Daniel 10

Well, good morning.

So I was preparing for my message this week.

I was thinking about some of the appointments that I've had over the last couple of weeks.

As I've seen some of you come in and sit in my office and share with me the battles of your life.

I've heard some of you share as your heart pours out the pain, the heartache, the confusion, and the weariness.

Of your lives.

You've confessed to me that there are times you feel like you have no strength to go on.

There are times when you have wondered aloud why it has to be so hard.

And you wonder where does help come from?

Where can I look for help in the middle of my life that feels daily like a battle for life and not death?

For good and not evil?

Battles without and battles within.

And where is the help?

And how do we, where do we turn in those moments?

It's in light of that question that we're going to dive into our chapter today.

We're continuing in our series in Daniel.

The book of Daniel, you can turn there in your pew Bible.

We're going to be looking at Daniel 10, page 748.

But as you turn there, I want to say this.

I think Daniel would understand.

As we come to chapter 10, Daniel is near the end of his life.

He has been in exile for 70 years or so.

It was 70 years ago when he as a teenager was taken away from his homeland and brought into the capital city of Babylon.

And as we've read, he's seen remarkable things.

He's seen God deliver him.

He's seen kings change and come and go.

He's seen even kingdoms rise and fall as the Babylonian Empire fell and the Persian Empire rose with Cyrus.

And yet, I think he would understand.

For his life has always been as an exile and as a slave.

His life has always been hard.

And certainly, as we see in this chapter, there are days when his strength completely failed him.

It probably was even more profound for him than it might be for some of you who are younger and maybe have lived a few fewer years of life.

Because he has lived this for 70 years.

And now, he's on the brink of hopefully seeing something happen.

If you remember the history, the Babylonian Empire came to an end at 539.

Cyrus rose to power.

And Cyrus gave this decree that you can read about in 2 Chronicles 36 that allowed the people of God who were in exile to go back to their homeland.

To rebuild their city, Jerusalem, and their temple.

To worship their God.

And in this great decree, there was great hope.

Suddenly, the hardness will end.

Suddenly, the battle will end.

Suddenly, we'll have peace and a restoration.

And yet, if you've been here for the last couple of weeks, you know that what we've seen instead is that in the midst of all of that hope,

Daniel has also been reminded by visions over and over again that it actually won't be easy.

That in the short term, it will be harder.

And that the battles will be fiercer.

And that his life will be harder than he even imagined.

We see as we look into this chapter in the first verse, we see that Daniel has a vision.

But he has a vision not of peace and prosperity.

Not of the lion laying down with the lamb and a land flowing with milk and honey.

No, he has a vision.

But it is a vision of great conflict.

And he, I think, would ask the same question.

Where do I find the strength to go on?

Why does it have to be so hard?

Where does my help come from?

I think that Daniel will give us some hope in answering these questions today.

We'll see that in this section, Daniel is, in this section from chapter 10 through 12, this is the last part of the book.

It's one episode in three parts.

Greg, next week, is going to talk about the content of the vision of great conflict.

And he'll talk about the kings of the north and the south and all sorts of fun things,

which he will do great with.

So we're looking forward to that.

But what we do see is that this is the last episode.

And we see that God gives us a unique perspective into the battle that Daniel fought and that we fight in our lives as well.

How the Lord will meet him.

And how the Lord will strengthen him.

So let's look at Daniel chapter 10.

Daniel 10 · chapter mention

We're going to read it together.

And then we're going to pray and we'll continue.

In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belshazzar.

And the word was true and it was a great conflict.

And he understood the word and he had understanding of the vision.

In those days, I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks.

I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all for the full three weeks.

On the 24th day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river that is the Tigris,

I lifted up my eyes and looked.

And behold, a man clothed in linen with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz came up around his waist.

His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches,

his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze.

And the sound of his voice was like the sound of a multitude.

And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision.

For the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them

and they fled to hide themselves.

So I was left alone and saw this great vision and no strength was left in me.

