[0:00] Let us turn now to the chapter we read in the book of Daniel, chapter 10, and we'll take as our connecting link, verse 18.
[0:18] Daniel 10, 18, Then there came again and touched me, one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me.
[0:30] When Babylon was overtaken and captured by Persia, Cyrus, the Persian king, issued a decree.
[1:00] Allowing the Jews, who had a wish to do so, to return to Jerusalem. That was after the 70 years of their captivity in Babylon.
[1:17] As we know from the book of Ezra, a small band of Jews returned to their homeland and began the task of rebuilding the altar, the temple, and the city walls.
[1:33] Daniel was not amongst the band who returned. It was his decision to stay on in Babylon, now Persia, by this time Persia, and as you know, now Iran.
[1:54] And to stay on in that land. And probably realizing that he was too old to return to Jerusalem.
[2:11] He was by now at least 90 years of age. But also recognizing that he had work to do in the name of the Lord in that land.
[2:29] And part of that work was to receive further revelations from God concerning the unfolding history of the world, the rise and the fall of empires, and the sufferings of his own people, the Jews, in the course of that unfolding history.
[2:57] And indeed the last three chapters of this book are taken up with the revelation, with these revelations of the history of the world to come.
[3:14] Right up to the Messianic age and even beyond it. And in some instances to the second coming of Christ himself.
[3:25] This chapter is a sort of prologue to the revelation which is brought before us in its entirety in chapter 11.
[3:39] And the last chapter, chapter 12, can be considered therefore as an epilogue. He himself tells, and this will be the first point that I want to deal with tonight, he tells us the time and the circumstances on which he received this full and, as far as we know, final revelation from God concerning the unfolding history.
[4:09] It embraces an account of the rise and the fall of the Babylonian Empire and the rise of the Persian Empire.
[4:20] An account of its fall and the rise of the Grecian Empire. An account of its fall and the rise of the Roman Empire. And right throughout history, there is revealed in a most wonderful way to Daniel, God's purpose for his own people within that history.
[4:43] Suffering though they were to endure, yet he was to have a glorious purpose. And he has a glorious purpose for his people.
[4:54] Now the time in which he received the revelation was for him a time of humiliation, a time of mourning, a time of prayer.
[5:09] We are not told why he was like this for three weeks. A special time set apart by himself for this purpose.
[5:21] It may have been because of the knowledge that he had, as we saw last week, of his own and of the nation's sinfulness. It may have been because he heard that since the Jews had returned to Jerusalem, at a very early stage, and this chapter is going to deal with that later on, at a very early stage of the rebuilding program, they were opposed by enemies of their cause and of their country, the Samaritans.
[5:55] And that opposition found its way ultimately into the Persian court itself. It may have been because of that, or it may have been because, as an old man, not able to return to Jerusalem, his thoughts were winging their way often to that city and to that country.
[6:18] And perhaps he was disappointed that he hadn't been able to return himself. Well, whatever the reason was, for three weeks, he was in a, this deep spiritual frame of mind, seeking the Lord, calling upon his name, with that deep, deep sense of his own unfitness and unworthiness before God.
[6:49] Now, you and I know, as we read the Bible, that men like Daniel had a profound faith in God and a deep sense of their need of God.
[7:06] And that awareness of the greatness of God and of their own need found expression often in prayer. Whatever else you can say of these Old Testament sins, I think that you would agree that they were profoundly men of prayer.
[7:30] They prayed, as someone has put it, they prayed as though everything depended on their prayer. There were times when that prayer was accompanied with severe self-discipline in their own lives because they believed that the application of that discipline helped them in their prayer life.
[8:00] And interestingly enough, this chapter tells us in verse 12, then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel, from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before God, thy words were heard and I am come for thy words.
[8:22] That in itself tells us that Daniel was assured by this divine and heavenly messenger that from the moment he began this spiritual exercise, the heart of God was moved towards him with a special measure of favour and he is referred to on two occasions in this chapter as a man who was greatly beloved.
[8:52] That is, the mercy and the favour of God rested upon this man in a most wonderful way. Now, I know that there are people who do not subscribe to the view that there are men and women yes, and boys and girls who are especially close to the Lord in prayer.
[9:27] I think we live in a day when the term a spiritual man has been largely reduced to mean that the person that that person has the Holy Spirit indwelling him.
[9:46] Now, of course, that is true. You cannot be a Christian without the Spirit of Christ. That is what the writer to the Corinthians tells us, Paul writing the Corinthians.
