Daniel 10, as I mentioned to
you this morning, this particular chapter has been so interesting
to me. I have honestly been so interested
in this. I want to read the second half
of this chapter, and then I'll show you what we're going to
look at. The first half of the chapter is Daniel in mourning. He is sad. Empty and he sees
the Lord Jesus Christ. For who he is, he sees him as
he is. And it strikes fear into him.
And in verse 10. It says, and behold, and hand
touched me. Which set me upon my knees and
upon the palms of my hands, it pulled him up to all fours. And it doesn't say expressly
whose hand that was. But based on what he said, it
sounds like and it appears to be the angel Gabriel who appeared
to Daniel in chapter nine, and he said some of and much of the
very same things that he is saying right here. Verse 10, behold,
and 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 am I now sent. All of that was
said in Daniel chapter nine. If you look at Daniel nine, verse
21, Daniel said, yea, whilst I was speaking in prayer, even
the man Gabriel, and that's the angel Gabriel. Angels are always
referred to as men. They look like men. Even the
man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning
being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of
the evening oblation. He touched me. And he informed
me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth
to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications,
the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee, for thou
art greatly beloved. Therefore, understand the matter
and consider the vision." It appears that this same messenger,
this same angel has been sent to Daniel to instruct him again.
Back in chapter 10, verse 10 says, 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
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 didst set thine heart
to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words
were heard and I am come for thy words." Again, that's exactly
what he said in chapter nine. He said, the moment you started
crying out in prayer, the commandment was sent. Your
words were heard. And the commandment was sent.
And he said, I am come to tell you these things. That's what
he said in chapter nine. Verse 13, he said, But the prince of the kingdom
of Persia withstood me one and 20 days, 21 days, three weeks. Look at verse two. This chapter
started with Daniel saying, 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 till three whole weeks were fulfilled, 21 days, three weeks. This messenger said, the command
was given for me to come to you three weeks ago. But he said, the Prince of Persia
withstood me. He went to war with me. And he's
saying, I have been fighting him for three weeks. And he said, this is the first
chance I've had to get away to come deliver this message to
you. That's interesting, isn't it? And he said, the only reason
I was able to get away was because, verse 13 goes on to say, 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, either this same angel, Gabriel, or the other angel,
Michael, or another angel altogether, like Isaiah said in Isaiah six,
he said, one of the seraphims having a live coal from the altar
touched my lips and I spake. Well, verse 16 says, 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, oh my Lord. Notice that that's a lowercase
L. He's giving reverence to this one who has come to him. Oh 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, lowercase l, talk with this my Lord? How can I even
talk to you? For as for me, straightway there
remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. Then there came again and touched
me one like the appearance of a man. And he strengthened me
like when the angels came and strengthened our Lord in the
garden of Gethsemane. Verse 19 and said, Oh man, greatly
beloved, fear not. Peace be unto thee. Be strong. Yay. Be strong. And when he had
spoken unto me, I was strengthened. and said, Let my Lord, lowercase
l, 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 Grecia, He said, I have told you what I was commanded
to tell you. And now I have to get back to
that war that I've been fighting for the last three weeks. That's
just fascinating to me. Verse 21, he said, but I will
show thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth. And
there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael,
your Prince. Now the commentary writers pointed
out that he spoke of, I read it and you didn't notice it,
but I'll tell you what we just read. He spoke of the king of
Persia, which was a man named Cyrus at that particular time. He mentioned the kings of Persia,
but his war was with the prince of Persia. And to get right to
the point, no mere man could war with an angel of God and
be any match for an angel of God. We just mentioned in a message
recently the power and the skill in battle that God has given
to his angels. This angel was not at war with
Cyrus, the king of Persia. He was at war with the prince
of the power of the air and his devils with him. The spirit that
now worketh and worketh and worketh and worketh in the children of
disobedience. Look at verse 13. It says, but
the prince, the angel, The fallen angel, the fallen
angel. That's what they all were. That's
what they all are. Fallen angels. But the prince
of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one in 20 days, but low Michael,
one of the chief princes, one of the chief angels, one of the
elect angels that kept their first estate. came to help me
and I remained there with the kings of Persia." The kings guarding
