbolically of himself.

But Jesus isn't.

Jesus is speaking the truth

when it comes to spiritual warfare

and the work of Satan.

That here's what Satan is coming to do.

He wants to steal from you.

He wants to steal your joy.

He wants to steal your family.

He wants to kill you.

He wants to destroy your hopes, your dreams,

your passion, your pursuit, your obedience.

He wants to kill all of that.

But he came that we may have life and have it abundantly.

Satan comes to work as the opposition of Christ.

And he doesn't give up on you.

He tries to wreck you.

He tries to ruin you.

And what it says is that he wants to tempt us.

In Matthew 4, he does this with Jesus.

But in 1 Thessalonians 3,

in 1 Thessalonians 3,

Paul writes to the church at Thessalonica.

And he says,

Beware, because Satan will want to tempt you

to abandon your faith.

Like, folks, this is what he's doing.

This isn't some made-up mythological creature.

He tempts.

1 Timothy 2 tells us that he deceives.

2 Corinthians 11 says that he seduces.

Luke 13, Jesus tells us that he torn that.

And that demons, demons are at work

and are moving the active agents of Satan.

We see them at work in the Old Testament.

We see them at work in the Gospels.

We see their warnings about in the epistles.

And you're like, but, Bo, all those times have passed.

Okay, well, then let's talk about the book

that's in the future in Revelation.

And guess what?

They're still at work there.

Paul says in Ephesians 6,

Ephesians 6, that passage,

the armor of God.

It's real.

And before Paul describes

the armor of God,

here's what he says

to the church at Ephesus.

Finally,

be strong in the Lord

and in the strength of his might.

Put on the whole armor of God.

Why?

So that you'll be ready for Bible study in the morning?

So that you'll be ready

when you're just not having a great day?

Here's what Paul says.

That you may be able

to stand against the schemes

of the devil.

Paul says,

for we do not wrestle

against flesh and blood,

but against the rulers,

against the authorities,

against the cosmic powers

over this present darkness,

against the spiritual forces of evil

in the heavenly places.

Therefore, take up the whole armor of God

that you may be able

to withstand in the evil day

and having done all

to stand firm.

Folks,

spiritual warfare is real.

We are called to be ready.

And if you think I'm crazy

for believing that,

then I'll stand

in your idea of crazy.

I'll stand in that line with Paul.

I'll stand in that line with Peter.

And I'll stand in that line with Jesus.

Be ready.

This is what we battle.

That's a lot.

So when you go out into this world,

there's real spiritual battles

happening and taking place.

There's real people living and influenced

by demonic powers

and demonic natures.

When we step out into this world,

this is what we're going to do.

This is what we're going to face.

This is what we're going to battle.

And if you're like,

man, I don't really know

about how that goes.

Can we just kind of like build up some walls

and all kind of hang out here?

Well, those are typically called cults

and compounds

and they don't play out well.

And so Daniel,

put it here in this,

he's a lot like me and you.

I don't know about this.

This is terrifying.

So what does the angel do?

Fear not.

Peace be with you.

Be strong.

Fear not.

Peace be with you.

Be strong.

Three things in closing.

Number four,

live in the confidence of God.

Daniel hears from the angel.

Fear not.

34 times.

Folks, 34 times in the Bible

this phrase is used.

Fear not.

Every time these words are used together,

it is in connection with the truth of who God is

and the truth in what God has done for you.

Fear not because this is who God is.

Fear not because this is what God's done for you.

Fear not, church.

The battles are real

because you know who He is.

Fear not because this is what He's done for you.

Live in the confidence of the God that you know.

But do you know Jesus?

Number five,

live in the mission of God.

Live in the mission of God.

The angel tells Daniel,

peace be with you.

Peace be with you.

Does that phrase jar something in your mind

when it comes to Scripture?

As I was reading it this week,

it took me to John chapter 20.

And John chapter 20,

starting in verse 19,

says this,

on the evening of that day,

the first day of the week,

the doors being locked

where the disciples were

for the fears of the Jews,

Jesus came and stood among them.

This is the resurrected Christ.

And He said to them,

peace be with you.

