We begin our worship of God this
evening with prayer. Almighty and ever merciful, kind
and gracious Father in heaven, we bow before thee once more
at the throne of grace. We thank thee for this evening
hour we can come and meditate upon thy word and to fellowship
with the saints and we pray lord that as we have come aside for
a little while that thou draw near also unto us we ask that
our understanding may be opened to thy scriptures that we may
be granted hearing ears and understanding hearts and We pray that we may
be blessed with a token of thy favour and love towards us. We ask that we may be helped
to worship thee this night in spirit and in truth and do enable
us, we pray, to do all things for thy honour and for thy glory. We ask that thou bless each and
every one that has gathered with us and those who are listening
online draw near and comfort and bless also as we ask these
things with the forgiveness of our sin in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. Our opening hymn this evening
is hymn number 1053. Love divine, all love excelling,
joy of heaven to earth come down. Fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown. Jesus our heart, all compassion,
pure unbounded love thou art. Visit us with thy salvation,
comfort every sinking heart. Hymn number 1053 to the tune
894. Joy of heav'n to earth come. Blessed art with thy salvation,
God of glory. ? Let us find thy promised land
? ? Take away the long, old sinning ? ? Thou the Lamb of God, hear
our plea ? ? End of pain, a safe beginning ? ? That day is secured by thee ?
? Chains from glory into glory ? ? Tell them when we take our
place ? ? Till we cross the cross ? We've just come again to God's Word.
We'll turn to Daniel, reading together chapter 10. Daniel chapter 10. In the third year of Cyrus, king
of Persia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar. And the thing was true, but the
time appointed was long. And he understood the thing and
had understanding of the vision. In those days I, Daniel, was
mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither
came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at
all three whole weeks, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. And
in the fourth and twentieth day of the first month, As I was
by the side of the great river, which is Hedekil, I did lift
up mine eyes, and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed
in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Upas. His body also was like the beryl,
and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as
lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished
brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
And 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. Therefore I was left alone and
saw this great vision and there remained no strength in me for
my comeliness was turned 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 I in a deep
sleep on my face and my face toward the ground And behold,
a hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the
palms of my hands. And he said unto me, O Daniel,
a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee,
and stand upright. For unto thee I am 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 didst set thine heart
to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words
were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of
the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days. But lo, Michael, one of the chief
princes, came to help me, and I remained there with the kings
of Persia. Now I am come to make thee understand
what shall befall thy people in the latter days, for yet the
vision is for many days. And when he had spoken such words
unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. And behold, one like the similitude
of the sons of men touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth
and spake and said unto him that stood before me, O my Lord, by
the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained
no strength. For how can the servant of this
my Lord talk With this, my lord. For as for me, Straight away
there remained no strength in me, Neither is there breath left
in me. And they came again, and touched
me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me,
and said, O man, greatly beloved, fear not, peace be unto thee,
be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me,
I was strengthened, and said, let my Lord speak, for thou hast
strengthened me. Then said he, knowest thou wherefore
I come unto thee, and now will I return to fight with the Prince
of Persia. And when I am gone forth, lo,
the Prince of Egypt shall come, but I will show thee that which
is noted in the scripture of truth. that there is none that
holdeth with me in these things but Michael, your prince. May the Lord add his blessing
to the reading of his word and help us to continue in prayer. Almighty God, bow before thee
once more at the throne of grace. We thank thee for the way of
prayer that we can commune with thee through thy Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. We thank thee, Lord, for the gift of thy Holy
