Spiritual Warfare

Will you please turn in your Bibles with me again to the Book of Daniel, and we are going to Daniel chapter 10 here tonight. We're going to Daniel chapter 10, and this is our 11th message. Our series is The Heavens Rule, taken from Daniel chapter 4 verse 26, and it says there, The Heavens Do Rule. I hope you're persuaded by this point in this Bible study series. I hope you're fully persuaded that the Book of Daniel is a book for this hour and this time. I really hope you've been encouraged, strengthened, that amidst all the crisis of this hour, unbelievable what's going on in our world, I pray that this series has helped to keep your eyes fixed on the Lord, to rest in the knowledge that He is in control, and that no matter what happens with politics and world events, or even locally in our own society, in our job, or our families, or in our city and town here in Limerick and Ireland, no matter what goes on, I hope you realize and you're praying and believing and that you're resting in the knowledge that God in heaven on His throne rules over all powers, all principalities, all kings, and all institutions. God is going to get a testimony in this hour. I want you to be fully persuaded, but here tonight, please turn with me to Daniel chapter 10, and we're going to read here, and my message tonight is spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare. Reading from Daniel chapter 10 and verse 1. In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar. And the thing was true, but the time appointed was long. And he understood the thing and had understanding of the vision. In those days, I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread. Neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth. Neither did I not anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. And in the fourth and twentieth day of the first month, as I was beside the great river, which is Hiddikai, then I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Euphaz. His body was also like the barrel, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polish brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision. For the men that were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me, for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. Yet heard I the voice of his words, and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face towards the ground, and behold, a hand touched me, which set me up upon my knees, and upon my palms of my hand. And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright, for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that thou did set thine heart to understand, and had chastened thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days, but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there with the king of Persia. Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days, for yet the vision is for many days. And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face towards the ground, and I became dumb. And behold, one like the simultude of the sons of men touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spake, and I said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? For as from a straight way there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me, and said, O man greatly beloved, fear not, peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak, for thou hast strengthened me. Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I am come unto thee? And now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia. And when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. But I will show thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth. And there is none that holdeth with me in these things but Michael your prince. Can we pray here together as we come to this vital bible study here tonight? Part 11, spiritual warfare. Father I do pray that you strengthen us even as we're in this bible study, no matter what the warfare is against us personally, individually, as a church, or your church scattered across the world in this 21st century. Father I pray that the very preaching of your word is going to put strength in individuals as they listen the word of God. You're going to set them upon their feet. Lord God, while some may tremble, others are going to be strengthened. Father I do pray that you minister from your throne, that you'd send your angels, your ministering angels, which are flames of fire. My God, would you minister unto your church in this hour. We know there's a war raging on the earth, but we also know there is a warfare raging in the heavenlies above us. And my God, it's going to decide the fate of nations and of peoples and of this generation. We pray, we join ourselves to the throne of God and we pray, let your kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven. We pray, O God, let that which is bound in heaven be bound on earth and that which is loosed in heaven be loosed upon the earth, that your name might be glorified alone. We give thanks to you, Lord Jesus, as our savior and our redeemer. Thank you for the blood of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Amen. Our message here tonight from Daniel chapter 10, and I hope you realize why I'm calling this the name it is, spiritual warfare. You see, I believe the theme of Daniel 10 is spiritual warfare. The Holy Spirit is drawn back the curtain. He is revealing what is going on in the unseen realm. We know what's happening on the earth. We know what's happened in nations and kingdoms. We've seen what's been happening down through these chapters, but this chapter 10 is unique in the book of Daniel. It is unique in the Old Testament. It is unique in the entire Bible. It is one of a few chapters in the Bible that draw back the curtain of the unseen world and give us such remarkable insight to what actually is happening. Most of us never get to catch a glimpse of this with our naked eye or even through dreams or visions or through special revelations, but you know what? The Bible, the word of God, reveals what is happening in the unseen realm. It reveals to us and we can believe it. We can know what is happening and we can even be a part of that unseen realm, the warfare that is going on when we do what the Bible says. As we continue to look at the rise and the falls of kingdoms and how God's plan works out in the midst of that, we come to this 10th chapter. We only have another two chapters in Daniel to actually look at, and this is Daniel chapter 10. Read with me here in verse 1 as we look at this Bible study. In verse 1 it says, In the third year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar. And the thing was true, but the time appointed was long. And he understood the thing and had understanding of the vision. Now I want you to notice here, verse 1 sets the whole trend for this entire chapter for us to begin to understand it. And in fact, this verse sets us on a course for the next three chapters. It actually mentions three times here in verse 1, the word thing. And please don't ignore that here tonight. The word thing issues three times in this one verse, as we go into looking at spiritual warfare here tonight. The word thing means a matter, a thing spoken about, or a actual cause. That's what a thing is. And notice as well, he talks about not only the thing, but the vision. You see, I believe the thing was the vision. That this thing mentioned three