[9:58] A Christian, whatever else he is, a person who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. But surely, it doesn't take too much to prove from the Word of God that there were some people indwelt by the Spirit who had a particular relationship with God, who were prepared to sacrifice much in the interests of fellowship and communion with the Lord on high.
[10:32] And I think you would also agree, those of you who have any knowledge of the spiritual state of the Church of God at the moment, I think that you would all agree, surely, that this is something which we all need.
[10:50] That it would, and to put it, no stronger than this, it is something that would do us no harm if we got closer to the Lord and became more spiritually minded than we are.
[11:12] And Daniel is here told by this heavenly messenger that as a result of his own self-denial, as a result of his own spiritual frame of mind, God was coming near with this spiritual privilege to him.
[11:40] Would you not agree tonight as you look at your own spiritual life that it would be a source of great amazement to you if you were to think that God was obligated to come to you with any special spiritual privilege when you consider perhaps how low the state of your spiritual condition may be?
[12:11] Well, the first point that Daniel that book that this chapter makes is that on this occasion he was at a particularly heightened spiritual frame of mind.
[12:25] And again, and I reiterate this in another way, as you scan the history of the Church of God in the Bible and since, you will discover that there are times in the life of the Christian Church when a spiritual life ebbs and flows, rises and falls.
[12:53] It's up to you, because no one knows your heart or your life better than yourself to determine tonight at which level your spiritual life may be at.
[13:07] God. The second point that the chapter makes to us is this, and it makes very strongly, is that at this time Daniel received this wonderful vision.
[13:20] Now, of course, there's a lot of conjecture amongst commentators as to who exactly Daniel saw at this time.
[13:31] There is evidence, and strong evidence from the chapter, that he certainly saw an angel. He may even have seen one of the higher-ranking angels.
[13:47] He may have seen two angels, or, and this is the view that I subscribe to myself, he saw the Son of God in an identifiable form, together with at least one angel.
[14:07] I see no reason why we shouldn't subscribe to the view that this was a pre-incarnate appearance of the Son of God. And by that I mean for those who are not particularly acquainted with biblical terminology, the incarnation was that point in the history of this world when God became man.
[14:34] That happened only 2,000 years ago, when the Lord Jesus Christ was born into our nature, when he was conceived within the womb of the virgin, and born into the world.
[14:45] That's the incarnation. incarnation, a pre-incarnate appearance was the times in the history of the world up until the incarnation, when the Lord was pleased to reveal himself in an identifiable form to his people from time to time.
[15:09] And I take it that this was one of these pre-incarnate, one of those pre-incarnate appearances to Daniel, when he saw the Lord.
[15:21] And for those of you who know the Bible, you will be struck as you read the description we have from his own lips of who he saw. I saw a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold and mufas.
[15:35] His body also was 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 polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
[15:49] If you know your Bible, you will be struck with the resemblance between that person and the person whom John saw in Patmos, recorded for us in Revelation chapter 1 verse 13, I saw one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to his foot, girt about the paps with a golden girdle, his head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow, his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like into fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters.
[16:33] There is very little difference in two descriptions, the vision, the man seen by Daniel, and the person seen by John in Patmos.
[16:48] The person who we saw had, as he tells us here, a shining appearance. The visible parts of his body were like bronzed, tarshish stone.
[17:01] His face was brilliantly radiant, like lightning, his eyes burning like fire. It was a particularly heavenly appearance that he saw this day, and his voice was like a roaring waterfall.
[17:26] And he was clothed very similar to the clothing worn by the priest in Israel, and round his middle was a golden belt.
[17:41] And this heavenly person had, as it tells us here, the appearance of a man. And I take it that the vision that Daniel was given was that of the Son of God.
[18:00] But for our particular interest, the third point that the chapter brings before us is the effect that the vision had upon Daniel and those who were with him.
[18:12] It happened at the banks of the river Hittikel. Israel. Now, it was the practice of the Jews in the captivity, as we know from the book of Ezekiel, and also at times in the New Testament, as we know from the book of Acts, it was the practice for devout Jews to gather at places like the riverbank for purposes of worship that they might call upon the name of the Lord.
[18:45] And Daniel, as we see and as we've discovered, was in this particular spiritual frame of mind at the time, but he wasn't alone.
[18:57] There were other people with him, there were men with him at least. And what he tells us here is this, very interesting, the same happened when Saul of Tarsus was converted.
[19:10] The people who were with him heard the voice but didn't see the vision. They didn't see the heavenly visitor.
