Are You Ready to Meet Jesus?

By Bobby Blakey on March 31, 2019

Daniel 10

AUDIO

Are You Ready to Meet Jesus?

By Bobby Blakey on March 31, 2019

Daniel 10

This is a rush transcript.

[00:00:01] There are two things we've all been told that we are not supposed to talk about. What are these two things? Our religion and politics, right?

[00:00:13] Well, you can rest assured you don't have to worry. We're not going to talk about either one of those things this morning. We're just going to talk about Jesus Christ. That's what we're going to talk about. And if you want to see who Jesus really is, I invite you to open your Bible to Daniel 10.

[00:00:29] And we are going to see a vision, I believe, a vision of the glorified unveiled state of who Jesus is right now. Today, we're going to see him in all of his glory here. And Daniel, Chapter 10. And I hope you've been enjoying our study of the book of Daniel.

[00:00:48] Has anybody been enjoying going through this book? A few people here and there. Well, for most of you who haven't been enjoying it, it's almost over, I guess. So just hang in there. All right. But we come to the climax now, Daniel.

[00:01:03] Ten, eleven, twelve are all one epic trilogy of a vision, a vision that takes three chapters to give to us. And so Daniel 10 is just the introduction. And then Chapter 11, if you come back next week, we'll get into the actual vision itself. But this is just the experience. Daniel goes through to get the vision to receive it. And remember, Daniel was 15 years old.

[00:01:29] He was a teenager when he was taken from Jerusalem over to Babylon Brainwashing Academy, where he worked for King Nebeker Nasr. And it's now been 70 years in the kingdom. And Daniel resolve not to compromise his three friends. They were ready to die rather than worship the false gods of Babylon.

[00:01:50] And God use these guys to do great things through Daniel. He revealed mysteries. He interpreted dreams even after the Babylonians were invaded by the Medes and the Persians. Daniel continued to be a leader and continued to bring glory to God. And now we've seen these visions. We've seen three different visions that Daniel has had. And now we've got three chapters that are all one vision, and we're not even going to get into the content of it. This is just the experience. Let's get into a Daniel Chapter 10, verse one. In the third year of Cyrus King of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named belt to QAZ czar. Just make it sure that we understand this is the guy who did all the amazing things in the earlier chapters. And the word was true, and it was a great conflict. And he understood the word and had understanding of the vision in those days. I Daniel was mourning for three weeks.

[00:02:53] I ain't no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all for the full three weeks.

[00:03:04] Now, if you're taking notes here this morning, here's a name I would want everybody to know in his name is Cyrus, if you could write that name down there at the top of your notes, Cyrus.

[00:03:15] Because the Bible has an amazing prophecy about this guy, Cyrus, all the way back in the book of Isaiah. And The Book of Isaiah. Chapter 45. Verse one you could write down. It prophesies that Cyrus will be the one who will send the people back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. So remember, Daniel has been exiled in Babylon, along with God's people now for 70 years. And there was a prophecy that Cyrus would send the people back. Now, this is a prophecy that's not only in the Bible, but also can be confirmed through history outside of the Bible that there was a king of Persia named Cyrus. And it was this king who said that the Jews could go back to Jerusalem to worship their God and in fact, turn with me to Ezra, Chapter one. And we just want to see this amazing prophecy and how it is fulfilled in Ezra chapter once Isaiah 45 is written well before there's even the exile, before even the time of Daniel. And then Cyrus comes as the king of Persia. Now, hey, if you have to find Ezra, it's right before Nehemiah and Jobe. It's right after first and second chronicles.

[00:04:30] We have our books of the Old Testament in an interesting order. If we were reading this and in Hebrew that it was originally written, if we were reading it in the Jewish order, that they had the Old Testament books. Daniel is the book right before Azra, which are both towards the end of the Old Testament.

[00:04:47] So that would have been a lot easier to find Ezra, if we were using the Hebrew Jewish copy of the Scriptures. But here in Ezra one page 389, it's very clear that Cyrus in his. First year he sent the people back to Jerusalem.

[00:05:05] And if you were here last week, Daniel prayed that God would send the people back. God said he would send the people back. And he said he would even do more. He would send the Messiah. He would send the one who would bring an end to sin and give everlasting righteousness. And he gave a timeline, a countdown to in the Messiah was going to come. And so here's the fulfillment that God did do what he said in the first year of Cyrus King of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. So Isaiah prophesied about it. Jeremiah prophesied that it would be 70 years that they would go back. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus King of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing. Thus, says Cyrus King of Persia, the Lord, the 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. Whoever is among you, of all his people, may his God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel. He is the God who is in Jerusalem. What an amazing thing that a guy who is really in charge of the known world at that time, the king of Persia. This man, Cyrus, that he would see that there is a god over him and that that God wants him to send his people back to Jerusalem. And he would make a decree throughout all the nations of the Earth, throughout all the kingdom of Persia at that time. Wow. How powerful is that? You would think Daniel would be rejoicing.

[00:06:38] The exile is over. His prayers have all been answered. You would think this is a time of celebration.

[00:06:45] And yet when we see Daniel in Chapter 10, he is mourning.

