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Collierville First Baptist Church
[01:00:00:53 - 01:00:30:52]
You know, not all movies are as appealing as other movies, right? You agree with that? Listen, I want to ask you a question. Why have millions of people paid good money to see the story of a little hobbit who answers a call to go on a great journey with a motley crew bent on stopping a tide of evil from consuming their land?
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Now, obviously, I'm talking about the Lord of the Rings.
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Why have millions of people over three decades packed out theaters to watch a vast war played out among the stars between forces of light and forces of darkness?
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Why? Of course, I'm talking about Star Wars.
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Why have millions more rushed to see the story about a family of English children who follow a lion who breaks the power of endless winter by laying down his life for his friends? Of course, I'm talking about Narnia. So why?
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Well, there's a connection between these three movies. Each of them has a theme of a gigantic battle between good and evil, both played out and visible, a visible realm and an invisible realm.
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They feature the importance of making good personal choices, and they commend the value of journeying through life with people who share their values.
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In the end, these movies celebrate the triumph of light over darkness, of love over hate, and they present largely a biblical worldview in living technicolor.
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Now, you say, "Well, what does that have to do with what we're going to study tonight?" Well, take your Bible, turn to Daniel chapter 10, and let's just see.
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The year was 536 B.C. That's before Christ.
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It's the third year after the great Persian King Cyrus had overthrown the vast empire of Babylon.
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Now, remember, early in our study of Daniel, in Daniel chapter 2, Daniel interpreted a vision that Nebuchadnezzar had. About four empires that would become world empires. The empire of Babylon, the empire of Medo-Persia, the empire of Greece, and the empire of Rome.
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And that is repeated several times in this book.
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Now, it seems like because Cyrus and the Medo-Persian empire had defeated this great empire of Babylon, that there was a sense that that might have been the war to end all wars, but not so fast, my friend. Not so fast. The Jewish people, so long the victims of anti-Semitic nations, had been freed from exile. Remember, Cyrus set them free. Cyrus said, "You can go back to Israel."
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Unfortunately, only a small number of Jews went back to rebuild their nation.
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And in Daniel chapter 10, verse 1, sort of an introduction to this chapter,
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"In the third year of Cyrus, King of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belt Shazar.
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And the message was true and one of great conflict, but he understood the message and had an understanding of the vision."
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Now, it's interesting that Daniel interjects his Babylonian name, Belt Shazar, here.
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Apparently, to emphasize that he's the same guy that's been serving and God's been using in powerful ways for 70 years now. Remember, he was there for 70 years at this time. He would now be about 85 years of age, yet he was still alive and he was still serving the Lord faithfully. That should be a word to all of us.
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The Bible says the message was true. Now, any message we get from God is always true, right? Always remember that. This Bible that you have on your table in front of you is truth without mixture of error.
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And every vision, Daniel was given four visions in this book, four visions.
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And we're going to look at the last vision tonight and next week and the next week because that vision runs for three chapters, chapter 10, chapter 11 and chapter 12.
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Now, he understood the message and had an understanding of the vision. You say, well, how did he understand this vision? Well, look at verse 12 of chapter 10.
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The Bible says, then he said to me, this angel said, do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard and I've come in response to your words. Hey, James, could you give me a little bit more? So that's how he understood the vision and the message that God gave. Remember, this is revelation. God revealed this to him. He revealed this vision to him. He revealed this message to him.
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And this message spans chapter 10, chapter 11 and chapter 12. Now, and D Duke made this statement, almost everyone believes that prayer is important.
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But there's a difference between believing that prayer is important and believing it is essential.
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Essential means that there are things that will not happen without prayer.
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One thing we're going to look at tonight is how essential prayer is in the life of a believer living in a fallen world,
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living in a in a realm where there's an invisible war going on all around us. You do know that we're at war, right? It's a cosmic war.
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And people, people laugh at that sometimes and they laugh at us as Christians for believing in angels, for believing in there's a Satan, their demons believing that there is a spiritual realm. Now, that naturalistic worldview is a dangerous world worldview for us to buy into.
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We need to know that there is an invisible world. Now look, what amazes me is you'll pull up your news, whatever you Fox News, whatever it is. And you'll notice that somebody has seen a flying saucer and everybody's going goo goo over this flying saucer.