times in verse 1 is actually a vision that the Lord reveals unto Daniel. And look what he says about this thing in verse 1. He says the thing was revealed. Notice God revealed it unto Daniel. This thing, this spoken thing, this vision was revealed unto Daniel. This is a vision being given by God unto Daniel. You cannot choose visions. You cannot create visions. You cannot create out of your own spirit and mind. The church is filled with that, and it comes to nothing. But notice this was a thing or a vision revealed unto Daniel. It didn't come out of Daniel's heart, or out of his spirit, or out of his mind. It was a thing that came from heaven. It was God revealing this thing unto Daniel. Notice also it said this thing was true. It was not only revealed, but it was true. When something is revealed by God, it is true. It cannot be a lie. It will not fail. It is not a deception. Every thing that God reveals will come to pass. The third thing it says here is that Daniel understood the thing, or understood the vision. In other words, there were other visions, and it says that Daniel didn't understand. The angel had to reveal it unto him, or the Lord had to give him understanding. But this thing revealed here in chapter 10 and verse 1. This thing, it was not only revealed. It was not only true or trustworthy. It was actually understood. Daniel understood it. He didn't need to be informed about it. He had clarity about it. Notice this thing. It is the single pronoun. That means it's singular. It's not plural. In other words, this thing is a unity. This vision is one. There is a oneness here. There is a complete vision. There are many details that we're going to look at in this vision, but it is one vision. It is unified together. There are many facts, many details, many persons, many kings. There are different nations. There are events that are laid out over many generations, and yet it is one condensed whole. It is not many. I want you to note here, this is the fourth of Daniel's visions. He had four visions. This is the last and the fourth one. We've already looked at the other three. Do you remember what the three previous visions were? The first vision we saw in Daniel chapter 7, and it was the four beasts that come up out of the sea. The second vision is found in Daniel chapter 8 of the ram and the goat and the warfare between Medo-Persia and the Grecian empire. Then last week, we looked at the third vision in Daniel chapter 9 about the 70 weeks, the prophecy that took us all the way down to Messiah, the destruction of Jerusalem. Then there's a last seven-year period just at the very end of time before Jesus returns to reign on the earth. Those were three visions. What remarkable visions Daniel has had. Notice here, this is the fourth vision that we are beginning to look at. In fact, the vision that we start to look at here tonight, all of chapter 10 is just the context of the vision. The vision is contained in chapter 11 and chapter 12. We're going to look at it at least in the next couple of weeks, not tonight. We won't get as far as the vision, but all I'm doing is laying out the context because you need to understand this before we look at the details of the vision. It was a singular vision and it fills two entire chapters of Daniel. It is the fourth and last vision. It is the last two chapters of Daniel is taken up with this. I want you to notice all four visions were given to Daniel when he was in his 70s and 80s. Notice something else here concerning this vision. It says the thing was true, or the vision was true, or the revelation was true, but the time appointed was long. Can I just say, just because the time is long doesn't mean it's not true. And that's what it's saying here. The time appointed was long, but it was true. The time appointed for the vision, or the thing, or the word, or the revelation from God, it was long. The time was appointed was long and it was under the control of God, but it was true. And can I tell you, if God ever reveals something to you, you better hunker down and get ready because one of the great trials is time or a delay. When there's a delay, it's a testing time. Now look a bit closer here in this verse. The time appointed was long. Do you realize in the Hebrew here, the word time appointed is one Hebrew word. Now listen very carefully. Listen to what time appointed means. It's not just talking about a length of time. No, it means more than that. Listen to what the Hebrew means. It means a great gathering of soldiers, an army organized and marching out to war. I'm telling you the Hebrew meaning of the one Hebrew word. It means soldiers prepared for a long military campaign. It means to be a long warfare involving conflict, hardship, and suffering. This is what this means. So notice about this vision or this word that's going to be revealed. The last vision of Daniel. Do you know what the Lord tells him? Now Daniel, listen carefully. The warfare surrounding this vision, it is going to be like a massive army of organized soldiers gathering together against it. It's going to involve to bring forth this vision, to fulfill it, to bring it to pass. You know what it's going to mean being in a great, long, hard warfare. Since most people never see the will of God come to pass because they're not prepared for the warfare. Most people don't get answers to prayer because they are not prepared for the warfare. Most young guys don't hang around long enough in the church and stay sanctified and the right girls sent to that church for them. Do you hear what I'm saying here tonight? There is a warfare. When God begins to reveal things, there is a warfare. Do you know what? I believe this is a warfare that comes against the fulfilling of it. It comes to oppose it. It will come against your prayer life. It will come against you to move you from your position. We see from verse 1, we see all the way through this chapter, it's a chapter about spiritual warfare, a warfare that you don't see, a warfare we usually don't consider or think about, but it's a very real warfare. We are caught up in the visions. We are caught up in the prophecies. We are caught up in the dreams. We are caught up in the words from the Lord. That's what gets us excited. Yet we don't get excited about the warfare. When the warfare comes, we go, what's happening here? We begin to doubt. We begin to fear. We begin to ask questions. Now listen, in Daniel chapter 10, what was the context of it? It says in the third year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel. In other words, this come, this happened, all of Daniel 10 happened at a very precise time. The third year of King Cyrus of Persia. It's given us the time for a very specific reason. Do you realize it's two years now since what we dealt with last week in Daniel chapter 9. It's two years. You remember last week, the 70 weeks, the vision of the 70 weeks was the first year of Darius the Mede. Now it's the third year of Cyrus and their timeframes work together. And that's very important because you're going to see what the battle is, what the warfare is here at tonight. You see two years previously, Gabriel revealed about the 70 weeks to Daniel. Now here two years later is another revelation and something has happened. Do you remember last time I told you two years previous that Cyrus gave the commandment for the Jews to begin to return to Jerusalem? Do you remember that? That's what