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Now, let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. What do you do in a spiritual battle? Are you on your feet doing stuff, busy? Or do you get on your knees first? and pray.
Hey, you want to know what most churches do whenever there's a spiritual battle? They have a committee meeting. That's typically what happens. There's a problem, let's have a meeting, and then let's have a committee assigned to. Address the problem.
First thing they ought to do is get on their knees and pray. You know what most Christians do in a spiritual battle? Same thing most churches do, only their committee is smaller. They get their friends together and they moan and groan and gripe and complain or gossip. when they should be on their knees.
frame. In Ephesians chapter 6, the Apostle Paul lists the weapons that we have at our disposal for spiritual warfare, and he writes, pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayer and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. I've committed this to memory because it speaks volumes. Satan trembles.
When he sees the weakest saint. upon his knees. You can always do more than pray after you've prayed. But you really can't do more than pray. until you've prayed.
So Daniel knows what's happening back in Jerusalem. And it Causes him to mourn and weep, and suddenly. Suddenly. Heaven breaks in on them. This concerning problem that he has gets eclipsed.
by a commanding presence. Verse four.
Now on the twenty fourth day of the first month, As I was by the side of the great river, that is the Tigris, I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen. And stop right there. That's not unusual. And it sounds, if you stop here, like we're just dealing with a human being. But when you read the rest of it, Doesn't sound like any human you've ever met.
Whose waist was girded with a gold, the gold of Ufaz.
Now, if you're going to ask me afterwards, what is the gold of Ufaz? I'll be able to tell you I have no idea what that is. But it must be the standard For pure gold, In the Babylonian era, At the time of Daniel, it would be like saying today: it's like the gold from Tiffany's. You know, it's just like the highest grade. No.
His body was like buryl. Buryl is translucent or transparent gold color. His face, like the appearance of lightning, His eyes like torches of fire. His arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude. Wow.
That's something to see. How does it react? In Daniel's experience, I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision. But a great terror fell upon them, so they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone.
When I saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me, for my vigor was turned to frailty in me, and I retained no strength. Yet I heard the sound of his words. And while I heard the sound of his words, I was in a deep sleep on my face with my face to the ground.
Now, can I just remind you again, Daniel Eighty-six years old. He has seen an eyeful in his lifetime, dreams, visions. He's interpreted other people's dreams and visions. His heart is not what it used to be. And now, this luminescent being stands in front of him.
Daniel just collapses. The others? They get out of town. They're out of Dodge.
Now what this illustrates for us Among other things. is the problem the earthly has interacting with the heavenly. When an earthly being Encounters Divinity. There's always a problem. Every now and then, somebody will get on Christian television and say, I saw God, and I've written a book about it.
And they almost sound prideful. And I'm thinking: if you ever saw God, dude, either you'd be dead. Or you'd be so humble about it. Because those in the Bible who had divine encounters had that kind of reaction. You remember Job.
Said to the Lord, I've heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Therefore I abhor myself and I repent in dust and ashes. That's a guy who saw God. Isaiah the prophet had a vision of God and he said, Woe is me, I am undone, I am a man of unclean lips. Remember that?
How did Peter react when he discovered who Jesus really was in that boat? He said, Lord, depart from me. I'm a sinful man. I can't even hang out with you. And then in Revelation chapter 6.
It describes a group of people who will say to the mountains and the rocks, fall on us. And hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.
So Daniel, he collapses. He swoons. He can't handle it. The rest of the dudes are out of there.
Now who is this certain man in this apparition that he sees.
Some have suggested it's the angel Gabriel mentioned in Daniel. Others suggest it's the angel Michael, also mentioned in the book of Daniel. Others will say it's an angel. of equal rank but unnamed.
Now to me the context as well as the cross-references. point to only one person. This is what I believe. You ready? It's the pre incarnate Christ.