Spirit that thou hast bestowed upon thy people and we thank
thee that it is he that does teach us how to pray and we ask,
Lord, that this night we may be taught how to pray, that we
may be knit together with thee, that our will might be thy will,
that we also collectively may be knit together in the unity
of thy Holy Spirit. We ask, Lord, as we come collectively
this night to the throne of grace, that thou incline thine ear unto
us and bestow us a blessing from above. We do acknowledge, Lord,
that thou art a prayer-hearing and an answering God, that thou
art not a God who is far off, but a God who is nigh at hand. a God who is willing to stoop
down to listen to the cries of thy people, and a God who has
an unlimited ability and is able to help in all aspects of our
lives. We thank thee, O Lord, that thou
art well acquainted with each of thy people. Let us know the
finite details of our lives, and everything is laid open before
thee, even the very thoughts of our minds. And we thank thee,
O Lord, that thou dost not deal with us as we deserve to be dealt
with, but in thy wrath, day by day, thou dost look upon us with
mercy. And we do thank thee that we
are able to come aside for a little while to meet together and to
hear from thy scriptures. And we pray, Lord, that our meeting
may not be in vain but thou draw near unto us. that we may know
and sense thy presence with us, that our hearts may be touched,
may be burning within us, and that it may do us some spiritual
good that we have been here this night. We pray, Lord, for each
one who has gathered with us We have come from many different
scenes of life, many different things have occupied us over
the last few days and many things take up our minds and the busyness
of our lives and we come Lord to sit under thy word as a little
oasis and we pray that there may be that peace, that the peace
of thy Holy Spirit may rest upon us, that our minds may be calmed
and that we may be enabled to meditate upon eternal things,
and upon thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and upon the great promises
of thy Holy Word, and upon thy great dealings with thine ancient
people. And we thank thee, O Lord, that
thou art still the same. as thou didst look down upon
Daniel, so, Lord, thou art able to look down upon thy people,
and we pray that we may experience a token of thy favour and thy
love towards us as we meet together this night. as we have come,
Lord, from those different places and different lives and different
pathways, different trials, different rejoices. And we pray, Lord,
that as we have gathered this day, that thou draw near and
bless us within our souls and that thou provide us with that
spiritual help that we need. We pray for each one. Lord, let
us know their concerns and difficulties, the pathways that they walk and
the things that lay heavy on the heart, the things that they
have been laying at the throne of grace over the past a few
days and, O Lord, we would pray that Thou would provide the right
means, the right answers, the right promises to comfort Thy
people. We thank Thee, O Lord, that through
Thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, Thou art able to be touched with
the feelings of our infirmities, As he was tried and tempted as
we are, yet without sin, we do thank thee that our things that
perplex us are not perplexing unto thee. And we pray, Lord,
that thou would help us in our minds to see the crooked things
made straight, and the rough places made plain, and the fire
that we pass through. May we know and sense thy presence
with us, and when we go through deep waters, O Lord, we ask that
we may sense Thy presence and Thy Spirit's help with us. We thank Thee that Thou hast
given to us Thy Holy Word and we thank Thee, O Lord, that it
is suitable even for this day in which we live. It is unchanging
and it is ever the same and the world changes, yet Thy Word remains
true and sure and it is an anchor for our souls and we thank Thee
for it. And we pray, Lord, that thou
help us this night to feed and be satisfied by spiritual things,
that thy word may indeed be our food and drink, that man should
not live by bread alone, but every word that proceeds out
of thy mouth. We pray then Lord that thou encourage
us on the way for we walk a narrow way that leads to life and it
is through much tribulation we must enter into thy kingdom and
we would ask Lord that those who are a downcast may be lifted
up that they may be strengthened by a promise. As Daniel was strengthened,
as he felt weak and despairing, and he experienced a strengthening
of the spirit, we pray, Lord, that those then that are downcast
this night may experience a strengthening in their weakness. We pray for
those who are still mourning, Lord, we think of Sam and James
and the family and the pathway that they're walking at this
time of great distress and unfelt emotions that have come over
them and Lord we pray that that especially help them and really
comfort them and do enable others to assist them also in their
grief. And we pray that thou help them
in their minds to put all of these things together and to
lay them at thy feet and to know that thou art in control and
