Cosmic Warfare | Sunday, August 13, 2023

We're going to be talking about something that is an important subject this morning, which is sometimes easy for us to lose sight of and forget to consider. We will look at the text of Scripture and what it has to say about it. The topic is spiritual warfare.

As we discuss this this morning, it did not occur to me until I finished the first service that I had a hard time getting through the text and the passage. Right as the service ended, I thought, why should I be surprised that on the morning when we're going to talk about spiritual warfare, I would have such a difficult time getting through the Scriptures?

I want to begin this morning by going to the Lord in prayer. Would you bow with me?

Father God, I do ask that you would bind the work of the enemy, as the Scriptures say that you do. We pray, Holy Spirit, that you would be in this place. I believe, and I think the Scriptures reveal, that there are spiritual entities that oppose your working and seek to distract, discourage, and cause all kinds of other issues. So, God, I just pray that you would move mightily in this place and that you would work. We ask this in Jesus' name. All those who agreed said, "Amen."

I assume not a single person here this morning did not see the things that were happening in Maui this last week. It was almost impossible to miss those events, whether it was on the news or in social media. When we see devastation like that, we're reminded that we live in a broken and fallen world. There is not a day that goes by without troubling disasters happening in virtually every place around the world.

The fact is, because these events happen with such frequency, we often turn our attention away from them quickly. We are bombarded by news constantly, especially in our culture where we have access to social media and a 24-hour news cycle. News comes to us and at us all the time. It used to be that you would really only see the news at six o'clock at night when you turned on the TV to see what was happening around the world or locally. Now, we receive constant communication notifications about what is going on.

Coming at us constantly, there is a way in which we turn away from a lot of things that don't necessarily affect us personally. While Maui is a bit of a distance away from us, it is still connected to us. As I was seeing the pictures coming in, I recognized those places on Front Street as places I have visited with my wife. We have been to Maui a number of times, and we have taken our kids there. We have eaten at many restaurants on Front Street and spent entirely too much time and money in a lot of the shops there. I have pictures of my kids under the big Banyan Tree on Front Street.

When you see the things that are coming through on social media, it impacts you a little bit, even if you're not directly connected to it. I know some people in our church who have family members living in Lahaina who have been affected by this. As of this morning, nearly 100 people, and probably more, have lost their lives, and many have lost property. This disaster affects us. When a disaster happens that is somehow connected to us, it draws our attention more than other disasters because we have a frame of reference. We can see those places and understand how we are connected to them.

This situation is somewhat similar to what we have been seeing in the Book of Daniel as we study through it this summer. Daniel has seen, either personally or through other individuals he interacts with, dreams and visions. He has received interpretations about those dreams and visions, which are connected to him, his people, and the nation he came from, the nation of Israel. Because these things are connected to him and his homeland, he is drawn into this and greatly troubled by what he sees.

The visions that Nebuchadnezzar had earlier in the Book of Daniel, in Daniel chapter 2 and again in Daniel chapter 4, are examples of this. Daniel is the one who is called in to give interpretations about those visions, and they affect him, his people, and his homeland. The visions he had in chapters 7, 8, and 9 also relate to him and his people. He is deeply moved by the things he has seen and is affected at a very deep level. We see this in Daniel chapter 4. You don't have to turn there, but in verse 19, when Daniel received one of the dreams from Nebuchadnezzar, it says that he was astonished for a time and troubled by the image.

Then, in Daniel chapter 7, verse 28, at the end of receiving the vision, it says, "As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly troubled me, and my countenance was changed." He was really moved by what he saw. Again, in Daniel chapter 8, verse 27, it states, "I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days. I was astonished." The word "astonished" can be translated as "horrified" by the vision he saw. He was horrified to the point that it troubled him so much that he fainted when he witnessed these events.

As we go through Daniel chapter 10 today, we will see a similar response. Daniel was struck and shocked by the troubling images, visions, and interpretations he received because they pertained to him, his people, and his homeland. You can likely identify with this feeling. When you see something happening, perhaps on TV or social media, in a place you are connected to, you start to seek more information about it. I certainly experienced this last week while looking at the hashtags "Maui" or "Lahaina" to understand what was happening there.

In this text, Daniel has been given advanced understanding about what is coming in the future for his people and his homeland. Even though the Angelic interpreter has already informed him that these events will occur far into the future, Daniel is so troubled by it that he cannot focus. He feels compelled to ask the Lord for more understanding, wanting to know more about what is going on.