Which is not unusual if you're a student of the Old Testament, you know, there's this personage. Called 50 times in the Old Testament the angel of the Lord, who is oftentimes addressed as the Lord and is even worshipped as the Lord. Let me read something to you. You don't have to turn there, I'll just read to you. I want you to listen to the description.
Of another person that John sees in the book of Revelation, chapter 1. Just listen to see if it's any similarity to this.
Now, in Revelation 1, John hears a voice. And the voice says, I'm the alpha, the omega, the beginning, and the end.
So I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to his feet, girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were like white wool, white as snow, his eyes like a flame of fire, his feet like fine bronze or brass, as if refined in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. In his right hand he had seven stars, out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was like the sun shining. and its strength.
When I saw him I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his hand on me and he said, Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. Listen, I am he who lives, was dead, but behold, I am alive. Forevermore.
Amen. Who's that? That's Jesus Christ. The only difference between the vision is the hair. Everything else is identical to it.
So I'm submitting to you that what John saw was the post-resurrected Christ in his glory, what Daniel saw was the pre-incarnate Christ in his glory. The question is. Why does he see this? Yeah.
Well He's about to be told. All of the future battles. of Israel in the near future and in the far future. Between Greece and Persia, Antiochus Epiphanes, Alexander, etc. He's going to be told details of that in chapter 11.
But before that, he's going to be shown another cosmic battle taking place in heavenly places.
So before the battle, God wants Daniel to know who's in charge, who the commanding officer is.
Now, again, if you're a Bible student, you remember the Battle of Jericho, right? The book of Joshua? And remember in Joshua 5, before the battle of Jericho, Joshua turns, he's the general. And he sees a man standing with his sword. Exposed.
Lifted up. And Joshua, the general, says, Are you for us? Or are you for our enemies? And the answer is classic. This person says, no.
Uh it's not what I asked. Are you for us or for our enemies? No! But as the commander of the Lord's armies, I have come. And it says, Joshua fell down and worshipped.
And this person said, Take the shoes off of your feet. You're standing on holy ground. For the same reason, Joshua saw the commanding officer, the Lord, in charge of the battle of Jericho, so Daniel sees who is in charge of the battle. He's about to. Get the details too.
In the spiritual battle you and I face, You better know who your commanding officer is. Or you're gonna go into this and get bloodied. and beaten. The Bible says in Hebrews We should be looking unto Jesus. the author and the finisher of our faith.
You know what our problem is? When we go through hard times, especially spiritual battles, we have a tendency, I have a tendency. to gaze at my problems. And glance. at the Lord.
Gaze at the problem. This is tough. This is horrible. This is bad. I got to talk to people about it.
Bad, bad, bad. Glance at the Lord. Shoot up a prayer. Help me, Lord, help me. Gaze, gaze, gaze.
Help me, help me. Glance, glance, glance. That's the problem. We need to reverse that. glancing at our problems, gazing at the Lord.
I read an article by AAA, you know, American Automobile Association. And they noticed a few years ago this interesting occurrence of drivers on the road. hitting parked cars. And uh they just notice that people are driving along and then they Get in an accident by driving into a parked car. They said, What's going on?
They noted that in all of the cases they studied, or most of them, alcohol was not involved, drugs were not involved, weather conditions were perfect.
So they called this in the article the moth effect. Just like a moth is inadvertently drawn to the flame. to the light.
So drivers are attracted to whatever their eye notices and looks at for long enough, they hit whatever they look at. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before today's message continues, there's a special offer for your family this Christmas. Hey, this is Nate Heitzig. And if you're like me, one of the best parts of the Christmas season is gathering your kids to share the story of Jesus in a way that makes it come alive.
That's why I wrote Christmas Under the Tree. a beautifully illustrated book and companion audio experience for families of all ages. My hope is that this story helps you and your kids connect the cradle to the cross and treasure the true meaning of Christmas for years to come. Christmas under the tree is yours when you give a gift of $25 or more to help more people discover God's word through Connect with Skiff Heidzig. Request your copy at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922.