thy will, although hard, is best for thy people. We pray then,
Lord, that thou comfort them and help them in their great
loss and great sorrow. We pray for others also who continue
to labour under the knowledge of loss. We pray Lord that thou
help them and encourage them day by day and we pray that we
may be enabled to see thy hand in all things and to find comfort
in thy holy scriptures and to put all things under thy sovereign
hand and to in being able to put all things in order and to
deal with all things that Thou dost bring into our lives, Lord,
that we may be helped to live a life that is pleasing in Thy
sight and not to be oppressed by the pathway that Thou hast
led us to walk through. Enable us, we ask, to take our
eyes off the problems and to fix our eyes upon thy Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray, Lord, that be with
the young people also. We thank thee for them that meet
with us, those here this night, to encourage them and help them,
Lord. We pray that they may be kept from the temptations of
Satan and the drawing aside into the things of this world. We
ask that they may see a beauty in the Lord Jesus Christ and
have a desire to follow him and follow his ways. And we pray
that thou provide for them godly husbands and wives, that they
may be enabled to cast these things at thy feet, seeking for
divine direction. And we ask that they may be granted
a sensitive spirit to know thy leadings and thy guidance. We
pray for Keith and David. We thank thee, O Lord, that we
have those who are able to go forth into the churches and into
the world to proclaim the gospel and we ask that thou help them
and encourage them to bless the word spoken on thy day and do
encourage David for This weekend we pray. We pray, Lord, that
Thou would help them in their meditation, in their study of
the Holy Word, to grant them a light to shine upon the page
and to enable them to rightly divide the truth and to set forth
those things which are right and pleasing in thy sight before
the congregations, and we pray that they may see the evidences
of thy spirit working and that there may be fruit gathered in
and seen if it could please thee. We pray, Lord, for those who
are struggling day by day, the older brethren, to encourage
them, we pray, and help them and do draw near to such who
are downcast and those who are seeking for the assurance of
their salvation. Lord we pray that they may be
comforted with that knowledge that they are thine and that
thou art theirs. We pray then Lord that thou bless
us as a as a church and as a congregation do go before us in all things.
We think of the persecutions that we have experienced over
the last few weeks with the youths interfering with our vehicles
and stealing the Bible box and destroying the Bible box and
Lord we pray for them for they do not know what they are doing. We pray, Lord, that their eyes
may be opened and that the one who took the box may be able
to read the books that are in the box, that they may have a
transforming effect upon their hearts, that they may even return
to us and tell us and confess to us what they have done. We
pray for the young people who banged on the windows. And Lord,
we pray for them, that their hearts may be softened, that
they may have a concern, may be brought into a spiritual condition,
a fear of the Lord, and that they may come back to us also
and be found in this place of worship, worshipping thee, the
God who they mocked and the people who they mocked. We pray then,
Lord, that thou draw near again and help us to provide for us
as a church, Go before us in all things, grant us wisdom with
the decisions that we have to make, and we pray for thy blessing
to rest upon our labours in the Sunday school and in the ministry
of thy word. We ask that all may be done for
thy honour and for thy glory. We pray thou help me once more
to speak in thy name. Do grant me, Lord, a depth and
an understanding into thy word. Do shine upon the page, and we
ask that thy strength may be perfected in weakness. We ask,
Lord, that thou help me, as we ask with the forgiveness of our
sins, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. May we be helped in singing once
again from Gadsby's hymn number 546. Jehovah is my son, he shines
into my heart. Though clouds do often interpose,
my son shall not depart. ? My son shall not depart ? ? Yes,
on that old white star ? ? Where true blue serenity lies ? ? Whose broad stripes and bright
stars ? ? Through the perilous fight ? ? O'er the ramparts we
watched were so gallantly streaming? ? ? Though I am dark, He still embraces
me ? ? My light and glory to You ? ? Not death, nor sin, nor
hell ? ? Shall break and cease to shine ? ? That I cannot always feel ? ?
As many death am I ? ? It's a precarious life ? ? That's short of dying
still ? of his hand shall light itself,
and therefore can Seeking once again the Lord's
gracious help to grant me the words to speak to you this evening,
I'd like to direct your thoughts to the chapter that we read together,
Daniel chapter 10, and the text you'll find in verses 11 and
12. And he said unto me, O Daniel,
a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee.
