All right, let's take our Bibles
once again. Turn with me to the book of Daniel. Daniel. Right after the book of Ezekiel.
Daniel, chapter 10. I've entitled this message, Hearing
from the Lord. And you know every believer,
they want to hear from the Lord. The Lord has promised that they
shall. Scripture says in John 10.27,
my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. But you know with that revelation,
there's still that longing to know how does the Lord speak
His people. How do they hear? I've said before
He speaks in His scriptures. He speaks in providence. He speaks
in their heart. But our passage is going to teach
us something about how God gives instruction to His people and
they truly hear. Many people, you can hear what
I'm saying right now. And you understand what I'm saying.
But how is it that the Lord prepares us to really hear it? To hear. He's going to speak to a man
named Daniel. A man, according to verse 11
in chapter 10, it says, He said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly
beloved, understand the words that I speak
unto thee. That which I would like for us
to consider for just a few minutes is how the Lord caused Daniel
to hear, truly hear, to understand. And I pray that God calls us
to glean from this. May the Lord teach us something.
Now let's just look. I want to look at the first 12
verses. Just touch it a little bit. Verse 1, in the third year of
Cyrus, king of Persia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose
name was called Belteshazzar. And the thing was true, but the
time appointed was long. And he understood the thing,
had understanding in the vision. Now, in the third year of Cyrus,
king of Persia, that third year since Cyrus began to reign after
the conquest of Babylon, I found out, a man named Daniel was in that
place. He had been born. It's time to
be born, time to die. This was Daniel's time. Here
we are today. This was Daniel's time. And the
scripture says a thing, that is a word or a decree was revealed
unto Daniel. God spoke to him, but it was
for a time later. And the vision, the actual vision
is dealt with in verses 13 and on. But what I'd like to deal
with is how the Lord brought him to hear it. That we might
be able to know something of hearing from the Lord. Verse 2, And in those days I
Daniel was mourning. Three full weeks. Now I read
that and I read what many of the writers had said and they
were saying he was mourning over this, he was mourning over that.
Scripture doesn't say why he was mourning. I've got some speculation
but what difference does it make? The Scripture declares that Daniel
was in mourning and with the Spirit of God not giving us any
indication of exactly what it was, we're brought to realize
that it was the good pleasure of God not to say. But suffice
it to say, he was mourning. And the Scripture says he was
mourning three full weeks. Weeks of days. Three weeks he
was in mourning. But now, you know, when we're
in a state of mourning, have you ever found yourself, sometimes
I know why I'm down, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I just, I
don't know why. I just feel as though that I'm
just not with it. I don't understand why, but Mourning,
according to the scriptures, often for that believer is found
to be a thing of great blessing. Great. Psalm 34, 18, the Lord
is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such
as be of a contrite spirit. Psalm 51, 17, the sacrifices
of God are a broken heart. a broken and contrite heart,
O God, thou wilt not despise. Matthew 5, 4, blessed are they
that mourn, for they shall be comforted. God's people mourn. Sometimes, as I said, you know
why. Sometimes you don't. But I'm convinced that there
are times when we find ourselves in that state of mourning and
realizing something of the hatred that we have for indwelling sin. I see myself and I mourn. I mourn over my unbelief. I mourn
over my prayer. I mourn over my inconsistencies. I mourn over a lack of study.
I mourn over this stuff. But as the Lord is going to speak
to His people. Notice where it started. David
was mourning for three weeks. Three full weeks. And he says
in verse three, I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor
wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all till three
whole weeks were fulfilled. You ever just find yourself,
I just don't feel like doing anything, you know. But have
we ever considered that The Lord may be preparing us to speak
to us for something. He's going to tell us something.
He's going to bring us to a better understanding of our frailty
and our need. You start to grieve over yourself,
what you see. Grieve over those inconsistencies. position that Daniel was in,
he said, I didn't eat any pleasant bread. The margin says the bread
of desires. That which was generally eaten
and enjoyed by people. The bread of affliction that's
spoken of in Isaiah 30. Hold your place right there.
