I want you to turn in your Bibles
to Daniel 10. If you don't have your Bibles,
you can use your pastor's commentary. Daniel 10. Many are the afflictions
of the righteous. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous. That's the indicative condition
of all of God's people. If you're not afflicted, you're
not righteous. You can be sure that the righteous
know that their righteousness is foreign and given and imputed
freely by God's grace. It's not their own. And they
know that it's not theirs because they themselves are afflicted. He whom thou lovest is sick. That's all of us. And we're waiting
for our healing. Amen. Don't you fool yourself. You're not whole yet. And I can
tell you why. Because the whole body is not
whole yet. Until the whole body is whole, the whole body is still
sick. Until the last of God's elect are saved. Until we are
all brought into the presence of God. Until we have experienced
the great transformation of our bodies, the reunion of it with
our soul in that great glorification on the last day, wherein Christ
will be honored by all the holy angels and his redeemed people,
we're still sick. As long as there's one soul for
whom Christ has died in need of salvation, we're still sick. That's what the Bible says. Remember
those that are afflicted. as you yourself also being part
of the body of Christ. Don't you fool yourself. Your
wholeness is in Christ, not yourself. And when your afflictions come,
just remember, as our elders said, God does this so that you
can look to Christ and remember again that he saved you by his
grace and he chose you as his son and daughter and all whom
the Lord loves, he chastens. There are three heavens, three,
So what the Bible says, and heaven is a mystery to us because we've
never been there and we are promised it for those who trust Christ,
we shall one day be in that permanent blissful state called heaven. You ought to think about it sometimes
where you and I live right now is not heaven and it won't ever
be heaven and you can't make it heaven. and you ought not
to want to make it heaven, especially when you know where you live,
you are a stranger and a pilgrim in a foreign land. And this world
is no friend of grace. It doesn't love God and it doesn't
desire to know God. And everything about our world
system is designed to send you and me to hell. As strangers
and pilgrims, we're just passing through heaven, is on the other
side. Now there are three heavens.
The Bible speaks of the first heavens in Genesis chapter one
verses six through eight. You don't have to go there. But
on the second day, God chose in his sovereign fiat to separate
the water canopy, the lower canopy from the higher canopy. And he
called the space in between the firmament. the upper side of
the firmament he called heaven, the lower side where the waters
were below out of which came the earth, he called the earth. You and I live in the present
heavens and earth dimension. We were born here. We were created
here. The Bible says out of the dust
of the ground, did God create mankind out of the earth? You
and I in our first physical essence are earthly creatures. That's
first Corinthians 15 by the way. The first man is up the earth
earthly. That's why we have such a gravitational
pull to the earth in terms of the carnal things of this world.
That's the struggle. That's what I'm talking about.
We live in the present dimension of this physical heavens and
the earth that is the physical expanse, the stars, the moon,
the skies, this universe, this vast galaxy that God created
that is as it were unending before our eyes. And as we look out
in it, it seems to be growing forever and ever because it only
reflects the God who created it. He's infinite in nature,
but it's limited. I want you to know that this
is the first heavens and earth. It is very physical. That's where
we were born. That's where we were conceived.
And we live in a very habitable state here in this first dimension. There is a second heavens. The
Bible called the second heavens that dimension where in believers
are born again. John chapter three, verses one,
two, and three, Jesus says, except you be born from above, you shall
not enter into the kingdom of heaven, except you be born of
the water and of the spirit. You won't see it. You won't comprehend
it. The kingdom of heaven is a spiritual
dimension. It's a spiritual realm. It's
not intellectual. It's not religious. It's spiritual. It is a dimension where Ian,
true believers actually function and live and have their being
in their spirit essence. Those of us who are called by
God's grace, chosen in Christ and saved, we dwell in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. That's what the Bible says, right?
Ephesians chapter two. The Bible says in Colossians
chapter three, if you have been raised together with Christ,
seek those things which are above where Christ is. And so there
is a pursuit on the part of God's people that is upward bound and
heaven forward. The second dimension of heaven
or that second realm we call heaven is the place where we
fight spiritual battles. You guys believe that? Ephesians
6 verses 10 through 14 tells us to put on the whole armor
of God. It tells us to be strong in the
Lord and in the power of his might. that we might be able
to stand against the wiles of the devil. And having done all
to withstand, stand, having put on that full orb spiritual armor
of God himself. That's what the armor is, is
God. God told Abraham, I am your shield and exceeding great reward. God is our armor. And the believer
who is in Christ and operating out of that reality is reinforced
by God himself. That's what our text is teaching
us. And so we live on this physical planet, but we dwell in spiritually
places and we fight a warfare that's in the heavenlies. This
is what the angel is telling Daniel in chapter 10. There's
a great conflict going on in this period where Daniel is now
operating and functioning. And a revelation has been given
to Daniel concerning what it takes for this world to unfurl
and events to transpire and kingdoms to rise and to fall. What it
takes is a battle in a heavenly realm between the kingdom of
God and the kingdom of darkness. That's what Daniel has been privileged
to see. That's a battle in realm that
Paul says that we are in as well. Our warfare is not carnal. That
is not fleshly. It's not physical, but it's mighty
through God, right? To the pulling down of every
stronghold. It's a battle against concepts and ideologies and worldviews
and imaginations and the schemes and methods of the wicked one.