In this section of Scripture, he seeks additional information. He has received remarkable insights about the different kingdoms that will rule over Israel for the next several hundred years. He has also been given information about the anointed one of God who will come in the future. However, amidst all the good things that are to come, including the arrival of the anointed Prince, the Messiah, he sees a future of devastation and destruction for his homeland. This is particularly poignant for him, as he has already witnessed and experienced devastation and destruction firsthand.

We come to Daniel chapter 10, verse 1, which states, "In the third year of Cyrus, King of Persia." I want to pause here because this provides us with a very specific temporal marker.

If you will, let's take a brief look at the timeline. Cyrus came to power and liberated the children of Israel from their captivity in Babylon, their exile in Babylon, in 539 BC. So, in the third year of Cyrus, which is probably the year 536 BC, we can pinpoint it in history. We are also given the exact day in which this took place.

In this passage, which is remarkable and fascinating, we see that in the third year of Cyrus, King of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Beltashazar. That was the name given to him by the Babylonian king earlier in the book, in chapter one. The message was true, but the appointed time was long, or it was in the future. Daniel understood the message and had understanding of the vision. He understood the message and had understanding of the vision because an angel, named for us in the text as Gabriel, came to him and said, "This is what this means."

Even though the image was strange and contained all kinds of beasts and unusual happenings, this angelic being explained, "This beast means this, and this beast means that." Daniel was given advanced information about the Babylonian kingdom being destroyed or overtaken by the Persians, twelve years before it happened. He was also given information about the Greeks overcoming the Persians and, ultimately, about a much future kingdom overcoming the Greeks.

He had all this understanding, which we can look back on in history and see that it happens over a period of about 500 years. He saw history from the vantage point of what was going to happen before it happened, and he saw all these things that pertained to his own nation and people. However, he was so troubled by it that he said he needed to understand more. Even though he understood parts of the vision, he wanted more insight and detail into the timing of how and when these things were going to come to pass.

This text gives us some insight; it enlightens us, if you will, and opens our eyes to some things that we would not know if it were not for the revelation of Scripture. The Scriptures reveal important truths that we could not know—mysteries that would remain mysterious if it were not for God revealing truths such as this.

One of the things we find in this passage, as we begin to dig into it, is that the world we live in is made up of more than what we see or experience with our senses. In fact, if you're taking notes this morning, point number one is that there is a world beyond our world that works within our world.

There is what we Christians would call a spiritual dimension. Some people might use the term "incorporeal world," a world that is not material and exists outside of this one. As hard as that is for some people to wrap their minds around, it makes sense because our minds can really only take in that which our five senses can perceive. Despite this difficulty, nine in ten Americans believe that there is something beyond this world. Over 90 percent of people, including your neighbors, co-workers, family members, and friends who never go to church and question whether or not there is a God like the God of the Bible, would probably tell you that they think there is something more to this world than meets the eye.

What is really fascinating is that even modern science, especially over the last several hundred years and particularly in the last 50 years in the areas of mathematics and physics, has come to identify that there seems to be more to reality than what we can touch, taste, see, smell, hear, or even assess with current laboratory equipment or experimentation. In the realm of mathematics and physics, when scientists conduct various mathematical equations or observe what is happening in the cosmos, they find certain phenomena that suggest there is more to the world we live in than the space-time we understand in three or four dimensions—height, width, length, and time.

There seems to be something beyond that, which has led scientists in our day, such as Michio Kaku, to discuss concepts like String Theory. Physicists say that they observe things in the cosmos that can be determined through mathematics, indicating that there is something more. They refer to this as String Theory, and many of us scratch our heads and wonder what on Earth String Theory is. If you want to understand it better, don't get a physics book because it will likely confuse you.

Another theory that attempts to address the question of whether there is more to the world than what we can test in a lab or perceive with our senses is the idea of the Multiverse. Nowadays, many of our superhero movies are delving into the concept of the Multiverse, and it has become a popular topic of discussion.

These Marvel movies depict a dimensional window opening up, allowing people to come from another dimension into this one. This concept is a significant part of our culture today because there is a recognition that there is something more to the world than what we can test with our senses. When the physicist appears on Good Morning America and shares this idea, all the Christians in the room respond, "Well, yeah, we've known that for a long time." While it may be news to some, it is not news to us.

There was a very famous astronomer and physicist, Robert Jastrow, who passed away in recent years. He was not a Christian and did not believe in God, but over the course of his studies in astronomy and physics, he began to believe that the world was much bigger than we can perceive. In one of his books, he writes about this realization, stating, "For the scientist who has lived his life by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance, and he is about to conquer the highest peak. He pulls himself up over the final rock and is greeted by a band of theologians that have been there for centuries." I find that fascinating.