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And they believe that there are extraterrestrials out there. Never ceases to amaze me that people see with a microscope millions and millions of miles away and say, hey, there's life on that planet. That could be life on that planet.
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And then they laugh at us for believing the word of God that there is a spiritual realm that is just as real as a physical realm in which we live.
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Now we need to know that and we need to know tonight that in that spiritual realm, there is a cosmic war going on right now, not just in Daniel's day. It's been going on a long time. Have you read the book of Job? You read the book of Job?
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Man, I'm telling from the beginning of the Bible after Adam and Eve sinned against God, spiritual warfare became a real thing.
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And it's been real since the beginning and it's real right now. I assure you. How else can you explain some of the nonsense that we're seeing take place in our world of God? Today, the nonsense about gender that that that a man can give birth to a baby.
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Well, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life. Now, how do you explain that?
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I tell you how you explain it. It's cosmic warfare. It is spiritual warfare. It is the influence of demonic of demons on people of influence. Okay. You need to understand that it's real. Okay. Sometimes we wonder, well, how in the world can people act like they act today? How in the world can these weird things go on? It's demonic activity, demonic activity.
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And we're going to see it in living technicolor tonight. Now, Daniel chapter 10 through 12 constitutes the fourth and final vision that Daniel received from the Lord.
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Each of the four visions notice page three, page three, each of the four vision, chapter seven through 12, it dated. They're dated. The visions appear in two groups of two.
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The first and third years of Belshazzar and the first and third years of Cyrus.
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Cyrus's third year would have been 536 to 535 B.C. two years after Gabriel's appearance to Daniel and chapter nine of Daniel. Now, chapter 10 is the prelude to the detailed vision of chapter 11. Chapter 11 is heavy. Okay. So when you, when you come next Wednesday, come with your work boots on. Okay. Cause it's heavy. It's heavy. I'm telling you right now it's heavy. Chapter 12 provides the conclusion to both this fourth and final vision and the book itself.
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Now, chapter 10 that we're looking at tonight, verse by verse, pulls back the spiritual curtain and gives us a glimpse into the world of spiritual warfare, cosmic warfare that is real and wages.
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Rages unseen to mortalize.
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In chapter 10, verse two to three, notice what the Bible says in those days, I, Daniel, have been mourning for three entire weeks.
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I did not eat any tasty food nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed.
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Now notice this word morning.
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It's a part of simple in the Hebrew language and it has the force of continually mourning.
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You say, what was he mourning about? Did somebody die? No, that's not the kind of morning we're talking about here. He was mourning of the condition of God's covenant people, the nation of Israel.
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He was mourning over the fact that they had turned their back on God.
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He was mourning over the fact that they had been exiled into Babylonian captivity.
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He was mourning over the fact, I think it was morning over the fact that at his age, he could not make the trek back to Israel with the rubbable and and Ezra and those who went back and that initial move back to the promised land. But he was mourning and he was fasting and praying.
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Look at this.
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Let me find it.
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Now, Nehemiah mourned too. In Nehemiah chapter one verse four, same Hebrew word, same Hebrew word. When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days. Now, why was Nehemiah mourning?
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Because he found out that the city walls of Jerusalem have been decimated and nobody was trying to rebuild the city walls.
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And it absolutely crushed him and he mourned over the condition of the city of Jerusalem.
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Remember, the temple had been destroyed, completely destroyed, and he mourned over the condition of Jerusalem.
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And verse three, Daniel seems to have engaged in a, I don't think it was a complete fast. I think it was a semi fast and he may have existed on bread and water. I don't know for sure, but it seems like in verse three, it does not indicate a complete rigid fast where he's not eating any food. OK, nor did I use any ointment at all. You got to understand in that culture to protect themselves from the heat, they use ointment or oils on their skin.
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And these oils help them to smell better and these ointments protected their skin.
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And he didn't use any ointment at all during this time when he was seeking the face of God.
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Fasting, interesting, I got a little paragraph here. Fasting is a personal matter between the individual and God.
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It is voluntary. Nobody can command you to fast.
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Now we can ask people in the church to fast for a period of time, but nobody can demand or command that you fast and hold you accountable for that. That's between you and God.