That's the battle we are fighting if we are believers operating
in that dimension. We are told that we are fighting
co-jointly with God himself. Daniel had amazing revelation
that's taking place, but there is also a third heaven. That
third heaven is not where we're fighting, but it's where we're
positioned. Am I making some sense? See,
we are positioned with God in Christ in that third dimension
called Paradise, where we are seated with Him. Paul spoke about
this in 2 Corinthians 12, verses 2-4. He said, whether in the
body or out of the body, I'm not real sure. See, he was in
an incognito state too. The closer you get to God in
this flesh, the more it must be subdued in order for you to
bear that glory. Whether in the body or out of
the body, I cannot tell. Such a one about 14 years ago
was caught up to the third heavens. And then he called that paradise. In paradise, he received revelation
of things that were unarticulated. unable to be spoken in this earthly
realm. And God, in his mercy, graced
Paul with affliction so that he could bear it. That third
dimension called paradise is an unmolested, undisturbed, tranquil,
peaceful, glorious, ineffable place of bliss and peace for
all of God's people for all eternity. Are you hearing me? That's where
we are positionally, but it's not where we are practically.
I can tell you a brother who's there though right now. The Lord
Jesus, my representative and a thief. He'd been there for
2000 years. Didn't do much to get there either,
but looked on the savior and acknowledged him for who he was.
That's a good price to get the glory, isn't it? And this is
the will of Him that sent me, that all that seeth the Son and
believeth on Him shall have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up
at the last day." There is a paradise for the people of God. That's
where we're going. John talks about this in the
revelation in the 22nd chapter. I'll do more with that. As I
unfold this message, the Lord willing, because that's what
the tenor of this whole chapter is all about. Our heading right
along with Daniel and all the saints of the old Testament and
the saints of the new Testament to that place called glory to
paradise. But to get there, we've got a
battle to fight. We've got a battle. You don't
believe that. We got a battle to fight and sometimes it seems
as if we aren't going to even make it. Am I telling the truth?
It seems like we're not going to even make it sometimes. I
was almost tempted to share with you the bus ride of faith on
this one, but I'll save that, save that one for another time.
It's so relevant, so germane. My experience in Nigeria, as
I was seeking to leave Imo State, which were a bunch of bush countries
out in the jungles, as it were, on a little strip of land where
planes would come in. Some of those planes I talked
to y'all about a couple weeks ago. It'd fly in and fly out,
and it would take us back to the mainland where there is some
sense and semblance of normalcy. And we were waiting for the plane
to come. The plane never showed up. And so we had to catch a
bus from Imo State all the way back to Lagos, 500 miles. I can tell you some stories about
riding buses in Africa, 500 miles through the jungle. It's called
the bus ride of faith. God taught me some things. I'll
share it with you next time. This realm in which we are fighting
this warfare, this battle that we're engaged in is where Daniel
is right now. And this is what the 10th chapter
is all about. I want you to focus with me for a little bit. A revelation
of things which calls the believer into a holy struggle to see the
promises of God realized. A revelation of things which
calls the believer into a holy struggle to see the promises
of God realized in their life. The promises of God, not your
promises, not your personal agenda. the promises of God. Daniel is
remarkable to me. And I've been amazed at the men
and the women who have been found, as it were, sucked into this
struggle because they've seen the promises of God and they've
clamored for them and desired them. And as a consequence, they
found themselves engaged in this holy struggle for God's will
to be accomplished for its purpose. to be procured, for His glory
to be manifested, which includes our redemption. This is why our
Lord said in Matthew chapter 6, verse 1 or so, when He was
teaching His disciples, having asked the question, Lord, how
shall we pray? He said, don't pray like the heathen. We talk
about that, don't we? Don't pray like the pagan. Give
me, give me, give me, give me, give me. That's not godly prayer.
That's not Christian prayer. When you pray, say, our Father. Isn't that what we're learning
in Paterology? who art in what? Heaven, hallowed
be your name. Thy kingdom come, your will be
done. Now, until you are praying with
that as a premise and supposition, your prayers are probably pagan.
You see, because the premise of that prayer is the glory of
God and the will of God and the purpose of God and the advance
of God's kingdom. Am I making some sense? Until
you are praying that way, you are probably praying pagan prayers.
And what's remarkable is that every now and then God brings
into the equation a fickle, sinful human being like you and me,
touched by the mercy of God. And he highlights them and shows
them to us as persons whom God has been pleased to engage in
this struggle. Daniel is one of them. I'm always
amazed at it because I you know, I love prayer But I know I know
just by reading about Daniel and reading about Ezra and reading
about Nehemiah and reading about Hannah and reading about John
I know I have not entered into prayer into the kind of dimension
these brothers have but I know the reason why they have They've
seen the glory of God And it's a and it's a lesson for you and
me today to please listen to me your prayer life and your
communion with God in the realm of meditation and contemplation
and prayer is only commiserate to how much God has revealed
himself to you. Daniel is receiving his last
and final revelation. Daniel's old man. Now you and
I have enjoyed the book of Daniel. Haven't we? Daniel came on the
scene. In about 609 BC or 587 BC, particularly
in the book of Daniel, he was born around 620 BC under his
father Hezekiah or grandfather Hezekiah, maybe his father Josiah,
who was taken out in 609 BC when Israel was destroyed and the
Babylonians had come in. And he finally gets brought into
Babylon at around 16, 17 years old with his partners. Michiel,
Ananias, and Nazariah, remember them? They're all young eunuchs
in the kingdom of God, very young men. But we have had a number
of years transpired now, over 70 years has transpired from
Daniel chapter one to Daniel chapter 10. And we are in the
third year of King Cyrus, the third year. We have moved through
the Babylonian period of 70 years into the Medo-Persian period,
And we're actually out of the Median period and into the Persian
period. Remember, we dealt with the vision
of the four beasts, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. We are
right now on the brink and precipice of the end of the Median kingdom,
the start of the Persian kingdom, which is somewhere around 535,
534 BC. Daniel is about 90, 95 years old now. That's old. What's remarkable about Daniel
is he served God faithfully in his generation, all his days
in the midst of Babylon. As a high ranking official, in
fact, the highest ranking official, with the exception of the king
himself. That is remarkable, isn't it? And there are some
things we can learn from a man or a woman who has had the ability
to operate in this world and function in this world at a high
level and still be faithful to the true and the living God.
