Latest / Teachings On This Day On FerventWord / On May 11, 2011: Daniel 10 Revelation And Spiritual War
Transcript
- 00:00 You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2011. 00:13 As we continue on in the book of Daniel here in chapter 10, we're starting kind of a new section. The last three chapters, 10, 11, and 12, all go together. They're one big event. And so we'll be just looking at chapter 10 this evening, and the next couple of weeks we'll finish off the rest of this event that's going on. 00:33 But this event is an incredible prophecy that is given to Daniel. And what we find here in chapter 10 is really the preparation for Daniel to receive that prophecy, for him to receive what it is that God wanted to show him and that he could record it for us and declare in advance the things that are going to take place. Well, let's start out here in chapter 10 and look at verse 1. It says this, 00:59 In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel whose name was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, but the appointed time was long and he understood the message and had understanding of the vision. 01:16 Here Daniel kind of introduces this portion with a little bit of a time reference. He said it was the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia. And if I could step back and remind you of the succession of kings for just a moment. Daniel, of course, was a Jew. He was an Israelite. He lived in the region of Judah, the nation of Judah, and probably in the city of Jerusalem. 01:40 And Judah and Jerusalem, they've been in rebellion against God for a couple hundred years to the point that God sent the nation of Babylon to bring some correction, to conquer the nation of Judah and to take captives back to Babylon. And so as we're reading this, that's what has taken place. Babylon has conquered Jerusalem. Daniel is one of those captives that were taken back to Babylon. 02:07 Well, Babylon became high and lifted up. And although God used them to bring his correction because of their own rebellion against God, God used another nation to bring some correction to Babylon. And that was the nation of Persia or the Medo-Persian Empire. And the Persians, the Medes and the Persians joined together and they conquered Babylon. 02:35 This king here, Cyrus, is the king that is responsible for conquering Babylon. And so it's the third year of King Cyrus. Babylon has been conquered for three years and Daniel continues to remain in the land of Babylon, the region of Babylon, under this new king, the king of Persia. And so this is the third year of his reign, which places it about 536 B.C. 03:02 I know that date probably doesn't mean a whole lot to you, but you could look at it and understand it this way. At this point, Daniel is probably at least 85 years old. He's been in Babylon for about 70 years as a result of the captivity. The Jewish people have been released. They've been given the opportunity to go back and rebuild in Jerusalem. 03:25 but probably because of his old age and maybe because of his responsibilities within the government, Daniel was not able to join them in the journey back to Jerusalem. And many of the Jews actually stayed in Babylon even though they had the opportunity to go back. So here's Daniel. This is really the end of his journey. 03:44 This is the last prophecy, the oldest prophecy or the latest prophecy that we have from him. And it's probably towards the end of his life as well. And he's about to receive this incredible prophecy that we'll be studying over the next couple of weeks. 04:01 He says that the message was true, but the appointed time was long. And so we'll see that in the coming weeks as we look at chapter 11 and 12, that the things that he's writing about and God was revealing to him, some of them happened right away after Daniel's life, but some of them are still yet to be fulfilled. And so it covers a very wide span of time. Some of the things have been fulfilled and some have not. 04:28 Let's go on to verse 2 and 3. It says, Now as we look here at verses 2 and 3, we understand that there's something going on. Daniel is mourning Daniel. 04:53 For some reason. We don't know what the reason is. He doesn't share with us. Some have speculated that he's mourning because of the building project that was happening in Jerusalem was halted. And that certainly is a possibility. But we don't know for sure what's going on. We just know something's heavy upon his heart. And so for three weeks, he's mourning and he is fasting. 05:18 Now what's interesting about this fast that Daniel is participating or practicing is that it's not what we typically think of when we think of a fast. When we think of fasting, we think of cutting off all food and just partaking of water. That's kind of the traditional perspective or view of what fasting is. 05:39 But as Daniel is fasting here in this time, he's not fasting from all food, but from particular things. So it says, he ate no pleasant food. 05:50 And so he had this set-aside portion of time, three weeks. And so he said, 06:09 that he decided, I'm going to limit myself, I'm going to limit my enjoyment of food, I'm going to limit my normal routine of anointing myself with oil and that type of thing, in order to seek God. And that's what's interesting about fasting is that 06:27 For you and I, this is an incredible opportunity for us. Fasting is something that we don't talk a whole lot about usually in the church. I know Jesse made reference to it a couple of weeks ago when he was able to teach on the Sunday morning. But as we come across it in the scriptures, it's good to point out what fasting is and to consider whether or not we are in a position or a place where we need to fast. 06:56 You know, fasting doesn't have to be a complete, you know, denial of food, although there's