stand upright for unto thee i am now sent and when he had spoken
this word unto me i stood trembling then said he unto me fear not
daniel from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to
understand and to chasten thyself before thy god thy words were
heard and i am come before thy words really i suppose the the
words that are laid upon my mind are the words concerning Daniel. And he said unto me, O Daniel,
a man greatly beloved. Verse 12, then he said unto me,
Fear not, Daniel. From the first day thou didst
set thine heart to understand, and chastened thyself before
thy God. Thy words were heard, and I am come before thy words. We know that Daniel was a man
who was taken into captivity into a foreign land and there
he excelled through his faithfulness and through God was seen in him. and he remained faithful in that
kingdom and he passed through those different kings as the
different kings took over the ruling of Babylon and he remained
there in that kingdom, a very important man. And yet he was
never lifted up in pride. He was never drawn aside by the
material wealth that was around about him. He remained faithful
to his God in the midst of a great ungodliness around about him. And he was a man who was greatly
blessed by God and greatly loved by God. That's what struck me,
this intimate relationship between Daniel and God and how the angels
also loved him as God loved him, as Christ loved him. So the angels
loved him. The host of heaven loved this
man, Daniel. He was greatly beloved. And he was a man who was a man
of prayer. Not only did God love Daniel,
but Daniel loved God. And Daniel was a man who sought
to communicate with his maker. He sought to speak and talk often
to his maker and to intercede not only for himself, but also
for the nation of Israel. And he also sought that God would
grant him understanding in the things that he had to do. Daniel we read in verse 1 was
mourning or verse 2 he was mourning. He'd been praying for three weeks
In verse 1 it says, 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 and
had an understanding of the vision. In those days I Daniel was mourning.
three full weeks and ate no pleasant bread neither came flesh nor
wine in my mouth neither did I anoint myself at all three
whole weeks until three whole weeks were fulfilled. Now Daniel obviously had been
affected by something we know at this time of the captivity
some of the people had gone back to Israel to Jerusalem and they
had began building the temple Prior to this account, Daniel
had had a vision. And the angel had come to him
and spoken to him and given him understanding and had told him
that the Messiah was going to come and that he lists out the
different weeks of prophecy regarding the coming of the Messiah. And then he tells him that the
Messiah would be cut off in verse 26 of chapter 9. And after three
score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself,
and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy
the city and sanctuary, and the end thereof shall be with a flood,
and unto the end of the war desolation are determined. And so it could
be that Daniel, after having experienced such a vision, that
he could be mourning over what is going to take place in the
future. Or it could be that he was mourning over the ongoing
hostilities that were taking place as they were trying to
build the temple. Whatever it was, Daniel was in
a condition of mourning. and that morning had brought
him to prayer and not just a quick spontaneous prayer but a time
of complete dedication and devotion to God that spanned for three
whole weeks. left aside eating normal food
and just ate a simple diet. He drank no wine, he didn't wash
himself but he gave himself to prayer to God. In the book of
Ezra it tells us there that that Cyrus, if we read the prophecy
of Jeremiah, Jeremiah prophesied that God was going to raise up
somebody called Cyrus the king and Cyrus was going to have a
burden for the people of Israel and he was going to use his funds
to build the temple in Israel and so as he is born he's raised
up to be king and he begins acting out the prophecy of Jeremiah
fulfilling the will of God and he sends off a group of people
back to Israel and Jerusalem to begin building the temple
in Ezra chapter 1. In verse 1 it says, In the first
year of Cyrus, king of Persia, the word of the Lord by the mouth
of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit
of Cyrus, king of Persia. that he made a proclamation throughout
all his kingdom and put it also in writing. Thus says Cyrus,
king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven has given me all the
kingdoms of the earth and he has charged me to build him a
house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. And they go on to gather
that group of people and Ezra takes them there and they begin
building that work. But after not long the work is
stopped. The enemy come in and they begin
to cause trouble and they begin to hinder the work so much so
that the work stops. Now how often that is isn't it?