Isn't that so? Because I'll tell you, most politicians don't know
God. There's something we can learn
from Daniel in this regard. And here's one of the first things
is we know that Daniel was operating out of a pure dimension and effusion
of the grace of God. Isn't that true? All we can say
is God had poured his grace out on Daniel. The angel says, Daniel,
you are a man greatly beloved of God. Daniel says, I know it.
God's kept me all these years, but God had also poured into
Daniel's life a love for the people of God, a love for the
church of God, a love for the glory of God, a love for the
temple of God. And way up there, way up there
in the palace of Shina, way up there in the upper echelons of
society's best and most wealthy is the servant of God, this Jew
who loved Christ and loved his people. Way up there, you know,
way up there on the top of the hill in his big old mansion.
The windows are swung open and he's praying towards Jerusalem
and anyone who wanted to could hear him because he wasn't ashamed
of the gospel. Am I making some sense? See,
that's a unique, unique politician. Way up, you walking down the
street in Babylon, Armido Persian, and you hear brother praising
God and worshiping Jehovah and exalting, who is that? And they'll
tell you, oh, that's Daniel. He'd been doing that for 75 years.
He loves him some God. Well, hadn't the king ever tried
to stop that? You try to stop Daniel. Try to stop his partners
too, see won't God show up. And Daniel is praying because
he had received a revelation, as you and I had learned several
weeks back in chapter eight. We won't go back there. In chapter
eight, he's in vision standing on the river Uli, which is in
Persia with the King Darius. Yeah, King Darius. And they're
looking out as the big ram over the ocean, over the river at
the coming of the he-goat. Remember that? that he goat is
the Grecian king Alexander the Great. We'll talk more about
him next week because chapters 10 through 12 give us a full
and very intricate and detailed description of the history of
God's providential workings in the life of the secular kings
to bring about his son, Jesus Christ, in the days in which
Christ came. Daniel 10 through 12 is primarily
a historical narrative, but from Daniel's perspective, a prophetic
narrative of things that would take place shortly after Daniel
died, all the way up to the coming of Christ. We call that the intertestament
period. It's the period between the silencing
of God's voice to Israel after the days of Malachi, the prophet,
Until the time that we hear John the Baptist rising up on the
scene, telling men and women to repent, the kingdom of God
is at hand, make straight his paths, the Lord's on his way.
That's about 300, 400 years saints of silence. In that framework
of silence, we actually have recorded in Daniel 10 through
12, some specific terminology and language, not only of historical
things, but of redemptive issues. and application that applies
to you and me today. I stress this for those of you
who still have a strong tangent towards eschatology. Daniel's
chapter 10 through 12 is a historical narrative with prophetic application
to our day. Am I making some sense? And so
Daniel right now is struggling. Daniel is struggling. I want
you to enter into this. You can follow me in your outline.
I want you to enter into the struggle with Daniel. Daniel
is receiving his last and final revelation from God. He doesn't
know it, but God does. And we are told in Daniel chapter
10 verse one in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a thing
was revealed unto Daniel. You see that word thing. Now
what's the thing that was revealed to Daniel? You know, when we
use the word thing, it has a large connotation, right? I saw a thing. What do you mean you saw a thing?
The word thing in the scriptures is primarily the Hebrew word
Debar and it literally is translated word. Word. A word was revealed to Daniel. A word was revealed to Daniel.
A message was revealed to Daniel. The testimony of God was revealed
to Daniel. It is the same Debar in the beginning
when God created the heavens and the earth. In fact, the word,
the message is about to be revealed to Daniel in person. That word is used in the book
of Proverbs chapter 25 verse four. We've quoted this often
in time past. It is the glory of God to conceal
a thing. That's the Hebrew word to bar
means word. God hides his word. That's why until the Holy Spirit
comes along, you don't understand the scriptures and you certainly
don't understand the gospel. God has to reveal it to you.
Now, if he makes you a king and we all are, and he makes you
a queen, And we all are, guess what he gives us the honor? To
search it out. Did you read that? Proverbs 24,
25, four. It is the glory of God to conceal
a thing, the honor of kings to search out the matter. Same Hebrew
word. It's the glory of God to conceal his word. It's the honor
of kings to search out his word. That's what Daniel's doing right
now. That's what Daniel's doing right now. Pastor, how do you
search out the word? Three ways. First and foremost, prayer. God's
revelation is a self-disclosure of himself. And you and I, by
searching, can never find out God. Am I making some sense?
People can search the world over, enter into all of the different
pagan religions, and stay there forever and a day. They will
never meet God until God reveals himself to us. God can't be found. So God's word is a self-disclosure
of which, therefore, we say to people, if you want to know God,
you better cry out to him to reveal himself to you. And if
you cry out to him, I'll tell you what, God's already moving
you to seek him. Do you hear me? He's already
moving you to seek him. And God's people seek him, don't
they? God's people seek him as Daniel is seeking him because
he had received this word in Daniel chapter eight and this
word burdened Daniel. You guys remember we talked about the
revelations that Daniel received caused him to be sick and caused
him to mourn. It caused him to grieve. Daniel
was bent over by the word and you would be too. If you really
took the Bible seriously, you would be too. If you really took
the Bible seriously and read it as it ought to be read, you'd
understand that this world is in trouble. And if it wasn't
for the mercy of God, we'd be in trouble too. Do you hear me?