happened. Now two years later, we actually read here that Daniel in this chapter receiving this revelation, he is in mourning for three weeks. He is grieving. Why is he grieving? Do you know when it says that he is grieving? He is burdened. He is crying. He is in distress. Why is he in distress in this third year of King Cyrus? I believe we have information of why he is in mourning, why he isn't eating, why he's fasting, why he's praying, why there's a spiritual warfare on, why it seems there's a great army that is joined together against the vision. You see, I believe this chapter begins to reveal the true spiritual warfare for God having his way in his people. What was happening? It's two years since 47,000 Jews first left Babylon, all excited under the command of Cyrus the Great to return to Jerusalem to begin rebuilding the temple. Do you remember how Daniel had been praying for this? He said it's time, and as he prayed, Cyrus has moved to make the command, and they make the journey back to Jerusalem. And two years before chapter 10, they begin to rebuild. If you were to go to the book of Ezra, you get the story of it. In Ezra chapter 2, they begin to raise up the altar again. It's been gone for 50 years, but they begin to raise up the altar where the blood sacrifices can be made once again, the first time in 50 years. They also lay the foundation for the temple, and it's very important. Foundations are vital. They didn't start with the temple. They laid the foundation, and as all those thousands of genuine believers who were rejoicing, some were rejoicing, some were crying. You see, some there could remember what the old temple looked like. There were some that were older than 50, maybe 70 years old, and they say, I remember. And they wept, and the rejoicing and the weeping joined together as the people of God seen the foundation go down. But Ezra doesn't stop there. You see, they laid the foundation, but then they began to get opposed. The Samaritans come in and try to join with them, and when they said, no, we won't join with half-baked Samaritans. We'll build alone. Then the Samaritans begin to come against them. Listen, it says in Ezra chapter 4 that the Samaritans hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of King Cyrus of Persia. Do you hear what I'm saying? This is the third year. Cyrus initiated it in his first year. Daniel is praying, saying, praise God, 47,000 are going back to Jerusalem. We are going to see the house of God built. After only two years, the entire work comes to a standstill. It stops, and there's nothing but opposition. The people of God get discouraged. They stop building. They stop working. They stop dreaming. They lost all of the energy and strength. You know what? All of the tools go down. The work stops, and the people of God only start working on their own house. They forget about God's house. They forget about why they went back to Jerusalem, and they settle down for a period of 16 years. 16 years of discouragement. 16 years of not moving forward. 16 years of opposition by the enemy. You know what? This is the third year of Cyrus. Two years of work, and it was wonderful, but in this third year, the entire work of God stopped. Do you understand now the context of Daniel chapter 10 here? Do you understand the spiritual warfare? Do you understand why this man is mourning, this man of God? Oh yes, there's people back in the land, but very few. Most of them are still in Babylon. Yes, the foundation is laid, but the house of God is going to stop. Do you realize that Daniel is hearing the reports of this? The work of God has stopped. He must have asked himself, why is this? Why is it when this was God's plan? There's prophecies about this. This is the will of God. I prayed through. Why is the entire work of God come to a standstill, and nothing is happening? Since I'm pulling back the cover tonight, and I'm showing you how prophecy fits into society, and into our world, and into nations, and into what's happening right at this very time. Do you realize there's a warfare going on? Do you realize something is hindering the people of God, and yet God is perfectly. Do you know that the temple is rebuilt for the 70th year of them departing from the time that the temple was destroyed? Do you realize that amidst all of the delays, all of the warfare, all of the discouragements, all of the tiredness, all of the forgetting to serve God with all of your heart, even all of that, God weaves into his plan, and amidst this spiritual warfare, he is going to be there on time. Since I'm only preparing to warm up here, now I'm going to my points here tonight. That was just to set the context of it. I've just got a few simple points here that I want to show you, and I want you to be gripped by this. You've seen what we've dealt with already, and you're gonna, in the two coming weeks, we're gonna look at the vision, but I'm showing you the spiritual warfare. I'm showing you the cost. I'm drawing back the curtain. I'm showing you things that you normally never see about your own life. You normally never see about your own prayers. You normally never see about why things are being delayed or hindered, and often you have questions, and this ought to answer certain questions that you have. Number one here, prayer is spiritual warfare. What is spiritual warfare? Prayer is spiritual warfare. In my lifetime, over the last three decades and more, there has been a flood of strange, unusual, and unbiblical teaching about spiritual warfare. I would dare say most of those that talk about spiritual warfare don't even know the basics and have no biblical concept of it. Most of them are caught up in false teachings and feelings that have nothing to do with what the Bible says, but I want you to see prayer is spiritual warfare. In verse two, it says, in those days, I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I want you to see that in this three weeks of prayer that he passed through, it was a spiritual warfare. It was like an army was against him. He couldn't see it. He didn't know it, but he could feel the opposition, and it says here he is in mourning three full weeks. He is in mourning. He is broken. He is weeping. His heart is grieved. You know, there's people in the church, if you spent three weeks mourning over the condition of the church, they'd say, just be happy. I know preachers who preach all over this world, famous ones, and they'll say, I don't want you to leave this meeting sad. I don't want you to leave here mourning. You know what? It would do us a lot of good if some people left church mourning over their sin or over the condition of our world. Daniel was three entire weeks mourning. His heart was breaking. It was heavy. He felt like weeping continually three entire weeks. Some people try to make us happy, thinking that God only wants us happy. Do you know God uses a heavy heart? Do you know God uses mourning? Do you know when you're at war, it's not a laughing time. When you're facing the powers of Satan, it's not something to be laughed at. This is a man's business. We're going to war, and I tell you saints, there's a lot of foolishness in the church, but Daniel was a real man who understood what the spiritual warfare is. It is a place of prayer. It's a place of intensity. You don't always feel like laughing, but you go, I've got to pray through and touch God. Daniel knew what spiritual warfare was. You know what? He