In the last years of his life, Jastrow spoke at various conferences on astronomy, mathematics, and physics, emphasizing that our discoveries reveal far more about the cosmos than we previously realized. The Bible makes it quite clear that there is a world beyond our own, and that world interacts with this one. We have already seen some of this in the Book of Daniel, and we will see more today.

In these opening verses, we also find that there are ways in which we, as human beings made of flesh and blood, can interact with this other world. Look at verse two. Daniel says, "In those days," referring to the third year of Cyrus. During this time, Daniel was mourning for three weeks, or three seven-day periods, as the original text states. Why is he mourning? The text will explain some of this as we go through it, but we already have a sense of the significance of his mourning.

Daniel had some understanding of what was going on. He had seen some images that distressed him; they affected him, his people, and his homeland. In a larger sense, they affected the entire world. He was so troubled and moved by this that he felt compelled to go to a place of mourning, grieving really, over the things he had seen.

It is strange that he would be mourning and grieving because his people had just experienced a second Exodus. Cyrus had come in and liberated the children of Israel, allowing them to go back to the Promised Land to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. However, Daniel was still in the palace in Babylon. From what we can tell in the text, he never did go back to Jerusalem. You would think this would be a great time of joy, especially when we discover the period of time during which Daniel was experiencing this mourning. He was filled with grief, even though there was probably a sense of joy among his people, as many of them had gone back to Jerusalem.

During that period of time, for three weeks, Daniel mourned. In verse three, he states, "I ate no pleasant food; no meat or wine came into my mouth." He was not fasting, but he was in a period of self-denial, grief, and mourning. He also mentioned, "Nor did I anoint myself at all," indicating that he was not keeping up with normal hygienic practices. Perhaps he was a little bit stinky by the end of this three-week period. He remained in this attitude of mourning and grief over the things he had seen because he wanted to understand more.

There are ways, as I mentioned a moment ago, in which we can interact with and engage with this world that is not of our world. Some of you know this from firsthand experience, but not all of it was good. When I say it was not very good, I mean in two different ways. First, it was not in accordance with right practices revealed in the Scriptures. Second, it was not pleasant.

What sort of ways have some of you, and some people of our day, interacted with this other world in not-so-good ways? One of them is through the occult. Some of you may have had experiences with that in the past. Sometimes it seems benign, like Ouija boards, but there is a huge rise in our day of tarot card readings, mediums, and people seeking mediums and going to séances. You may have had some experiences in the past.

When someone says, "Do you realize there's more to this world than what you can see with your senses?" you might respond, "Yes, there is." Let me tell you, I've got some stories, and I've heard some people's stories before that are a little weird. If you're involved in that today, I would say you need to stop because there's great danger involved.

It's not just the occult; another way that people engage with these things in a way that is not acceptable is through pagan forbidden religious practices. Just as there has been a rise in tarot card readings, seances, and mediums in our day, there has also been a rise in a paganistic movement called Wicca. Some of you know what Wicca is, and some of you might have friends or family members who are involved in Wicca, Reiki, or other spiritual practices that engage with spiritual entities in ways forbidden by the Scriptures.

Pagan practices, shamanism, and mystical Eastern meditative practices are all on the rise today. You might remember that crazy-looking guy with the horn thing on January 6th; he calls himself a shaman and is involved in shamanism. He is not the only one; there are many people involved in shamanism in our day and in our place.

Another way that people engage with this other world, which is not of this world, in a way that is not biblically right and is actually dangerous, is through what the Bible identifies as sorcery, witchcraft, and magic. You can read about sorcery, witchcraft, and magic in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. What is fascinating is that the word translated as "sorcery" in the New Testament of the Bible is the Greek word "pharmakeia," which is connected to where we get our English word "pharmacology."

There were substances and chemicals that people interacted with, many of which were hallucinogenic. We have evidence of this in ancient Greece, where people were involved in these sorts of practices. There is also evidence in pagan temples in Israel; research has shown that some of the incense burned in these pagan temples contained cannabis. This recognition shows that this is not new, but there has been a revitalization of these practices in our day.

Some of you grew up in the 60s and 70s and were involved in mind-altering experiences. This trend is hugely on the rise, especially among those in their 20s and 30s.