The Bible is a serious book and all of his precepts are true
and they're coming to pass even in our day. And if God gave you
clarity, like he gave Daniel clarity, you'd be bent over too.
Daniel therefore is seeking God. He's seeking God. He's desired
a revelation from God Also, I want you to see there's a symmetry
and pattern of revelation It's interesting because it says in
verse 1 in the third year of Cyrus King the Persia thing was
revealed to Daniel and that what it says Whose name was Belteshazzar
and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long and he
understood the thing he understood And he understood the thing and
he had understanding of the vision chapter 10 verse 1 gives us a
compendium or a a uh, sort of a commentary on the whole of
the two chapters forthcoming for Daniel to understand these
things. He has experienced what he's about to experience, but
it says in the third year of Cyrus, he heard these things.
And yet we read over in, uh, chapter 11 verse one. Uh, no,
I'm sorry. Go back to chapter seven, verse
one, when Daniel received his first revelation, he received
his first revelation in the first year of Belshazzar King of Babylon. Then he received a second revelation
in chapter eight, verse one, in the third year of the reign
of King Belshazzar. Then over in chapter nine, it
says, in the first year of Darius, the son of Azarius, the son of
the Medes, which was made king over the realm. In the first
year of Darius, I, Daniel, understood by books. So there's this symmetry
where in the first year of the king, God's revealing something
to Daniel. And in the third year of the
king, God's revealing something to Daniel and we are in that
third year of the king over in chapter 10 where Daniel is going
to receive the final and complete revelation of all that God has
purposed not only for the salvation of his Old Testament saints but
of you and me to the end of time. Verse 1 causes Daniel to be grieved
and mourning, we see in verse two, in those days in which I
received this word, I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks.
Do you see that? Now, saints, it's one thing to
mourn for a few days. It's another thing to mourn three
whole weeks. I want to talk to you about that.
Daniel is fasting. Do you believe that? Daniel is
fasting. Daniel is driven to a time of
fasting and prayer. He's driven to a time of separating
himself from his common pleasurable meats. In fact, the text tells
us in verse three, and I ate no pleasant bread. Neither came
flesh nor wine in my mouth. Neither did I anoint myself at
all until the three weeks were fulfilled. Now that does not
mean that Daniel didn't eat. It just means that he did not
eat pleasurable foods. He did not eat those types of
delicacies that you and I would commonly eat on an everyday level.
He ate vegetables and he drank a little water. So this is what
we call a partial fast. Now, let me say something about
that, please. Daniel was not fasting to get a job. He wasn't
fasting to enlarge his ministry. He wasn't fasting to get a wife
or a husband. He wasn't fasting for material
things. He wasn't fasting for his own
personal goals. He wasn't fasting to manipulate
God. That's not what fasts are for.
Are you hearing me? So abandon the Daniel fast. If
you're seeking by the Daniel fast to get God to do something
for you. Fasting is not about you getting
God to do something for you, but for you comprehending what
God is doing. Are you hearing me? The second
thing is that fasts, when they're of God, they are prompted by
God and not by the flesh. When fasts are of God, God moves
you into a fast dimension which is easy, it is normal, and it's
graceful. It's not a tyrannical, legalistic,
oppressive thing that you've been told to do by your pastor
or your elders because we're trying to move into the next
dimension. Are you hearing me? The fast is also very personal. Jesus tells us in the gospel
of Matthew, when you do anything for God, do not do it to be seen of men.
Therefore, when we fast or we give money, there we go, here's
another one there. We ought to do it with a pure
vertical perspective in view. This is not about me impressing
you. or trying to get other people to feel sorry for me because
I'm walking around in sackcloth and ashes, letting you know how
much I'm toiling and suffering for God. That's hypocrisy and
God despises it. Read in your own time, for those
of you who don't know, Matthew chapter six, Jesus said, don't
you do anything to be seen of men. When you fast, you wash
your face, you clean yourself up, put your clothes on. This
is between me and you. God will bless you openly. Isn't
that what he says? Daniel is driven to fast because
he's under compunction by two things, a revelation. I'll tell
you a revelation will make you fast. When God speaks to you
through his word, And He brings you down under the hand of the
Spirit because of an issue He's dealing with in your life. I
guarantee you a fast, no food is even pleasant. Am I making
some sense? And it's between you and God.
Don't do anything on a legalistic bit. Will you hear me, children
of God? The difference between spirit and flesh is the difference
between life and death. And it's the difference between
God's glory and your glory. And when Daniel was fasting,
Daniel was driven to fast for three weeks because of two things.
He was driven to fast because of a revelation that was given
to him. He was drawn into this because of that word that was
given to him. And secondly, saints, not only
that, He was prompted by revelation desiring to see God's will accomplished. In other words, when we fast,
we're fasting because we have now in our own heart agreed with
and desired to see God's will done. What that requires is your
mind being transformed and renewed by the word of God so that you
might know and prove what the good and acceptable and perfect
will of God is. Am I making some sense? When
we fast or in that mode of fasting, we are desiring the will of God
to be done. Now, do you know to desire the
will of God to be done is a work of grace? The Bible says in Philippians
chapter 2 verse 12, it is God who works in you the what? Will
and to do of his good pleasure. You know, most of the time we
go around doing our own thing. Tell the truth now. Can I get
a witness? Even if you didn't give me one, I know you do. But when God moves us into that
dimension where it's about Him, you are especially blessed. Now you have occupied that place
that I talked about earlier, where you have co-joined with
God in the mediatorial office to which we've been called as
priests and kings. Now you are interceding. Now
you are advocating. Now you are supplicating. Now
you are engaged with God in heaven over things that God has purpose
to get done through his church Did you hear me now? I said this
before I'm gonna say it again before I move on to this next
point There are some things in your life that won't get done
until you're on your knees. Please hear me You can sit around
forever in a day and think that God's gonna do it He's not gonna
do it until he does it through you because that's the way God
works You have not because you ask not Am I telling the truth? Now, we've already talked about
don't seek out of your own lust. Like James says, you don't receive
because you ask to consume it upon your lust. And therefore,
God won't give it to you. He's too good for you for that.