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It is voluntarily. However, if giants of the faith like Moses, David, Esther, Daniel, Paul, Jesus himself felt the need to fast.
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Whoa, what does that say to us?
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Maybe we should we should participate in the discipline of fasting more, right?
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Think about what's happening in our nation.
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If Daniel mourned over his nation and fasted and prayed and saw the face of God over his nation,
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maybe we should do the same thing for our nation.
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Maybe we need to really think about that and institute fasting maybe one day a week, maybe one meal a week, something where we say to God, God, we're seers. We're mourning of the condition of America and we spend time praying and fasting and seeking the face of God.
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Now, in Daniel chapter 10 verses four to six page four, the Bible says on the 24th day of the first month, you say, well, what's the significance of that?
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Well, the first month was a month Nissan in Hebrew.
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And guess what happened on the 14th of the month Nissan Passover Passover Nissan was like March or March, April. OK, I don't want you to think January. I'm not talking about January.
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I'm talking about the Hebrew first month was a month Nissan on the 14th of that month would have been Passover, which was a high and holy day in the Jewish faith.
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And then immediately after Passover, they would go into the feast of unleavened bread. Right. So this was a very special time for a Jewish man, especially Jewish man like Daniel. On the 24th day of the first month while I was by the bank of the great river, that is the Tigris. And the Tigris River in all likelihood, Daniel traveled about 20 miles to get to the Tigris River from Babylon about 20 miles.
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It was very wide. It was a very powerful river at that time.
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And the Bible says when he got to the Tigris River, verse five, I lifted my eyes and looked and behold.
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There was a certain man dressed in linen whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of you fast. His body also was like barrel sort of golden. His face had the appearance of lightning.
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His eyes were like flaming torches. His arms and feet like the gleam of fallen upon a polished bronze and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult.
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Now you say who in the world is this?
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Remember this individual that that Daniel saw was over the river Tigris. OK, so this individual was levitating, you might say. And the Bible says that he is his.
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He had the gleam of polished bronze and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult.
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Now. I believe that this was a pre incarnate son of the living God.
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You say now wait, pastor, wait, pastor, Jesus was not incarnated until Mary gave birth to Jesus, right? We just celebrate Christmas and Joseph and Mary went to that went to Bethlehem, gave birth to Jesus.
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So how can Jesus be all the way back there hundreds of years earlier and make his appearance?
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Don't forget what I'm about to tell you in John chapter one, verses one and fourteen, the Bible says in the beginning was the word, the word referring to Jesus.
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In the beginning, right? And the word was with God and the word was God. And verse fourteen and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and would be held in glory. The glory as of the only begotten the father full of grace and truth.
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So Jesus has always existed. Jesus is eternal. He had neither a beginning and he will never have an ending. That's why the Book of Revelation refers to Jesus as the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. OK, so right here in Daniels Day, hundreds of years before Jesus was incarnated, he shows up at the Tigris River.
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And he shows up in a way that absolutely knocks Daniel to the ground.
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It would knock us to the ground, too, wouldn't it?
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Now, you say, well, Pastor, why are you saying that this is the pre incarnate son of God? Why are you saying this is Jesus? Well, look at Revelation, chapter one, verses twelve to sixteen.
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Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me and having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the middle of the lampstands, I saw one like a son of man clothed in a robe reaching to the feet and girded across his chest with a golden sash.
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His head and his hair were white like wool, like snow, and his eyes were like a flame of fire.
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His feet were like burnished bronze when it has been made to glow in a furnace and his voice was like the sound of many waters.
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In his right hand, he held seven stars and out of his mouth came a sharp two edged sword and his face was like the sun shining in its strength.
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The parallels between this vision that Daniel had and the vision that John the apostle had in the Book of Revelation are so amazingly similar. In fact, Brian Chapel wrote, and I quote, Who is being described?
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Clearly, this is a Christ, the anointed son of man who represents the glory and purposes of God.
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There are many intentional reflections between the chief figures in these chapters of Daniel and Revelation.
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The men described in both are clothed in white robes, priestly garb.
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Both have a gold belt, kingly apparel.
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Both have blazing eyes, both have bronze skin, both have roaring voices, all supernatural traits.