Turn back to Isaiah 30. That bread of affliction. It
represented something. Isaiah 30 verse 18 to 20. Isaiah 30 verse 18, and therefore
will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you. And therefore
will he be exalted that he may have mercy upon you. For the
Lord is a God of judgment. Blessed are all they that wait
for him. For the people shall dwell in
Zion at Jerusalem. Thou shalt weep no more. He will
be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry. When he
shall hear it, he will answer thee. And though the Lord give
you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet
shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner anymore, but thine
eyes shall see thy teachers. The Lord often brings his people
into that state of truly seeing their need of him, of mourning. In verse 4, back in Daniel 10,
the scripture says, and in the four and twentieth day of the
first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which
is Hadekel, I looked up where that river was first mentioned.
It was first mentioned back in Genesis 2, verse 14. It was one
of the four rivers, the heads of the four rivers. of the four
rivers that came out of the Garden of Eden. And here's Daniel. Now, he's being directed by the
Lord to come to this certain place. And he's been brought
there in a state of mourning. He's been mourning for three
weeks. And God brings him to a place that he's going to hear
the voice of the Lord. God's going to speak to him.
He's going to see something of his need of Christ. And verse
5 says, And I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, And behold,
a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with
fine gold of Euphaz." Now, there's no doubt that this man that appeared
unto Daniel in the same way that he appeared unto John on the
Isle of Patmos was the great high priest himself, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He was pleased to reveal himself
to Daniel as the one whoever liveth, to make intercession
for his people. Scripture says concerning this
man that Daniel saw, here he is, he's been mourning, three
weeks been mourning, he didn't want to eat really the natural
food, he just didn't drink, he's over, he's with some people because
we're going to see in just a few minutes, there's some with him.
But he's over there, and he's over by this river. And he looks
up and he sees this man. He's dressed in the dress of
the priest himself, clothed in linen. It's like Aaron, the high
priest on the Day of Atonement, whenever he was to dress in linen,
whenever he was going to go into the Holy of Holies, and when
Aaron was going to enter that Holy of Holies on the Day of
Atonement, he was going to be dressed only in that clean linen,
that material that set forth the blessed humiliation of the
Lord Jesus Christ before the Father is the humble servant
of Jehovah, He who openly veiled Himself, His glory in human flesh,
He who lived and died in absolute obedience before God, being made
sin for His people, that they might be made the righteousness
in Him. And Daniel saw this man. And he said, I saw him clothed
in linen, loins girded with fine gold of Euphaz. Daniel again
saw the high priest himself. And he was girded about, the
scripture said, girded with that fine gold of Euphaz, just like
when John saw the Lord. Again, on the Isle of Patmos,
he said he was girded about the papacy with a golden girdle.
chest or girdle of rank and authority. And Daniel said, verse 6, his
body also was like the barrel, and his face as the appearance
of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and
his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words
like the voice of a multitude. He described this certain man
with great majesty. dignity. His body, like that
barrel, it's a precious stone of sky color that I found. And his face, he said, was like
the appearance of lightning. And his eyes, bright, sparkling,
lamps of fire in his arms, feet were said to shine like polished
brass. It reminded me of the Mount of
Transfiguration, when Peter, James, and John and the Lord
He was pleased to cause His glory to shine through. It was brighter
than the noonday sun. And Daniel, he saw this man,
he was just magnificent, girded in linen. You know, we try to
contemplate the greatness of our Lord. And I read these words.
Now listen, this is what Daniel saw. A body like a barrel faces
the appearance of lightning. I mean, we see lightning and
you know what that is, but his eyes, lamps of fire, his arms
and feet colored, like in color of polished brass, the voice
of his words like outshining the multitude of people. I mean,
this man, when he spoke, it was magnificent, overbearing, just,
you know. And scripture says in Daniel,
verse seven, I, Daniel, alone saw the vision. For the men that
were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon
them, so that they fled to hide themselves." Now here, Daniel
saw himself. He saw only himself. that saw
the Lord. It was only Daniel himself. I'll
get it right in a minute. These others didn't see him.