Why didn't God give it to him? I've been praying for three weeks.
Why did he give it? Because you want to consume it on your lust.
Am I making some sense? So Daniel is driven by two things,
a revelation and a desire for God's will to be done in children
of God. That's remarkable, because every time a child of God is
bent to pray, In a selfless and self-interested way, it's the
Spirit of Christ praying in you to get the will of God done.
Give Him the glory for it. When you find yourself thinking
about a loved one, our brother, sister in Christ, and they're
toiling and they're in trouble, and you find yourself praying
and interceding for them sincerely and earnestly, and you're doing
it from the soul, you know what I mean by doing it from the soul?
It's the Spirit of Christ operating. to work through your prayers
to get the job done for blessing our brothers and sisters. That's
just true. That's why our elders spoke concerning sister Bertha.
And we do that for all the saints. Why? Because we're not simply
doing religion. We understand that God works through the prayers
of his people to get the job done. the effectual fervent prayers
of a righteous person doth avail much. And we know Christ is that
righteous person. So we appeal to him to meet the
needs of God's people. That's what Daniel is doing.
Are you with me so far? What's remarkable about this
is Daniel is in a group of people. Let me expand on this so I can
go to the next point. that are tremendous in the scriptures.
Moses did this. Moses interceded for a bunch
of rebellious people that were sick and on their way to hell.
Isn't that right? In the wilderness they had rebelled against God,
rebelled against God, rebelled against God, rebelled against
God. And God told Moses, get out the way, I'm killing up.
I love, I love God. I love him. And Moses, because
he was born of God, fell on his face. started crying out to God,
don't kill him, Lord, don't kill him, kill me. Now the spirit
of God has entered into Moses and made him a great type of
Christ, the interceder for his people where they should have
died under the wrath of God. Moses now stands in the gap as
the surety and substitute of his people. And God says, now
I like that better because it points to my son. Now, who do
you think caused Moses to fall on his face and do that? God
did. Are you hearing me? God works
all things after the counsel of his own will. Are you hearing
me? God knows how to move you to get in the way so that he
can save his people from his own wrath through you. That's
what he did with his son. Free will has nothing to do with
that either. Just understand that. The other one was remarkable
to me. Do you remember Sister Hannah?
Sister Hannah was married to Penina. Is that his name? No, but not as a adversary. He's
married to, uh, Eli. No. Elkana. All right. I knew it was an E. And sister Hannah was barren. You know, that's our condition
apart from grace. Listen to me. Don't you fool
yourself. You're barren. You can't produce one fruit of
the spirit on your own. Now she loved God and she fell
on her face and she said, Lord, give me a child. Now watch what
I'm saying. She didn't want that child for
herself. She wanted that child for God's glory. Do you know
that was God moving in Hannah to desire to be fruitful because
Hannah was a believer and she wanted the perpetuation of God's
will to be accomplished so that Christ could come. Isn't that
right? So Hannah now is interceding. You know what she's doing? She's
travailing in labor and pain to conceive and bring forth God's
will in her life for God's glory. I hope I'm speaking to somebody.
Then there's another brother, his name is Ezra. You read it
for yourself in Ezra chapter 10. I can't wait till we get
to the book of Ezra. Ezra was a scribe. He knew the word of
God and he loved the glory of God and the gospel of God. And
he was taken back after Daniel's time to Israel. And Israel had
already established a temple, but the people were still very
much scattered and caught up in all of this paganism and false
religion and syncretism and ecumenism. Because you see, even though
you take the people out of Babylon, taking Babylon out of the people,
There's a whole nother issue. But Ezra is remarkable because
Ezra sees the condition of his people and he stands in the middle
of the street, falls down on the ground and starts weeping
and crying before God. Do you know God moved him to
do that? Do you know God worked in him to do that? to will and
to do of God's good pleasure. And do you know in doing that
all the people came out to the street and they stood around
Ezra? And you know what they did? They
started weeping and crying. Do you know what happened to
Ezra? He became a great type of Jesus
Christ. You understand you won't repent
until God repents for us in the person of Christ. You won't bow
down until the Lord Jesus Christ bows down for us as our representative. Am I making some sense? Until
Christ takes on the matter of our redemption to bear our sins
and be under our burden and the reproaches where we reproached
him, you and I won't turn from our sin. And until you see Christ
in that humble state, you'll never bow down to proud. Well,
last time you fell on your face, begging God for mercy. See what
I'm saying? And then I remember another sister
too in the book of Acts. This is the last one, Acts chapter
16. Sister Lydia. Now she isn't saved yet, but
God's drawing her. Remember that? And she goes to
the seaside to pray. I'm gonna talk about that here
in a moment. Her and a band of sisters. Now she got a big thriving
business. She's a seller of purple. at
his garments. And she's got plenty of money,
but she knows that she doesn't know the Lord. And guess what
God is doing? He's working in her. And he drives her to the
seashore for prayer, week in and week out and week in and
week out. And guess what God does? He works all things after
the counsel of his own will, doesn't he? He moves her to the
seashore and then he brings the apostle Paul and his brethren
right to the spot where she is. And she hears the gospel. And
the Bible says God opened her heart, opened her heart to hear
those things and attend to those things that were spoken by Paul
and the brethren. She was saved in a gospel church
called Philippi was established in her home. Do you see it? What's the point, pastor? God
answers prayer. God answers the prayer. And here
we see the same thing in our text. Let's go on. Let's go on.