Things seem to be going smoothly. Things seem to be in accordance
with God's plan and God's purposes. And then almost there's a spanner
thrown into the works and everything comes almost to nothing. Everything stops moving. But
God has a purpose. In this stopped moving, in this
ceasing of the work, His prophet Daniel now begins to intercede. He sets himself to prayer. He
sets himself to storm the gates of heaven upon his knees and
intercede for the people. And he prays for three weeks. And God hears him. And God appears to him in a wonderful
way. This shows us something really. You know sometimes we can be
so earthly minded that we forget that there is a spiritual realm. And sometimes we come to pray
and we don't think it has any effect. We think it doesn't do
anything. Sometimes we can be so worn down
that we forget the greatness of God and it's just like we're
Christians and we're just acting out a way of life and there's
nothing really any greater than what we see round about us. All
we see is everything is stalled. When we read the book of Daniel,
And we see, we get an insight into a great spiritual realm,
a great spiritual battle that is taking place around us that
we can't actually see. We may think that we pray and
that prayer has no effect. But that prayer that we have
petitioned in Christ's name ascends up to Christ, to God through
Christ. It tells us in chapter 9, verse
23, when the first angel comes it
says, At the beginning of thy supplication the commandment
came forth and I am come to show thee. For thou art greatly beloved,
therefore understand the matter and consider the vision. at the
beginning of thy supplication. As Daniel at that time began
to pray, his prayer ascended up into the throne room of God
and into the very presence of God. And God then sent forth
one of his angels to grant Daniel wisdom and understanding and
to inform him that he was greatly beloved. And as Daniel was praying for
those three weeks, the same thing happened. Verse five, I lifted up mine
eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen,
whose loins were girded with fine gold of Eupas. His body
was like the beryl. and his face as the appearance
of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and
his feet like the colour of polished brass, and the voice of his words
was like the voice of a multitude. As Daniel began to pray, as he
continued in prayer, his prayer entered into the presence of
Almighty God, And he revealed himself to Daniel. Daniel gets
a glimpse of the spiritual realm. It's like the veil of heaven
is opened and he's able to enter into something that is normally
unseen by the natural eye and is able to view someone who is
normally hidden and only viewed by faith. The Lord Jesus Christ. before his incarnation. His eyes and his clothes. He was girded
in fine gold and his face shining like lightning and his eyes like
lamps of fire. And he gets a glimpse into the
spiritual world that is hidden. If we didn't have the Bible We
wouldn't know what is going on round about us. The Bible gives
us a glimpse into this spiritual world. In the book of Job it
tells us there something quite unusual. How Job was a man of God, a righteous
man and an upright man. A man who succeeded naturally
in this world and was exceedingly rich. And yet in the book of Job we
get a glimpse into the courts of heaven. A world which is normally hidden
from our view yet in the scriptures we're able to see something that
takes place. In verse 6 And there was a day
when the sons of God came to present themselves before the
Lord and Satan also came with them. The sons of God being the
angels of God who are ministering to the Lord day by day, who are
his ministering spirits. and Satan was also amongst them. Another one of the great mysteries
of the script is that God who cannot behold evil in the book
of Job is able to have Satan in his very presence and to communicate
with him and to send him on an errand for the purification or
for the testing of one of his saints. And we see the conversation
that takes place between the Lord and Satan. how Satan is sent to test Job,
to prove to Satan that Job's faith is not based upon the things
that he has, but his faith is based upon God. Naked I came
into this world, and naked shall I return. Thither the Lord has
given, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of
the Lord. And all this Job sinned not,
nor charged God foolishly. And so we're able to get a glimpse
into this unseen world of what takes place in the heavenly realm. That Satan is real. That God
is real. And that as we get the glimpses
through scripture we're enabled to view beyond the veil as it
were, beyond this material world of ours. and see something far
superior, something far everlasting, something far greater. In the
book of Isaiah, Isaiah also has a view into heaven. He is enabled to see things which
the imagination could never put together. In Isaiah 6, Verse 1. In the year that King
Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and
lifted up, and his train filled the temple. And above it stood
the seraphims, each one had six wings, and twain he covered his
face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did
fly. And one cried unto the other and said, Holy, holy, holy is
the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his
glory. And the posts of the doors moved at the voice of him that
cried, and the house was filled with smoke. And so he has a vision
of what is taking place in heaven itself, the angels of God. or the seraphims with the wings
covering their faces and covering their feet and flying and singing
in chorus, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. And Daniel gets that vision of
Christ and sees him there with his flaming, his eyes and his
appearance as a lightning. And he's able to see into the
spiritual world and to learn something of the future events
that are going to take place in this world of ours. Also in the New Testament we read a lot about spiritual
things. The spirits of darkness. You
remember the man Legion. In Mark chapter five. In verse five it says, and always
night and day he was in the mountains and in the tombs crying and cutting
himself with stones. But when Jesus saw her far off,
he ran and worshipped him and cried with a loud voice and said,
What have I to do with thee, thou son of the most high God?