nothing wrong with that. But, you know, that's not always practical, sometimes because of your job, sometimes because of your medical conditions. You know, that's just really not possible. But the whole point of fasting, the whole purpose of fasting is to draw near to God. 07:19 Now, sometimes Christians have this misunderstanding about fasting. You know, it's kind of like we're arm-wrestling God, like who's going to budge first? Like, I'm going to fast, Lord, and then you're going to have to do this because you don't want me to die and I'm not going to eat until you do this. And it's kind of like, you know, trying to make God or force God to do what we want Him to do. But that's not really a good understanding of what fasting is. The whole purpose of fasting is to draw near to God. 07:46 to know Him more, to grow in our relationship with God. Fasting is not really mystical or magical and sometimes we can have that idea as well. Fasting is actually very, very practical. Here's the basic premise. When you limit yourself and say, I'm not going to eat food or I'm not going to eat this type of food, 08:11 then your body, because you've programmed it for many years to crave and desire, and it's pretty accustomed to getting the things that it desires, when your body begins to tell you, hey, I can really use a cheeseburger right now, then that's a reminder for you, I'm fasting. Okay, let me pray. You see, here's how it works, right? Your body tells you when you're hungry, and we're very consistent. We're pretty faithful to take care of our physical needs. 08:46 But what often is lacking in our lives? The spiritual things. Although we're faithful three times a day, you know, sometimes four or five or six times a day. We're feeding the flesh. We're making sure this thing's taken care of. 09:02 But very often, the spiritual things and our time with the Lord, that's kind of put on the back burner and, oh, if I have time, hopefully I'll get around to it. If I wake up early enough, oh, I woke up late, I'll just eat breakfast and then I'll... You see, we focus on the physical. We take care of the physical. And so the time of fasting is very practical. It's saying, okay, I'm going to deny the physical. I take plenty of good care of that. I'm going to deny it for a time so that I can focus on the spiritual. 09:30 And whenever I get hungry or whenever I'm craving that particular thing, like Daniel, he limited himself from the pleasant food and the meats and the wine. And so he limited his diet. He still ate, but he ate and probably kept like unleavened bread and vegetables and that type of thing. And so he was able to eat, but when he was craving, he's like, oh man, I could really use a steak or I really want something sweet. 09:57 then it was a reminder to him, okay, let me seek the Lord. And so it's very practical in that way. It's very practical in that when your body tells you, hey, I need something, it's a reminder, I always feed my flesh. I'm going to take this time to focus on the things of the Spirit. And so Daniel here is fasting for these three weeks. And I would really encourage you, 10:19 to take some time, set apart some time and focus on the Lord. And maybe it's fasting from a particular thing that you can do so that when you have that craving, when you have that desire, you can remember, I need to spend some time in prayer. I need to get into the Word. Or maybe it's fasting... 10:36 from food altogether for, of course, a shorter amount of time. And in doing so, you're setting apart time to seek the Lord. Again, it's not something magical or mystical like if you don't eat food, suddenly, you know, visions and revelations come to you. No, that's not the way it works. It's about reminding yourself 10:55 And your body is very consistent. You will regularly be reminded if you withhold from your flesh the things that it wants, you'll be reminded repeatedly how much it wants it. And so therefore, because you're fasting, it's a reminder repeatedly, regularly, consistently to be spending time with the Lord. You ever go throughout the day and you realize at the end of the day, man, I really forgot to spend some time in prayer today. 11:26 It's a reminder. It's like a built-in alarm clock. If you're fasting, it's a built-in alarm clock. Regularly and consistently throughout the day, your body is going to be reminding you to pray. 11:37 because you're fasting. And so it's a great opportunity for us to draw near to the Lord. And so that's what Daniel's doing. He's spending this time, he's mourning. There's something heavy upon his heart. And so he says, I'm going to spend some time with the Lord these next few weeks. I'm going to hear from him. I want to spend time at his feet and understand what it is that he's 11:56 speaking to me and why I'm feeling this way and the things that I'm going through. I just want to draw near to the Lord. Fasting is a great way to keep God right in the center of your thoughts because your body will be reminding you continually to spend time with the Lord. And so that's what Daniel's doing. He's fasting from these pleasant foods, from these delicacies, from these things that he's used to receiving, but he's going to 12:24 Verse 4, Verse 5, 12:44 So check this out. Daniel is fasting. What's the purpose of fasting? To draw near to God. To get to know Him better. And at the end of his period of fasting, he has this incredible vision of Jesus. 13:17 You see, that's the point. Not to have some, you know, religious experience or something, but to see Jesus more clearly, to have that understanding of who He is, to have that understanding of what He has accomplished and done for us. And so Daniel has this great, incredible vision as he's there. He's by the Tigris River, which is there in the region of Babylon, but of course now Persia is ruling over the region. 