In verses two and three, Daniel is longing, he's desiring for
God's will to be done. And we are told over in verse
four, these words, and in the fourth and 20th day of the first
month, I was by the side of the great river, which is called
Hittikel. Now in the Old Testament, what
God does is he uses everything. All of the geographical locations,
all of the circumstantial events, all of the covenant implications
of the time are used to teach us great gospel truth. Now, be
careful now, don't run away from this because Daniel has frequently
received revelation at the riverside. That's what happened to Lydia.
And I want you to think about this with me for a moment. Therefore,
this point is called the river Revelation. It says that Daniel
was by the great river which is Hitticale. Now do you guys
know where Hitticale is? You probably don't. Do you know
where Lake Michigan is? You probably don't. One or two
of you do. Okay. Hitticale is one of the rivers that flowed
out of the Garden of Eden. Do you know there were four rivers
that flowed out of the Garden of Eden? four rivers. The Garden
of Eden is what we call the center of creation. It's where God had
placed mankind. And out of that garden flowed
four rivers to the four corners of the earth. There is great
symbolism, symbology, and redemptive truth here. The river always
connotes God's blessing. The river always connotes God's
mercies and His grace. It always connotes God's revelation. By the riverside is where we
receive revelation, where we receive blessing. It tells us
in Genesis chapter two, around verse 14 or so, that Hitticale
is this river out of which flowed from the garden into the plains.
And this is where Daniel is, by the great river, which is
Hitticale. Now remember, he was there in Daniel chapter eight
too, receiving the revelation concerning the Medo-Persian king.
Now, the significance of this is this. Daniel holds in common
and comparison with two other people concerning the revelations
that are taking place right now. The one is Ezekiel. Daniel is
the predecessor of Ezekiel. Ezekiel went before him. Our
Daniel succeeds Ezekiel. Ezekiel went before him. And
Ezekiel, we are told in Ezekiel chapter one, verse one, Ezekiel
received revelation of God's glory by the river Uli. You guys remember that? God spoke
to Ezekiel and God revealed himself to Ezekiel at the river. And
Ezekiel frequently mentioned in his prophecy, this is the
same glory that I saw at the river. the river Ezekiel saw
what Daniel saw and Daniel and Ezekiel saw what John saw in
the book of Revelation I'm sharing you sharing with you these three
men because their revelations correspond in fact they are The
son of man, they are men who received the revelation concerning
the son of man of which we're about to deal with now. So the
river of revelation is critical. How do we know that? How can
we build upon this? Just a couple of things I want you to know.
The river of revelation is critical because God uses it all the time
in the scriptures. Genesis 2, 14 is where I quoted
it. Ezekiel 1 verses 1 and 3. Then again, chapter 3, verse
15 and 23. In Revelation 13, 1, John says,
I was standing on the seashore when I saw a beast emerge up
out of the sea you guys remember that this is the same beast that
Daniel saw in Daniel chapter 7 you guys know that same beast
same image what we are dealing with is the unfolding of history
and all of the world powers as it seeks to dethrone God and
set itself up as the great Antichrist kingdom in this world Daniel
saw that Ezekiel saw that, John saw that. Let me ask you a question
before I go on. Do you see it? Do you see the emerging of the
beast today and its prevalence over our society and our world
and specifically and primarily right now in America? in America. You and I are on the brink of
the fulfillment of certain aspects of scripture that have already
been fulfilled in Daniel's day, have already been fulfilled in
our Lord Jesus' day, have already been fulfilled throughout the
church age, but will have its final culmination maybe in our
day. But you and I are about to see
some things, and they are already happening. Things that are happening
in our present time, both in the sphere of religion as well
as in the sphere of politics, is absolutely mind-boggling. The things that are taking place
technologically and in terms of legislation and purposes and
goals with respect to our government are so phenomenally tied to the
unfolding of biblical prophecy that it would be hard to miss
unless you just wanted to. As we go through chapter 10 through
12, I'm only gonna deal with about three messages. I wanna
get a composite sketch in chapter 11 of the things that take place
in the Grecian kingdom because there we will get a portfolio
and sort of a resume of the Antichrist and the false church and what
true believers do in the midst of those occasions. And in chapter
12, we'll see how it closes out where Daniel is told when he
finishes receiving this revelation that we're dealing with. Now,
Daniel, you're cool. You don't have nothing to do,
brother. This Daniel at the end of chapter 12 says this, Lord,
I still don't get it fully. He said, Don't worry about it.
You just rest. You getting ready to come home
to glory. Seal the prophecy and rest. The rest will take care
of itself. This is what Daniel is told.
What a word of comfort to God's servant as he is about to die.
God tells him you don't have anything else to do. You know
what that means? He's finished his course. He's run his race.
He's fought his fight. Saints, listen to me. That's
extremely comforting when you get old and about to cross Jordan.
For God to tell you, you don't have anything else to do. Your
business is done. I'm well pleased with you for
my son, Jesus' sake. Man, I wanna hear that, don't
you? This is phenomenal. Okay, so then we move on into
the next point. Because Daniel is grieving, he's
burdened, and it tells us at the river Hittikel that he ends
his fast on the 24th day And having ended his path being at
the river Hittickel, he sees something. Do you know what he
sees? Look with me at verse five. Then I lifted up my eyes and
I looked and I beheld a certain man. Do you see that? Now this point is called in our
outline verses five and six, a revelation of the comforter,
Jesus Christ. A revelation of the Comforter,
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is always the cause
of true comfort. Do you believe that? And what
we receive right here in verses 5 and 6 is very instructional
to you and me. You know, in the time of your
trouble, when you are going through dark days, what you need is a
revelation of Jesus. in your troubles, you need to
be reminded again of who Jesus is and what Jesus did and why
he did it and where he is now. Am I making some sense? That's
all you need. I'm reminded of what Paul said
in the book of second Corinthians. I think it's around verse chapter
one, around verse 22 or 23. Now the father of mercy and the
God of all comfort, comfort you in all things. Now think about
that for a moment with me. Paul calls him the father of
mercies. You know where mercy comes from?
