The one who wrote the words to that hymn we've
just sung, John Newton, was a man who knew the
meaning of grace in his life. If you don't understand
what that means, I invite you to be here three
weeks from tonight when we will do the life story
of John Newton as a part of our evening service.
This is an original drama written by Patty Thompson
in our church. Our own choir and other musicians
will be participating in an evening of the life
and the music of John Newton. I hope you'll plan
to be here on the evening of May the 20th. I
want to be cautious in what I say today because
the subject that is before us is wildly exaggerated
by some while frequently ridiculed by others.
Today I want to talk about the reality of the
invisible spiritual dimension. I invite you to
open your Bible with me to Daniel chapter 10.
It is important for us to read the text today.
I invite you to follow along in your Bible as
I read, beginning with verse 1 of Daniel 10.
In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a
message was revealed to Daniel. who was named
Belteshazzar. And the message was true and one
of great conflict, but he understood the message
and had an understanding of the vision. In those
days I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire
weeks. I did not eat any tasty food, nor did
meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any
ointment at all until the entire three weeks
were completed. On the twenty -fourth day of
the first month, while I was by the bank of the
great river that is the Tigris, I lifted my eyes
and looked, and behold, there was a certain man
dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with
a belt of pure gold of euphus. His body also
was like barrel. His face had the appearance
of lightning. His eyes were like flaming torches.
his arms and feet like the gleam of polished
bronze and the sound of his words like the sound
of a tumult. Now I, Daniel, alone saw the vision,
while the men who were with me did not see the
vision. Nevertheless, a great dread fell on them
and they ran away to hide themselves. So I was
left alone and saw this great vision. Yet no
strength was left in me, for my natural color
turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no
strength. But I heard the sound of his words,
and as soon as I heard the sound of his words,
I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my
face to the ground. Then, behold, a hand touched
me, and set me trembling on my hands and knees.
And he said to me, O Daniel, man of high esteem,
understand the words that I am about to tell
you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent
to you. When he had spoken this word to me, I
stood up trembling. Then he said to me, Do not
be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that
you set your heart on understanding this, and
on humbling yourself before your God, your words
were heard, and I have come in response to your
words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia
was withstanding me for twenty -one days. And
behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came
to help me, for I had been left there. with the
kings of Persia. Now I have come to give you
an understanding of what will happen to your
people in the latter days, for the vision pertains
to the days yet future. And when he had spoken
to me according to these words, I turned my face
toward the ground and became speechless, and
behold, one who resembled a human being was touching
my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke, and
said to him who was standing before me, O my
Lord, as a result of the vision, anguish has
come upon me, and I have retained no strength.
For how can such a servant of my Lord talk with
such as my Lord? As for me that remains just
now, no strength in me, nor has any breath been
left in me. Then this one with human appearance
touched me again and strengthened me, and he
said, O man of high esteem, do not be afraid.
Peace be with you. Take courage and be courageous."
As soon as he spoke to me, I received strength
and said, May my Lord speak, for you have strengthened
me. Then he said, Do you understand why I came
to you? But I shall now return to fight against
the Prince of Persia. So I am going forth, and
behold, the Prince of Greece is about to come.
However, I will tell you what is inscribed in
the writing of truth. Yet there is no one who
stands firmly with me against these forces except
Michael, your prince. And in the first year of
Darius the Meat, I arose to be an encouragement
and a protection for him." We human beings live
and operate in a material dimension. Our senses
are designed by the Creator to relate to a physical
environment and reality. But we live in a world
within a world, in a material world surrounded
by a spiritual one, one of which most people,
in our culture at least, are uninformed. This
is not necessarily true of lesser developed cultures,
nor has it always been true of our own culture.
But the further our culture has strayed from
the knowledge of God, the more ignorant it has
become of spiritual matters, so blind and unknowing,
in fact, that for several decades Western culture
has sought its sustenance not from God, but from
the empty dry wells of secularism and humanism.