I adore thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto
him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And so these
evil spirits, these demons that had indwelt this man knew the
Lord Jesus Christ. They knew who he was. And they
knew who Jesus Christ was because Jesus Christ had come from the
spiritual realm and he had entered into the physical realm and therefore
the spiritual realm knew who he was. Although they didn't
know all that he had come to do, they couldn't work out the
full plan of God which is why they were left to crucify the
saviour to brought about the saving of his people yet. They
knew who the Lord Jesus Christ was. And we read at the end of
this chapter, or we read in this chapter, in Daniel chapter 10,
verse 13, that the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood
me one and 20 days, but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came
to help me, and I remained there with the kings of Persia. And
so this angel who had come to deliver the message to Daniel
had warfare on his journey. And so the spiritual realm that
is round about us which is unseen to us is as it were a mass of
conflict. The kingdom of darkness warring
against the kingdom of light. that is brought about even in
our own lives and mapped out or worked out in this world of
ours. As the kingdom of darkness wars
against the kingdom of light and we notice it in our own life
as Christians, our own spiritual walk, the hindrances that we
have, the distractions that we have, the temptations that we
have, the seemingly hindrances to ministry and Christian walk
and Christian progress. It is down to the forces of spiritual
darkness warring against the flesh. We are told in Ephesians
of the warfare that we have. Ephesians 6 tells us there that
we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities
and powers and against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places. And so as As
there are degrees in the angels of God, so there are degrees
in Satan and his demons, the principalities and powers of
the air, the rulers of the darkness of this world, the spiritual
wickedness in high places. And so we are warring, not just
against flesh and blood, but we are warring against demonic
forces that seek to oppress the Christian in his walk and seek
to hinder the advancement of the gospel of Christ. And because
our warfare is a spiritual warfare, we take up a spiritual armor,
which he gives us a list there, take up the whole armor of God.
you may be able to withstand the evil day and having done
all to stand. We go on through that armour
you see that one of those essential parts of that spiritual armour
is verse 18 it is prayer. Prayer Praying always with all
prayer and supplication in the spirit, watching unto with all
perseverance and with all supplication of the saints. Spiritual weapons
for a spiritual enemy. Prayer. Daniel was a man of prayer. And he wrestled, we could say,
not against flesh and blood, although he was in the realm
of flesh and blood, yet he wrestled against those forces of spiritual
darkness. And as an experienced Christian,
he knew that he could not face that battle by himself. He knew
that he could not gain the victory by himself. And so as he came
into that emotional state of mourning over what he had heard,
what does he do? He prays. He prays. Experienced Christians
are the first ones to drop to their knees because the pathway
has taught them that they cannot continue in their own strength. They have proved time and time
again that they put prayer at their back and therefore they
fail. And so the experienced Christian like Daniel, as he
hears the news, he drops to his knees and he commits himself
to prayer and fasting until the time appointed. And he gets an answer. and he
gets a great answer, a bigger answer than he could have ever
imagined. An appearance of the Lord Jesus
Christ to take away his troubles and to encourage him in his pathway
and to receive a beautiful confirmation. Oh Daniel, a man greatly beloved, In the book of Revelation it
gives us a similar illustration of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Revelation chapter 1, verse 11, as the apostle John was in the
Spirit on the Lord's day, he has a vision. the vision is very
similar to the vision that Daniel also experienced. I was in the
spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a great voice
as of a trumpet saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and
the last and what thou seest write in a book and send it unto
the seven churches which are in Asia, unto Ephesus and unto
Smyrna, unto Permos and on to Thyatira and on to Sardis and
on to Philadelphia and on to Laodicea. And I turned to see
the voice that spoke with me. And being turned, I saw seven
golden candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, one like the son of man, clothed with the garment
down to his foot and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. and his head and his hairs were
white like wool, and white as snow, and his eyes were as a
flame of fire, and his feet like undefined brass, as if they burned
in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. And
so as Daniel has that glimpse into heaven and sees Christ in
his glory, so John also sees it. and sees him. What an encouragement that must
have been to them as they saw everything almost on stop. and so much persecution and hindrances
to the advancement of the gospel or the advancement to the building