them, protecting them, carrying out the will and the purpose
of our Lord. Now Michael, the archangel, the chief prince,
he is most definitely a picture of Christ. Gabriel said, I would have never
prevailed in the battle had Michael not come to help me. Because
of him, I am come to you. And that's exactly what we say
concerning our Prince of peace. The Lord Jesus Christ here, I
raised mine Ebenezer on this rock. I stand hither by thy help. I am calm. Our battle was fought and won
by the chief angel, the angel of the Lord. Even though Michael
is called one of the chief angels, he still defers all the strength,
all the authority, all the power, all the victory to Jesus Christ. One time he was disputing with
the adversary over the body of Moses. And he would not even
bring a railing accusation against him. He said, the Lord rebuke
thee. The chief, the highest, the preeminent one, Jesus Christ. The Lord is the authority. The Lord is the judge. The Lord
is the man of war who will win the battle. And he is, and he
has. He is the chief. And because
of that, everything concerning His people is ordered and sure. Everything that He has ordained
concerning them will stand. It will stand. It is set in stone. And what struck me about all
of this, this is just, this is what fascinated me. Our Lord has set this in stone. And his stone that he has set
is this. Our Lord commands his angels. And all over this globe, he has
stationed his angels in this earth, different parts of this
earth. He has given them a commission. He's given them a charge to keep
his people. and to ensure that their safe
arrival to him comes to pass. And they are constantly accomplishing
that commission. I've titled this message, The
Ministry of Angels. To our Lord be all the glory
for this. But this has just been so comforting to me. I hope this
will be enjoyable. for us. What we are reading about,
this battle that Gabriel and Michael fought, what they were
fighting, that happened, that is happening, and that will happen,
continuously, continuously, until every wicked power of spiritual
darkness is cast into the lake of fire. That will happen continually. And please don't misunderstand
me. The battle is over. It's over. The victory over sin,
over death, over hell, it is won for God's people. Christ, our chief, won that battle
on the cross of Calvary. And because of that, because
that victory is settled, The battling of God's angels, carrying
about everything he has established in place, that will continue
until every child of God is brought safely to the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is the ministry that he has commissioned to all of his
angels. That's the ministry of God's
angels. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter one. Hebrews 1 verse 13, it says, But to which of the angels said
he at any time, sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies
thy footstool? Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation. That's their purpose. That's
the reason God stationed them on this earth, to do everything
that has to physically be done to minister absolute care and
safety to God's people. I want to prove that to you by
showing you some examples in the Scripture. A while back,
I don't know, a few weeks ago, I told you I'd love to take some
time and take you on a tour through the Scriptures to see what it
says about God's angels. We're going to do that. I've
written down a lot of examples. The rest of this message is just
going to be us reading examples from the Word. And I'm going
to keep an eye on our time, and I'm going to do as many as we
have time to do. But I think if we hurry scripture
to scripture, you'll be glad you saw this. This has just been
so encouraging to me. All right, turn with me to Acts
chapter 12. Acts 12 verse 5, it says, Peter
therefore was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing
of the church unto God for him. And when Herod would have brought
him forth the same night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers,
bound with two chains, and the keepers before the door kept
the prison. And behold, the angel of the
Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison, and he
smote Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from
his hands. And the angel said unto him,
Gird thyself and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he
saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee and follow me. And
he went out and followed him and knew not that it was true,
which was done by the angel, but thought he saw a vision.
He was, he thought he was just seeing a vision. Verse 10, when
they were passed the first and the second ward, they came unto
the iron gate that leadeth unto the city. which opened to them
of his own accord. You can picture this big iron
gate and here they come and all of a sudden these two big iron
gates just open up. It opened up of his own accord
and they went out and passed on through one street and forthwith
the angel departed from him. Verse 11, and when Peter was
come to himself, he said, now I know of a surety that the Lord
hath sent his angel and hath delivered me out of the hand
of Herod and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews. Peter
said, I now realize God sent an angel to do that for me. That's amazing, isn't it? Turn
to Acts chapter five. Acts 5 verse 17 says, Then the
high priest rose up and all they that were with him, which is
the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation
and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison.