Presented as if it's really not that big of a deal, it will open you up to spiritual experiences. If you ever want to hear anybody talk about this, just listen to Joe Rogan. Be careful; this is not an endorsement, but listen to Joe Rogan for a week, and he will bring up mushrooms and every possible thing that you could imagine. This is very much on the rise, especially as there is a push in our culture to decriminalize such substances. You're going to see this more, and it is quite clear that people thousands of years ago understood that these things connected them to spiritual entities that are outside of this world, more so than we do today.

If you listen to individuals who are very much into meditation and psychedelics, like Sam Harris, who is a well-known podcaster and also an atheist, he thinks that you're just opening and expanding your mind. Has anyone heard anything like that? All old things are new again, aren't they? There's nothing new under the sun. He just thinks it's just stuff happening in your brain; it's only contained in your consciousness. That is very clearly not the case from the Scriptures. There is a world beyond this world, and it works within this world.

Now, the Bible forbids these things. It forbids the occult, it forbids pagan practices like this, and it forbids sorcery or pharmakeia. Why does it forbid such things? If you would listen to someone like Joe Rogan, you might say, "Well, the church has just forbidden these things because they want to keep you away from the fun." These things are not bad because they are forbidden; they are forbidden because they are bad. They're not bad because they're forbidden. It's not like they're bad because God said, "Don't do that," as if He is the cosmic killjoy that some people think He is. They are forbidden because they're dangerous, and they will bring you into bondage. Some of you have experienced that bondage, and Christ sets us free.

I want to encourage you today: if you are in bondage to those things, Christ can set you free, and He wants to set you free. Now, very clearly, when you read the pages of Scripture and discover that there is this world beyond this world, you also discover that there are spiritual entities that oppose the work and workings of God and the workers of God. They are constantly bringing people into bondage; that is their aim—to steal, to kill, and to destroy. That is what the Scriptures reveal, and God is the one who conquers these.

Enemies vanquish them and set us free. There has been a huge rebirth or renewed interest in these matters in our day, so it's important that we discover and look at what the Scriptures have to say about this. God has forbidden these things to protect us, but does that mean that there are no acceptable, biblically acceptable ways in which we can interact with this world beyond our world? There are biblically acceptable ways, and Daniel had a rhythm in those practices.

We've already seen this in the Book of Daniel. Three times a day, what would he do? He would go up into his room, open the window, and pray towards Jerusalem. He would seek the God of Heaven. He had a rhythm and a practice in his life by which he could connect with the God of the universe, who is outside of this world in which we live. He is outside of the box that we are in.

Here at Cross Connection Church, we say that we want to live life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus. How do we connect with God? There are a number of ways that we can connect with God and interact with this world beyond our world. One of the ways is through the Scriptures and through prayer, through fellowship with one another, through fasting, and through other spiritual practices. There are ways that we can connect with these things that are inside the bounds of what is biblically faithful.

However, we do need to recognize that there are counterfeits, and there are ways that you can bypass what is biblically right. Those things are dangerous, and that is what the Scriptures reveal. Throughout Daniel's long life—he is probably about 85 years old at this point—he has seen dreams and visions that he has come to understand through interpretation. These interpretations have come from beings that were outside of this world. Gabriel was a being that existed outside of this cosmos but had a way of interacting within it.

Daniel has been given interpretations about what these things meant, but those things have troubled him deeply. As a result of his distress, he now spends three weeks in continued, persistent prayer, mourning over the things that he has seen so that he might be able to understand and have a greater revelation about what these things mean.

You would think this would be a period of great joy for Daniel. His people have just experienced a second Exodus. The first Exodus was when the children of Israel, under Moses's leadership, were released from Egypt. You can read about it in the second book of the Bible, the Book of Exodus—an awesome story. Now, in Daniel's day, he has watched as his people, including himself, have been liberated from captivity. Some of his people have gone back to the Promised Land to begin to rebuild Jerusalem.

The temple has gone through centuries of distress and seventy years of exile. Now, they have been liberated, yet Daniel is mourning. Why is he mourning? Why is he so downcast in the face of the good things that are happening? I think the answer to that question is similar to asking the same question as it relates to another biblical character who came after Daniel, whose book we studied a couple of summers ago: Nehemiah. Nehemiah was also troubled by the news he received from his homeland, Jerusalem. Though he was in Shushan, in the palace there in Persia, a little bit after Daniel lived, when he was asked why he was so troubled, he said, "Why should I not be troubled when I hear the bad news about what's happening in my homeland?"