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In Revelation, the one described holds seven stars in his hand and his face blazes like the sun.
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Perhaps that explains why the appearance of the man in linen to Daniel makes the prophet faint dead away and causes his friends to run away.
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The one who comes as a spokesman for God is most readily understood as the son of God, the second person of the Godhead who made the heavens and the earth.
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Now, at least four angels appear in this story.
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Some scholars believe that this figure that is levitating above the Tigris River that has this amazing appearance.
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Some folks think that person is an angel. I totally disagree with that.
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There are four angels in this story.
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In chapter 10, verses 10 to 14, there is the interpreting angel. The interpreting angel is the one that takes the message and interprets it for Daniel.
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And then there is Michael, the archangel, in chapter 10, verses 13 and 21. And there's two others in chapter 12, verse 5. Take your Bible, flip over to chapter 12, verse 5.
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"Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the river and the other on that bank of the river." So there are four angels in this final fourth vision that Daniel was given by God.
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Four angels and one son of God, okay?
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Now, in Daniel, chapter 12, verses 6 and 7, I want you to notice this. "And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river," he was levitating, above the waters of the river, "How long will it be until the end of these wonders?
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I heard the man dressed in linen," same man now, these C's in chapter 10. "I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by him who lives forever, that it would be for a time, times, and half a time," three and a half years.
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And as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed. You look at chapter 12, if for no other reason, I would say that this figure levitating above the Tigris River is the son of God, I would say it because he is absolutely, totally in charge and sovereign right here in chapter 12.
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Same guy, same person, same individual, and it's the son of God. I have no doubt about it.
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Now, the contents of the vision are related to Daniel by the interpreting angel who is introduced at verse 10. Look at verse 10 again of chapter 10. 10, 10, look at it. "Then behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and feet," my hands and knees. "He said to me, O Daniel, man of high steam, understand the words that I'm about to tell you and stand upright, for I've now been sent to you." "And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling."
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That's the interpreting angel, okay?
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I believe, by the way, that that interpreting angel is Gabriel. Gabriel has already showed up in the book of Daniel.
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So I believe this interpreting angel is Gabriel, and we're introduced to the archangel Michael.
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In fact, do you realize there are only two angels, I mean good angels, mentioned in the Bible, too, by name? Gabriel and Michael, okay?
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Now, unfortunately, some have taken liberty with this spiritual realm, and they've given names to different angels and all this kind of stuff. Don't pay any attention to that stuff. Listen, if the Bible does not give their names, don't try to name names of angels.
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Don't try to name demons. My goodness. There's no biblical basis for that.
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Now, there's enough in this book to keep us busy until Jesus comes, I promise you.
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All right, look at verses 7 through 9. "Now I, Daniel alone, saw the vision." Now, he had some guys with him. They didn't see the vision.
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They didn't see the Lord Jesus levitating above the Tigris River.
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Notice this. "I, Daniel alone, saw the vision, while the men who were with me did not see the vision.
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Nevertheless, a great dread fell on them, and they ran away to hide them." So why did they have a great dread? Because they sensed the presence of God.
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They sensed the presence of God. I don't know about you, but I sensed the presence of God Sunday in our worship service.
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I really did, folks. It was an awesome morning.
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But these folks that were with Daniel, they didn't see the vision, but they felt they sensed the presence of God.
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My goodness. And what did they do? They ran away to hide themselves. I read that I can't help but laugh. They ran away to hide themselves.
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Verse 8, "So I was left alone and saw this great vision, yet no strength was left in me.
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For my natural color turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength.
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But I heard the sound of His words." Whose words? The sound of the Lord Jesus, the pre-incarnate Son of God, a Christophany, you might call it. "But I heard the sound of His words, and as soon as I heard the sound of His words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face with my face to the ground." By the way, in Revelation, when John the Apostle came into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrected Christ, where did He end up? Down on His face. Down on His face. Because it was in the presence of the Son of God.
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"But I heard the sound of His words, as soon as I heard His words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face with my face to the ground."
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Now, I got to thinking about that. There's no doubt in my mind that being in the presence of the Son of God, the pre-incarnate Son of God, is plenty to put you on your face on the ground in a dead sleep, okay?