And when He had said this,

He showed them His hands

and His side.

And it says,

then the disciples were glad

when they saw the Lord.

And Jesus said to them again,

peace be with you.

As the Father has sent me,

even so I am sending you.

And when He said this,

He breathed on them

and said,

receive the Holy Spirit.

You see, Daniel

wasn't going to just go away

because Daniel knew who God was

and knew who He was in God.

That when the angel came

and he said,

peace be with you,

the peace of God

is with us

because we live

on the mission for God.

Daniel at 87 years old

is still in the game.

Daniel at 87 years old

still has a calling on his life.

And in the midst of the world

around us,

we've got God with us.

We know what God has done for us.

And from there,

peace is with us as we go.

You see,

the mission and purpose of our life

isn't to find peace.

Peace is given to us.

Our mission isn't to earn peace.

Peace comes to us.

The mission is to carry

the message of peace

of Jesus Christ,

the forgiveness of sin

to the world

who's rebelling from Him.

And then lastly,

lastly,

to live in obedience to God.

I'm going to ask our worship team

to go ahead and make their way up

and come up on the stage.

The angel says to Daniel,

O man greatly loved,

fear not,

peace with you,

be strong

and of good courage.

That phrase,

be strong,

is used 31 times.

31 times in Scripture.

31 times.

Be strong.

Be strong is what God says.

God says be strong

because He is about to do something.

Now, that seems kind of,

kind of productive, right?

Like, be strong.

I'm about to do something.

But then what it continues with

is be strong

for what I'm about to do

and the strength

that I've given you

is going to enable for you

to be faithful to me.

Church,

as we go into this world,

as we do what God has called us to do,

may we live in the confidence of God.

Fear not.

May we live in the mission of God.

Peace be with you.

And may we go in the strength of God.

The Alpha and the Omega.

May we go with Him

in that, in that,

He is fighting the battle for us.

And our call

is in our faithfulness to Him.

Would you pray with me?

Amen.

God, I thank you, Lord.

Lord, personally,

over these last several weeks,

the spiritual,

the mental,

the physical journey,

Lord, that your word has taken me on.

God, I thank you that you are expanding

the concepts of my faith

to exceed

the frailty and the humanity of my mind

and to dive in and understand more and more

about who you are.

God, may we see our world

in the brokenness that it is

marked

by the rebellion of man

torn

by the war that rages by sin

and Lord, may we not become

self-righteous,

but may we come broken

and humbled before you.

God, we thank you.

God, that Jesus,

that He is alive

that right now, Lord,

as He stood in Daniel 10,

as He stood in Revelation 1,

as He came as a baby,

as He died as a man on a cross,

as He rose from the dead,

that He is holy,

He is sovereign,

He is glorious,

He is powerful,

He's all-knowing,

He's righteous,

and praise God,

He's authoritative.

God, may we see this world around us

in the spiritual warfare

that rages,

the works of Satan

that seek to destroy our faith,

that seeks to destroy marriages,

that seeks to tear children

from their families,

that seeks to take life,

that loves death,

that loves destruction.

And God, we thank you

that as there's the activities

of the demonic,

there's the activities

of the angelic.

And God, we thank you

that we know

the end of the story.

And one day, Lord,

the complete fullness

of your victory

will be seen,

felt by all.

And so, Lord,

as we have life,

may we go

and fear not,

for you are with us.

Fear not,

because we are sons and daughters

of the living God.

May we go

and the peace is with us,

the peace of your Holy Spirit,

the peace of the gospel.

And Lord,

may we carry it

and share it.

May we share it

with those who oppose us,

and may we share it

with those who welcome us.

May we share it

with those who praise us,

and may we share it

with those who persecute us.

and Lord,

may we be strong.

God,

you will always be faithful.

And Lord,

may we always

be faithful to you.

It's in Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

That's it for this week's message.

Be sure to check back next week

for a new episode.

And in the meantime,

you can visit us online

at willowridgechurch.org

or by searching for

Willow Ridge Church

on Facebook,

Instagram,

and YouTube.

Thanks again for listening.

Bye.

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