Daniel is mourning because he has received advanced intel about what is coming for his people, both the good and the bad. However, the good is very much overcome by the reality that his people are going to experience more trouble, more difficulty, and more tribulation. He has already received a vision that the same city, Jerusalem, and the temple that will be rebuilt will one day be destroyed. There will be an abomination of desolation. He is hard-pressed by this. My sense is that, in light of everything Daniel knows, even though his people have been recently liberated, he is troubled. He just wants to understand. He needs to understand the timing of this. He has seen the broad outline of what is coming, but he seeks more understanding so that he might have hope in this.

We read in verse 4 of Daniel chapter 10: "Now on the 24th day of the first month." Remember, this is in the third year of Cyrus, which is 536 BC. He notes that on the 24th day of the first month, for the Jewish people, the first month is the month of Nissan. This month is important in the Jewish calendar because it contains a very significant feast called the Feast of Passover. The Feast of Passover begins on the eve of the 14th day of the first month. Now, on the 24th day of the first month, Daniel has been in persistent prayer for three consecutive weeks. He began this on the third day of the month of Nissan, 536 BC. He sought the Lord in prayer, and now, on the 24th day of the first month, as he was beside the great river, that is, the Tigris, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man.

Clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with the gold of Uphaz, it seems that in the month of Nissan in 536 BC, after Daniel has seen all these visions and received interpretations for the dreams he has had, he is troubled. His people have recently been liberated and given the opportunity to go back to the land to rebuild. Daniel removes himself from the palace in Babylon and spends some time in the wilderness of Babylon, or Chaldea, by the Tigris River. Of course, this is modern-day Iraq.

We have the time, we have the location, and we are given all the information about this. It's pretty awesome to consider that there is Daniel on a little camping trip, if you will, in the wilderness of Chaldea by the Tigris. He has been praying for three weeks, and at the end of those three weeks, he lifts up his eyes. The imagery and the text here are very clear; it is as if he looks up to the sky and sees a man. But this is no ordinary man. There is an individual, almost like the Son of Man, coming in the clouds, which is already spoken of in Daniel chapter 7.

He sees this individual, a certain man clothed in linen, which is the clothing of the priests, whose waist was girded with the gold of Uphaz. This is a very special and beautiful gold. His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, and his arms and feet like burnished bronze. You know how steel or bronze looks when you put it in the fire and pull it out; it glows red. He describes this one as having skin like that burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words was like the voice of a multitude. This individual has a booming, loud voice.

Daniel states that he alone saw the vision, for the men who were with him did not see the vision. A great terror fell upon them, so they fled to hide themselves. Therefore, Daniel was left alone when he saw this great vision. No strength remained in him, for his vigor was turned into frailty, and he retained no strength. Yet he heard the sound of the words, and while he heard the sound of the words, he was in a deep sleep on his face, with his face to the ground.

Let me emphasize again that there is a world beyond this world that works within this world. Daniel, at the end of 21 days, experiences this profound moment.

Self-denial and prayer in the wilderness had set Daniel in a posture to seek the Lord, away from the pleasantries of the palace. He remained in this posture for 21 days, and now the veil is opened. He sees beyond the veil into another realm.

Daniel had a group of people with him who did not see what he saw, but they were stricken with fear by a presence. Perhaps you have had a similar situation; I certainly have. I didn't see a vision, but there was a very real sense that an ominous presence was there in that place. I don't need to ask you to raise your hands, but I think probably more than a few of you have had an experience like that before. There is a great sense, which we might call a sixth sense, that there is something more with great power in your presence. That is what the people who were with Daniel experienced.

However, Daniel had been in a position and posture where he could see beyond the veil. He saw an awesome vision of a magnificent figure, and when he saw this, it leveled him. He found himself fainting on the ground as if he were asleep. He saw one clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold, whose body was like beryl, whose face had the appearance of lightning, whose eyes were like torches of fire, and whose arms and feet were like burnished bronze. His words were like a great multitude.

What is striking about this vision is that there is another vision quite similar to it that came 625 years later in the Book of Revelation. If you turn from Daniel and keep your finger there, you can go to the very last book of the Bible, Revelation, chapter one. It is easy to find Revelation, chapter one, verse nine.

We read: "I, John, both your brother and companion in tribulation and the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Christ. I was in the Spirit, spending time in a posture and position of prayer on the Lord's Day in this wilderness. The Lord's Day is the first day of the week. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet saying, 'I am the Alpha and the...'"

Omega, the first and the last, and what you see right in the book, send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me, and having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. In the midst of the seven lampstands was one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to His feet, a robe girded about His chest with a golden band. His head and His hair were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were a flame of fire, His feet were like fine brass, as it is refined in the furnace, and His voice was as the sound of many waters. He had in His right hand seven stars, and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.