[19:24] And the effect of the presence of this heavenly visitor in their midst, the effect it produced on them was that of fear.
[19:37] They fled from the presence of the Lord. Now we know those who are present, we hear from those who were present at times of revival.
[19:52] That is a period in the history of a community when a lot of people are converted by the power of God. We are told that people who are in revivals, that they were profoundly affected by what was going on.
[20:13] But they weren't converted. it. converted.
[20:45] And as far as I know to this day is not converted. Now these men felt the presence of God there.
[20:58] But they fled from that presence. And you know that as I said it is possible for you sitting in a church or in a community at a particular time to feel the presence of God.
[21:16] And yet not to be moved by that presence to seek the Lord. You can be moved to flee away from the Lord.
[21:28] You can be moved by a sense of your own sinfulness in the presence of this presence, this divine presence. you can be moved to flee, not realizing that you need the person who is there.
[21:46] And I wouldn't be surprised if over the years in this church itself there are people here in advanced old age tonight who can look back to times when they felt something in this building or in some other building, the presence of Almighty God.
[22:06] and yet moved away from it themselves. Well, Daniel says, these men fell quaking, a great fear fell upon them and they fled to hide themselves.
[22:20] They didn't see what I saw, but they felt what I saw. And it's very solemn that a person can feel the divine presence and not be moved to seek that presence themselves.
[22:40] But Daniel, for him, the effect was very different. He was left alone and the strength departed from him.
[22:52] he fell prostrate on the ground. His color changed as he saw this person.
[23:06] Now, the interesting here is this, that this wasn't the first vision Daniel had had. It wasn't the first experience he had ever had of the divine presence.
[23:18] presence, but he never had an experience of the divine presence that affected him like this. Do you know there's a difference, and the Bible makes this clear?
[23:31] There is a difference between having a sense of the presence of God and coming face to face with the revelation of God himself.
[23:44] Do you remember how Isaiah felt? Do you remember how Saul of Tarshish felt? Do you remember how Elijah felt?
[23:55] Do you remember how Abraham felt? As all these persons, people came face to face with the Lord of glory, it had a humbling and shattering effect upon them physically and emotionally.
[24:14] They were, Abraham was filled with fear. Isaiah was filled with a sense of the awfulness of his heart and of his lips, how sinful a man he was.
[24:29] John felt like a man, like a dead man at Patmos. Saul of Tarshish was blinded, and Daniel felt dreadful weakness and he was all alone.
[24:48] Oh, how little you and I know of the divine presence. How little we appreciate that there is a distance between the creator and the creature.
[25:02] The angels we read in Isaiah, the angels in glory itself, the seraphim, in the presence of the glory of God, veil their faces, cover their feet, with a sense of their own unworthiness and they're holy.
[25:21] How much more so should you and I be affected when we are unholy creatures, all the distance between us and God and how loosely we tend to speak of the Almighty.
[25:37] How often we bring him down to our own level. He is no more than one of us. The power who stands beside us, my friend, he never ever changed in his nature.
[25:55] He is holy, he is majestic, he is full of splendor, full of beauty, full of righteousness and you and I aren't fit, aren't worthy to take his name even upon our lips.
[26:14] And we speak so loosely of the things of God. And the more I think about the revelation God has given of himself and his word.
[26:34] And the more I study the effect that that revelation had upon men and women in biblical times, the more convinced I am becoming that many of us perhaps should begin to ask if we have ever had, in the grace of God, a face to face confrontation with the Lord of glory.
[27:06] I am positive of this and I stand to be corrected but I hope I will be corrected on biblical grounds and not on the views that some people entertain in the hope that they can condone their own unspirituality.
[27:25] I'm convinced of this and I'm not saying in any way that I am more spiritual than anyone else. God forbid. but what I say is this, that the more surely on biblical evidence we come face to face with the glory of almighty God, the more it reminds us of our sinful unworthiness and unfitness and the more that distances us from the sin that we seek to condone and that we seek to lay hold on at any cost.
[28:11] And I challenge you as I challenge myself tonight as a believer in Christ in the light of the word of God the more you come to know Christ doesn't that teach you the more you ought to hate and distance yourself from sin.
[28:36] If I am not correct may God forgive me. Daniel, Daniel felt his strength being drained away.
[28:55] He fell to the ground. Yet this consciousness of his own weakness. Oh, my friend said earlier how little we realize first of all, how little we know of the presence of God, how little we can endure of that presence, what damage sin has done in our lives.
[29:17] And the only day on which you will be able to stand face to face with the Lord of glory and not collapse will be that day when sin is taken away and you are presented perfect and faultless before his throne with exceeding joy.