13:47 But he's there by the river and he lifts his eyes and he looks and there's a certain man clothed with linen. Now some believe that this is simply an angel that Daniel sees. But I happen to believe that Daniel here actually gets a preview of Jesus in his glorified state. 14:13 You can compare it to what the Apostle John saw on the island of Patmos in Revelation chapter 1, check it out later, verses 12 through 15. If you parallel those passages and look at the different features... 14:28 what he's wearing, the belt that he has on, the way his eyes are, the flames of fire, the color of his arms and his legs. All of those details match perfectly from what Daniel saw to what the Apostle John saw on the island of Patmos. 14:46 And so he has this incredible experience of seeing Jesus. He gets to know God. He's spending time in fasting and there Jesus is. He's able to see Jesus in his glory. Verse 7. 15:00 And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision. For the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great terror fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone when I saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me. For my vigor was turned to frailty in me, and I retained no strength." 15:22 And so here we get to see Daniel's response. I mean, you can imagine how incredible this would be. He sees Jesus. He sees him glorified. 15:42 He points out, nobody else was with me. Everybody who was there with me when this vision came upon me, they couldn't see the vision, but they knew something was up and terror came upon them and they fled away. Can you imagine that? 15:55 So like, you know, in just a few moments we're worshipping together and then all of a sudden Sifoa has this incredible vision and the rest of us are like, what's going on? Let's get out of here. And Sifoa is left in here all by himself seeing this vision of Jesus. That would be what it was like. Daniel was there with some people and they know something's going on. God's doing something. There's this powerful work of God and the other people aren't ready for it. They aren't prepared for it. 16:20 And so they freak out and they run out the door. They run away. And so there's Daniel all by himself seeing this great vision. But notice what he says, and no strength remained in me. He says, my vigor was turned to frailty in me and I retained no strength. Part of the reason why Daniel didn't run away is he had no strength. He was just completely wiped out by this vision of 16:52 I think it's a little bit humorous when people declare that they will set God straight when they stand before Him. The reality is, you will have no strength. When we stand before God, we'll immediately fall on our face because He's glorious. And His glory and His goodness, His holiness is far beyond what we could ever imagine. It will be overwhelming. 17:29 We will be on our faces before the Lord. That's the condition Daniel was in. He's just wiped out. He has no strength. He's not able to stand. He's not able to lift himself. He's just there, completely emptied before the Lord, completely frail. But he hears the sound of his words, he says there in verse 9. While he heard it, it says he was in a deep sleep on his face, with his face to the ground. He's just completely knocked down. 18:03 No strength. But he's hearing the Lord speak. He's hearing the word of God. As we consider this passage this evening, I think you need to know that spiritual things are exhausting. We're going to see this again in this chapter. It's going to happen a couple times. As Daniel is experiencing this prophecy, this revelation, this vision, he's having this incredible connection with the Lord. 18:49 It comes at a cost. It comes at a price. His body is just completely emptied. He has no strength. He's fully exhausted. Now what's amazing about this is he is exhausted because he has come in contact with Jesus. I've been meditating on that idea, on that thought. How many times do we as believers say, I'm too tired to spend time with the Lord? 19:29 I'm too tired to participate in that work of God. I'm too tired to sit with the Lord and read in His Word and have this relationship with Him. I'm too tired for that event, for that thing. How many times are we too tired to invest ourselves into the things of the Spirit? And how many times are we exhausted because we've invested ourselves to such a great degree 20:07 Into the things of God. Do you know what it's like to be exhausted like Daniel was? From spending time with the Lord. You see, a real relationship with God, it's exhausting. Not because you have to work so hard, but because the things of the Spirit overwhelm the flesh. They drain us. You can talk to anybody who has been involved in any real ministry before. 20:47 You know, in a couple of weeks we'll get to see a lot of our missionaries and the pastors that were sent out. I'd encourage you to talk to them. Ask them. Do you ever get exhausted as you're dealing with spiritual things? When we're involved in the spiritual realm, it's taxing upon our bodies. Those who are exhausted from the things of the Spirit know exactly what Daniel is experiencing here. How many of us know what that's like? Now let me ask you. 21:35 Remember, Paul says in 2 Corinthians, the things that can be seen are temporary and the things that are unseen are eternal. So let's consider for just a moment, the things that you get exhausted from, are they temporary things or are they eternal things? Now, it's not wrong to be tired from physical things. There's a lot of physical things that we have to do, that God calls us to do. But how many times do 22:12 Have we invested ourselves in the things that have eternal value to the extent that we have no strength? How many times have we spent time with the Lord and connected with Him in that relationship