of the temple. Yet as they see Christ there
in all of his glory, knowing that he is still on the throne,
in control, in power, having all authority, all dominion over
all things, What an encouragement that must have been for him and
for them. But also as it's laid down in
scripture, what an encouragement it is for us. But it's not just
what we see here. There's a far greater picture
going on, a far greater warfare going on. Christ and his army
against Satan and all the frightful foes seeking to hinder the advancement
of the gospel, yet we know that Christ has gained the victory
and the scripture tells us that the gates of hell will not prevail
against the advancement of the cross of Christ, that he will
build his church and although there are the disappointments
Yet it does not rest in our own strength, in our own ability,
in our own proclamation of the truth, but it rests in the fact
that Christ will build his church and that he still is on the throne
and he still loves his people. God heard his prayer. Daniel was a fine example of
a young man set out to us in scripture. A man who was taken
from his own land yet he remained a man of principle unchanged
by the environment that he was in. Right at the beginning it tells
us that he refused to eat the king's meat. Him and his friends
set themselves to eat only lentils. 1st Daniel chapter 1 verse 8
it says, But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not
defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with
the wine which he drank. Therefore he requested of the
prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now
God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince
of the eunuchs. And we know as the story, the
account goes, that Daniel and his friends remained faithful. They continued living on that
simple meal and yet their countenances flourished and they were seen
as more healthy than all of the other captives that were there.
And we know that he was blessed and elevated to a high position. that he remained throughout his
life a man of prayer. If you remember when he was,
when the accusation, when the law went out and it was said
that there should be no, no one should pray or ask anything of
any other gods other than the king. What did Daniel do? He
went straight to his room, straight to his balcony, opened his windows
and prayed. And he continued exactly as he
had always done. A man of principle and a man
of prayer. He continued three times a day
laying his concerns before the great God of heaven. He knew
of his own self. No doubt that he could achieve
nothing and do nothing as he gives always glory to God. It's
not me. I have not interpreted these
dreams. But it's the God, my God. And so we remain faithful
in the midst of living in an ungodly culture. What an example
that is also for our young people and even us as believers, surrounded
by an ungodly culture. Yet there are those in the scriptures
who remain faithful and unmoved and were willing to suffer persecution
for their faith in God. But also, he was not fatalistic. You see, Daniel knew the prophecies
of Jeremiah. He knew that 70 years would be
accomplished and then they would return back to Israel, to Jerusalem. In chapter 9, verse 2, it tells
us, in the first year of his reign, Daniel understood the
books. and the number of the years whereof the word of the
Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet that it would accomplish 70 years
in the desolation of Jerusalem. He didn't say God is going to do this so I
don't need to do anything about it. He didn't rest in that fatalistic
attitude that there's nothing I can do so I'm going to leave
it. God is going to deal with it all so there's no point in
me praying or doing anything. He understood the vision. He
understood the prophecy of Daniel and he knew that the time was
approaching so what did he do? So he set his face to the Lord
to seek by prayer and supplication with fasting in sackcloth and
ashes and he confessed the sins of his people to God. and God
heard him. It's very easy, isn't it, to
be tempted by that attitude. Oh well, God's gonna do it anyway. Or if he's not going to do it,
then I don't have to worry, there's nothing I can do. But we have been called to the
throne of grace We have been called to communicate with God
in prayer, to intercede on behalf of our nation, of the church
and of ourselves and of our families. We have been given this great
privilege to talk with God. It's Satan who tells us there's
nothing you can do. There's Satan who tells you that
God doesn't hear you. We have seen from scripture,
the angel says, as the petition went up, I came down. I was sent by God. I am come
to show you, for you are greatly beloved. Therefore, understand
the matter. And so he wasn't fatalistic.
He knew the time was coming, so he set himself to prayer. to intercede and to plead with
God to bring about his purposes. Sometimes maybe we look at the
state of the churches and we say, well, there's nothing I
can do about it. If God is going to bring people,
he's going to bring people. There's no point in praying. But Daniel looked at the situation
and he said, God is able to do this. God is able to change the
situation. And he set himself not to a small
prayer. This is dedication in prayer. Commitment in prayer. A mourning
because of the present condition. I wonder do we really feel Like
that, when our friends have lost their
loved one, they don't feel like eating.