Do you see any similarity between that vision and Daniel's vision in Daniel chapter 10? What do you think? Do you think Daniel and John saw the same man? I think they probably did. The question is, who did they see? It becomes easier to answer when we look at it through the lens of Revelation. The individual that John saw in Revelation goes on to say in verse 17, "Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am He who lives and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys to Hades and death."

Now, who was it who was alive, died, and rose again? It's Jesus. John saw Jesus in his description of how he saw the risen, glorious, mighty Lord, probably very similar to the image that John, Peter, and James had seen on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew chapter 17. The image that John saw in Revelation is identical in type to the vision that Daniel sees, although there is an interesting difference. Daniel sees this Son of Man figure coming in the clouds; he's in the sky. John sees Him down on the earth. There's a difference there that is important, and I don't have enough time to get into it today, but there's a key there for understanding what's happening in these scriptures.

So how did John respond when he saw this? He says, "When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead." How did Daniel respond? "No strength remained in me; my vigor was turned into frailty in me. I retained no strength; I was in a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground." Same vision, same response, back to Daniel chapter 10.

Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and then on the palms of my hands. Daniel is kind of in a stupor; it's almost as if he's trying to get up. He's on his hands and his knees after being flattened by the image of the Son of Man in the clouds. A hand calmly touches Daniel and says to him, "Oh Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you."

Who else in the text so far has called Daniel a man greatly beloved and given him a message and understanding? That's Gabriel. What I think we have here in this passage, if you start to break down what's happening, is that Daniel sees in the sky one like the Son of Man with this image that's described here. But when he falls down on the ground, now Gabriel comes to him, puts his hand on him, and says, "Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you."

Who sent him? Probably the one in the clouds. While he was speaking this word, I stood trembling.

Then he said to me, "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, to humble yourself before God, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words." This is awesome! Daniel has seen visions and dreams and interpreted dreams and visions. He has set aside time to position himself in a posture to seek God in the wilderness by the Tigris River. For 21 days, he's been in prayer, and now he sees this vision. When he does, this being, who I think is Gabriel, says to him, "Listen, I've been sent to tell you some information. The moment that you began to pray, three weeks before, I was dispatched to you."

Okay, Gabriel, what the heck took you so long? I've been here for three weeks. I've been eating terrible food; I smell horrible. Why are you taking so long to come to me to answer this question?

But verse 13 says, "The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days." Gabriel continues, "And behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone with the kings or princes of Persia."

Point number two, if you're taking notes: there are beings that we do not see fighting battles of which we are unaware. This is what the Scriptures reveal, and it causes some people to be rather fearful. There are beings that we do not see fighting battles of which we are unaware. Daniel has been in a place of prayer for three weeks.

When he first set himself to seek God in prayer, God dispatched Gabriel to come and bring understanding to Daniel. However, that dispatch was hindered from coming for three whole weeks by one who is called the Prince of Persia.

Now, who is the Prince of Persia? The Prince of Persia, as you study the scriptures, is an entity who opposes the work and workers of God. This entity exists over a region, having dominion over a human territory. That is kind of frightening. When you begin to study the theology revealed in the Bible regarding God, Satan, and angels, you discover that there are apparently spiritual entities that oppose the work of God. These entities have dominion, power, or rule over certain spheres of human influence.

It is my conviction that many of the evil manifestations we see here upon the Earth are indications of a spiritual battle happening behind the scenes. How many times do we see things happening in our world and think, "That looks demonic"? It doesn't just look demonic; there is something happening behind the scenes that is manifesting in our world. This is what the scriptures teach.

So, God dispatched Gabriel to bring Daniel more understanding and information, but this messenger—an angel, which means a messenger of God—was hindered for three whole weeks in coming to Daniel until Michael showed up. Michael is a formidable figure. We don't see him often in the scriptures, but in the places where we do find him, he is impressive.

We find him in three places: here, in the New Testament book of Jude, and in the New Testament book of Revelation. In the book of Jude, it says Michael contended with the devil; he fought with the devil. Now, that's a powerful figure. In the book of Revelation, we are told that he is a commanding angel over legions of angels; he is like a general in God's army.