The father. And he's called the God of all comfort. You know
where you go when you need comfort? To God. Do you know what Daniel
is receiving right now? He's receiving the comfort of
a revelation of Christ. Now let me share with you for
a few more minutes the significance of this revelation. Will you
look carefully at the description of which Daniel himself is specific
in particular as he unfolds? We are told in verse five, then
I lifted up my eyes and I looked and I beheld a certain man clothed
in linen. Do you see that? Whose loins
were girded with fine gold of Euphrates. 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 the color of the polished brass, and the voice of His words
like the voice of a multitude. Some of you might be lost. I'm
not lost at all. I know who this is. This is the
Lord Jesus Christ in what we call His pre-incarnate, post-resurrected
glory. If I didn't put that down in
your outline, you better write that down. This must be understood. This is a revelation. We call
it in theology a theophany. Daniel saw Christ, Jeremiah saw
Christ, Isaiah saw Christ, the prophets saw Christ. Daniel saw this man who comes
to give Daniel comfort over the burdensome revelation and implications
of what he's heard concerning his people. And the comfort is
the revelation of Christ's person. All Jesus had to do for Daniel
was just stand there. in all of his glory and splendor. And Daniel looks at him from
the top to the bottom and he understands several things. Can
I tell you what he understands first? He understands that what
he was looking at right there first and foremost was his mediator.
That's right, Jesus is the only Mediator between God and man,
the man Jesus Christ. Listen to me, He was the Mediator
when He came 2,000 years ago, assumed the human nature, and
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. and we all have received grace
for grace. Isn't that right? We beheld his
glory then, we beheld it now. But Jesus was the mediator of
sinners before he came. He was always the mediator. Will
you hear me? He was the mediator before the
world was made. God had a mediator before he
had a sinner. That's how good God is. Before
I fell, I had a high priest who was ready to take on my troubles
and my afflictions and my sorrows and my difficulty. This is absolutely
amazing. Before the world began, Jesus
stood as my surety and substitute. He here is called the pre-incarnate,
before his incarnation, Christ, the pre-incarnate Christ. But
what's glorious about this is he stands robed in his priestly
garments, of which I want you to see. Daniel carefully examines
Jesus, which is what we should be doing all the days of our
life. Daniel carefully examines him and he sees that he is clothed
in linen. Is that what it says? Fine linen
is actually what it is, and it's fine white linen whose loins
were girded about with fine gold of upast. He had a girdle on.
His loins were girded about. Do you know that girdle is the
girdle that the high priest wore in Exodus chapter 28? God had
told Aaron and his sons who were the high priest of that old tabernacle
system, that typological representative of the New Testament church.
Aaron represented Christ and his sons represent the believers.
We are a spiritual priesthood. Am I making some sense? And as
Aaron stood there, he was consecrated and he was to put on a white
robe of fine linen. The white robe represents the
righteousness of Jesus Christ. Do you guys know that? White
represents first and foremost, the righteousness of God. the
righteousness of God. What that means is our high priest
must be sinless. In order for him to be successful
in his mediation over our needs and concerns and burdens, he
must not have one stitch of sin. The garment that covered Aaron
covered him because he himself was sinful and God had to look
at the robe. The robe was white. The girdle
in that text of Exodus 28 was made of gold, fine gold of Euphrates
or Topaz. It actually was a location where
they derived the gold. The girdle was gold, but it was
also blue and it was also scarlet because the girdle being gold,
blue and scarlet spoke to his deity. That's what the gold represents. And then it spoke to his heavenliness.
That's what the blue represents. And it spoke to his atoning efficacy. That's what the scarlet represents.
Am I making some sense? Our high priest then was a heavenly
high priest who himself was God and therefore was able to make
atonement for the people. Daniel is looking at his mediator. who is standing in Daniel's stead
to mediate for Daniel on Daniel's behalf. But it goes on to say
something else. Notice what it says. His body
was like beryl. Beryl is a glorious stone, almost
like topaz. of a brilliant, brilliant color,
and is used in Ezekiel 1, and is used in the book of Revelation
to denote the splendor of God's glory. You do know that in the
book of Revelation, that as God describes the New Jerusalem,
that is described with precious stones, and jewels, and beryl,
and topaz, and different other emeralds, and things that you
and I can't hardly comprehend, but what they denote is the splendor
of God's glory. The splendor of God's glory.
Daniel is seeing the splendor of Christ's glory and then it
says in his face as the appearance of what? lightning The appearance
of lightning in his eyes as lamps of fire Now, what is that denoting? The face is lightning and the
eyes of fire denotes God's purity and it denotes his wrath It denotes
his capacity to purge sins our God is is a consuming fire. And you already know if you know
your Bible that we are made to launch from here to the book
of Revelation chapter 1 verses 13 through 15 where John in his
revelation is made to turn to turn to see the voice that spoke
with him. And when he turned to see the
voice that spoke with him He saw what was described in the
middle of the golden candlestick. We talked about this on Friday,
the ancient of days. And it denotes the eternality
of Jesus. Jesus was not created. Jesus
was not born. Jesus is God from everlasting
to everlasting, the ancient of days. He lived the same length
of time his father lived. And that's for all eternity.