They didn't see the vision. Rather, what they experienced,
they experienced something that caused a great uneasiness in
them. And the scripture says, and they
fled away. They were like Saul of Tarsus. Whenever he was on the road to
Damascus and the Lord stopped him, that bright light shined
round about him and he called out to Saul, Saul, Saul. Why
persecutest thou me?" And Paul later, the apostle, related that
incident in Acts chapter 22 and verse 9, and he said that those
that were with him, here's what Paul said, he said, they saw
the light and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of him
that spake to me. So here we see that when God's
going to speak to His people, He stops them. He just stops
them. And He brings them to some kind
of an understanding of their need. Daniel's mourning. God is preparing him to listen,
to listen. And when we find ourselves, just
again, I'm gonna talk to me. When we find ourselves going
through, you know, trials, whatever your trial is, wherever you are,
Whenever we're made to have to mourn and we're grieving over
whatever it is, Almighty God is pleased to speak to His people. But He's going to stop us. He
stopped Saul of Tarsus. He stopped Daniel. And He's going
to stop me and He's going to stop you. And we're going to
see something. And when He gives us a glimpse,
what Daniel saw, I've never seen that. But by faith, I know something
of who He is, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. And though my eyes are veiled and I see through
a glass darkly, I see and you do too, you that know Him, you
do. And God brings us, He brings us to an understanding of our
frailty. He brings his people to that
point where they're going to mourn. And here's Daniel now.
He's mourning. The Lord reveals himself to him.
He speaks to their heart. And here again, when he speaks,
we hear these scriptures. And though we know so little,
we still know. We hear but little, but we hear. We see but little, but we see. We see Daniel. Daniel saw them. They didn't. Somebody sitting
next to you that doesn't know you, they don't see what you
see. They hear what I'm saying, but there's a hearing ear and
a seeing eye with a believer. And they hear. And they hear.
And they're brought in their hearts, they're thinking, Lord
have mercy on me. It's right here, hearing the same thing.
He doesn't hear or see that. But you that hear, you hear.
You hear. And he heard. And the scripture
says concerning Daniel's meeting with the Lord, he said, verse
eight and verse nine, he said, therefore, I was left alone.
And I saw this great vision and there remained no strength in
me. Is that the way it is with you?
Whatever God brings us to ourselves. You know, boy, I'm telling you,
the raising of the head of that old man, he still wants to believe
that he's got something. I still got it. I used to be 25 years old. I
used to be. And there was a time when it
came to work and stuff like that. I'll hang in there with you all
day long. I'm 72 years old. And I'm going to be the first
one to admit, I ain't got it. I just can't do it. But God's
going to teach a man that. He's going to teach him something
of his faith. He's going to bring him down.
I was left alone, and I saw this great vision, and there remained
no strength in me. Yeah, but Daniel, you're Daniel.
You're Daniel. You're the one that lines Dan. there remained no strength in
me. For my comeliness, my vigor, Margin says, was turned in me
into corruption, and I retained no strength, yet heard I the
voice of his words. And when I heard the voice of
his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face
toward the ground." He saw, he saw the Lord. And if we're able,
by faith, to see him this morning. Somebody say, have you ever actually
seen him? No. But Neil, we see. We see. I've
never seen what he saw. I've never seen that. But I see. And he saw the Lord and he heard
his voice. The Lord spoke to His disciples
when they were here. They heard Him. They heard Him
speak. I've never heard Him actually speak with this ear right here,
but I've heard Him. I've heard Him speak. And truly
He heard, but He heard in heart. And when the Spirit of God is
pleased to bless the Word to us in power, we're going to say
just like Daniel said, my comeliness, my grandeur, My imposing form,
my beauty, my honor, my majesty is turned into corruption. Paul
the apostle said, oh, wretched man that I am. You're Paul the apostle. God
took you up into third heaven, into paradise. You heard words,
oh, wretched man that I am. God's going to speak to a man,
He's going to speak to a woman, He's going to bring them down.