Yet one cannot help but note a rapid change which
is in progress in our culture. There is on many
fronts, a new openness to things spiritual. There
is a movement away from the rational and the
scientific to the mysterious and the supernatural.
Indeed, I would suggest that there has been a
new packaging of the occult, the occult, to make
it palatable to the seared taste buds of the
Western culture. There is a new movement in our
land toward a new age. And the new age is, actually,
an experimentation with occult powers and practices.
I say it's been repackaged, for it has been packaged
for children in cartoons, games, and toys that
are available widely. It has also been packaged
for adults in seminars, in movies, and in group
games like Dungeons and Dragons. I'm not talking
about overt Satanism. That's another matter.
But I'm talking about a clever marketing plan
of the occult, which has been put together by
the devious and wicked mind of Satan. Daniel
chapter 10 pulls back the curtain to allow us
a glimpse into the spiritual realm. In this chapter
we observe the reality of things spiritual and
invisible. Notice with me first the background
very briefly. Daniel is living now under the
rule of the Persians. The year is about 536 B
.C. It is, he says, the third year of Cyrus the
king of Persia. Now what this means is that Daniel
had not returned to Palestine with other Jews
who had been released from their captivity to
return to Jerusalem. He had prayed for that return,
and we studied his prayer in the ninth chapter
of this book. But it was not God's will for Daniel
himself to go back to Jerusalem. Was Daniel disappointed
by this? Was he disappointed that he didn't get
to personally participate in the return to his
homeland that he had not seen since he was a
teenager? And remember, now he's in his mid -80s.
Well, we don't really know whether he was disappointed.
There may have been some human factors involved.
He had a very high position in government. and
may not have been free to return because of those
responsibilities to the king. In addition, he
was a man of advanced age and may not have been
able to travel that distance. At this particular
time, which was the 24th day of the first month,
he says, he was away from the capital city of
Babylon, perhaps as many as 30 or 40 miles, which
is the closest point, to the River Tigris. Now
he was there in that place, apparently, on some
kind of a spiritual retreat. And he tells us
that for three weeks he had repented before God
and had fasted and mourned. What was on Daniel's
mind? Well, we can only guess. But because of
some of the language that he uses in chapter
7 and again in chapter 9, It seems likely that
Daniel was still perplexed by some of the things
that have been revealed to him in the last couple
of years by God. He could not put together all
the pieces regarding the future of his people,
the Jewish people. And so for this period of
time he ate none of the fine, delicate foods
that were available to him, nor did he have the
ordinary food of wine and meat. He did not as
was the custom, anoint himself with oil every
day, which was a practice in part to prevent
burn from the sun. But rather he gave himself
to a very austere life as he fasted for these
three weeks. And that brings us to the event
that took place. It says in verse 1 that Daniel
received a message, which is a way to say that
he received a revelation from God. He calls it
true, despite the fact that it was hard for him
to grasp. He says it was of great conflict. Literally,
the word conflict means army, or host, or the
warfare that comes from an army. And so what
this phrase suggests is that this message, this
true message that God gave to Daniel involved
a future for his people that included a great
deal of warfare and conflict. It seems that this
revelation that was given to him and which takes
up chapters 11 and 12, the rest of the book,
is the key revelation in the whole book. For
here we find that piece that fits into the puzzle
that seems to put it in place for Daniel as much
as he was going to get it all together. Daniel
was yet searching for that missing piece that
would help him have understanding of the earlier
visions that left him puzzled. And now God gives
it to him. There's a lesson here for you and
me. There are times when we do not understand
what God is doing or what the word of God means.
What we ought to do in cases like that is to
give ourselves to intense prayer and study For
in God's time he will cause the pieces to fall
into place The message was delivered to Daniel
by a supernatural being Now this is not unique
in the Bible Abraham Moses Gideon the Virgin
Mary Joseph Paul, John, they all had supernatural
messages given to them. So this is not unique
what happened to Daniel, but it certainly was
not the norm either. His eyes beheld a person
who in appearance looked like a man. He was visible
to the eyes of Daniel and his words were audible
to Daniel's ears. But though he had the appearance
of a man, it's obvious that he is more than a
man. In the sixth verse, he is described as having
a body that had a golden cast to it. It was of
barrel, a golden color. And as Daniel looked
at his face, his face had the brilliance of lightning
about it. And he was attracted by his eyes, which
are said to have been like flaming torches. Now
try to put all that together in your own mind.