He stands there and John says, and when I looked at him, I saw
one who was clothed all the way down to his feet as well. And
he was girded about as well in the same type of girdle that
Daniel is here describing because John saw what Daniel saw, what
Ezekiel saw was the high priest of his people. Are you hearing
me? And the Bible says he had eyes as a flame of fire. And
when Jesus was dealing with the seven churches, Every church
received from Jesus an opening address that had in it a specific
and particular aspect of his person and his attributes. Whether that was a church at
Thyatira or Smyrna or Ephesus, when he spoke to them, he says,
I know you and I am the God who is either having eyes of a flaming
fire or rising from the dead or out of whose mouth comes a
two-edged sword. appropriate to the needs of each
church, our high priest comes as a mediator and advocate. The flame of Jesus, the eyes
being bright means that he pierces through everything. You know
what that means? There ain't nothing you can hide.
Will you hear me? You can't hide from Jesus. That's
what he meant when he says, I know your words. I know you. Hebrews
chapter 4 verse 12. You remember that the Word of
God is alive and it's quick and it's sharper than any two-edged
sword. That's Christ. Christ is that Word. Are you
hearing me? Christ is that Word and the Bible says and with him
everything is open and manifested. There's nothing hid from him
with whom we have to do nothing. nothing. He sees it all. So now,
Mark, imagine this. Your high priest who loves you
and mediates in your behalf sees everything. Do you have to remind
him of anything? You know, when you go to pray,
Lord, I need to remind you. No, you don't. God sees it all. And if he cares for you, his
seeing it will move him to deal with it. Am I making some sense? The next thing that he says here,
I just want you to pause with me for a moment. I'm going to
let you go in a moment. I want you to see the glory of God in
Christ. I want you to see your high priest. Will you see him
again? The Bible says here that he was clothed and he was dressed
and he appeared in likeness in his eyes as a lamp of fire and
in color as polished brass. You know, he was in color as
polished brass in his face, in his arms. in his legs and in
his feet, the whole of Jesus was as colored brass. You know
the color of brass is, is a bronze color. It's a deep, deep, deep
bronze color. That wasn't because Jesus was
black. He was bronze because Jesus was
the tried stone. Will you hear me? He was the
only God man that could step into the fire of God's wrath
and walk all the way through and come out on the other side,
glorious in his appearance. Am I making some sense? See,
because you got to heat up those precious stones and purge them
in order for them to be purified. And he is as polished brass because
he has come out on the other side of God's fiery wrath. And that's why the Bible says
his feet were as polished brass. Why? Because he tread the depths
of hell as a substitute for his people. He went where you and
I must not go. He endured what you and I should
not endure. He undertook what we could not
bear. Will you hear me? Our high priest,
bore the wrath of God. All the fire of God's wrath came
upon him. And because he was sinless, he
wasn't consumed. But he comes out in this glorious
apparel and this glorious appearance to let you and me know one more
thing. Not only is he a faithful high priest, not only is he a
great mediator for us, but he is triumphant. He's victorious. See, this man of war, he made
it to the other end. He conquered. He overcame death
and hell and all the power of the enemy. Am I making some sense?
This is what Daniel is saying. And because Daniel is seeing
this, he's being greatly comforted. Not only is he being greatly
comforted, he's being overwhelmed by this revelation. Are you?
He's overwhelmed by this revelation. The Bible says when Daniel saw
him like this, he fell down on his face. That's almost a dead
man. Isn't that what happened to Ezekiel?
Isn't that what happened to John? John said, and when I saw him,
I fell down as dead. Why? Because he had seen God.
I told you, look, you ain't going to see God and go to hooping
and hollering and running around the church. I'm sorry. Not the true and the living God. You know, I really just want
to help folk in this pagan age understand, please understand,
you're not better than our fathers. and you're not better than our
mothers. When they saw theophanies of God, down they went. That's
the only thing that happens to a puny little piece of human
flesh called man. Are you hearing me? You're not
gonna see God's glory and run around and jump and run into
his presence. It will never happen. It will
never happen. You won't meet the true and the
living God like that. When you meet the true and the
living God, I guarantee you, you will prostrate. Daniel prostrated,
and he was so overwhelmed. You know what his high priest
came to do? His high priest came to Daniel the same way Jesus
came to sinners when he did his ministry. You know what he did?
He touched him. You need a touch. Are you hearing
me? You need a touch. You need God
to touch you. Isn't that what he did? He touched
him. He touched him. And this is the thing the Pharisees
couldn't understand. They couldn't understand Jesus
touching sinners. But sinners knew what it was
like for Jesus to touch them, didn't they? And the Bible says
that Jesus received sinners, and he ate with them, and he
drank with them, and they heard him gladly. Why? Because he stood
in their gap to mediate for them. Isn't that good? And this is
what's going on with Daniel. Daniel's so overwhelmed by the
revelation that he can't speak. He can't even gain his composure.
The Bible says that Daniel was so dumb, so out of his wits that
the Lord had to touch him to strengthen him. That's what you
need. That's what I need. Particularly
in my time of trouble, I need the Lord to touch me. I need
him to strengthen me. I can't even commune with him
unless he does that. And do you know, I want you to
think about this here. I'm going to close. We'll take this up
next week. The only reason you and I can talk to God is because
he strengthens us to do that. Are you hearing me? The only
reason we can go down in our closet and pray to our father
and it have some substance and meaning and edification because
he strengthens us. That's what the spirit of God
is all about. Strengthening God's people for the revelation. and for the work he has called
us to do in the furtherance of his own kingdom, the exhortation
of his son, the glory of his own great name, and the salvation
of his people. That's what Daniel is experiencing,
because the angel is getting ready to tell him some things
that we need to know too. Amen.