knew how to lay a hold of God and not let go until he gets an answer. It says in verse three, I ate no pleasant bread. Neither came flesh or wine into my mouth. This was a partial fast. He didn't stop eating. Do you know he's a man of about 86 years old, and there's a lot of old hands saying I can't fast anymore. I used to do that in my 20s, but you know I'm too busy. My work's too much for me. I'm an old person now. I've got to watch my food. Here is a man, three full weeks, his heart is so affected, it affects his appetite. Do you know what? If your appetite isn't affected, your heart isn't affected spiritually. I promise you when something deeply affects you, you can't eat. It's not a choice anymore. You don't want to eat. You don't feel like eating. You lose your natural appetite. There's nothing wrong with eating pleasant bread or drinking wine, which was fruit juice here, and I don't have time to go into that, or to eat nice meat. There was nothing wrong. He's a Jew, but he's eaten meat. There was nothing wrong with eating the flesh of an animal, but notice he would touch none of these things during this three weeks. His heart is so heavy. He was on a partial fast. It was a decision. He made a decision to actually do this. You see, Daniel is a man of prayer. We find him in Daniel chapter 2, praying as a young man, just a young man, 19 years old, praying all through the night with his three young teenager friends. What a remarkable thing that from a young man, this is how he lived. Or in Daniel chapter 6, we see that it was the normal function of his life to come aside, to go into his room, open the windows towards Jerusalem, to get down on his knees and to pray three times a day. He was disciplined in prayer. Prayer was the place of God answering. So we get to see something about this man. And even last week, we didn't have time to go into that beautiful prayer of Daniel chapter 9. If you want to see how Daniel prayed, read Daniel chapter 9, verse 4 to verse 19. It is a remarkable prayer. That prayer, if you study it, will teach you how to pray. That is how you pray. Since he was a man of prayer, it's a spiritual warfare has always raged around men and women of prayer. If you're a person of prayer, if you're someone who wants to pray, if you're someone who wants the will of God, I promise you, you're in a warfare. If you want to do anything for God, if you are doing anything worthwhile for God, there is a spiritual warfare raging around you. And I promise you, the only way to win spiritual warfare is in the place of prayer. That is the only way. Daniel actually didn't even anoint himself during the three times. You know what, he lost all interest. Here he is a man in one of the most influential political positions in the land, but he's lost all interest. Three full weeks, three weeks of days, 21 days, he is in this condition. Look at verse 4, it says where he is. And in the fourth and 20th day of this month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hitticale. Now this Hitticale is the river Tigris. It's just north of the city of Babylon, about 35 miles. So it's just north. So Daniel wasn't in Jerusalem, neither was he in Babylon. He is actually by the Tigris river where he'd gone with some friends. I don't know why he is there, but he has been there all through this period of three weeks. I believe he's been there. And listen, we're told the actual date when all of this happens. We're told when he is there. Passover was the 14th day of Nisan. Here we actually have the time of the 24th day of Nisan is when Daniel came to the end of his three weeks. So we have a specific time. He's been doing this for three weeks. Do you realize he was fasting like this 10 days before Passover? Again, 10 days after Passover. What a remarkable thing that here's this man by the river Tigris and here he is praying and mourning. He's on a partial fast. Maybe he came aside for this time. Maybe he was away with some other Jewish friends. I don't know. It doesn't tell us, but I assure you there was a set time. Here he is seeking the Lord. He doesn't know when God is going to answer, but you know what? He is there in prayer. He has only taken basic nourishment. It's still a fast. He is still seeking the Lord. He is still intensely in spiritual warfare. He is a man of 86 years old. I can remember a few years ago, two old preachers sat with Candice and me laughing about fasting, making jokes, saying about Brother Clendenin still thinks and lives like that, but they used to do it in their younger days, but they didn't do it anymore. God help us when old preachers forget these disciplines, basic nourishment, nibbling at his food because it says in verse 12, he wanted to chasten himself. You know what chastening means? It means you put your body under, you discipline your body, fasting or denying yourself. I told you before I fasted tea for three months. You may say that's nothing. It's an awful lot for Malcolmson. I love my tea day in, day out. Three months, I said, I won't touch that cup of tea. Some of you could deny yourself. Some of you ought to deny yourself. Some of you don't even know what spiritual warfare is. You can't deny your bed. You can't deny food. And you wonder why you're spiritually defeated. I'll tell you why you're spiritually defeated because you don't even know the warfare you're in. The devil will trample over your family, over your marriage, over your own personal life. He kicks you at work and he hinders you in ministry. And you know what? You don't even know how to fight. You don't know how to chasten yourself or discipline yourself. That's the first thing. Prayer is the warfare. Since it's not just finding demons. It's not just rebuking some spirit. Real warfare is getting down to prayer, getting down to fasting. It is humbling yourself under the hand of God, putting yourself in a place, a spiritual place. It's not feeling happy and nice and contented. It is war. It is going to war. It is going to your knees. It is being intensive. Second of all, an angelic visitor. Notice in the midst of spiritual warfare, three weeks of intense prayer. In verse five, it says, then I lifted up my eyes and looked and behold a certain man clothed in linen. Now I want to tell you, a lot of commentators and preachers believe that this certain man was a theophany. Now you say, what's a theophany? I don't like to use words like this, but I always explain it. What is a theophany? It is in the Old Testament. How God appears in a physical form to men. It happened at certain times, uh, throughout the Old Testament. A theophany. Some believe that this certain man who appears to Daniel here is a theophany or the angel of the Lord or the Lord Jesus Christ before he was born of Mary. Now Jesus done that at certain times in the Old Testament where he revealed himself in a human form or a physical form and he spoke to men. We find it in the Old Testament. Personally, I do not believe this is one of them. And I'll tell you why. Because this certain man, this certain person mentioned here in verse 11, it says God sent him. In verse 13, he needs help from the angel Michael. And in verse 21, we're told that he is equal in stature to Michael. In other words, he's on the same level as Michael. Now I want to tell you, I don't believe this certain man is the Lord Jesus Christ revealing himself or God revealing himself. Although there's likenesses and similarities, I believe