Mm-hmm.
Now, let's get back to today's teaching. You will hit whatever you look at. And if you are gazing at your problems and glancing at the Lord, You're going to be living there. But if you're gazing at the Lord and only glancing at your problems. You got a good, good footing in spiritual warfare.
Finish this chapter. From the concerning problem to the commanding presence now to The real show, the contending powers. Suddenly, verse 10, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees. and on the palms of my hands. And he said to me, O Daniel, Man greatly beloved Understand the words that I speak to you and stand upright, for I have been.
Now sent to you. While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling. Poor guy. And he said to me, Do not fear, Daniel. For from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words.
were heard And I have come because of your words. Three weeks ago, when you started this, your prayer was answered in heaven, and I got dispatched. But, now this is wild, but the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days. And behold Michael. One of the chief princes, who we'll be introduced to in chapter 12, as the chief angel of Israel.
came to help me. For I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. And 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. 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 touched my lips.
And I opened my mouth and spoke, saying to him who stood before me, My Lord, small L. Because of the vision My sorrows have overwhelmed me and I have retained no strength. How can this servant of my Lord Talk with you, my lord. As for me, no strength remains in me now, nor is there any breath left in me. Then again, one having the likeness of a man touched me and strengthened me.
And he said, O man, greatly beloved. Fear not. Peace be to you. Be strong. Yes, be strong.
So when he spoke to me, I was strengthened, and I said, Let my Lord speak, for you have strengthened me. And then he said, Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the Prince of Persia. When I have gone forth, indeed, the Prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is noted in the scripture of truth: no one upholds me against these except Michael.
Your Prince.
Now you gotta know. That for an 86-year-old guy who's overwhelmed by this vision that has put him on the ground, and now he's just like barely standing up, trembling. For the to hear the words Man greatly beloved. would make him go. Good luck.
Because if I saw this vision, I'm thinking I'm going to die. I mean, you can see how shaken up he is, right? O man, greatly beloved. In the Bible, there are certain designations of special people. For example, Abraham is called the friend of God.
David was called a man after God's own heart. Jesus called John the Baptist the greatest man born of woman. Woman? But did you know there are only two people in all of the Bible given this title? Greatly beloved.
You know who they are? One is Daniel. The other is... The Apostle John. He's called the disciple whom Jesus loved.
And what's interesting is that both Daniel and John are the ones that give us apocalyptic literature. Daniel parallels the book of Revelation in so much. of what it predicts. O man, greatly beloved. Question is Verse 13, look at it again.
He's saying, but the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days.
So you get the picture. As soon as you prayed, I'm out of heaven, I'm here. But it took me three weeks to get here. That's why he's been fasting and mourning for three weeks. This angel shows up.
Hey, I was dispatched as soon as you prayed. He's thinking, what took you so long? He tells them The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I have been left alone there with the kings of Persia. Question? Who's the Prince of Persia?
Don't say it's Cyrus. He was the king of Persia. This is the Prince of Persia.
Well Whoever this prince is It's not a human being. Because it takes two super duper angels to fight against them. And it takes considerable time in this period of warfare.
So We get insight, the curtain is sort of pulled back for Daniel to see into the really real world. of the demonic and the angelic. that there is a human king. but a demonic prince behind the human king. called Cyrus.
That shouldn't surprise you. Jesus said of Satan, he is the prince of this world. Paul the Apostle in Ephesians 2 called Satan the prince of the power of the air, the one who is at work in the children of disobedience. And later on he talks about principalities and powers.
So let's just sort of put it in nugget form. We need to understand the battle. Not only is there a God, But there is a devil. Not only is there just a devil, But he's got a lot of buddies. He's got a gang.
of demonic forces. Because the Bible tells us in the Old Testament Satan drew How many angels out of heaven? A third. How many is that? I don't know.