A man with a bronze -colored, golden -colored
body, dressed in linen with a gold belt, a pure
gold belt, but his face was of the brilliance
of a flash of lightning, and his eyes were like
leaping flames in that face. So this is more
than a mere human. Because of the description,
some say it may have been Christ. There is a
similarity of the description here to what he
looks like in Revelation chapter 1 when he appears
to John in the Isle of Patmos. I don't believe
that though, that it was Christ. For one reason,
this angel received help from Michael, and it's
difficult to imagine our Lord needing assistance
from an angel. What we have here, I believe,
is an angelic creature who is made visible to
Daniel. Notice that he is unseen. by the other
bystanders. Daniel was with others at this point.
And yet the very presence of this being produced
terror in them, so much so that they ran away.
And Daniel was left there alone. And notice his
response to this event. He is left with fear.
Several times the angel said, now don't be afraid,
be courageous. Easy for him to say. Daniel's
left with weakness. He fainted. He is unable
to speak. He is speechless. He experiences physical
anguish, a word that means literally to twist
or to writhe. It refers to his insides, which
were completely twisted because of the emotional
distress of the event that was taking place,
and he was completely without breath, according
to verse 17. Graciously, this angel touched Daniel
three different times. The first time was to
raise him up, at least up onto his hands and
knees. He had fainted right on his face. And
then the angel touched him again to give him
the ability to speak. And thirdly, the angel
touched him to give him strength so that he might
be able to communicate and receive what the angel
came to tell him. Having looked at the background
and the event itself, let's take a look at some
of the insight that we grasp in the tenth chapter
of Daniel. There's a tremendous amount of insight
here regarding prayer. I invite you to be back
tonight as we talk about this theme, what happens
when a believer prays. We're going to observe
what happens in Daniel chapter 10 with regards
to prayer. There's a whole other line of insight
here regarding angelic warfare, and that I want
us to look at for a few minutes. It is clear
from what is said that there are opposing forces
within the spirit realm. These forces are divided
between good and evil. It is also clear that
each side is organized. There are degrees of
authority and strength in order to do battle
against the opposing side. You will notice that
the words Prince or Chief Prince are used, verse
13, and again in verse 20, verse 21. These are
positions of authority that are granted to specific
creatures or angels. Now these words are used
both of the side of evil and of the side of good.
For Michael is called here one of the chief princes.
But the word prince is also used of demons. as
he talks about the Prince of Persia and the Prince
of Greece. You see, these are not human beings
that are being spoken about, but these are angels,
fallen angels. On the one side we have this angel
that has appeared to Daniel and which is not
named, although some suggest it might be Gabriel,
since he's been involved other places in the
Scriptures making announcements. And along with
this angel is one who's named Michael. The name
Michael means who is like the Lord, or who is
like God. He is mentioned three times in the
book of Daniel, twice in this chapter, again
in chapter 12. He is mentioned in Jude, verse
9, where it is said that he battled with Satan
over the body of Moses, rather mysterious text,
but after Moses died there was a struggle for
the possession of his corpse. And that battle
was in the spirit realm between Satan, who desired
it for some reason, and Michael. And then we're
going to look at a passage in Revelation chapter
12 where again Michael is mentioned specifically.
He is said to be the chief prince and he is the
one who is the prince of Daniel's people. And
so we understand from this that Michael, the
archangel, or the chief prince, is the one who
is the preeminent one in the spirit realm for
the protection of Israel, the Jewish people.