Gabriel, in the text, is a messenger. Every time he appears, he is delivering a message from God. Michael, on the other hand, is a warrior of God. So, Gabriel is dispatched to bring a message to Daniel, but he is hindered for three weeks by the Prince of Persia.

of Persia, which is a demonic entity. Some people think it's Satan himself and the kings of Persia. The word "Malik" in Hebrew is used, and it does not necessarily mean a physical entity. He is fighting against spiritual entities and is unable to overcome them until Michael, one of the chief princes, comes to help him, for he had been left alone. Now he is able to come and minister to Daniel.

This informs us of something very important. I'm sure that more than a few of you here this morning have experienced times when you have gone to God in prayer and felt as though your prayers are hindered. Sometimes we ask the question, "What is hindering my prayers?" It could be unconfessed sin or some issue in your life. However, it is also very clearly presented in the Scriptures that sometimes what hinders the working of God in this world are those who oppose the work and working of God. This challenges the theology of something because they say, "Well, you know God is all-powerful and all-knowing." Yes, He is, and yet sometimes His messengers are opposed by demonic forces.

But Daniel persisted in prayer. I think probably too many times we give up. Throughout Christian literature over the last 2,000 years, there is this concept that comes up frequently: the idea of pressing through in prayer and the idea of laboring in prayer. Daniel labored in prayer for three weeks. We do not come from a culture that likes to labor in much of anything, especially prayer and spiritual practices. I would say that probably too frequently we give up too quickly. This is why Jesus would tell us to ask, seek, and knock—keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. We need to be persistent in our prayers.

The Bible makes it very clear that there are certain things that do not happen without prayer. When Jesus talks about casting out certain dominions and powers, He says, "This kind comes out by nothing but prayer and fasting." There are certain spiritual and even physical acts that are not accomplished without true laboring and pressing through in prayer. Paul, in two of his letters, says to the churches and individuals he is writing to that the things he is asking to happen will not happen except by their prayers. So there is a part that we play in this whole thing.

Point number three, if you're taking notes, though we are unaware of...

The battle we are engaged in is not one we can ignore. If you are a Christian today, the moment you became a Christian, you entered into a spiritual battle that you may not have realized you were in. You are engaged in this battle, Church. The battle is against us from the enemy, the one who opposes the work and workings of God.

In Daniel 10:14, Gabriel comes to Daniel, saying, "Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come." This vision is for the far future. Daniel has been distressed by the images, and now Gabriel is coming to give him more understanding.

In verse 15, we read, "When he had spoken such words to me, I turned my face toward the ground and became speechless." Suddenly, one having the likeness of the sons of men, another angelic being, touched my lips. I opened my mouth and spoke, saying to him who stood before me, "My Lord, because of the vision, my sorrows have overwhelmed me." Daniel mourned because his sorrows had overwhelmed him, and he had retained no strength. He asked, "How can this servant of my Lord talk with you, my Lord? As for me, no strength remains in me, nor is there any breath in me."

Then again, the one having the likeness of a man touched me and strengthened me. He said, "O man greatly beloved, fear not. Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong." When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, "Let my Lord speak, for you have strengthened me."

We are in a very real spiritual battle, and it is critically important that we recognize and understand this. The sad reality is that the vast majority of Western Christians do not think such things exist, or at least they live as practical atheists regarding these matters. We need to open our minds and eyes to see that these things are very real.

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul, writing to the church at Ephesus, says, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places."

What do we discover from Daniel and from Paul? Point number four, if you're taking notes: God strengthens and provides for His servants in spiritual battles. He says, "Be strong in the Lord; put on the whole armor of God."

The idea of a spiritual battle that we are engaged in might frighten some of you, and I want to encourage you: there is no reason for you to be afraid. Why? Because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. In Christ, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Romans chapter 8, verse 37 says this. Though we can do nothing apart from the Lord, as stated in John chapter 15, verse 5, we can do all things through Him who gives us strength, as mentioned in Philippians chapter 4, verse 13.

However, we need to recognize that we are engaged in a very real spiritual battle. So, what should we do? Paul goes on to explain this in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 13: "Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day." Note this: having done all to stand, therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one, take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

Notice that Paul says, "having done all to stand." This raises a simple but convicting question that I had to ask myself this last week, and now I pose it to you: Have you done everything that you need to do to be able to stand?

Point number five, and I will try to close because the clock is flashing at me: we must do all that we can to engage and stand in the battle. I think we are probably not doing much. How many of you this morning, and this is your opportunity for participation, are concerned or discouraged by what seems to be the rise of wickedness in our culture?

Well, look around and hold them up. If you're not raising your hand, it's time to wake up; the service is almost over. You can put your hands down. If you are concerned about what appears to be the rise of wickedness in our culture, what should your response be? I know the response that I keep hearing from a lot of people is that we need to become politically active. Sure, become politically active if you do not begin.