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Totally out of it. But I also thought about this. He'd been fasting. He'd been praying. Listen, for three weeks, He has been fasting and seeking the face of God. He has been mourning over the condition of the nation of Israel. That guy was worn out.
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But I tell you what, when He saw the pre-incarnate Son of God, it knocked Him out, okay? He was out like a light.
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Now, by the way, the same thing happened to Paul in the New Testament, right? You remember? In Acts chapter 9, verses 1-7, Paul had some people with him. He and these guys are going to Damascus to arrest Christians and put them in jail, torture them, maybe even kill some of them.
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And he has an encounter with the resurrected Christ.
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Where did Paul end up? Flat down on the ground, right?
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And what happened to the folks who were with him? They were stupefied. They didn't see the resurrected Christ. They didn't hear this conversation going on between the resurrected Christ and Saul of Tarsus. They didn't hear it. Same thing, right? It's interesting. If you really want to interpret the Bible,
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you got to look at how things are repeated throughout the Bible and look how it's related in the New Testament, okay?
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Now look, verses 10-14, look at it. "Then behold," so here's Daniel. He's out like a light on his face.
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"Then behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees.
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And he said to me, "O Daniel, man of high esteem." I said it before, I want to say it again.
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Don't you hope that we as born-again believers, that heaven can look at us as men and women of high esteem?
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My goodness. Several times that's repeated in the book of Daniel.
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Daniel was some kind of man of God, okay? "O Daniel, man of high esteem." Now this is an angel. This is the interpreting angel talking to Daniel right here.
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And the interpreting angel said to Daniel, "I want you to know that in heaven you're a man of high esteem.
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Heaven really esteems you highly. Understand the words that I'm about to tell you and stand upright, for I've now been sent to you." And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling.
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"Then he said to me, "Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling your seb before your God, your words were heard and I've come in response to your words."
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Now, verse 13 introduces us to something that maybe we haven't given much thought to.
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Look at it. "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for 21 days."
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Now what in the world is that talking about?
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The prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for 21 days. Well now if Gabriel is an angel of God, who is this prince from the kingdom of Persia that is withstanding him for 21 days? In the heavenlies, in the spiritual realm. It's a demon. It's a demon.
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It's a pastor. I don't know if I believe in demons.
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Well, you're wrong. Let me just say it. You're wrong.
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Demons are real, okay? Now look at this. "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for 21 days.
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Then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes," now remember, Michael is an archangel of God.
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Look at this. "Michael, one of the chief princes came to help me for I've been left there with the kings of Persia." Notice plural. Kings of Persia. You know what happened? The demons ganged up on Gabriel.
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"And they were fighting him tooth and toenail for 21 days, keeping him from bringing this message and helping Daniel to understand it."
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21 days. Now I have come to give you an understanding what will happen to your people, the people of Israel in the latter days.
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"For the vision pertains to the days yet future." This is very eschatological. It's very future oriented, okay?
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But I want you to see that when Michael showed up,
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the battle tilted in favor of the kingdom of God.
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Now one thing I want you to understand, please remember this. In the end, we win.
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Now there are going to be some battles and skirmishes along the way. Some of them in the physical realm, the natural realm, and some of them in the spiritual realm.
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You can count on that happening. But I'm telling you, he who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.
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Jesus is victorious. Listen, way back in Genesis.
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Remember the first prophecy in the Bible? Take your Bible.
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The Lord judged the serpent. He judged the devil. Look at verse 14. "The Lord said to the serpent, the devil, because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field. On your belly you will go and dust you will eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity," look at this. "I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed." That would be the Lord Jesus.
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"And you shall bruise him on the hill, but he will bruise you on the head." A lethal blow. Right there. The first prophecy in the Bible. The Bible prophesies that the seed of the woman, the seed of Mary, that's the Lord Jesus Christ, would bruise the head with a lethal blow of Satan. So I'm telling you, you don't have to wring your hands when you're involved in spiritual warfare.
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You have everything you need in Christ, in the Spirit of God, in the Word of God. You have the armor of God. You've got everything you need to win these battles and skirmishes that you go through in the spiritual realm.
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I want you to know that. I want you to believe that.