that this is an angel revealing himself to Daniel. We, we already have seen in Daniel chapter eight and verse 15, that the angel Gabriel came to Daniel and it says, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. So chapter eight, we see Gabriel coming to Daniel and he looks like a man. He looks like a man. And in the next verse, it calls him Gabriel. You see, we do see that again in Daniel chapter nine, where we looked at last week, we see the man Gabriel coming to Daniel. You see in the book of Daniel, in fact, in the entire Bible, we only have two names of angels sent from God, only two angels, Gabriel and Michael. And both of these angels are named in the book of Daniel, only in the book of Daniel. It's remarkable. In the Old Testament, Daniel is the only place where angels are actually named apart from Lucifer, who was a fallen angel. The first mention of an angel is in Daniel chapter eight. And then he appears again in Daniel chapter nine. And I believe it's the same Gabriel that could be, it could be him in chapter 10 here. It is most likely. Remember, this is a spiritual warfare. The end of three weeks of a partial fast, he's mourning for the people of God in Jerusalem. He's hearing terrible reports. He is discouraged. Why? Because they are discouraged. Saints, have you ever got discouraged and you're in prayer and you're maybe they're going, Oh God, I'm so discouraged. Do you think God ignores that? Do you think that God is going to turn you aside because you're discouraged or you're feeling downhearted, but you're praying? I assure you God cares about it. Here we have God sending an angel. And if it is Gabriel, what a remarkable thing. He comes in chapter eight, then chapter nine, and then here in chapter 10 again. But notice what it says. Behold a certain man clothed in linen. Look at the description here of this man. The angel looks like a man has an appearance of a man. He has no wings. He's not flying in the air, but he looks up and he sees the appearance of a man. Look at that. How he's described here. He's clothed in linen. Angels are clothed in linen. It's always a symbol of righteousness. It says his loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz. In other words, he had a large belt around his waist made of fine gold or pure crystal gold. So he's dressed in white. He has gold around his waist. Verse six, his body also was like the barrel. Now what is a barrel? It is a gem. It's a precious stone. And actually you can see through it. And it says his entire body is like a barrel. That's what it is literally like. His appearance is like translucent light shining through his entire body. His face is the appearance of lightning. Can you imagine when you look on the face and it's like lightning flashing in the entire complexion? Since this was an angelic visitor coming in the midst of prayer, I assure you there is always an angel where there's true spiritual warfare. You will never get on your knees and travail in prayer with a broken heart without God sending an angel. I am utterly confident about that. You may never see it. You may never feel it. You may never know it, but I'm pulling back the cover here to show you. Daniel got an insight. It wasn't always like this in prayer. Daniel didn't have this every other day. He didn't always have this experience, but here in chapter 10, the veil is drawn back and Daniel is saying that it was three weeks of intensive warfare prayer with a broken heart. Do you know what? There's more happening than you could ever imagine. This is the appearance of this great angel appearing onto him. It also said that his eyes were like lamps of fire and his arms and his feet in color to polished brass. They were burning bright and the voice of his words were like the voice of a multitude, not like one single man speaking. It was like a whole army speaking in unison. Can you imagine this angel? I'm talking about spiritual warfare. Saints, these are the sorts of angels that are involved in prayer when the saints begin to pray. We sing that song when the saints begin to pray that the battle is in array, that God answers from heaven. I assure you when the saints get down to prayer, don't tell me such angels have never been sent to us in the hour of battle over this past seven years. Don't tell me when all hell was against you and you're there laying a hold of God and you feel nothing, you see nothing, you say, why God aren't you answering? It seems like no answer is going to come. There's no change. The heavens are silent. Don't tell me that God doesn't send his angels with an answer from heaven. Do you know in our generation people believe in UFOs, ancient aliens. They don't believe in God. They don't believe in Holy Spirit. They don't believe that Jesus died on a cross 2,000 years ago. They don't believe Jesus is coming back. They don't believe in angels. They don't believe in the devil, but they do believe in aliens. That's what they do. They believe these aliens visited the ancient Sumerians and the Babylonians and the Medo-Persians and visited all the ancient cultures of Greece. That's what they believe, but they refuse to believe in angels. I want to tell you the Bible gives us the truth. It shows us what is actually happening. Angels can appear as men. In fact, you could meet an angel and think it's just a man. What we're seeing here is an angel revealed in his glory who's been in the warfare, who has been waging a warfare for three weeks. This angel standing here has been fighting for three weeks in connection with your prayer, in connection with your, do you hear me tonight, in connection with your prayer. There's an angel being delayed in the heavenlies, but he's there because of you. He is waging a war. He's fighting powers of darkness. Why? Because of your prayers, because of your prayers, saints of God. I want to stir you up tonight. You may never see an angel in your whole life. You may never have a dream or a vision. You may not have a prophecy revealed onto you, but I assure you when the saints go to war in prayer, third of all, what happens when men encounter angels? I've got to deal with this because there's so much of the faults in our generation. What happens when men encounter angels? Look at verse seven. What happens to this great man of God? And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision. For the men that were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. Notice here that these men, this was a real thing. They didn't see the vision. They didn't see the thing revealed, but they felt something. They knew something was happening. These other men with Daniel, they actually so experienced something, maybe in that room or by the bank of the river, that it says a great quaking fell upon them. This was unbelievable. You know this great quaking means they tremble. They're literally shaken in their boots. They are terrified. Remember on Sunday night Candice was sharing about George Fox and the old Quakers, and everyone jokes and say they're called the Quakers because they waited on the Holy Spirit and he would move, and they'd begin to shake and tremor, and then they'd prophesy. There may be a truth in that, but that isn't the reason. It was because George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, he so preached repentance, so preached the horrors of hell. He so preached eternal judgment. He so preached the need for repentance. He so dealt with sin