With prayer that will be totally ineffective, God's power is all that we can reliably rely upon. How do we do all that we can to stand? First, you need to recognize that we're in a battle.

There's a movie I will not recommend to you, but there’s a great phrase from it: the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he did not exist. A lot of Christians live like practical atheists as it relates to demonic forces in the world. However, it is very clear, when we see the wickedness abounding in our culture and throughout the world, that there are demonic entities present.

How should we respond? First, we need to recognize that we're engaged in a battle. Second, we need to put on the whole armor of God. I wish I had more time to get into the whole armor of God today, but ultimately, it is all focused upon His power, His strength, His faculties, and not our own. The offensive weapons are the Word of God and prayer.

Paul, talking about prayer in Second Corinthians 10, says that though we walk in the flesh—being flesh and blood, bones and so forth—we are not engaged in a fleshly battle. We do not war according to the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal; they are mighty in God for the tearing down of strongholds. What sort of weapons? The Word of God and prayer are our weapons.

Jesus overcame the enemy when He came against him in Matthew's Gospel, when He was in the wilderness, by saying, "It is written, it is written, it is written." He used the Word of God as a sword. We have to recognize that this whole world is not all there is. There is a world beyond our world that interacts with this world, and there are beings fighting battles that we are unaware of. However, we are not uninvolved in those battles, and we need to engage in the fight.

In doing that, I want you to know that ultimately the victory is the Lord's. The battle is not ours; it is His, and we are victorious in Him. We are not victorious apart from Him; we are victorious in Him. Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. In the end, He wins, but right now, the enemy is very clearly seeking to oppose the work and working of God, bringing people into bondage.

You and I have the words of liberating life for those who are in bondage. Would to God that we recognize that we're in a battle, because the easiest way to lose the battle is to think you're not even in a fight. This is why the church has been impotent and weak in the last many generations. We have failed to recognize we are in a battle. We need to wake up.

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, says it's high time that you wake out of your sleep. It's time to wake up and recognize that God has given us what we need, by His power and by His Spirit, to overcome the enemy. But first, we need to recognize that there is an enemy. Through persistent prayer and by the Word of God, we have power over the enemy.

Here's the awesome thing that we're going to discover: this is what the Scriptures say from the prophets. There is going to come a day when we actually see this demonic entity that we refer to as the devil, and we're all going to be shocked because he is not as big as we think he is.

Years ago, I used to run long distances, and I remember there was this house not too far from where I lived at the time. Every time I ran by it, there was this little Chihuahua dog. He was behind a fence that was only about three feet high, but this little Chihuahua would chase me from one end of the yard to the other, barking at me. I swear he thought he was winning every time because I would run away. I wouldn't really run away, but I would just keep running, and he was convinced that he was the biggest, most ominous beast prowling the world.

This stupid little dog, that if I had kicked it—though I wouldn't kick the dog, come on now—made me think of the enemy. He thinks he's winning; he is a defeated foe. But we need to engage in the battle. God help us to stand up and see that we're engaged in a battle, whether we like it or not.

Let's stand as we close in prayer. Father God, I thank You for...

Your Word reveals mysteries to us. You want us to not be unaware, to not be ignorant. You want us to walk circumspectly, understanding the times that we are living in—evil days—and redeeming the times. So, God, help us to walk in wisdom with our eyes wide open, having the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, and shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We take up the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, pushing forward by prayer. Help us to labor in prayer, trusting that ultimate victory is in Your hands. Strengthen us, Your church. Open our eyes to see the dominions and powers that are here in our town, in our location here in North County. There is most certainly a prince of North County, and he has bound people in bondage to sin and death. God, would You help us to be a force for bringing the liberating truth of the Gospel to people? We ask this in Jesus' name.

Good morning, Cross Connection Church! It's Pastor Garrett here, and I want to welcome you to Cross Connection, living life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus Christ. Coming up, we have some exciting things, like our Herky Creek camping trip. It's a family camping trip, and everyone is invited. The kids are going to have a blast! It's up at Herky Creek Campground from September 22nd through the 24th. You can sign up and find more information on our website, ccchurch.com/events.

Check it out! It's going to be a really great time. You will get to experience the great outdoors, go on hikes, and there's a little lazy river that runs through there. The kids love playing in it, and it's just a great time for you to meet some new families and friends here at Cross Connection Church. I hope you can sign up again at ccchurch.com/events.