[29:38] The fourth thing you have in this chapter is the account you have he gives us of his own recovery. Behold, he says, a hand touched me. Verse 16, behold, one like the similarity of the sons of men touched my lips.
[29:55] Verse 18, then there came again and touched me, one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me. And as you read the chapter, this is the picture you get, Daniel recovered to strength in stages.
[30:12] He was prostrate on his hands, on his face, on the ground. Then he was able to go on all force, as he puts it, with the palms of his hand on the ground.
[30:25] He was still unable to speak until the hand touched him and strengthened him to speak. Then he was strengthened to stand up. You see, it was a gradual recovery of his strength.
[30:40] He was raised on his feet, tottering, and he was encouraged not to fear. Thou greatly beloved.
[30:51] Thou art the object of God's favor and God's mercy. And my friend, the basis of our confidence before God is God's relationship to us.
[31:04] If we are beloved, it is because his favor rests upon us. no person, no man, woman, boy or girl, deserves to be beloved.
[31:18] Unless his hand rests upon you in his grace, you will never know the spiritual favor and blessing and love of God in your life.
[31:31] And this is what we need tonight, that his hand would touch us, that we might be strengthened to speak to him, to call upon his name, to seek his face.
[31:44] And Daniel gives the impression here that when the hand touched him, he was strengthened to speak. That was true in prayer.
[31:57] We cannot even think one good thought. Oh, we can string words together, I know. And in many respects, those of us who pray in public ought to be thankful that we're unable to put words and sentences together for two or three minutes in prayer.
[32:15] But those of you who know, who pray, you know that you need more than that. You need the hand of God upon you, so that you can call from the heart to the Lord.
[32:27] Perhaps you're aware of that tonight in your own weakness, and that's a good sign of your spiritual condition. If you've been brought to realise how weak you are, how unable you are, to call upon his name unless he strengthens you.
[32:45] Well, his hands strengthened him and his voice comforted him. And notice here two things I want to speak about just very briefly. It was the same person who weakened him, who also strengthened him, the same person.
[33:07] And this is very significant, and the Bible very often sheds light for us on this. It happened at Pentecost when Peter preached that day when thousands were converted.
[33:20] He preached the gospel, and as these thousands heard the gospel, they were torn in their heart. They were troubled, they were distressed. They were made to feel their own weakness, their own inability, their own sinfulness.
[33:36] The word made them feel like that. But later on, in the course of the sermon, it was the same word that encouraged them to call upon the name of the Lord.
[33:50] And don't you be discouraged tonight. If the Bible and the preaching of the gospel perhaps discourages you, perhaps distresses you, perhaps even air takes your strength away, you're looking for encouragement, you come to this church week after week looking for comfort, looking for help, looking for strength.
[34:18] You come and every time you go, you seem to feel washed. Perhaps some of you would love to be on the side of the Lord, cast your lot in with God's people, and you look for something in the gospel, and you come and what do you get?
[34:36] Perhaps every hope you had is taken away, and instead of becoming stronger, you're becoming weaker.
[34:47] My friend, don't let the devil tempt you to think that because you feel like that, it isn't the Lord that is working your life at all. Do you remember the words we sang here tonight?
[34:58] What did this man of God say in Psalm 102? My strength he weakened in the way, my days of life he shot.
[35:09] And I was a Christian going on in this life, and how was he feeling? In his own estimation he was getting weaker. Maybe that's the way you feel tonight.
[35:21] But listen to this, it is the God, who uses means to make you feel like that, who will use the same means to strengthen you. Your only hope is in the gospel.
[35:34] You dare not turn away from the gospel. I told you the story already of a minister who was preaching this island years ago, and he preached a particularly searching sermon.
[35:46] There was a woman listening to him, she didn't like what she was hearing, and she got up and she strode out to the church, slammed the door behind her, and he knew fine that she was registering a protest at what he was preaching.
[36:00] And he turned to his congregation, he said, my friends, he says, don't turn your back on the gospel, because if you do, there is nowhere else to go, nowhere else to go.
[36:14] this God, this passion, this divine being, this splendid character, who filled him with so much fear, was the same passion who filled him with courage and strength, took away his sense of inability and desperation and weakness, and enabled him to cry, strengthened him to speak and to pray, to ask and to wait.
[36:44] the presence that weakens also strengthens. One of the glorious promises of the Old Testament is this, he gives power to the faint, and to those who have no mind, he increases strength.