that sinners used to tremble. They literally used to tremble in their boots, and they used to repent and get saved. That's why they called them the Quakers. Look at these men with Daniel. When this begins to happen, they don't see the angel. They don't see the vision. They don't know what's going on, but you know what? They're so quick that they fled and they hid themselves. I assure you, spiritual warfare is real. Don't play with it. Don't you play with spiritual things. You could actually begin to touch things and unleash things that you don't realize. I want to assure you, these men did not realize what was going on here, but look at verse 8 with Daniel. Therefore I was left alone. Sometimes in spiritual warfare, you've got to be left alone. Others may flee for their life. Some might say, what is going on here? What is happening? But I assure you, Daniel was there, left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me. Look at this when an angel appears to Daniel. He saw the angel. He saw a man. You see, in our generation, when people see angels, they begin to take photographs. They begin to laugh. They begin to talk about. They get excited. That never happened in the Bible. When a man really saw an angel, I assure you, what happened to Daniel here, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, strange things happen. You cannot have an angel like this appear to you and yet remain the same. Daniel said that he remained with no strength for my comeliness. Look at this in verse 8. My comeliness or my face was turned in me into corruption. In other words, his actual appearance of this 86-year-old man, this man of God and prayer, his skin become corrupted. In other words, he become ugly. He become very repulsive to look on. So look at him. He loses all of his strength. His physical appearance becomes horrible, and I retained no strength. He become utterly weak. It says, yet I heard the voice of the words, and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face was towards the ground. Look at Daniel here. He loses three things in the next verses. He loses his strength. He loses his speech. And then third of all, he loses his consciousness. An experience of seeing an angel isn't something to be coveted. You may say, if only I could see an angel. Go study what happened to men and women who've seen angels or had a vision of Christ. Go study it. I assure you, they tremble in their boots. Absolutely. In the following verses, three times, this angel touches Daniel. In verse 10, verse 16, verse 18. And each time the angel touches him, he receives strength. Something happens. I tell you, one angel sent from the presence of God, if he just touched you on your shoulder, immediately strength would come into you. I promise you. I promise you. It is so real. Here we see a man of God having a real experience with an angel. A real face-to-face encounter. And you know what? There's a lot of foolishness in a church. They knew nothing about spiritual warfare. They knew nothing about prayer. And they knew nothing about angels. You know all these glory clouds in churches where it's a fan gone wrong and a bit of dust blowing about the place. And they get excited, take pictures and post it on Facebook. And they're laughing and wanting selfies. That's not God. That's not God. Don't tell me that's God. That's either someone fooling them or something demonic. But don't tell me that's God. That's not God. There's nothing of the Holy Spirit in that. I'm talking about real spiritual experience. I'm talking about the unseen realm being revealed to a man of God. You know what? He is left powerless. He is left speechless. He is left without any desire of knowing what to do. And it says, and when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face. Verse 15, I set my face towards the ground and I became dumb. And behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and I speak. Have you ever had the Lord touch your lips where you couldn't preach and you couldn't speak and you couldn't evangelize? And you're there in prayer and you're saying, oh God, help me. I'm scared. And the Lord touches you and instantly you can stand and preach. I've had it. I didn't see the angel. I didn't feel the touch of his hand, but I tell you, God answered my prayer. Sometimes we don't realize what's going on. Sometimes we don't realize what is happening around us. We're in a spiritual warfare and prayer and all the time God is answering, but we normally do not see this. An angel can touch us and release our tongues or touch us and put us back on our feet. You know, we need more angels putting men back on their feet in the church than people falling down and rolling about and laughing. I can assure you, show me a man that gets on his feet and stands. It takes more Holy Goose to do that than anything. Verse 18, and there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man and strength of me. You know what he says in verse 19 to Daniel? Oh man, greatly beloved, fear not, peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. Saints, my third point here, angels and prayer, angels and prayer. And it says in verse 10, and behold, a hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved. Do you know what that means? It means one delighted in. You say God loves everyone. Yes, he does. He loves sinners. God loves the world. That's true. But look, he says, Daniel is greatly beloved. The word beloved means delighted in. One who is pleasant. One who is desirable. Not all sinners are desirable. Not all sinners are pleasant. Same in the church, not all Christians are pleasant. You ever met an unpleasant Christian? I have. I have. I assure you, but Daniel was pleasant. He was one to be desired. And this angel, look at the angel comes to answer his prayer. Man greatly beloved of the Lord, understand the words that I speak unto you and stand upright. Listen, for unto thee am I now sent. Do you realize why this angel was sent to Daniel? Do you know the answer to that? Do you know why this angel left heaven's presence? The glory of heaven came through three weeks of warfare and stands before Daniel. Do you know why? Because Daniel prayed. Because Daniel prayed. Why did God send this angel? Because Daniel set his heart to pray. He began to go into a partial fast. So God sent an angel to answer the prayer. Remarkable. I'm talking about angels and prayers. Angels are connected with our prayer life. You may never see them or feel them. You may never have this experience, but I promise you, angels have been activated, sent from heaven, commissioned to work in Limerick City or in other nations because of the prayer of this church. Don't underestimate our prayers as a church. Intensify our prayers in this day. Is there a warfare? Is this a dark hour? Let's intensify our prayers. God help us saints. God help us to seek him in this hour. Do you remember in Acts chapter 12, whenever Peter was thrown in prison, he's going to be killed like James was. Do you know what it says about the church in Acts 12 and 5? It says, therefore, the prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. What did God do? God sent an angel to his prison cell and his chains fell off and the door opened up and the angel let him out. Had to smack him to wake him up first. Some use, oh, that God would send a smack, an angel to awaken you up in the middle of the night in order to follow him out of trouble and captivity. When