with Him so that we just have no strength because of our time with Him? Now this wasn't Daniel's everyday experience, but he did experience it. I would challenge you. God wants you to have these kinds of times with Him. 22:53 That you are so heavily invested that you're receiving from Him, that you're dealing with things of eternity, that you're involved in the spiritual aspects of life. And it brings you to exhaustion. Let's go on to verse 10. It says, 23:16 You see what happens here? 23:38 Daniel falls on his face when he sees Jesus. He's involved in this vision. He's involved in receiving this prophecy. It wipes him out. He's on his face. Spiritual things are exhausting, but then God supplies your need in the midst of it. God supplies your need. 24:03 Here's Daniel on his face. Bam! And then the angel comes, sets his hand on him, and he says he gets to his hands and his knees, but he's trembling. He's like shaking. He's barely got the strength. Picture Bambi. Remember Bambi? You know, the legs are like... He's just like... Just barely able. And then the angel calls him to stand up, and he stands up, and he says he's trembling. Have you experienced this? 24:28 This is what Daniel's going through. Why? Because he's involved and he's invested in the things of the Spirit. There's a work that God is doing. Hey guys, I would encourage you. We're getting ready to head up to retreat this weekend. I believe for many of you, God wants to have an exhausting weekend with you where you're just barely holding on. You can barely stand up. You're trembling because He's working and He's speaking and you're growing in your relationship with Him. 25:05 Spiritual things are exhausting, but listen, God will supply your need. God will supply your need. Now this is true in our relationship with the Lord. It's also true in our reaching out for the Lord. How many of you know of situations in your own life where God needs to work? Where people need to hear from God? Where people need God's encouragement and comfort and help? How many of you know people who... 25:52 who could really benefit from someone coming alongside them and the power of the Holy Spirit to minister to them. Listen, God can use you and He wants to use you, but it's going to be exhausting. It's going to be exhausting. It's hard work. It takes a lot out of you because spiritual things, they overwhelm our flesh. They overwhelm our flesh. We need to be ready, guys. 26:41 We need to be built up. We need to be prayed up. We need to be ready. Because listen, there are people all around us who need to hear the gospel. There are people around us who just need someone to come alongside and show them the love of Christ. There's people all around us who need prayer. There's people all around us who need correction. There's people in our lives that God wants to use. But we're so caught up in the physical. We're so caught up in the temporary that 27:15 And we miss out. Or we say, I'm too tired to involve myself in the things of the Spirit. Listen, involve yourself. God will give you the strength that you need. It'll never be convenient. It'll never be, you know, just the right time. Like, oh, now is the perfect time for me to witness to my co-worker. Those occasions are rare. It's always going to be, you know, there's a million excuses why you shouldn't, why you can't. 27:52 Here's Daniel. He's experiencing this revelation. The angel comes and he gives him strength so he's able to stand. He's trembling, but he's standing. He's just overwhelmed by what God is doing in his heart and in his life. Verse 12. 28:08 Then he said to me, 28:38 for the vision refers to many days yet to come. So the angel tells him, I'll jump to the end for just a second. Hey, I've come to give you understanding, to show you the things that are going to come. It's going to be for many days in the future. And so it's going to cover a great expanse of time. But notice what he says there in verse 12. He says, From the first day that you set your heart 29:06 to understand and to humble yourself before God. Daniel, from the first day when you started praying and fasting, I was sent. How long was Daniel praying and fasting? For three weeks. This angel was sent the very first day that Daniel started to pray and fast. But it's taken him three weeks to get to Daniel to reveal to him this vision and this prophecy. But notice what he says. He says, Your words were heard from the very first day. That happens so often. 29:46 We're praying, nothing's happened. And we think, man, my words weren't heard. The angel says, no, no, Daniel, your words were heard. God was working behind the scenes. He was answering the prayer. You just didn't get to see it until right now as I'm standing before you. So don't be discouraged if you don't see the immediate answer to prayer. Sometimes God does that. And of course, we would prefer if it was all the time. But most of the time, we're praying, our words are heard, and we're praying. 30:18 But we don't see the results until later on. Well, he says, I was sent the very first day. For three weeks I've been trying to get here, but I've been held back. We're given here in verse 13 a little bit of a glimpse. The curtain's kind of pulled back a little bit. And we get a peek in and we see some spiritual warfare going on. Now, we don't know a whole lot about what takes place and the battles that go on between the angelic forces and the demonic forces. 30:51 But here we get just like a little bit of a glimpse. So he says, look, I'm on my way and the prince of Persia withstood me. He's not talking about a physical guy, you know, heir to the throne, the prince of Persia. He's talking about a spiritual entity. He's talking about a demonic force. He says, for 21 days we were battling. For 21 days we were going back and forth. We were fighting. I was trying to get to you, but I was caught up in the midst of this battle. 