[00:06:49] In fact, he's doing a fast here for three weeks, for 21 days. He's not touching the king's delicacies. He's not having any wine or meat. He's not even anointing himself cleansing himself. No. For three weeks. He's just in a state of mourning before God because it says in Daniel 10, verse one, the third year of Cyrus. So two years later, after this proclamation, after the people go back, Daniel is in mourning. Now, our text doesn't tell us why.

[00:07:19] But if you were to read through Ezra, you would be able to see why, out of all the people of God who had been exiled, only a few of them would end up going back to Jerusalem just like tens of thousands when there are hundreds of thousands of them out there.

[00:07:34] Only tens of thousands end up going back. And then the whole work to rebuild the temple and restore the worship and the glory of God. Here's how bad it is when they actually go about the work of rebuilding the temple. The people who are who are old now, they were they were there before the seven years of exile. And they're back now and they see the rebuilding of the temple. They openly start weeping because the new temple is so much less than how the temple used to be.

[00:08:06] That it makes them want to weep openly.

[00:08:09] So only a few people go back. The temple's not going to be glorious like it was before. And if you keep reading through Ezra, you'll see at some point when they get opposition, they just stop even trying to rebuild the temple.

[00:08:23] So here we were, we had this moment of glory, if you were here last week where Daniel's prayer was answered and that would have seemed like a high note to end the story of Daniel on.

[00:08:33] But now, if you turn back to Daniel Chapter 10 with me, there's more revelation. There's another vision that he needs to have. This isn't the end of the story. It's not as simple as the people going back to the promised land.

[00:08:48] And you see here that Daniel, he takes this burden of God's people and he makes it his own burden.

[00:08:57] He is burdened for his fellow countrymen, the Jews, now and now. It doesn't say exactly what Daniel's thinking, but he's in this state of mourning and and fasting. It's almost like he went back to chapter one here where all he's having is maybe vegetables and water and he's denying all of the king's delicacies. It's like he's trying to get back to that place where it's just all about God and the worship of him. Now, it doesn't explain to us why Daniel himself didn't go back to Jerusalem. Was it because he was too old to make the journey at this point? Was it because he felt like he needed to be there in Persia to help all the other Jews go back to encourage them to get to go back? But one thing that is clear from our text is that Daniel is greatly burdened by what is happening with God's people. Let's get this down for point number one, bear the burden of souls. That's the context of this chapter. We've already seen him doing this intercessory prayer on behalf of God's people last week. Well, now we're seeing a fasting and a mourning taking place as he continues to make other peoples sin and problems and burdens. And he takes it upon himself.

[00:10:10] And I hope that studying Daniel, a man who prayed three times a day to go towards a out and up a room towards Jerusalem. And that was the thing they actually found to use against him was the secret thing of Daniel's life was his prayer. And then we got to study one of his prayers last week. And now we see for 21 days, he's basically doing nothing but fasting and mourning and praying and going before the presence of God. If you're going to learn something from Daniel, I hope it is that it's going to change the way you pray.

[00:10:42] I mean, to look at this man's example and to keep doing the same things you've always been doing would be to miss the point.

[00:10:50] I mean, do you feel a burden for other people?

[00:10:54] Do you feel a burden for what's going on in the Church of Jesus that your brothers and sisters would really live lives worthy of the gospel and to live? Ty, the name of Jesus, do you feel a burden for all the people outside who don't really know who Jesus is? Who aren't ready for Jesus to come back? Who are lost in their sin, harassed and helpless? Jesus looked at them like sheep without a shepherd. Do you see the people around you as lost and at some point? Is there a heaviness?

[00:11:25] Is there a compassion? Is there some kind of feeling that comes upon you on behalf of other people?

[00:11:30] Are you just happy, go lucky live in your own Orange County life?

[00:11:35] I'm telling you, if you can see all those people at the swap, me and I Golden West College on the weekend, you can see all the people stacked up on the four or five freeway if you can drive through the neighborhood upon neighborhood of houses between here and the ocean and then see all the people out on the beach on a beautiful day like today and not feel a heaviness, not feel a sinking feeling down to the boughs of who you are. That all of these people, many of them are lost and they need Jesus.

[00:12:05] And what are we going to do about it? Daniel. He feels this heavy weight of a burden.

[00:12:13] Cyrus has sent the people back and he's maybe getting some kind of report that it's not going well there. He's may be seeing a lot of people who are content to just live their lives in Persia. And he's feeling this burden to go in the presence of God.

[00:12:30] And then look what happens here in verse four on the 24th day of the first month can remember the day as I was standing on the Bank of the Great River that is the Tigris. He remembers right where he was.

[00:12:41] I lifted up my eyes and looked and behold a man clothed in linen with a belt of fine gold from you farse around his waist.

[00:12:52] His body was like Berel, his face like the appearance of lightning.

[00:12:56] His eyes like flaming torches. And his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze in the sound of his words, like the sound of a multitude. And I, Daniel alone saw the vision for the men who were with me, did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. So I was left alone and saw this great vision and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed and I retained no strength.

[00:13:31] Then I heard the sound of his words, and as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face.

[00:13:40] In deep sleep. With my face to the ground.

[00:13:46] He has a vision here now. It's a man clothed in linen.

[00:13:52] Now there's some debate, if you were to do some extensive reading about Daniel, Chapter 10. You would see there is some debate about who this man is. That appears to Daniel. Some people, as I'm going to suggest to you today, would believe that this is an appearance of the glorious Lord Jesus Christ. Others would believe that this is an angel because later on in the chapter, we're going to get to it. It describes this angelic war going on behind the scenes where demons and angels are fighting. And this man that appears to Daniel here is clearly involved in the fighting between the demons and the angels.