But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors
and brought them forth and said, Go stand and speak in the temple
to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard
that, they entered into the temple early in the morning and taught.
But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and
called the council together, and all the senate of the children
of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when
the officers came and found them not in the prison, they returned
and told, saying, The prison truly found we shut with all
safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors. But
when we had opened, we found no man within. Now when the high
priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard
these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.
Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men who you
put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.
Then went the captain with the officers and brought them without
violence for they feared the people lest they should have
been stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before
the council and the high priest asked them saying, did not we
straightly command you that you should not teach in this name?
And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend
to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other
apostles answered and said, and I believe they're answering from
experience. We ought to obey God rather than man. The God
of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a
tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince. Capital P, Angel. and a savior, for to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses
of these things. And so is also the Holy Ghost
whom God hath given to them that obey him." That's just glorious. They put them all in prison and
they were going to have their way with them. And they said, they're
not in there. They're preaching in the temple. Turn with me over
to Luke 22. Luke 22 verse 39, it says, and
he came out, our Lord came out and went as he was known to the
Mount of Olives and his disciples also followed him. And when he
was at the place, he said unto them, pray that you enter not
into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them
about a stone's cast and kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father,
if thou be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not
my will, but thine be done. And there appeared an angel unto
him from heaven, strengthening him. Our Lord did that as us. He did that in the place of us.
And what that angel did for him. God's angels do for us. Strengthening
him by the commandment of God, by the authority of God. Strengthening
us in moments when we need to be strengthened. Turn with me
to Luke 15. Verse three says. And he spake
this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred
sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and
nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until
he find it? And when he hath found it, he
layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth
together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with
me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you
that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. More than over 99 just persons
which need no repentance. Joy in heaven among the angels. The angels break out into rejoicing
every time a sinner is converted. Every single time. 1 Peter 1
says, these are the things the angels desire to look into. Look with me at Matthew 26. Matthew 26 verse 48. Now he that betrayed him gave
them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he,
hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus
and said, Hail, master, and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him,
Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they and laid hands
on Jesus and took him. And behold, one of them which
were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and
struck a servant of the high priest and smote off his ear. Then said Jesus unto him, put
up again thy sword into his place. For all they that take the sword
shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now
pray to my father and he shall presently give me more than 12
legions of angels, 72,000 angels. Do you not realize that with
one word, don't you love that? Peter grabbed his sword. And
don't we do the same thing? I'm gonna grab my sword, you
know. Our Lord said, do you not realize that with one word, the
angels would empty heaven and pour out the fury of God on these
men? Verse 54, but how then shall
the scriptures be fulfilled? That thus it must be. They're
not going to do that. Because this must come to pass,
this is the will of God. Turn with me to Matthew 18. Matthew
18 verse 10. Take heed that you despise not
one of these little ones, one of God's people. For I say unto
you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of
my Father, which is in heaven. People talk about guardian angels.
You know, we think about guardian angels. Well, we have them. God's
people have them. They are always sitting on go. They are always sitting on go,
keeping their eye on the face of the father, waiting for his
command. One of the most wonderful things
that I have seen is years ago, our girls were in elementary
school and they had a field day. And the parents were invited
to come, and Hannah and I went. And they had all these different
activities and things like that for the kids. And one of the
things was a police canine display. couple of police officers, two
or three police officers brought this canine dog and they put
on a demonstration. And at first they let the dog
out of the car and the dog was a dog. The dog looked like a
dog, acted like a dog, you know, kind of checking out all the
kids. But that Dog's master, that police officer,
gave a command. And that command was, it's time
to go to work. And as soon as that dog heard
that command, that dog stopped, went right to the side of that
police officer and looked at his face. And that's all that
dog did. And that dog did not get in front
of the police officer to trip him. He did not get behind him.