31:28 And I was caught up there until he says, Michael, and we know Michael is an archangel, so Michael the archangel comes alongside of this other angel that's come to Daniel, and Michael the archangel helps him in this battle against the prince of Persia, gives him a little bit of cover and relief, and so he's able to go on, and now he appears before Daniel. Now again, we don't know a whole lot about these kinds of things, but we see a little glimpse here. 32:01 And I think it's here, not for us to wonder, you know, well, how do they fight? You know, what's really going on? But it's here for us to realize that spiritual war is real. Spiritual war really does happen. There really are battles that are taking place. 32:24 And that's something that as Christians we really need to grasp hold of this understanding. There's real battles that are going on around us. Why do we need to grasp hold of that? Because the things of the Spirit are exhausting. Sometimes we jump right into the midst of a spiritual battle without realizing what's really going on. So we're unprepared, we're not ready, and we're quickly knocked out. 33:00 Because we failed to grasp, we failed to understand there's a spiritual battle taking place. Well, how do we know when there's spiritual war going on? How do we know when there's these spiritual battles? Paul tells us. I would encourage you, spend some time in Ephesians chapter 6. This is a must read for every Christian. Ephesians chapter 6 in verse 12, Paul says, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. Now, how much time do you and I spend wrestling against flesh and blood? 33:33 All the time, aren't we? It's like continual. No wonder we're exhausted because we're fighting the wrong battle. He says, we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Paul says, look, you need to understand our fight is not against the people. You think it's the guy who cut you off, but there's a spiritual battle that's raging today 34:06 with that person. You think it's your boss who's giving you such a hard time, but the reality is there's a spiritual war that's taking place in their life. You think it's your spouse. You think it's your kids. That's how we are. We think it's these people around us. They're the problem. No, no. Paul says it's not against flesh and blood. That's not where your fight is. Stop fighting in the physical realm. You're always going to lose. 34:34 The reality is the fight that is really going on is a spiritual fight. Paul says we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. That's not where our fight is. It's against the spiritual forces of wickedness. There's demonic forces at work. There's battles that are going on for people's souls. And that's the real issue. You think your co-worker is just giving you a hard time for the fun of it. But the reality is God is fighting for their soul. There's a battle going on. 35:15 And that's why they behave the way that they do. Now, if you get involved in the physical and fight the physical, you're going to be fighting the wrong battle. And you're going to be jumping right into the midst of a spiritual war that you're not prepared for, that you're not even recognizing is happening. We don't wrestle against flesh and blood. Now, again, the things of the spirit, spiritual things are exhausting. 35:53 In Ephesians chapter 6, again, Paul's talking about spiritual warfare there. He tells us we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. He says, look, we're wrestling against spiritual forces. And so in verse 13 of Ephesians 6, he says, 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. What's Paul saying? He says, look, the reality is we're fighting spiritual battles. We're in the midst of a spiritual war. We're in a spiritual war. 36:22 So prepare yourself and take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand. But then he emphasizes, having done all to stand. In other words, listen, this isn't going to be an easy thing. It's a spiritual war and the things of the Spirit are overwhelming to our flesh. You're going to be exhausted. It's going to take everything in you to continue standing at the end of the day. You're going to need the whole armor of God. You're going to need... 36:56 everything that God has for you just to be able to stand. We're not even talking about offensive, you know, chasing down the enemy. No, no, no. Don't even worry about that. Your goal, your objective is just to stand and it's going to take everything that God has for you. You're going to need the whole armor of God just to be able to stand and having done everything else to be able to stand there trembling like Daniel. See, the reality is that there's a spiritual war going on. 37:37 And as there's a spiritual battle that's raging, what's happening to Daniel? He's wiped out. He's wiped out. He's experiencing this revelation from the Lord. There's a spiritual battle that's going on and he just has no strength. Listen, those who are half-hearted in the Christian walk, they're not going to last because there's spiritual war going on. There's battles that are taking place. And having done all, given everything, we'll be able to stand. But if we're half-hearted... 38:17 Yeah, I think pretty much I want to follow the Lord mostly. Today maybe, not so much tomorrow. There's some good things going on tomorrow. I don't want to miss out on those. But on Wednesday, I'll be back with the Lord. You won't last. Those who are playing with sin, they're not going to last. They're going to fall away. These are serious things. These are real battles that are going on. It's battles for people's souls. It's battles for your own soul. It's not something to take lightly. You know, it's interesting. 