People cook them food. They're not interested because
of grief. They're mourning the loss of
their son. They're not interested in food.
And this is how Daniel was. The temple had stopped being
built. And it was as though someone
had died. It was morning. The work was being hindered by
the opposition. And it was as though someone
close to him had died. He couldn't eat, couldn't wash. All he could do was fall at the
throne of grace for three whole weeks and pray. And God heard him. He knew the power of prayer,
the benefit of prayer, the blessedness of prayer. He knew his relationship
with God. How often Satan says, why would
God want to listen to you? So you give up. You kneel down by your bed and
then something else comes into your mind and you get up and
you go and do that. Daniel remained there, the throne
of grace. He knew that God could hear him.
And he knew that God would be able to answer him and deal with
the situation. And so he was a man who understood
the closeness of the relationship that he had with God. And he
was a man greatly beloved. This shows us something. Daniel lived prior to the crucifixion
of Christ. We know that God chose a people
before the foundation of the world in Christ Jesus. Daniel was one of those who was
in Christ waiting for the coming of the Messiah. and God loved him. And you think you could put your
name there. If you're one of the Lord Jesus'
sheep, if you're one of his people and Satan tells you he doesn't
care about you, Satan tells you don't bother praying, he doesn't
listen to you, Put your name here. O Daniel,
a man greatly beloved. Fear not, Daniel. From the first day that thou
didst set thine heart to understand and to chase thyself before God,
thy words were heard, and I am come because of thy words. You can put your name there. Daniel. What's your name? Put it there and say it to yourself
that he loves you and you are greatly loved by him and he hears
your prayers and his angels are at your beckoned call as he sends
them from heaven to assist you and to help you day by day. And this shows us the blessedness
of salvation, the greatness of Christ's work that God's beloved
son died so that he could bring sinners and reconcile them to
God that they also could become the beloved children of God. What has caused you to mourn? Daniel it was either the prophecy
or the state of the church or the state of the temple. What
causes us to mourn? Is it our sin? And does Satan
tell you, well, there's nothing, you know, Christ doesn't want
to listen to you about that. Well, that's a lie. Satan is
a liar and the father of lies. Sinners Jesus came to save. And
if your sins are causing you to mourn, then bring them to
Christ. Bring them to God and you will hear, O greatly
beloved, I have heard your cry. I have heard your words and I
am sent because of your words. Remember Nehemiah, as the news
came to him of the state of Jerusalem that the doors were burnt with
fire, what did he do? He prayed immediately. And it
so affected him that his countenance was changed and the king asked
him the question, what's the matter? And he said that he had
to go back to Jerusalem. He heard the news and he prayed. And God heard his prayer. So
what may we be enabled then to put our name here. God is real. Christ is real. The spiritual
realm around us is real. And that there are demonic forces
that hinder us from prayer and fleshly weakness. Yet Daniel
was a man of principle and a man of prayer. And he committed himself
to pray to God and the Lord heard him
and blessed him above more than he could have ever imagined by
having a great vision of Christ and the great knowledge that
he is loved with an everlasting love, greatly beloved and given
a depth of understanding. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen. Our closing hymn is hymn number
1048. We've no abiding city here, this
may distress the Wellesley mind, but should not cost a saint a
tear, who hopes a better rest to find. Hymn number 1048 to
the tune 348. ? This may distress the lowly fly
? ? But should not cost the saints a tear ? ? Who longs a better
day to die? ? Sanctuary We now abide thee, safe to be
heard, ? And let us stay from morning
on ? ? In the blinding city here ? ? We seek a safe haven ? It shines brighter than the last
day of all. Oh, sweeter would all be so, and
though we're pilgrims free, Heavenly Father, we do thank
Thee for the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and we thank Thee
that those who were once Thy enemies are able to be called
Thy greatly beloved and we pray, Lord, that Thou help us to lay
hold of these truths by faith and do grant us true spiritual
concern and that rightly enable us to use the means of prayer
to intercede for our church and for our nation. Do Lord grant
us a true sorrowful heart and a true diligence at the throne
of grace. We ask that thou dismiss us then
with thy blessing, and do meet with us upon thy day. Now may
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father,
with the fellowship and the communion of the Holy Spirit, rest and
abide with us each now and for evermore. Amen.