[00:14:33] And so they are the argument, the logic goes, well, he must be an angel because he's involved in the fighting of the angels and demons. And we don't want to lower Jesus down to the level of an angel. So maybe this is an angel and not Jesus. In my counterargument to that would be yes. If you don't want to lower Jesus down to the level of an angel, you would have to lift up an angel to fit this glorious description right here.

[00:14:58] I mean, this description here is powerful. This description would be consistent with other passages in Scripture where Jesus Christ in all of his glory appears to mortal men and they are overwhelmed physically. They cannot handle being in the presence of Jesus Christ and receiving a vision of his glory.

[00:15:19] The description here of the linen with this fine gold around his waist and his body like Beryl, do you see that there in verse six? His body, like Beryl, I was like. I don't know how you feel about Beryl, but I was a little lost there. So I. I did some research and it said, Beryl is a mineral composed of beryllium.

[00:15:38] And I was like, wow, that's really helpful. That just unlocks the secret of the text right there that just opened my mind. And then I kept reading in a barrel. A variation of it would include an emerald.

[00:15:52] OK, so his body looks like some kind of emerald. His face looks like lightning. His eyes are like flaming torches. And his arms and legs, they're like the gleam of burnished bronze. And the sound of his words. Well, it's like the sound of all these people talking. It's just overpowering. It's like a whole multitude of people talking at the same time. So there's only one, I believe, who fits this description in all of scripture, and that is the glory of Jesus Christ. I believe Daniel had a vision of Jesus. He had a prophecy of Jesus last chapter. Now he has a glimpse into his glory. And to help prove it to you. Turn with me to Revelation Chapter one. And let's turn to a passage that we know for sure is Jesus Christ written to us. Another vision had by a man who knew Jesus well, the apostle John John was one of the first disciples of Jesus.

[00:16:52] He was there for the whole ministry of Jesus. He saw Jesus died on the cross. He was close enough to hear Jesus speak when he was dying on the cross. He was one of the first to the empty tomb and he saw Jesus risen from the dead.

[00:17:05] But then here in the Book of Revelation, when he was exiled to the Isle of Patents, this rock out in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea when they sent John out there to keep him from preaching about Jesus. He has a vision of Jesus. Now, this is John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. John was there at the Last Supper. And he likes to point out to us that at the Last Supper, he was leaning up against Jesus Christ.

[00:17:29] Look how he describes seeing Jesus here in his glorified state unveiled in front of his eyes. Revelation, chapter one, verse twelve. Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me. Someone had addressed John. And now we get to look through John's eyes as he turns to see this one that was speaking. And on turning, I saw seven golden lamp stands. And in the midst of the lamp stands one like a son of man clothed with the long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

[00:18:01] You notice a lot of the similarities already. The hairs of his head were white, like white, wool like snow, his eyes like a flame of fire, like flaming torches. His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace and his voice instead of a multitude. This time, it says, his voice was like the roar of many waters in his right hand. He held seven stars. From his mouth came a sharp, two edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength, like perhaps lightning.

[00:18:36] This is the Lord Jesus Christ.

[00:18:39] This is how you and I should think about Jesus if you and I were to see Jesus. Right now we would not see him as a baby in a manger. We would not see him as a man dying on a cross. We would see him like this. And here's what happened to John, verse 17. John, who knew Jesus? Well, when I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.

[00:18:59] But he laid his right hand on me, saying, fear not, I am the first and the last and the living one I died. And behold, I am alive forevermore. And I have the keys of death and Hades.

[00:19:15] How about an introduction right there, huh? I'm the first and the last.

[00:19:19] I mean, here's the thing. The question of the sermon is, are you ready to meet John Jesus? The answer right now is in the body that you've got right now. Answer no. You're not ready to meet Jesus guy.

[00:19:29] If you saw Jesus today, I would be the most overwhelming, powerful experience of your life. You would be like Daniel falling on his face into a deep sleep. You would be like John falling as though dead. Now, usually when we fall, we can put out our arms to break the fall. Some of us are very skillful at falling. We can fall sideways. We'll do anything to protect this right here. Right. The face.

[00:19:54] When you see Jesus, you don't even have time to defend yourself. You don't even know you. People fall face down to the ground at the glory of Jesus Christ.

[00:20:05] You need to make sure this is how you see him. This is who he is right now. The Bible is trying to tell us all the way from the Old Testament, clearly here in Revelation in the New Testament. Do you see who Jesus is? He's the eternal son of God. He is the living one. He is the one who was the giver of life. He is the creator of all things. And the thing that should surprise us most about Jesus is there was actually a moment where he died.

[00:20:30] But behold, he is now alive forever more. And he has the keys of death. He has the keys of Haiti's. He decides who lives or dies. He decides where they go after they die. This is Jesus price point number two. See the vision of unveiled glory. You need to see the vision of unveiled glory.

[00:20:52] And we can't see it with our eyes right now here this morning. We are weak. We need to see it right now. By faith. We need to see it. We need to hear the words of Daniel. Hear the words of John. And we need to believe them. And we need to try to picture as much as we possibly can with our limited understanding in this powerful description. We need to try to see the risen, exalted Lord Jesus looking at us with eyes of fire. We can't even really look at him because his face is like the sun shining in its full strength.