Now what we see illustrated here in this glimpse
into the spirit realm is nothing more than what
Paul says in outline form, in Ephesians chapter
6 verse 12, where he says, we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities and
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against wicked spirits in the heavenly
realm, that is, in the spirit realm. He seems
to outline there something of a hierarchy of
evil. that there are extremely powerful beings,
there are lesser beings and lesser and lesser,
and of course the further down the ranks should
go, probably the more numerous these evil beings
become. And so what Daniel illustrates for us
and what he records is the fact that there are
two opposing sides in the spirit realm, and that
these realms are indeed highly organized. And
we would also observe that assignments seem to
be given to these angels on both sides as it
would relate to empires or to powers or to regions.
We've already pointed out Persia being mentioned,
Greece is mentioned, and so angels of good and
of God and angels of Satan and evil are likewise
assigned to try to influence the course of events
in regions or in empires of the world. They are
assigned to try to influence things toward the
will of God, God's purpose, or to try to influence
things toward Satan's goal. You say, does he
have one? Yes. Again, in Ephesians chapter 2
and verse 2, Paul writes about the course of
this age. According to which we all at one time
walked, strong suggestion that Satan has a course
outline where he'd like to take the age, human
history. And we know exactly where that is. It's
to the worship of himself in the person of Antichrist.
That's where he wants to head things in human
history. The course is chartered and his demons
are organized in the world to try to influence
events to bring that to pass. Now we also learn
here that angels can assist each other. I've
already said to you that Michael is the one who
seems to be assigned to Israel. Notice in verse
13 that the angel speaking to Daniel says, the
prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding
me. So here we have this evil prince, this demon,
who is in some sense opposing Daniel, opposing
the angel talking to Daniel. And notice how long
he had opposed. It's the same period of time
that Daniel had prayed. From the very first day
that Daniel had asked of God, the answer was
sent. But the answer didn't come through immediately
because there was a hindrance to that answer.
The prince of the kingdom of Persia did not want
this angel from God to come through to Daniel.
Why? Because Daniel was going to be given information
relating to the Jewish people. And above all
the peoples of the world, the demons hate the
Jews. And at this particular time, of course,
the nation of Israel was in the spotlight of
God's purpose and plan in the world. And he did
not want any information coming through to encourage
the Jewish people or to encourage Daniel or to
give any light as to their future. And so for
21 days he successfully withstood this angel
sent from God. But the angel says, then behold
Michael. one of the chief princes came to help
me. And so Michael who was responsible for the
Jews came to assist this angel so that he might
be able to get through the resistance and get
to Daniel and bring the message to him. And then
the language suggests here that that angel Michael
left and the messenger to Daniel then was left
alone. They had defeated the prince of Persia,
at least for this moment, and that angel had
gotten through, that he might speak to Daniel.
Now in chapter 11, verse 1, we have another example
of help. The angel refers to something that had
happened two or three years before. He says,
in the first year of Darius the Mede, I arose
to be an encouragement and a protection for him,
for Michael. So you see, there seems to have
been a mutual assistance pact, if you please.
Now it's interesting to think back what had happened
two or three years before this. And what was
Michael trying to do? What was he trying to influence
to happen? Remember, he is responsible for the
Jewish people. And two or three years before
this, Darius and his superior, Cyrus, We're trying
to decide what to do with the Jews, whether to
allow them to return to their land. That's what
was going on in the political, physical, natural
realm. But behind the scenes, in the supernatural
realm, there was also a battle going on because
Michael was trying to exert influence spiritually
on Darius and Cyrus to cause him to let the Jews
go. And the implication is that demons on the
other side, the Prince of Persia and his associates,
were seeking to influence Cyrus and Darius to
make the other decision, keep them in captivity.
And this angel, who was now talking to Daniel
at that time, had come to assist Michael in his
warfare. And they were successful, of course,
because Cyrus and Darius agreed that the Jews
could go back to Palestine. And so we see that
demons, as well as angels, are assigned to powers
and to leaders, and that they are able to assist
one another in the warfare that takes place.
Now as we think about what was happening then
with the Jewish people, one can only imagine
what was taking place 42 years ago. when the
Jews declared Palestine as their homeland and
declared an independent state in the midst of
all of the Arab countries. You can only imagine
the warfare that must have been going on behind
the scenes in the White House and Washington.