He was right here looking at his face. And that officer was
acting like, you know, he had his gun up and that dog was watching
him and he'd move around and the dog right with him. He'd
turn, the dog would come around and he never stopped looking
at his face. That dog did not know at all
what was going on around him. It was only his face. And then
he had another officer in the big puffy suit and he gave the
command, go. And that man was down. And that dog just sat there looking
at his face. You say the word, and I'm on it. That's what happened
to Gabriel in Daniel 9. As soon as Daniel started praying,
God the Father said, go. Boom, he flew swiftly. And that's
what God's angels do for all of God's people. They just behold
the face of the Father sitting on go. Turn with me to Daniel
6. I'm going to go over. I'm out
of time. I just got it. I want to tell
it to you. I got a few more. Daniel 6. Verse 16. This is Daniel in the lion's
den. Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel and cast
him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto
Daniel, Thy God, whom thou service continually, he will deliver
thee. You remember this story that the king didn't want to
throw Daniel in that den, but by law he had to, and it was
just killing him. Verse 17, And a stone was brought
and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with
his own signet, and with the signet of his lord's, that the
purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king
went to his palace and passed the night fasting. Neither were
instruments of music brought before him, and his sleep went
from him. Then the king arose very early
in the morning and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when
he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto
Daniel. And the king spake and said to
Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom
thou service continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?
Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live forever. My God
hath sent his angel, and shut the lion's mouth, that they have
not hurt me. For as much as before him innocency
was found in me, and also before thee, O king, have I done no
hurt. Those angels sat in that den
with Daniel all night long, holding their hands on the mouths of
those lions. Turn to Psalm 103. Psalm 103
verse 19. The Lord hath prepared his throne
in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all. Bless the Lord,
ye his angels that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening
unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his
host, ye ministers of his that do his pleasure. That's what
they do, his pleasure. And what is his pleasure? It's
the safe keeping care of his people. That's what his pleasure
is. Now, I already read Psalm 91
to you for our scripture reading tonight, but it said, there shall
no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy
dwelling, for he shall give his angels charge over thee. To keep
thee in all thy ways, they shall bear thee up in their hands,
lest thou dash thy foot against the stone. Against the stone.
All right, now, second Kings. Turn to second Kings. Second Kings 6. The king of Syria wanted to take
Elisha captive. He wanted to kill him. That's
what he wanted to do. Verse 13, and he said, go and
spy where he is that I may send and fetch him. And it was told
him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. Therefore sent he thither
horses and chariots and a great host. And they came by night
and compassed the city about. And when the servant of the man
of God, Elisha's servant, when he was risen early and gone forth,
he stepped out of their house, behold, and host compassed the
city, both with horses and chariots, and his servant ran back into
the house and said unto him, alas, my master, how shall we
do? And Elisha answered, fear not,
for they that be with us are more than they that be with him.
And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that
he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes
of the young man and he saw and behold, the mountain was full
of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. And every
one of them was sitting on go. The glory of the highest and
the absolute safety of his people, that is the number one concern
in the ministry of God's angels. And for our comfort, we can enjoy
knowing that our God has an innumerable company of them. You can't count
them. And he will station as many as
is necessary to guard and defend and keep his people at all times,
in all situations, in all circumstances. I remember Brother Henry talking
about this one time in a message. He said, when you're driving
down the road, they're sitting on the hood of your car. He said, when you come home at
night and you walk up to your front door and put your key in
your, in your front doorknob, he said, they're sitting all
over your porch. And this is not, you know, fairytale
hope. This is God's word at all times. always beholding the face of
the Father. You're angels at all times. They're not going
to let you dash your foot against a stone. And because of that
fact, because he has stationed his caregivers over his people
at all times, I'm going to leave us with this closing exhortation. Go with me to Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13 verse two says, be not forgetful to entertain
strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unaware. And that's true. That's true. That's an exciting thought to
me. That's a very exciting thought. To our God be all the glory for
that because he won our absolute eternal safekeeping. He'll keep us all the way to
the end and there is no end. To God be all the glory for that.
Amen.