[00:21:26] And we need to acknowledge that even those of us who know Jesus well and are loved by Jesus and love him, we would be overwhelmed with the vision of glory in front of us. This day is coming for each and every person here in this room. I promise you this, whether you believe me now or not, you will believe me later. Every single person in this room, you will see Jesus unveiled like this in all of his glory. And that moment that you see Jesus that will be the most defining moment in your life. Every day after you see Jesus will be marked by the day you meet Jesus just like Daniel you'll be able to say was the first month.

[00:22:04] It was the 24th day. I was right there by the Tigris River. And I remember it well. You'll forget maybe your birthday, you'll forget maybe your wedding anniversary, but you will never forget the day you meet Jesus Christ.

[00:22:17] It will be your glory day. The day that you are introduced face to face. And your faith becomes site.

[00:22:26] You are going to meet Jesus Christ. It is it is a fact of the universe that he upholds by the words of his power. And you're going to see him like this in all of his glory. You could write down Acts nine if you're taking notes, because Saul, when he's on the road to Damascus, he sees a vision of Jesus Christ.

[00:22:49] And we see a very common situation there that that saw it has such profound physical effect on him that he goes blind and he loses his sight at the glory of Jesus revealed to him. We also see something similar at the people around him. Don't really see the vision, but they hear the vision and it has an effect on them, even though they couldn't see it, just like the people who were around Daniel when he had his vision.

[00:23:15] So one of the reasons I want to suggest to you that we should see this one who's clothed in linen with fine gold with the body like an emerald with flaming torch eyes and a face like lightning and the voice of a multitude or many waters like a mighty waterfall, like Niagara Falls coming out of his mouth. The reason that you should see that as Jesus Christ. One reason is because of the similarities with Revelation one and Acts nine. But go back to our our text and look what Jesus says here.

[00:23:47] Now, there's going to be this overwhelming of who Jesus is, but then this intimacy of a personal relationship between Jesus and Daniel. And you're going to see that maybe it's partially because Daniel's now 80 something years old, or maybe we would all have the same reaction to the glory of the Lord.

[00:24:06] But the strength, the life has just been sucked out of Daniel's body. He refers to it as a deep sleep. John said like he was dead, like seeing Jesus. It just drains everything out of you.

[00:24:19] And verse 10 as the same thing that that happens with John here and behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said to me, Oh, Daniel, man, greatly loved. Wow. Is that what you want to hear when you see this glorious vision of Jesus?

[00:24:35] First thing he tells you as he calls you by name. He knows you. And he tells you how loved you are.

[00:24:41] O'Daniel man greatly loved understand the words that I speak to you and stand upright. For now, I've been sent to you. And then when you had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling.

[00:24:52] So when we when when Daniel sees the glory of Jesus, it just takes everything out of him. But now when he feels the touch of Jesus and he hears the words of Jesus, it's like he gets up on his knees. Now he's standing up. It's like there's there's some kind of life-giving power. There's some kind of strength coming through the touch and the words of Jesus into the physical body of Daniel.

[00:25:16] Verse 12. Then he said to me, Fearnot, does that sound familiar to anybody?

[00:25:21] Fearnot Daniel four from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God. Your words have been heard. And here's what I need you to underline. Here's what I need you to write down to any skeptic here among us. To anybody who says, I don't think prayer really makes a difference. Can you write these words down right here at the end of verse 12? I have come because of your words. Here are the things we're going to talk about right now. I cannot explain to you. That's my job to Expositor, the scripture to take us through our text and to give it the depth, the meaning to explain it. But we are about to hear some things that Jesus is going to reveal to Daniel that I cannot explain. How does the Lord Jesus Christ come to Daniel in this vision? Because of Daniel's words.

[00:26:13] How does prayer make a difference on the sovereign Lord of Heaven and Earth? That is something I cannot explain to you. I can just tell you that's what it's saying right here, that the Lord of Heaven and earth, the one with all authority, says to Daniel that I have come because of your words. I heard you.

[00:26:34] I heard you when you went into this morning when you did this fast. You did it for three weeks. You did it for 21 days at the very beginning when you came.

[00:26:44] I heard you. And that's why I have come because of your words. So if you don't believe that prayer makes a difference. You need to take it up with Jesus Christ, because he says it does.

[00:26:57] If that doesn't stir within you something to want to learn how to pray. I don't know what will.

[00:27:05] But Jesus is saying, hey, Daniel, you don't need to be afraid from the first day. Three weeks ago, when you set your heart to understand, when you humbled yourself before your gut, when you took on the burden for God's people and you took it as your own.

[00:27:18] Your words. I want you to know, Daniel, we hear you in heaven and we have come because of your words.

[00:27:23] I have come, Jesus says.

[00:27:26] And then he says this. Now, this is also hard for us to understand, verse 13, the prince of the kingdom of Persia, which stood me 21 days. But Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me for I was left there with the kings of Persia in the plural and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people. I came to tell you how it's all going to work out with God's people. The Jews in the latter days for the vision is four days yet to come. Casey Jesus comes because of the words of Daniel, but he says the reason he's delayed, the reason he didn't get here for three weeks, the reason it took him 21 days is because of this. You see the character, bad guy introduced here. Dun, dun, dun. Verse 13, the prince of the Kingdom of Persia.