As arguments were presented to President Truman,
to recognize Israel or not to recognize Israel.
And history records that his decision to recognize
Israel as an independent state was the crucial
decision that caused Israel to become a reality
in the Mideast. I would suggest to you, there's
no way of knowing this, but I would suggest to
you that Michael the Archangel was likely in
Washington in May of 1948. and that he was there
to exert influence on President Truman to make
the decision that he did. And who knows who else
was assigned there with him on both sides. God's
purpose, of course, was ultimately done. Now
this angel had gotten through this time, but
notice in verse 20 he says, I shall now return
to fight against the Prince of Persia. And so
the war is not over. They had gotten a victory.
He had come through. His message was now going
to be delivered to Daniel, but he says, I'm going
back to fight. I'm going back to fight once more
against this Prince of Persia because the battle
is still being fought. And he says, at the end
of the verse, I am going forth and behold the
Prince of Greece is about to come. That's an
interesting thought. Because Greece was not a
world power at this point. But he says the Prince
of Greece, again a demon, who was responsible
for the nurturing of the Greek Empire and bringing
forth its influence and Alexander the Great and
all of that, that prince was about to come. Now
in human time, it was yet to be 200 years. But
we're not sure how human time, earth time, relates
to the spirit realm. Because the angel says in
the spirit realm that that being was about to
come. Although as the earth calendar was calculated
it was yet to be 200 years. And so we have a
great deal of information given to us in this
chapter regarding the reality of invisible things.
And here we see some insights regarding spiritual
warfare, a subject that we need to be aware of
and alert to. Now there are also some tremendous
insights given to us in the angels' message regarding
the future, the end times. That's in chapters
11 and 12, and we will get to that eventually.
I might say to you that I would encourage you
to read those two chapters in advance, perhaps
even several times, because they are a little
bit complex. In closing today, I want to give
you two or three thoughts. In the first place,
a world of activity is continuously taking place
in the invisible realm around us. And what happens
in that invisible realm affects human history.
There is a great cosmic battle of good against
evil. And what happens, the successes or the
defeats in that realm affect what happens in
your life and in mine. Although Satan may make
temporary gains and at times even achieve some
alarming victories, we know that he cannot ultimately
succeed for Christ Jesus must and will reign.
God omnipotent reigns. But within the boundaries
that God has established in his universe, there
is a battle that goes on continuously between
good and evil. So when we read the decisions
of President Gorbachev, to loosen his hold on
Eastern Europe, or on the other hand to crack
down on Lithuania. We know that those are not
merely decisions he's making in his own mind,
but he is being influenced by what's happening
behind the scenes in the invisible world. When
the Supreme Court of the United States makes
A decision as it did in 1973 in the Roe v. Wade
decision is not merely seven somewhat brilliant
men making a decision, but pressure is being
exerted upon them one way or the other by the
forces of good and evil. In that case, the evil
side won. And when our legislature or our Congress
or our President are considering this law or
that, Once again, the powers on both sides assigned
to our nation and to our leaders are in warfare
over those decisions, seeking to exert influence
either toward what God purposes or what Satan
has charted out for his course. We must be aware
of what is happening around us in that realm.
Now we cannot know of course the specifics of
that. but we can realize that there is that reality.
The second observation that I want to make, and
I want to press this point home briefly but firmly,
and that is that all anti -Semitism is demonic
in its origin. All anti -Semitism is demonic
in its origin. That is not to say that every
person who is anti -Semitic, is demon possessed.
But that spirit is demonic in its origin and
it comes directly from Satan who hates the Jew
above every race of people in the world. And
so for one to hate the Jew is to align himself
with Satan in his age -old hatred of that people.
Anti -Semitism will be present in the world as
long as Satan is free. It will not be destroyed
until the return of Jesus Christ. And those of
us who are God's people in the church need to
be aware of what anti -Semitism is all about
and when it raises its ugly head, we need to
step up. and join forces on the earthly realm
with Michael in the spiritual realm and defend
the Jewish people. Now having said that, I want
to emphasize that not everything that the nation
of Israel does is therefore justified. I'm not
saying that we ought to be pro -Zionist. Zionism
is a political movement. But I'm saying we ought
to be concerned about the welfare of the Jewish
people. For they are God's people, God's earthly
people, and God still has a purpose for them.