38:57 Those who are involved in leadership, those who are pastors, I think we get to see this more so than others. But it's interesting to watch people when they encounter, for the first time or for the first time in a long time, when they encounter spiritual warfare. It's interesting because it's so predictable. It's so predictable. It was a few months back or last year actually that we asked a few people to open up their homes and do a home Bible study. 39:37 And in doing so, as we asked them to pray about it and be part of it, we also gave the warning. Listen, there's going to be some spiritual battles. There's going to be some spiritual war. Every time you take a step of faith, every time you take a step of obedience, it's so predictable. The enemy will step up the battle in your life. And usually, you know, he's not stupid. He doesn't say, Oh, well, let me think. I'll throw a water balloon. No, a banana peel. That'll get him. He's not stupid. He studies our lives. 40:15 And he catches us off guard. So you think, alright, I'm ready, I'm ready. Temptation is going to come from this way. And then the attack is from your kids. Where did that come from? I wasn't ready for that. It's so predictable. Every time you take a step of faith, you decide, I'm going to really be serious about my walk with the Lord. I'm going to start spending time with the Lord every day in His Word. Attack, attack, attack, attack. 40:42 You open up your Bible, phone call. The stove catches on fire. I mean, just whatever. It's so predictable. You got to be ready. These are evidences. This is a spiritual battle. There's spiritual war going on. It's raging around us. You remember Jesus told his disciples they were trying to cast out this, this, the demonic forces out of this kid and 41:11 They couldn't do it. He came, he did it. They came up to him and said, hey, how come we couldn't do it? He said, this time only comes out by prayer and fasting. Basically, he told his disciples, you weren't ready. You jumped right into the middle of a spiritual battle that you weren't prepared for. And so you were powerless. Guys, we need to be ready. Satan is fighting for the hearts of the people around you. So many times we try to jump into a situation, we try to deal with the physical. Whether it be trying to 41:59 restore some tragic hurt that has taken place or fight against some injustice or fight against something that is going on, we jump into the physical. We're fighting the wrong battle. Or we jump in but we're not ready. We haven't taken up the whole counsel of God. We haven't been in prayer and fasting and drawing near to the Lord. So we will be powerless in that fight. 42:33 There's angelic war going on. It's a reality. Now, the Bible never instructs us to pray over, you know, Lord, help the angels to win. I'm not talking about the baseball team, right? The Bible never instructs us to... We get little sneak peeks like this, but the Bible never says, you know, make sure that you pray. No, no, no. We're praying for people. We're praying for God to reveal Himself to us. Some people get all into, you know, the demon of this sin or the demon of that sin and... 43:06 The Bible never teaches anything about that. You don't have to worry about the demons and focus your prayers on that. You focus yourself on your relationship with the Lord. You draw near to God. You pray for the hearts of the people and what God wants to do in their lives. God takes care of the spiritual things, but He shows us these things so that we can know, listen, there's a reality to this. It's a spiritual battle. This isn't just, you know, all they need is some counseling. This isn't, you know, they just need to get religious and come to church and then everything will be better. 43:40 No. Satan wants their soul. And he's going to do everything he can to drag them down to hell with it. And you try to mess with one of Satan's people, it's like getting in between a bear and a cubs. He's going to come out fighting. You better be ready. You better be ready. The things of the Spirit are exhausting. There's wars going on. And God will supply our need. He will give us the strength that we need to be able to stand. But we need to know what's going on. We need to be prepared. 44:34 Be walking strong in our relationship with the Lord. Let's go on to verse 15. It says, 44:58 Again, Daniel is just overwhelmed. The angel begins to tell him, hey, I'm here to share with you the vision. He's like, hang on, hang on, I'm just catching my breath. I can't take this. This is too much. How can I talk? His head's towards the ground. He's just completely powerless and weak. 45:28 He has no strength, he says. No strength remains in me. I'm emptied. I'm done. Again, the things of the Spirit are exhausting. This is why you cannot live the Christian life in your own strength. It cannot be done. Not even if you try really hard. Not even if you're trained by the Marines. Not even if you have the most discipline of anyone on the face of the earth. The Christian life cannot be done in your own strength. Because it's spiritual warfare. It's spiritual warfare. 46:01 You're going to need to be filled to overflowing with the power of the Holy Spirit. You're going to need to be on your face before God just to survive the day, just to stand at the end of the day because there's battles going on. So many times as Christians we're defeated because we're not taking seriously and understanding how important it is to be connected with the Lord, to be grasping hold of Him throughout the day. 46:37 Too many times as Christians we're defeated because we have our rituals and we rely upon that. I read my Bible today, alright, I should be fine. No, you're going to need to grasp hold of God and not let go all day long. And you're going to have to be crying out to Him for the power of the Holy Spirit at every turn, at every corner, with each step. The Christian life is not a couple times a week you go to church and then you're set. The Christian life is a moment by moment holding on for dear life. 47:09 Jesus. Getting to know Him. Relying upon Him. Being obedient to Him. Because He gives us the strength not just to stand, but then also to involve and engage in the battles that are going on. But you can't engage in the battles that are going on if you're not grasping hold of Jesus. We need to be ready. We need to be prepared. Because you need to engage in the spiritual battles. 