[00:28:12] Who is this?

[00:28:14] Because we've already understood this is the third year of Cyrus King of Persia. So I don't think we're now talking about some prince below Cyrus. No, when we talk about a prince here, we're not talking about a man. We are talking about a demonic authority.

[00:28:30] So what we're going to get a glimpse into right now is the spiritual realm where there is a war going on between angels and demons.

[00:28:37] So not only does the prayer of Daniel bring this vision of Jesus, but somehow this fasting in this morning of Daniel for 21 days is somehow tied to this battle going on in the heavenly places between these princes and kings of Persia and between this one who comes like a man. And Michael, the chief prince. And there's some kind of battle going on here in the spiritual realm. And the battle in the spiritual realm goes on for the same amount of time that the mourning and fasting of Daniel goes on for.

[00:29:12] And so it appears that there are demons who are somehow assigned to Persia.

[00:29:20] Who are trying to to do something to stop the work of the Lord.

[00:29:25] I don't know how much you've studied demons in the Bible, but we looked at them a little bit last year in a Fijians in Ephesians Chapter one, it talks about these principalities, these rulers, these authorities. This is often how demons are referred to in the scripture. They're referred to by titles of position like Prince or Kings, like it says here.

[00:29:46] And we saw that in Ephesians Chapter six, where you and I are called to really pray and to put our armor on. We were enlightened to the reality. There is a spiritual war going on and the spiritual war is not with other people. It's not with flesh and blood. No, we rustle against the rulers and the powers. There's demons out there engaged in a spiritual conflict.

[00:30:12] That's what he's saying to Daniel.

[00:30:14] There's princes and ones over the kingdom of Persia and there's others there's plural kings or princes of Persia here. And Jesus is seems like fighting against these demons. And then it seems like Michael, the chief, France, one of the chief princes, he comes and it's him and Jesus against these demons in the plural, some kind of war going on.

[00:30:37] Verse 15. And when he had spoken to me, according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and was mute. Like me now. I mean, first of all, you find out that Jesus has come because of your prayer. Then you find out there's this whole angelic battle going on. He what is he going to say? He can't even speak. And behold, one in the likeness of the children of man. Here he is now referring to this one again, which is often a way that Jesus is referred to. In fact, Daniel referred to him earlier that way. And Daniel, Chapter seven, when he called him the son of man and behold one in the likeness of the children, a man touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke. When he touches his lips now, he can speak again. And I said to him, Who stood before me.

[00:31:24] Oh, my Lord. By reason of the vision pains have come upon me and I retain no strength. How can my Lord servant talk with My Lord? For now, no strength remains in me and no breath is left in me.

[00:31:37] Jesus he can't even speak Jesus touches his mouth. Now he can speak. But he says I don't have strength to really talk. Two and three times he refers to this one like a children of man. He refers to him as my Lord. Three different times.

[00:31:51] Now, other times people have been overwhelmed with angels and they've been just just so taken in by the glory of the of the spiritual realm and the angel coming to them, that they've started to, like, worship an angel or bowed down to them. But whenever that happens, the angel always corrects them and says, hey, I'm just a servant like you are. We're here to worship God. But he's referring to this one like a children of man. He keeps calling him my lord, my lord, my lord. And there's no correction that comes.

[00:32:20] I think that's another reason to believe this is Jesus Christ that he's talking about.

[00:32:26] And he says, I don't have any strength to talk to you, I don't have any strength. It's all gone. Verse 18 and again, one having the appearance of a man touched me and strengthened me. And he said, Oh man, greatly loved. See if this sounds like Jesus to you. Fear not. Peace be with you.

[00:32:48] Be strong and of good courage. And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, Let my Lord speak for you have strengthened me. Then he said, Do you know why I have come to you?

[00:33:03] But now I will return to fight against the Prince of Persia. And when I go out. Behold, the Prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is inscribed in the Book of Truth. Or you could translate that in the Scripture of truth. There is none who contends by my side against these except Michael. Your prince.

[00:33:26] Now, this is this is this is working on multiple levels. OK? I don't know which one are you thinking about more and might be hard to think about.

[00:33:34] Both of them. Because, one, we're getting this glimpse into, like warrior King Jesus going to fight the prince of Persia, the demon who's in charge of Persia, and then the demon in charge, the prince who's come in in charge of Greece. He's going to fight him. And Michael, it seems like, is revealed here to be the prince, the angel of the people of Israel, your prince. Maybe that's why he's helping with the fight, because this is all about the future of what's going to happen to God's people. That's why Daniel's praying and fasting and mourning. That's what the visions are going to be about. It's a one there's this transcendent glimpse, perhaps one of the greatest glimpses into the battle of angel armies going on.

[00:34:12] But then there's this intimate personal relationship where Jesus is touching Daniel and Jesus is speaking to Daniel. And it's like as he hears the Lord speak, it's like the words are giving him life and he's finding strength. And Jesus is touching him. And he's like, hey, will you keep talking to me? Because the more you talk to me, the stronger I get.

[00:34:35] It's like there's this intimacy. That's our Jesus is when we meet Jesus.