I want to close by just talking briefly about
how we as Christians relate to what we've talked
about this morning. For you and I must understand
that we are at a critical point in the battle
that's taking place and raging around God's kingdom.
Spiritual warfare is behind the advances or the
defeats that are made in God's kingdom. We must
realize that we are a part of the total battle.
I would suggest three things with regard to the
invisible realm of the spirits. to those of us
who are Christians. Number one, be cautious.
Be cautious when it comes to investigating this
realm too much. It can become dangerous. Do not
play with the occult at all. Do not experiment.
with the powers of darkness. They are very real.
A group of our young people in a church that
I was a youth pastor in, in the state of Washington,
were having a slumber party. I guess those are
called sleepovers these days. And one of the
girls brought an Ouija board. to the party. They
thought it would be fun to play with this thing.
And as they began to play with it, it began to
give them answers that no one could have known.
And they got a little scared of it. And so, one
of the girls began to speak to the Ouija board
about the blood of Jesus Christ. And when the
blood of Christ was mentioned, the marker on
the Ouija board flew off the board and hit the
wall. Some games may seem to be innocent, but
they are not so. And of course, the great open
door to the world of the occult today is drug
abuse. Be cautious when it comes to the realm
of the invisible. But on the other hand, be cognizant.
In events that take place around us, be alert
to the struggle behind the scene. When you read
your newspaper and the events that take place,
the decisions that are made, the legislation
that is passed, look beyond that to see if you
might be able to grasp any of this cosmic conflict
taking place. We can't always know the meaning
or what's taking place there. but we know that
it's happening. Be cognizant of that. And number
three, be courageous. As a good soldier and warrior
of Jesus Christ, learn to use your spiritual
weapons, especially prayer, when it comes to
this battle. Understand that God has given you
an armor that is described in Ephesians chapter
6, and that He has given you a resource in prayer.
Understand that God desires for you and for me
to learn how to pray so that we can assist in
the battles in the spirit realm. Now as I said,
there's some extremism in this area these days.
But I think there's only extremism because there
is some legitimacy there. that by our prayers
we impact the spirit realm. Paul Bilheimer has
written a book called Destined for the Throne.
Let me just read a couple of sentences from his
book. He says, the prayer closet is the arena
which produces the overcomer. The world is the
laboratory in which those destined for the throne,
best believers, are learning in actual practice
how to overcome Satan and his hierarchy. This
means that redeemed humanity outranks all other
orders of created beings in the universe. The
Church, through her resurrection and ascension
with Christ, is already legally on the throne.
Through his use of her weapons of prayer and
faith, she holds in this present throbbing moment
the balance of power in world affairs. Have you
ever thought about that? By your prayers, you
can affect the balance of power in the affairs
of human history. So be courageous and learn
how to pray. And there are books available to
you regarding that. Let the Spirit of God teach
you. Just go to the book, the Bible, and learn
to pray. I read recently about one Minneapolis
church where I think that there is some extremism
when it comes to this matter. Where every problem
and every disease and every situation is attributed
to a demon. Now I would not agree with that kind
of extremism. And I think that kind of teaching
is a problem. But I'll tell you what the bigger
problem is. The bigger problem are the Christians
who are naive about spiritual realities. And
that's why this morning I wanted to take time
to talk about the reality of invisible things.
That we might not be naive, but informed and
learn how to be effective for Jesus Christ. Let's
pray. Father, I pray that what has been said
this morning might be graciously used of the
Holy Spirit. I pray that you would equip us,
each of us, who names the name of Christ, to
be a spiritual warrior. Thank you for the victory
that you have already provided in your son, the
Lord Jesus. May we stand on that ground of victory
and learn to wage the good fight of faith. In
Jesus' name, amen.