the church begins to pray, God sends angels to answer prayers. Isn't this a remarkable thing? What else does it say here? Listen to what the angel says to Daniel. Verse 12, for from the first day that thou did set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard and I am come forth for thy words. The first day saints, you say God isn't answering you. You say the heavens are brass. You say you don't feel anything. You say I'm getting tired and weak and weary. I'm discouraged. Three weeks of being discouraged. No answer from heaven. God isn't hearing me. How do you know? How do you know? The angel said the first day that you set yourself to pray. As soon as you set yourself to pray and began to pray, I was sent. I was sent. 21 days the prayer got delayed. How many of you have lost answered prayers or the angel got halfway down and said sure they're back there. They're filled with unbelief. They've left the place of prayer. They've given up. They've actually told God there's no answer. I'm giving up. I wonder if the Lord's called a few angels back home. Just you come back. Don't waste your time going there or fighting through for that individual. The first day that you set yourself to pray, God answers and sends angels. But you know what? There may be a delay. There may be a great warfare. There may be suffering. There may be great opposition in this. 21 days this prayer of Daniel would answer. You say he was a man of faith, a holy man, a consecrated man, a man with a reputation, a man with a history, a man who walked with God, and yet there was a delay to answer prayer for 21 days. God help me. If it was delayed for him, what about us? Church, pray on. I knew in the past year some prayers have been answered in the past year that weren't answered in the previous six years for this church. Do you understand what I'm saying? Six years we prayed and those prayers weren't answered, but they were answered. They began to be answered the past year. We could pray and pray and pray, and it seems like nothing. You don't feel anything. You don't see anything. You don't know anything. You don't understand anything. My fourth point here, angelic warfare. Angelic warfare. Look with me here. I'm talking about spiritual warfare. Prayer is the warfare. Prayer is the warfare, and when prayer comes, angels are connected with that warfare. But hear this fourth point, angelic warfare. Verse 13. You know I'm not into strange things, but I'm telling you what the Bible says. Verse 13, and it says here, but the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and 20 days. Why was prayer delayed? Why didn't it answer? Surely God just answers prayer and gives it to you instantly. Surely God, if God was listening to you, he would answer immediately. Not according to this verse in this chapter. This reveals that God has ordained certain things. Not only that men would pray. Well sure, if God gives it to me, I don't need to fast, and I don't need to pray, and I don't need to seek him for three weeks. No, God has ordained this. God works his sovereignty together with man's responsibility, but also God's sovereignty works with the angelic hosts of Satan's kingdom and God's kingdom. The angels of Lucifer and the angels of Michael. There is angelic warfare, and all of this, God says this is going to happen. Go answer his prayers, but there is still warfare in the heavenlies. Since we've got to realize this, or you'll be a victim of spiritual warfare. You'll walk off the field of prayer utterly discouraged, saying it's hopeless. I'm not made for this, because you don't understand what is going on. Do not give up. Keep praying for your family members. Now notice what this angel says. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me. He opposed me. He hindered me. He stopped me for 21 days. This great angel that we saw described here got hindered for 21 days. He couldn't get through, but listen, Michael one of the chief princes came to help me, and I remained there with the kings of Persia. There are three princes mentioned in the next verses. There's the prince of the kingdom of Persia. There is Michael the prince. He's the prince of Israel. In a short bit we see a prince of Greece or of Grecia. There are three princes mentioned here very clearly. Now who is this prince of the kingdom of Persia? Notice it again in verse 13 and verse 20. The prince of the kingdom of Persia. We know what the kingdom of Persia is. It is a country. It is a nationality. It is a kingdom. It is an empire that rose up in the earth with Cyrus the Great. He was the king of Persia. You remember he was the king of Persia. It had become a great empire. He is the king of Persia, but this is the prince of Persia. One prince of Persia. Look at verse 13 as well. It talks about the kings of Persia. The prince of Persia is different than the kings of Persia. Notice it says kings of Persia. Not one king, but many kings of Persia. There are many human kings of Persia. They come one after another for a period of 200 years. There's going to be kings of Persia for 200 years, but there's only one prince of the kingdom of Persia. Who is he? He is a fallen angel. He is an angel that stands with Lucifer as Satan. This is not Satan. This is one of the princes of darkness of the fallen world. He is a fallen angel. One of the third stars that fell was Satan. He is a rebellious angel or what we call demonic spirits. Fallen angels are demonic spirits. Don't let anyone tell you they're different. What is a demon that can inhabit someone? It is a fallen angel, a spirit, or the King James calls them all devils. They're also called principalities and powers. Notice how do I know the prince of Persia is a fallen angel? Well, he opposes an angel in the heavenlies for three weeks. A man can't do that. Only an angel can do that. He actually opposes a elect angel or a good angel. He opposes answer prayer. He is hindering Daniel. He is denying insight to the prophecy. You see, have you ever said in our world it seems like someone is behind all of this? Someone, you know, people out there, they think it's Soros or they thought it was Obama. Some of them thought it was Trump. Now many say it's Biden. Others say it's Klaus Schwab. Others say it was Kissinger in the past generation. Some even think it's Prince Charles. And they say it's these individuals that are pulling all the strings, organizing everything. Do you realize concerning nations and kingdoms and empires and what is happening in God's people on the earth in Jerusalem? Do you realize the real spiritual warfare? It is not men. It's not flesh and blood. It is powers and principalities. It is the Prince Michael. It is the Prince of Persia. It is Gabriel the angel. I assure you there is a warfare behind every Adolf Hitler. There's a demonic power behind every Mussolini. There's a power behind every Biden. There's a spiritual power. And I assure you there was a warfare going on here. Daniel is praying. He says Cyrus gave the command for Jerusalem to be rebuilt, the temple rebuilt, and now it's all come to a standstill. What's going on? Daniel, don't you realize that there's a spiritual warfare and your battle, that 21-day battle, is only reflective of a 16-year spiritual warfare that is going on in Jerusalem. You say, oh no, I thought you're saying there's only 21 days of warfare. Sometimes there's 16 years for the body of Christ to break through and prevail. The