[00:34:40] He's gonna be transcendant, like nothing we've ever experienced. And he's gonna be intimate, a love like we've never know belove that you wanted all of your life will be found in the presence of Jesus Christ.

[00:34:54] That's what's gonna be like.

[00:34:56] So this passage is this passage lowering Jesus down to the level of angels. Let's make it very clear here, OK? From heaven's perspective, there has never been a question that anything could happen. But Jesus could win. That's the only possible outcome.

[00:35:15] From our perspective down here on planet Earth, under the sun, where Satan and the demons are doing their best to deceive everybody. See what Satan and the Demons want to do is they want to lower everybody's view of Jesus Christ and they want to bring him down to some kind of level. They don't want us to see that Jesus is the living one. And it's amazing that he humbled himself. It's amazing that he died on the cross. But now he's alive forever more and he will reign in triumph and glory. That's not what the demons want. Anybody here thinking is this unveiled glory of Jesus Christ. That proves once and for all that they could never, possibly, ever defeat him. Now, this this kind of battle between Michael leading the good angels and then the other angels, the evil angels, the fallen ones, we usually refer to them as demons. You could write down Revelation 12 as another passage where it describes this kind of angelic conflict going on in the heavenly places.

[00:36:17] And here's something that you need to realize that even happens in our minds.

[00:36:22] When I ask you, who is the bad guy that compares to Jesus, who comes to your mind as the bad guy, that compares to Jesus.

[00:36:32] See if you're thinking Satan, that's wrong thinking. Satan is an angel. Satan is a created being, you want to know who made Satan? Jesus. OK.

[00:36:45] The fact that you are thinking that Satan is even on the level of Jesus proves that Satan is doing a good job in affecting the way that we think.

[00:36:56] Jesus is on a level all to his own as God, you know, the comp to Satan is the devil, the leader of the fallen angels. Michael is the cop to Satan. Michael's the leader of the good angels. Michael's one of the chief princes. There's a couple of angels that we get to know a little bit. Gabriel's one of them. And Michael's one of them. No. In the Heavenly War, when when there's a fight going on in Revelation twelve, it's Michael leading the angels that are true to God. Against the dragon. Against the devil, Satan. And he's got the fallen angels. And even Michael with the good angels can defeat Satan with the bad angels. There is no way that Satan is ever coming close to winning the victory over Jesus Christ, can I get men, a man from anybody on this? Now, here's what Satan has done, and it's masterful. He's brought the name of Jesus down to the discussion of religion and politics. Let me tell you who runs religion and politics you want to know. It says here very clearly that there's a prince of the kingdom of Persia, that there's a prince of the kingdom of Greece, that Michael Daniel is your prince, perhaps referring to the prince of Israel, the angel that's protecting God's people versus the demons that are over these other nations. You want to know who's leading nations of earth? Demons are leading nations of our. Now, where to other religions come from, see, the world's totally bought it, like there's all kinds of religions and people all over the world, what they believe has just as much credibility as what somebody else believes. You know, where the teaching of false religions comes from. It says very clearly in scripture that it comes from the doctrine of demons.

[00:38:39] Let me tell you, if you you want to talk about religion, you want to talk about politics. Let me tell you who's promoting false religion. Demons. Let me tell you who's ruling the nations of the world against God. Demons. If you think Jesus is a part of religion and politics. That's like demonic thinking. Jesus stands elites. He has no rivals. He has no one who compares to him. There is no one like the Lord Jesus Christ.

[00:39:10] When we talk about Jesus Christ, we are not talking about religion and politics.

[00:39:16] We're talking about the future coming king that every knee will bow to and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.

[00:39:26] And if someone doesn't want to believe in Jesus today, that's not a wise life decision. And they're going to find out how wrong that is.

[00:39:35] Everyone is going to meet Jesus Christ.

[00:39:39] Every single person will stand before him in his glory and they will not be able to handle it. And you better hope on the day that you meet Jesus that he comes to you and he puts his hand on you. And he says to you that he loves you. Fear not. You're one of his people because not everybody's going to get that reception when they meet Jesus Christ. In fact, some people are going to hear depart from me. I don't know. You turn with me a Matthew, Chapter seven, Tahmeena Matthew, Chapter seven. And this is what Johnny shared with us earlier. This is the wake up call for for many who would consider themselves Christians. All I know about Jesus or I believe in in Jesus. See, this is what's happened in this demonic world that we're living in where we're Satan and the demons are are running nations and running false religions.

[00:40:30] They've actually made us think that there's some almost like if we were on a Scantron tests or something with our number two pencil and there's all these different religions and you can choose any one that you want and they're all about equal, valid choices.

[00:40:44] And that if you believe that Jesus really is the Christ who died on the cross two thousand years ago and you believe he really rose from the dead, you believe that the Bible's revelation is true? Well, if you know that that happened, then just fill in that bubble right there next to Christianity on the world religions. And that makes you a Christian. And the Bible says it doesn't matter if you know the truth about Jesus. Just acknowledging that Jesus is the Lord does not save you. You have to actually know him as Lord. You can't just believe it's true. See, that's what they've made us think. Well, out of all the options of what you can believe. I believe in Jesus. I believe the Bible. Therefore, I'm a Christian. No, that's not what the Bible teaches. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

[00:41:31] The demons believe the truth about Jesus. They know it's true. They know they're going to lose the whole time. They tremble at the name of Jesus Christ.