47:44 Again, you need to hear from the Lord. Why? Because there's people around you that need you to communicate to them on behalf of God. But hearing from the Lord is not just like, okay, let me just open up to a random page here. All right, all right, here's a verse. Okay, since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel and have caused you to rest from all your enemies, also the Lord tells you that he will make you a house. All right, co-worker, God says he's going to make you a house. 48:19 No, no, no, no. It doesn't work like that. How does it work? It works by you being exhausted because you've spent time with the Lord and He's spoken to your heart and it's been a burden and it's overwhelming you. And so you go and you declare, this is what God is saying. This is what God has spoken to me for you. It's not easy. It takes effort. It takes work. You're going to have to involve yourself and be exhausted at the end result. But that's what people need. 48:57 That's what God expects from us. Listen, you need revelation from God like Daniel is receiving. You need to exercise the spiritual gifts that have been given to you, but understand spiritual gifts are spiritual gifts and the things of the Spirit are exhausting. The things of the Spirit are exhausting. When you exercise the gifts that God has given to you, it will be exhausting. Your flesh will be overwhelmed. I guarantee you. It's interesting to talk to people who 49:38 will have come and teach on a Sunday morning and they're not used to doing two services. Because by the end of it, man, they're spent. They didn't realize. The same way that I didn't realize the first time I started teaching multiple services. You just don't realize what the cost is, what it takes. It's exhausting. It's kind of like exercising though. The things of the Spirit are exhausting. But as you draw near and walk with God, you begin to grow spiritually. 50:25 In your endurance, you begin to grow in your capacity. So lately, I've picked up running again. I've been lazy for a long time, and so the Lord put it on my heart. And so when He gives me the discipline to do something, I try to do it, because usually I don't have the discipline to do that kind of thing. And so I started up with a program called Couch to 5K. You've probably heard of it. And basically, the idea is it takes someone who just sits on the couch... 50:56 And then train them to run 5K, a little over three miles. And so it starts out week one. You do it three times a week. And week one, you run for a minute, and then you walk for a minute and a half. And you just keep repeating that for 20 minutes. Now let me tell you, that first time, oh my goodness, it was terrible. 51:19 I thought I was going to die. I'm looking ahead at the schedule thinking, in a couple of weeks, I've got to be able to run for 20 minutes straight. There's no way. It's impossible. But then the second time I went out that week, it was a tiny bit easier. I was like, a tiny bit easier. I was like, there's no way. And then the third time I went, and then each time after that, each week, it just increases it just a tiny bit. So that by the end of the schedule... 51:50 you're able to run for the 5k. I'm amazed how effective it is, how I've grown in endurance, how I've grown in the capacity. I'm not fast and I'm not skinny yet, but I noticed the difference. Hey, I can run for five minutes and it's not too tough. I can run for ten minutes, it's not too tough. Wow, I can see the progress. In the same way, the things of the Spirit. So you're learning to stand many times. 52:22 And then you're taking steps of faith and it's exhausting, but then God will cause you to take another step of faith and you're growing in your endurance and you're growing and you're building the capacity to walk with the Lord, to be used by the Lord, but it's not for the faint of heart. It's going to be a battle each step of the way. And so here's Daniel just exhausted. 52:47 And once again, he received strength. Look at verse 18. It says, Then again, the one having the likeness of a man touched me and strengthened me. And he said, O man, greatly beloved, fear not. Peace be to you. Be strong. Yes, be strong. So when 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 have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia. And when I have gone forth, indeed, the prince of Greece will come. 53:16 But I will tell you what is noted in the scripture of truth. No one upholds me against these except Michael, your prince. Also in the first year of Darius the Mede, I, even I, stood up to confirm and strengthen him. The angel tells Daniel, listen, I got to go back and fight this guy. So I'm going to tell you the prophecy real quick and then I got to get back into the battle. 