[37:03] And how well qualified is this person to do that? Because after all, this son of God in the history of this world was at one stage in his own life particularly crying for strength, in the garden of Gethsemane, prostrate on the ground, an angel came and strengthened him.
[37:32] And what you and I forget is this, and this is the glory of the gospel, that the Lord Jesus Christ in our nature enthroned in glory tonight has a human heart, has lived a human life in this world, knows what it is to be weakened, knows what it is to be discouraged, knows what it is to be tempted, knows what it is to be assailed by the devil, knows what it is to be in trouble and distress and sorrow, he knows all these things, and he is well qualified to lay his hand upon you.
[38:21] You know that when you're in a particular time of stress and trial, it's wonderful to have someone beside you who can understand what you're going through.
[38:35] It's a great privilege to have someone who can understand your experience. And this is what makes very often, for example, the pastoral ministry so difficult, that you come across situations in life, and much as you would like to sympathize, and much as you try to sympathize, you realize that these people are in a situation that you haven't been in yourself.
[39:13] But you see, my friend, you can't see that of Christ. Or you may say to me tonight, ah, but do you realize the situation I'm in? Maybe I don't, but I'll tell you one thing, he does, he does.
[39:30] You remember the words that were penned by another? In every pang that rends the heart, the man of sorrows had a part.
[39:41] With boldness therefore at the throne, let us make our sorrows known. Of course, the one thing that he knew nothing of that you and I are often so well acquainted with is the pangs of a guilty conscience.
[40:01] But apart from that, in your difficulties, as you contend for the faith, as you wrestle with the faith, as you seek to persevere in the faith, as you come face to face with the loneliness, and I'm not talking of the loneliness that people other than Christians know just does well as the Christian.
[40:31] I'm speaking of the loneliness that comes into the experience of our person because he's a Christian. The loneliness because there is no one else at home but yourself who's a Christian.
[40:47] The loneliness because there is no one else at work or in school or in your class who's a Christian but yourself. The loneliness because there is no one else in the community or in the vicinity.
[41:03] The loneliness that you may be tempted to think that no one else ever had but yourself. My friend, let me remind you of this. There was one in this world who had a loneliness that none of us will ever know.
[41:20] And because of that, he can lay his hand upon you when gathering storms or gathering clouds at one, when gathering clouds around I view, and days are dark and friends are few, on whom I lean, who not in vain experienced every human pain.
[41:45] He sees my wants, allays my fears, and counts and treasures up my fears. in all your decisions, in all the denials that you experience, in all the treachery that may be your lot, in all the abandonings to which you may be exposed, as I said earlier, in all your temptations, as in all your triumphs and your joys and your discouragements, there is one enthroned who can lay his hand upon your heart and say to you, fear not, be strong.
[42:32] And this was the, that was the line that the writer to the Hebrews took with these persecuted Christians. He reminded them of the uniqueness of a great high priest, who he says, has a fellow feeling with us in our infirmities, because he was tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
[42:55] Well, this person who weakened him also encouraged him. And I know that this is the way it works in the experience of all who come to the Lord themselves.
[43:10] The path towards a commitment to Christ may be a thorny and a difficult one. As I said earlier, his hand may be upon you tonight, crushing you, crushing you down, looking for relief, where there is none.
[43:30] But my friend, unless that same hand strengthen you, unless that same hand encourage you, unless that same hand make you strong, vain is the help that man can afford, but he is far more willing and ready to help you than anybody else is, you put your trust in him and you put your hand in his.
[43:54] But I want to close with this final word that the chapter gives us, the insight this chapter gives us, and a very interesting and wonderful one it is, into the sympathy that exists between heaven and the church on earth, as both heaven and the church contend with the evil that is abroad in the world.
[44:19] This is what the heavenly visitor said to Daniel, the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for twenty-one days, but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes came to heaven, that is one of the angels, and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
[44:39] And then chapter 20, then said he, knowest thou whether I am come unto thee? Now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia, and when I have gone forth, lo, the prince of Greece shall come.
[44:52] But I will show thee that which is known in the scripture of truth, and there is none that helpeth with me in these things, but Michael, your prince. What's he saying to Daniel?
[45:03] Well, far be it for me to try to interpret these words to you in all their glorious fullness. But I think one thing he's saying is this. I think the reference to the prince of Persia, the prince of Greece, is the principle of evil.
[45:19] That operates in the kingdoms, in the empires of this world. And operating in a way that you and I very often do not recognize.
[45:38] Do you not think that the principle of evil is at work tonight in the various governments of this world? Of course it is.