people in Jerusalem, it'll take 16 years for them to come back to a place where they begin to rebuild and they finish the work. 16 years. Do you not think there was a spiritual warfare? There they are in the city, opposed by humans, by the Samaritans, by division in their midst. They get discouraged, but they don't see there's a spiritual warfare. Daniel began to see where the warfare was, but the people in Jerusalem, it took them 16 years before two prophets came and stirred their hearts to finish the work that began. And they finished right on time in God's calendar when it was 70 years since Jerusalem had been destroyed. You see, Michael came to help this angel came through. The angel of the kingdom of Persia was hindering him. You know why it was going to affect the kingdom of Persia? And he was hindering there. There's demonic powers that we have to face. But Michael, one of the chief princes, notice what he's called, one of the chief princes, and we're going to see him before we reach the end of Daniel again. And it says, I remained there with the king of Persia. These are extraordinary things that we are reading in this. Michael helped this angel and he remained there with the kings of Persia. He remained there with the kings of Persia. Do you know what that means? He got the victory. He won a spiritual battle where this angel that was is going to prevail and going to bring forth God's will in these continuing kings. Saints, I want to exhort you. I've got so much to say, but like always, I'm half in my message. I've got an awful lot to say about spiritual warfare, but maybe we'll deal with that at another time. But it says here, let me close here tonight in verse 20. Then said he, knowest thou wherefore I am come unto thee. And now I'll return to fight with the prince of Persia. And when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Gratia shall come. Look at this warfare. This angel speaking to Daniel here, he says, we prevail. There is a spiritual warfare raging over what Persia does and what Israel does and what happens with your prayers and what happens with Bible prophecy being fulfilled in your generation. Saints, there is a warfare going on right now in this generation, the 21st generation, the 2020s, I believe is an hour of great spiritual warfare. I believe Revelation 12 is going to take place where Michael and his angels are fighting Satan, Lucifer, the devil, and his angels, and they're going to get cast out of heaven. I'm talking about a spiritual warfare that has raged for thousands of years. And I want you to know that this angel that left Daniel, he says, when I go back to fight, you see, these angels are fighting. It's real. They can't die. They can't die, but they can be hindered with answers to prayer. And he says, when I go back, and when this battle with the prince of Persia is finished, lo, the prince of Gratia shall come. The prince of Gratia is another angel that is connected to the rising empire of Greece under Alexander the Great. I want you to notice that behind every political leader are demonic forces trying to gain control. And every time God says, thus far and no further, I've got a plan. I've got to pray in church. I've got a purpose to fulfill in the earth. Do you know what he does? He restrains the devil. He sends his angels. There is a hindrance to the powers of darkness. Oh God, help us. If the prince of Persia would have had his way from Cyrus for 200 years, what would have happened? If the prince of Gratia would have been allowed to control Alexander the Great, what would have happened? But you know what? There was a spiritual warfare. And look at this angel. 200 years is nothing in this spiritual warfare. It ranges from generation onto generation onto generation. You only think about a few days or a few weeks or at most your lifetime. That's all you think about. But you know what? I believe Daniel caught a glimpse of how the plan of God goes from generation to generation, right down to the last generation. Since chapter 10 is the context, the backdrop, the unseen realm, and Daniel receiving his fourth and last vision. And we're going to teach on it in the two coming weeks. But my fifth and final point, and I'm not even going to go into it here, is answered prayer. There is a long intensive warfare. Prayers do get hindered. There are real experiences to go through. It's not easy. There could be a delay of 21 days, 16 years, or even 200 years. But I want to promise you, prayer is answered. And the angel came to Daniel. And he says, Daniel, I have come to you to make you understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days, for the vision is for many days. We are in spiritual warfare. We are maybe in the greatest spiritual warfare that has ever come to our world. When you look at the change from Trump to Biden, and suddenly America changes from being pro-Israel to turning towards the Palestinians. And all in one election, America goes from opposing Iran and opposing China to suddenly capitulating under Biden and beginning to renounce and begin to give their money again to Iran and begin to be sympathetic and come into unity with China. Don't you realize there's powers behind this? We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities and spirits of darkness, since we, the church, are wrestling in prayer. We're not immune to this. We are right at center stage of what is happening in nations, in the fall of kingdoms, and the rise of kingdoms, and the final fulfilling of Bible prophecy. We are right at the center of the stage. And don't think that you're a little pawn right on the edge of the board that's insignificant and your prayers don't matter. What I'm telling you tonight is in this vision, your prayers have everything to do with the final fulfilling of Bible prophecy and the breaking through in spiritual warfare. Will you pray with me tonight as we close? Lift your hands just where you are in your homes. Hallelujah. Oh, hallelujah. My God, my God, give us a vision tonight that we'll never forget concerning prayer and fasting, Lord God, and waiting for answers from you on what happens on your body, in your church, when it gets discouraged. Lord God, that we begin to understand where the battle is, what the battle is, how the battle functions. My God, that we continue to pray for things when we don't see, and we don't fear, feel, and we don't hear. Keep praying for our loved ones to get saved, for revival in our church and our nations, to pray for an outpouring of the Spirit, for the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Lord God, for your will to come to pass on the earth. My God, we're small, we're insignificant, and yet we're center stage. That power and principality of darkness knows where the praying church is in Ireland. The powers of darkness know what Limerick City Church is, that it is a church that preaches the word, that understands prophecy, and is praying for a move of God. Father, I pray, strengthen us. Send your minister and angels to strengthen us, that we might speak the word of God and pray until there's an answer. In Jesus' mighty name. God bless you tonight. May the word of God strengthen you in the spiritual warfare. May your eyes be open tonight as you listen to the word of God. May you have a whole different perspective of the battle, not from your perspective, but from God's perspective. In the word of God. God bless you tonight. In Jesus' name.