A bunch. I'm not trying to be cute with you, but in Revelation 5, when John sees all the angels around the throne of God, do you remember what he says? He said, I saw 10,000 times 10,000 plus thousands of thousands.
So that's 100 million plus a bunch. I think he's just shooting at a number. He's just sort of estimating. There's a whole lot of them up here. And a third fell from heaven.
And they have become, according to the scriptures, A well-organized network Designed to thwart God's plan, if they could, but they can't. and to hinder God's people. I hope now you realize what Paul wrote in Ephesians 6. when he said, we wrestle not against flesh and blood. But against principalities and powers, against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in heavenly realms.
Daniel 10. implies that there are demons assigned to nations. In this case, one to Persia and later on one to Greece. Which Makes one wonder. What?
the Prince of San Francisco must be like. or the Prince of Las Vegas. I don't mean New Mexico, the other one. or the Prince of Washington, D.C. or the Prince of Albuquerque.
What they must be like. 1 John chapter 5. Little children, we know the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. Listen, if you think you can read the newspaper about all the stuff going on and you think it's just about what's going on in Iran and Syria and Egypt and China, you're naive. That's the spillover.
from the really real world and the battle that is going on in the heavenlies.
Well Daniel prayed and all I can say is he got a whole lot more than what he was praying about. He got revelation into future battles. He got insight into a heavenly battle. You got a whole lot more. Didn't expect that.
But you know there's something that just gripped me as I studied this week this chapter. And that is this. We piddle around with such petty little things when God wants us to know monumental truths. I mean, we just spent so much time with little. Who do I text and just little.
Time stealers. When there's monumental truths going on.
So you're part of a conflict. You may not be aware of it, then the devil has you right where he wants you. Great. Just moseon, true. But we're part of a conflict.
I want to leave you though with something. I don't want you to be discouraged by this. I want you to be encouraged.
Okay, a third of the angels fell. That leaves how many left? Two-thirds. Satan's outnumbered, right? The Bible says, greater is he that is in you, God, than he that is in the world, Satan.
So you're on the winning side no matter what. But to survive well and to engage in the fight, there's two things that are mentioned in this chapter. There are several other things that we could talk about in spiritual warfare, but we don't have the time. But two things. Number one, the importance of scripture.
Importance of scripture. Look at the last verse. Notice what this being says to Daniel. But I will tell you what is noted in the scripture of. Truth.
Now this book will keep you from deception. It'll keep you from deception. According to this book, The devil It's called the one who deceives the world. That's his principal arrow he shoots out of his bow. This will keep you from being deceived.
Keeps you from deception. Second is prayer. That'll keep you from destruction. Daniel is on his knees. Listen.
When you pray, You're pulling out the big guns. Do you remember Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark?
Okay, do you remember this scene? I want to see how many remember. Remember the market scene when the guy flashes the sword? And Indiana Jones pulls out a gun, just goes, Bam, fight's over. Remember that?
Prayer is pulling out the big guns. Prayer is bringing a gun to a knife fight. No wonder This deceiver wants to keep you at all costs from engaging in prayer. That's his defeat. God will honor that.
That's the big guns.
So Can you see that whenever we say such things like this, There's nothing left to do except pray. What an insult that is to God. who has allowed us to be engaged in this warfare on the winning side by using the big guns. That's the fight we're in. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skiff Heitzig.
Before you go, don't miss your chance to request Christmas Under the Tree, the beautifully illustrated book and audio experience by Nate Heitzig that helps your family see the Christmas story with fresh wonder and excitement. It's yours for your gift of $25 or more to help reach more people with biblical teaching through Connect with Skip. Call 800-922-1888 or go to connectwithskiff.com slash offer. And don't forget to sign up for the free weekly devotional for encouragement from Pastor Skiff right in your inbox. Thanks for spending time with us today, and we'll see you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Make a connection! Make a connection. Shouldn't The foot of the crosses. Castle burning. Insomnia.
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