[45:50] Do you not think that the principle of evil is at work in the media? Of course it is. Why is it, for example, that the voice of reformed evangelicalism in this so-called Christian country is muzzled and is hardly ever heard on the media?
[46:14] Why? because the principle of evil, the powers of darkness are operating, using men and women to muzzle the voice.
[46:28] Do you think the governments of this world are in the sight of Christ? Of course they are not. Hidden away, walking insidiously, and as I said, using men without your knowledge and mine, is the prince of this world, Satan.
[46:47] Satan is at work, and he's at work to thwart God's purpose for this world, and to thwart God's purpose for his church in this world.
[47:00] Satan is at work against you, my friend. You are a Christian. Satan is operating against you. We are told that there are groups, meetings throughout this land, praying to Satan, that churches will be destroyed, that the witness of ministers and elders and men and women, boys and girls will be destroyed.
[47:25] We are told these things and we believe them. Of course we believe them. Oh, how little you and I know what force are at work against us tonight. If we did, we would tremble.
[47:37] You who are unconverted, do you not think the devil is working against you? Of course he is. The Bible makes it clear that the prince of this world, the devil, is blind in your eyes, blind in your understanding, keeping you in his control.
[47:53] He won't allow the gospel to shine into your heart. There are times in this church and other churches, he won't allow you to listen. He will get your mind working along some avenues, your work, or your recreation, or your plans, anything, except the gospel.
[48:10] He won't allow you to listen. That's how he operates. And then when the devil does succeed, and he does, from time to time in the history of the church, when he does destroy a life or a witness, that is fodder for those who hate Christ and who hate his cause.
[48:37] That is why the Bible reminds you and me, those of us who are Christians, let him that standeth or let him that thinketh he standeth take heed, lest he fall.
[48:51] Darkness operating in this world, in the governments of this world, in many rooms in this world tonight, at conferences and meetings, in homes, schools.
[49:06] Oh yes. And the more successful the powers of darkness become, the bolder they become.
[49:22] But this is what I want to say. Do you see what the heavenly visitor said to Daniel? Daniel, he said, the prince of Persia withstood me for 21 days.
[49:35] Now, of course, the difficulty here is this, that there is no time as you and I know it in the realms of eternity. But I think that what he said to Daniel is this, that for a period, the powers of darkness were operating in the Persian court, and so they were.
[49:53] word was sent from Jerusalem that the Jews were rebuilding the temple. At first, the Persians didn't believe this, that they were rebuilding the temple, but rebuilding it for the purpose of attacking Persia one day.
[50:10] Persia didn't believe that at the beginning, but then you see, people worked, and they made the king of Persia believe that the report was true. And so a decree was sent out, stop the work of rebuilding.
[50:23] Who was behind that? The devil using the Samaritans. But this is what he says to Daniel. Daniel, he says, Michael the angel is helping me, and also the inferences wrote large into this, Daniel, I'm on your side, just as you are on my side.
[50:49] Heaven is in sympathy tonight with the Christian soul beleaguered by the power of darkness, praying for deliverance for himself or herself, deliverance for others, deliverance for the nation, deliverance for the world, from the power of evil.
[51:11] Heaven is on the side of the praying soul, and that praying soul is assured of victory. and as you leave this church tonight, may I ask you on whose side are you?
[51:30] Do you have the assurance tonight that you're in league with heaven, in league with Christ and his angels, as he takes on the powers of darkness?
[51:44] He has taken them on already and defeated them. They are chained, they have so much scope to manoeuvre, but they are defeated. There's a conflict going on. On whose side are you, my friend?
[51:58] Are you with them? Or are you still in darkness? And you remember this, that for those who are on the side of Christ, greater is he that is in them than they that are against us.
[52:14] As surely as he overcame and triumphed once for you, so surely you, that love his name, shall triumph in him too.
[52:29] Oh, my friend, may I encourage you to come to him. I know you're weak, we all are. I know you're sinful, we all are.
[52:40] I know you're unworthy, we all are. But you come to Christ, you begin with him. That's where strength comes, and that's where strength begins, and that's where strength continues.
[52:55] And you will never have strength until you come to Christ and cast your all on him. Remember, after all, what that aged warrior Paul said, facing death, to his young successor Timothy, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
[53:21] Let us pray. O Lord, our God, be with us we pray thee, and grant thy light in our darkness, and thy strength in our weakness, to the glory of thy name, and for the good of our souls, for thy name's sake.
[53:48] Amen. Amen. Amen.