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Now, I want you to look at verse 13 in a little greater detail. Michael is introduced in this verse. He's also mentioned in Daniel chapter 10 verse 21, chapter 12 verse 1, Jude 9, and Revelation 12, 7 in scripture. Michael has been assigned by God, notice this, as Israel's prince. Look at verse 21 of chapter 10 of Daniel.
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"However, I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth. Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces except Michael your prince."
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Now, I want you to know that the archangel Michael, his responsibility is to protect and provide for the nation of Israel.
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You look back in Israel's history, you look back at the Six Day War when Israel came back into the land,
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there were some very miraculous things that took place in that war, things that can only be attributed to God.
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And I'm telling you that Michael the prince, the archangel is the prince of the nation of Israel assigned to the nation of Israel. You say, "Pastor, why do you believe that Israel will always be around to Jesus comes?" Because they've got Michael on their side. And they've got God on their side, they've got Jesus on their side, they've got the Holy Spirit on their side. I want you to understand that this idea that God is true with Israel is not true. It's not true. Don't buy into that. It's called replacement theology that the church has replaced Israel. Israel has a rope. Go home and read Romans chapter 11 if you don't believe me. Read it very carefully.
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God's not through with Israel. God has a plan and purpose for them and is assigned an angel to protect them.
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Now, look at verses 15 to 19. "When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and became speechless.
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And behold, one who resembled a human being was touching my lips.
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Then I opened my mouth and spoke and said to him who was standing before me, "Oh, my Lord." Now, the word "Lord" there, if you'll notice in your Bible, in the New American Standard, it is not capitalized.
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This Hebrew word "Lord" right here is like our English word "sir." "Sir." Okay?
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It's not referring to the deity of this angelic being here. "Oh, my Lord, as a result of the vision, anguish has come upon me and I've retained no strength.
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For how can such a servant of my Lord talk with such as my Lord?" Again, sir, referred to sir. "As for me, there remained just now no strength in me, nor has any breath been left in me. Then this one with human appearance touched me again and strengthened me. And he said, "O man of high esteem, do not be afraid. Peace be with you." In other words, you know what the angel is saying to him here? This is the angel that's interpreting all this for him. He's saying, "You're safe. You're safe.
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You're not going to die because you're in the presence of an angel. You're safe. Take courage and be courageous."
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"Now as soon as he spoke to me, I received strength and said, "May my Lord speak, for you have strengthened me." So Gabriel touched his lips and enabled him to speak. Look at verses 20 and 21. Then he said, here's what Gabriel said, "Do you understand why I came to you?
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But I shall now return to fight against the Prince of Persia."
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Let's read that carefully.
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"I shall now return to fight against the Prince of Persia."
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So I'm going forth and behold, the Prince of Greece is about to come.
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Remember, you've got the Babylonian Empire, you've got the Medo-Persian Empire,
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and you've got the Empire of Greece coming.
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And so the Empire of the Medo-Persians is about to go by the wayside.
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And the Empire of Greece is about to rise. Now look at this.
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"I shall now return to fight against the Prince of Persia." So I'm going forth and behold, the Prince of Greece is about to come to you. However, I will tell you what is described in the writing of truth.
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Some Bibles translate that the book of truth.
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"Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces except Michael, your prince."
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Now, here's what's interesting.
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The angels said, Gabriel said, "I'm returning to fight against the Prince of Persia."
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Now that battle would go on for two centuries, about 200 years.
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Because the Persian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, ran from 539 BC to 331 BC.
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So this struggle that he's referring to here, this battle, cosmic battle, this invisible war that he was in with the demonic powers that were over the nation of Persia,
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it was all about the decisions and relationships pertaining to the Jews during the Persian period. Think about this. They would reconstruct the temple during this period.
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You don't think there's any spiritual warfare that goes along with that? And then they would rebuild the city of Jerusalem, right? You don't think there's any spiritual warfare that goes along with that? And this is the time of Esther when Haman wanted to annihilate and destroy every Jew on the planet.
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You know why he wasn't able to do it? One reason, it wasn't God's will. Another reason, because God had assigned angels to protect the nation of Israel against the demons that were fomenting this hate, this anti-Semitism that made Haman want to destroy every Jew on the planet.
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I mean, this is amazing stuff.
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So look at verse 21, "The writing of truth."