He's going to show them something of what they are. And then when
He's pleased, He's going to speak. And then they're going to be
made ready to hear. Then they're going to listen. Those that are
taught to see by faith, they see something of themselves,
they see something of the glory of God, and they're humbled before
the Lord. And hearing the words of the
Lord with attention now, God-given intelligence. Daniel related
that he was in a deep sleep. Actually, I looked up the word.
He was stupefied on his face. Unable to think, unable to feel. Asleep with his face sunk toward
the ground. Greatly abased. None of us want to go through
troubles, trials, tribulations. None of us want to. But listen,
David said it's good. It's good for me that I've been
afflicted. It's good that I've been humbled.
It's good that I've been brought down. Why? Because we will puff
ourselves up. We forget we need to be brought
down. But being brought down in himself,
we're reminded the Lord is preparing. He's gonna say something to him. He's gonna bring him down that
it might lift him up. And listen to what he says, verses
10 through 12, and I'll stop after these. And behold, he said,
a hand touched me, which set me upon my knees, upon the palm
palms of my hands. And he said unto me, O Daniel,
now listen to these words of comfort. A man greatly beloved,
understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright,
for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word
unto me, I stood trembling. Then said he unto me, fear not,
Daniel, for from the first day that thou did set thine heart
to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words
were heard, and I am come for thy words. Oh, the mercy of God
to graciously bring us down, cause us to see something of
ourselves, then reveal Himself to us and give us a glimpse of
who He is. A glimpse. As I said, we see
through a glass darkly. Bringing us down as He brought
Daniel down. And then He touched Daniel. You may say, well, I've never
felt the hand of God. Oh, how many times have we been
touched in mourning, in affliction, in chastisement, whom the Lord
loveth, He chasteneth. You're going through some trials
and some tribulations, God puts His hand on you and brings you
to some kind of an understanding of your need of Him. We find
ourselves in the dust before God, what a blessing, what a
blessing. And here He is, The Lord puts His hands on him and
the Scripture says, He touched me and set me upon my knees and
upon the palms of my hands. He's just very, very gently bringing
him back up, allowing him to come up. The Lord spoke to him
and then assured him of why he was going through what he was
going through. Why have I been mourning? I can't even get over
it. Three weeks I've been mourning. I'm not hungry, I'm not thirsty. Oh, Daniel, a man greatly beloved. And then listen to this. This
is not a suggestion. This is a command. Understand
the words that I speak unto thee and stand upright for unto thee
am I sent. Greatly loved. Oh, what a title. Is that not a precious title
to a needy sinner? It was because of the Lord's
love that they were chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Now listen to this, to be holy
and without blame before Him in love. Only because of the
love of God. Not because of anything He saw
in us. Greatly beloved, that's the reason that the Son went
to the cross, came to this earth, veiled himself in human flesh,
laid his life down, willingly laid his life down. Great love
was that which moved Daniel like all of us, great love. moved
Daniel to mourn over his sin, over his need. Again, I don't
know what it was, but I can tell you this. Daniel saw something
of himself, something of his need. And then the Lord told
him, he said, from the first day that thou didst set thine
heart to understand, and chasing thyself before thy gods, thy
words were heard. From the first day thou didst
set thine heart to understand, who caused Daniel to mourn? Who
causes his people to be brought down in themselves? Faithful
is he that calleth you, who will also do it. It is God that worketh
in you to will and to do of his good pleasure. And when God's
gonna bring a man down, God's gonna bring him down. And he'll
feel it, he'll feel the effects of it. And being humbled, the
Lord calls us unto himself in mercy. causes us to cast all
of our care upon Him because He cares for us. Daniel is all
of God's people, was by God's power and grace made to understand. He set his heart by the grace
of God to understand. God moves His people. He moves
His people. He works all things after the
counsel of His own will. And the Scripture says concerning
Him bringing us down, listen to this, He lifts us up as He
did Daniel. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. Brethren, whenever you find yourself
in need, in need And He's the only one that can help. Remember,
God speaks to His people by bringing them down. He brings them down
that He might lift them up graciously, that they might see Him. Oh,
the blessing of hearing from the Lord. For His glory and our
good. Amen.