[00:41:40] That doesn't make you a Christian because you know the truth about it. You've got to really know him.

[00:41:45] And here's what he says, Matthew. Seven twenty. He makes it very clear this is at the end of his sermon. This is the Sermon on the Mount.

[00:41:52] This is the collection of teaching that we have from Matthew, from Jesus. It's about living under the kingdom of heaven. And he says, Matthew, 721 not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. But the one who does the will of my father, who is in heaven, just because you know, Jesus is the Lord doesn't mean you go to heaven. It's the people who actually live like they know the father in heaven. Those are the ones who are actually go. They're the ones who do the will of God, the ones who live like they believe in heaven, but they live like it here on earth.

[00:42:29] They don't just know the truth about it. They actually have an experience of it that transforms their life. He clarifies.

[00:42:36] Verse 22 on that day, the day that we meet Jesus on that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and to many mighty works in your name.

[00:42:49] People are going to have resumes of all these things that they've done at church on a missions trip to reach out to lost people. And they're going to say, look at what I've done in your name. Jesus.

[00:43:01] And then I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me. You workers of what does it say they're.

[00:43:09] Lawlessness, sin.

[00:43:11] So they know who Jesus is. They've even done good things in Jesus name. But they are still workers of lawlessness. They are still practicing sirs of sin.

[00:43:22] There hasn't been that that transformation where they really get placed in the Christ, where they die with Jesus to who they used to be. And they rise to a new life in Jesus Christ, where it's really Christ in you and you in Christ. And you know him.

[00:43:39] You say and you may know about me and you may have done things in my name, but I don't know you. Wouldn't that be terrifying? To see this one revealed in all of his glory to realize that there's an angelic war going on and really life is all about this spiritual round, this age to come, this heaven and hell reality.

[00:43:58] And it wasn't about this temporary life. We're live in right now here in this world. And to have your mind just totally blown, your strength just sucked out of your body. And then you hear that one in all of his glory say, I don't even know you.

[00:44:15] That's not what he said to Daniel, saw what he said to John.

[00:44:19] I saw what he's going to say to any of us who have really transferred our trust to Jesus. You have to believe in him in the person of Jesus Christ, in the finished work that he died to pay for your sins. It's the only way your sin can be forgiven is Jesus paid for.

[00:44:35] And then he rose again. And right there in that resurrection. That's how you are going to live forever. That's how you are going to have a new life. And so when you trust in Jesus, you know him that. You have a relationship with him now.

[00:44:49] And you can look forward to the Dacey, since I think when a believer dies, it says, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. If you believe in Jesus Christ, let me tell you that the day you die will not be the worst day of your life. It will not be the end of your life. It will be the best thing that's ever happened to you. Because if Jesus doesn't come back, if we don't meet him that way, where there's this epic return of Jesus, then we'll meet him through death and to be absent from this body is to be present with who?

[00:45:18] The Lord.

[00:45:19] And we will behold him and all of his glory.

[00:45:23] And mean, let me tell you the day, if you know Jesus, if you've got that relationship, if you've trusted in him the day that you meet him, there will be no rifle.

[00:45:33] There will be no comparison.

[00:45:35] The things that we hold so precious and dear, like the day we got married, the day our kids are born, these special memories that we have here, they will fade in comparison to the day that you put your eyes on Jesus Christ, your glory day.

[00:45:49] You'll remember right where you were. You remember the day that it happened and that day when you see Jesus, you will be made like you.

[00:46:00] And he's going to speak to you in his love. Go to first Peter, chapter one. Here's a verse that I want to encourage you to memorize. If you're a brother or sister in Christ, if you feel confident that you have trusted in the work of Jesus Christ, he has done his work of of salvation in your life. You have a testimony like we heard today of a new life in Jesus Christ. Well, then here's a verse you should memorize. And this is something I really want you to think about when you think about Jesus, do you think about Jesus in the past when he was here on Earth, when he died and rose again?

[00:46:35] Do you think about Jesus in the present? How he's with you, how he's helping you? Or when you think about Jesus.

[00:46:41] Do you think about Jesus in the future when you're going to see him unveiled in all of his glory?

[00:46:49] How do you think about it?

[00:46:50] Look what Peter says and Peter's talking about going from faith to sight. He's talking about we love him, but we haven't even seen him. And he's saying when we see him, what glory there's going to be, what praise there's going to be. And then he says this first, Peter, one 13. I want you to memorize this. Think about this.

[00:47:08] Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober minded. OK. Get your mind ready. Here's the thought to put in your mind. Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

[00:47:24] Put all of your hope, all of your expectation, all that you're looking forward to. Put it all in this future, Grace, that is yet to come in this goodness of Jesus, that is yet to be revealed.

[00:47:35] When you see Jesus and all of his glory, everything in this life that you've done for him, everything that you've trusted in him, it will be so worth it. It's all going to pay off when you get to see Jesus put your hope fully in that. Don't hope and anything else.