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Now, understand this. This refers to God's plan for Israel and the entire world. You do realize that God has a plan for Israel. He's got a plan for all the world. He's got a plan for America. He's got a plan for all the nations of the world. The Bible says to Jeremiah that God plants nations and God uproots nations.
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Okay?
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So I want us to end our time together tonight by just thinking about this idea of an invisible war, a cosmic spiritual war. Take your Bible, flip over to Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 6.
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I want you to know, this is not just a Daniel thing.
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This is a thing that you find throughout the Bible.
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But Paul really hit on this in the New Testament. Look at verse 10 of chapter 6 of Ephesians.
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Paul wrote, "Finally, be strong in the Lord."
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You will know the key to winning spiritual and spiritual warfare, be strong in the Lord.
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And in the strength of His might.
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You can't handle demons. You can't handle Satan. You don't have that kind of power. But our Lord has a power.
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Put on the full armor of God that you'll be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
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For our struggle is not against flesh and blood.
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It's not against a cantankerous wife or cantankerous husband or wayward children. It's not any of that kind of stuff. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
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Therefore, take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day. And having done everything to stand firm, so we resist and we stand firm. Stand firm therefore having girded your loins with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, in addition to all taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
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And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, with all prayer and petition, pray at all times in spirit.
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That's how we win in spiritual warfare.
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We don't win because we're more powerful than demons or we're more powerful than Satan.
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We win because our Lord is more powerful. And we depend upon Him and we're strong in His might. And we take the weapons that He's given us, and they're weapons that are spiritual. They're not fleshly and they're designed to win in spiritual warfare.
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Let me close with several truths here. Angels and demons are real. They are real.
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They engage each other in spiritual conflict, not just in Daniel's day, but in our day.
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Sometimes I thought I would like to get a peek at what's happening in the spiritual realm. You realize in the book of Ephesians, the heavenlies are mentioned five times. This realm, this spiritual realm, the heavenlies.
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But you know, on the other hand, I'm not sure I want to see it.
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Demons can and do influence human affairs.
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Demons influence nations. They influence leaders of nations.
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They influence ideologies that abound in our world today.
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Let me tell you, I believe with all my heart that these ideologies, like the pro-choice movement where it's a woman's right to choose to kill her baby, that is of the devil. That has been fomented by demonic powers.
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This gender stuff that's going on, it's demonic. It's demonic, y'all.
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This lawlessness that's going on in our nation and the world.
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It's demonic.
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Demons can and do influence human affairs.
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Angels can and do influence human affairs.
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I'm talking about God's angels.
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They can do that too.
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God is sovereign over both demons and angels.
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And finally, our prayers are crucial in this cosmic conflict. We play a role. We don't sit on the sideline.
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We don't play it safe.
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We get out there and we're involved in a world that is filled with darkness, a broken world. And we're to be involved and we're to make sure that like Daniel, we get involved through our prayer lives. And we fast and pray for our kids. We fast and pray for our president, for the leaders of this nation. We fast and pray for America.
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That's how we can be involved.
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But what we do is very important.
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Don't ever think that God doesn't have a plan for us in this invisible war. He does.
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All right.
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Remember, next week, come with your thinking cap on.
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OK, I'm not sure I can cover all of Chapter 11 in one Wednesday night.
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Probably can't, but I'll do my best. If I don't, we'll take two Wednesday nights to cover. OK, somebody said, when we go get through it, Daniel, I said, when we get to the last verse of Daniel Chapter 12.
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That's when we're going to be through.
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Hey, thank you for being here. Thank you for your attention. Thank you for bringing your Bibles and for having a desire to learn from God and be who God's called us to be. Lord, thank you for the men and women in this room. Thank you for those watching live stream.
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And Lord, I pray that we would take what we've learned tonight about this invisible war.
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And I pray that you would use us the way you use Daniel. I pray that we would be men and women of God, that our character would be would be pure and holy before you and that we can live such a life that we could be highly esteemed by those in heaven. Lord, we love you.
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We thank you for your grace and mercy. Go with us. Be with our families. I pray a hedge of protection over our families, over this church, over our nation, over our city. Lord, I pray that you would protect us from every fiery dart of the enemy and help us to walk in victory. In Jesus name. Amen.