53:42 Because not only am I battling the prince of Persia, but the prince of Greece, he's going to come too. And there's going to be, I've got some tough things with me and it's only Michael the archangel is with me. So there's going to be some serious battles going on. So I've got to hurry up, tell you what I need to tell you and then get back. And so chapter 11 is going to go on and declare to Daniel the prophecy that God sent him. But notice there in verse 18 and 19, Daniel receives strength again from the Lord. 54:13 He received strength from the Lord. An angel touches him and says, Daniel, you are greatly beloved. Did you know that you're greatly beloved? God has for you the strength that you need. He has for you the peace that you need. And so God would speak to you, peace, be strong. Yes, be strong. You have strength in the Lord and the power of His might. You have strength in Him. But it comes from being in Him. It comes from grasping hold of Him. 54:49 So the angel says, be strengthened. He says, okay, okay, I'm strengthened. Yes, I'm strong in the Lord. Okay, now I'm ready. I'm ready to hear what God sent you to share with me. And we'll look at that next time in chapter 11. But I want to ask the worship team to come up and we're going to run late tonight, okay? Just forewarn you a little bit. If you need to go, of course, you're free to go. But listen, we need to be prepared. We need to be ready. 55:22 We need to be in training because there's a world out there that's perishing. And listen, we always assume that things will continue on tomorrow like they did yesterday. But you know what? We don't know what tomorrow holds. We don't know what tomorrow holds. We need to be ready. What would happen if I woke up tomorrow and needed to run a 5K? I wouldn't be ready. I'm not ready. That could happen to us spiritually. Listen, let's sober this up pretty quickly. 56:01 What if tomorrow you wake up and you receive the news like Pastor Cisco received the news? There's a mass. And now you're in the midst of a spiritual battle that you had no thought of before, that you hadn't prepared for. You're facing eternity. How are you going to handle it? Or you wake up tomorrow and it's your spouse. They have a mass. Are you ready for that battle? Or you wake up tomorrow, the price of gas is $10 a gallon. And your whole life has to change. 56:39 Or you wake up tomorrow and the United States is no more. Or you wake up tomorrow to a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami. Or you get the point. You don't know what tomorrow holds. Man, we're so lazy as Christians so many times. 57:06 Listen, there's battles going on. There's people going to hell. And we need to be involved and engaged in the battle. It's going to be exhausting, so we need to be prayed up and we need to be ready. And listen, this is what I love about Wednesday nights. This is our training ground. This is our training ground for war, for battle. So many times on Wednesdays, as much as we... 57:32 believe God's leading us, we give the opportunity for you to pray for one another and to minister to one another. Why is that? Well, that's part of the responsibility of the body of Christ to minister to one another. But it's also the training ground because here you can safely practice. We're sparring, right? We've got gloves on. We're not out to hurt one another. We're out to help one another. We're practicing. But out in the real world, the gloves are off. The enemy doesn't, you know, oh, I'm just going to... 58:02 Kind of hit you a little bit. No, he's out to take you down. You jump on his turf. You minister to his person. It's going to be a battle. And that's why we need to practice. That's why it's so important when we give opportunity. Hey, pray for one another. Share with someone a scripture that God's put upon your heart. You may not understand it. You may not know why. You may not know what God is speaking to them. But it's important for you. You got to practice because here it's a safe environment. You can do so without getting your head cut off. 58:36 But out there, God's going to call you to do the same thing. Hey, go pray for that person. Now, if you've been practicing, you've gotten used to it. Okay, yeah, I'm ready. I know how to do this. Boom, boom, yeah, let's do it. Engage in the battle. If you've been sharing scriptures with one another, hey, you've been practicing. And then God says, hey, I want you to share with them this verse that you've been reading this morning. All right, because you've been practicing. 59:10 And so we're going to spend some time in worship now. And what I'd like you to do is to practice engaging in the battle. First of all, you spend time with the Lord and grasp hold of Jesus like you never have before. Look to Him for strength. Look to Him to supply your need. And as you do that, then practice engaging in the battle. They're going to lead us in a couple songs. Minister to one another. Pray for one another. Share with one another the scriptures that have 59:43 been speaking to your heart, that God has been ministering to you. Get ready for tomorrow when you're out on the battlefield, for tonight when you're out on the battlefield. Practice, develop, grow. Learn to use the gifts that God has given to you. Learn to engage in battle here in the safe environment so that you'll be prepared. And what always happens is there's people, as I share these types of things, you know, I'm a loser, I'm not worthy, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Listen, that describes all of us. 60:20 I can't pray for them. I need someone to pray for me. That describes all of us. You're not the exception. God wants to use you to minister to others. He wants you to reach a lost and dying world. Evangelism isn't just for great glory. Ministering, counseling, praying for one another, that's not just for pastors. That's the work of the body of Christ. Engage in the work. It's going to be exhausting. But you'll grow in your endurance. You'll grow in your strength. And you have an opportunity here in a safe environment to practice ministry. 61:00 and get ready for the work that God wants to do tomorrow. Let's worship the Lord together. You grasp hold of Jesus and minister to one another, however God leads during these next couple songs. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.