[00:47:52] But the future grace that is coming at the revelation of Jesus Christ, this should be our driving motivation in our daily living, my brothers and sisters, you are gonna see Jesus in his glory. And if you're not hoping in that, if you're not longing for that, if you're not looking forward to that, you will miss some of the essential motivation that we have as believers to live for him in this life. Yes, what he did in the past, we will praise him for forever, the fact that he's with us in the prison is an encouragement for sure. But what is yet to come is the best. What you might need to do if you're feeling weak, if you're feeling tired, if your body is sick or you feel like you're growing old, you might need to listen to the words of life. Let's get that down for point number three. You might need this intimate experience of Jesus that Daniel has.

[00:48:46] You know that saying about Jesus, it's all or nothing. You're either gonna walk away from this message thinking that this is amazing, the glory of Jesus that is going to be revealed, the angelic army, the fact that Jesus would love me, the fact that I'm going to get to meet him personally. This is either all in amazing or you want nothing to do with it. Jesus is very polarized. In fact, he's the most polarizing figure in the history of humanity. Someday, when he does judge the world, he will literally put everyone into two groups.

[00:49:18] That's how polarizing Jesus is.

[00:49:20] You either believe in him and worship him or you deny him and live for yourself. And when Jesus would say things like it's all about me, you have to eat my flesh. You have to drink my blood. Hey, you guys, I know you're looking for some kind of blessing or benefit, but really the thing that you need is me. People said this is a hard saying who can understand it? And many people who wanted to follow Jesus and come along the crowds, they turned away from Jesus Christ because they said this is hard to really believe in him and really follow and commit our life to.

[00:49:51] And in John, Chapter six, Jesus turned to his twelve disciples and he said, are you guys going to go away to. See, Jesus is used to rejection from people here in the world. And he looks at his disciples and he says, are you guys going to reject me, too? And Peter, he gives one of the most beautiful answers on behalf of the disciples. He says, Where else would we go? Lord, you have the words of eternal life. So here's what I want you to do right now. I don't want you to take any more notes. I don't want you to look up this these passages with me in the Bible. Here's what I want you to do. I want my brothers and sisters. Those of us who really have believed in Jesus Christ. And you're excited about seeing him unveiled in his glory. I want you to listen to Jesus speak to you right now. You might even want to close your eyes. I just want you to hear what Jesus is saying to you. On the last night before he died. John wrote that he loved his own who were in the world. He loved them to the end. If Jesus saw you as one of his people, as one of those that he died for. As one of those he has given his life to. He would communicate to you how much he loves you.

[00:51:00] And listen to the things, the kinds of things that he would say. Let not your hearts be troubled.

[00:51:07] Believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so what I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you.

[00:51:17] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and we'll take you to myself. That where I am. You may be also truly, truly. I say to you. Whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do and greater works than these. Will he do because I am going to the father. Whatever you ask in my name. This I will do that. The father may be glorified in the sun if you ask me anything in my name. I will do it. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more. But you will see me because I live. You also will live in that day. You will know that I am in my father and you and me and I in you. But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name. He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.

[00:52:26] Let not your hearts be trouble neither. Let them be afraid.

[00:52:30] Greater love has no one than this that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends. If you do what I command, you no longer do I call you servants. For the servant does not know what his master is doing.

[00:52:43] But I have called you friends for all that I have heard from my father. I've made known to you. So you also have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice and no one will take your joy from you. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the father in my name.

[00:53:08] He will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing. Nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full.

[00:53:19] I have said these things to you.

[00:53:21] That in me, you may have peace in the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart. I have overcome the world.

[00:53:32] Father in heaven, we come to you and we admit that we need to hear these words of life. From Jesus Christ. Gather, we need this strength. We need this piece that he's talking about. We need this joy. God, I pray that you would open our eyes on perhaps to a greater level than we've ever been able to see into the spiritual realm here this morning. And I pray that you would help us to see that that the demons are out there ruling and working among the nations, the demons are out there working and moving among the false religions. And that we might even be buying in to some of their thinking when we should really be seeing Jesus unveiled in all of his glory and worshiping him and setting our hope fully on the grace that is coming to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

[00:54:23] Father, we confess to you. We can get so caught up in our own lives here and now that we can miss the big picture. Of Jesus Christ coming and all of his glory.

[00:54:36] Father, we pray that we confess to you that we get so caught up sometimes in our own lives that we don't bear the burdens of the loss, that we don't bear the burdens of your people, that we don't come and ask you for things in the name of Jesus. So we don't see you answer in amazing ways.

[00:54:52] Thank you for this vision that you gave to Daniel. And I pray that it will lift high the name of Jesus Scott, that we would set him apart in our hearts, that we would see Jesus Christ as holy, that there is no one like him. And no religion compares to faith in Jesus Christ. No power. Even Satan and the demons. Can I compare to the glory of our Lord? God, I pray that we would really believe the best is yet to come in. Jesus. God, we need you to speak to us through your word. We need your spirit to teach us. Even now. And Father, I pray for those who know in their souls that they have not trusted in Jesus, they are not ready to meet him.

[00:55:34] That today would be the day they would change their mind about how their living. They would repent and they would turn to Jesus and call on his name to be saved. And God, I thank you for all of us who have been saved, like the testimonies we heard in baptism, for all of us who don't just know about Jesus, but we know him. God convince us. Prove to us that we are greatly loved.

[00:55:57] And let us see that your ways of loving us are higher than anything that we can comprehend.

[00:56:03] God, please help us to see that all of the desire to be loved, that we feel innately in our souls, they will all be satisfied in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray this in his name and all God's people said a man was.

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