My radiant appearance was fearfully changed and I retained no strength.

Then I heard the sound of his words and as I heard the sound of his words,

I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground.

And behold, a hand touched me and sent me trembling on my hands and knees.

And he said to me, oh, Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you

and stand upright for now I have been sent to you.

And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling.

Then he said to me, fear not, Daniel, for from this day that you set your heart to understand

and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard and I have come because of your words.

The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days.

But Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me for I was left there with the kings of Persia

and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days.

For the vision is for days yet to come.

When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and was mute.

And behold, one in the likeness of the children of men touched my lips.

Then I opened my mouth and I spoke.

I said to him who stood before me, oh, my Lord, by reason of this vision, pains have come upon me

and I retain no strength.

How can my Lord's servant talk with my Lord?

For now no strength remains in me and no breath is left in me.

Again, one having the appearance of a man touched me and strengthened me.

And he said, oh, man, greatly loved.

Fear not.

Peace be with you.

Be strong and of good courage.

And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened.

And I said, and said, let my Lord speak for you have strengthened me.

And then he said, do you know why I have come to you?

But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia.

And when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come.

But I tell you, but I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth.

There is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince.

And as for me in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him.

Did you get all that?

Let's pray.

Lord, thank you for this passage.

Thank you for your word that you have given to us to reveal to us you and your world and your kingdom.

Lord, help us as we seek to understand what you have to say to us this morning through this passage.

Lord, open our eyes that we might see, Lord, the unseen reality of the spiritual world.

Open our hearts that we might believe and hope in you as the one who rules over all.

And Lord, may we find in the midst of this passage strength to carry on.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

So this is not a normal story.

But I think that, in fact, it is a gift to us.

Because I think that in it, God helps us see things that we don't often get to see very clearly.

And that we often don't talk about in our modern world.

We're going to see two things in this passage this morning.

The first is that the battle that we are in is greater than we think.

And the second thing we're going to see is that the help that we have is greater than we hope.

So the battle is greater, but the hope is also greater.

So first of all, let's just think through what this passage has to tell us about the battle that we are in.

And it feels like what happens in this passage is that Daniel pulls back the curtain.

Or God meets Daniel and pulls back the curtain for Daniel.

And he's just passing it along to us.

About what is going on in the world in a very profound way.

Specifically, what he's pulling back and helping us see is that the spiritual reality in our world,

just as much as the physical reality or the material reality of our world,

both of these things are at play in our lives and in the very conflicts and the battles that we are facing every day.

Now, Daniel was not ignorant of this.

You see this in the opening couple of verses, starting in verse 2,

because he was fasting and praying.

He was already engaging in a battle for his people.

Because the return from exile had begun.

The remnant had started to go back to Jerusalem.

And they had found it hard.

And it seems to me that what Daniel was praying for is for help for his people.

It might have been a help in light of his recognition of their sin,

like the prayer in chapter 9 that Nick preached on last week.

It might have been a prayer because Daniel knew that the return to exile wasn't going to be all peaches and roses,

but it was going to be a hard road full of battle.

And so he was praying for them for that.

It might be that he was praying because though Persia had delivered God's people from the rule of the Babylonians,

they had replaced the Babylonians as a ruling power over his people.

And God's people continued to be under another rule in this physical world.

We don't know exactly why Daniel was fasting and praying,

but he was already engaging in this spiritual,

in this intersection between the spiritual and the physical realm.

But we see far more clearly in this chapter than many places in Scripture

as God meets Daniel and pulls back that curtain.

So he meets Daniel.

In the midst of this fasting, he meets Daniel first of all in a vision.

He has a vision of this man coming.

It's a vision of a strong warrior.

All of these images have to do with strength and power and judgment.

And it's a vision of a strong warrior.

And then you see further on as you keep going

that this warrior or perhaps another,

it's not completely clear whether we have one person,

two people, or maybe even three people who meet with Daniel.

But they're all heavenly beings and they all have the same function in his life.

We see in 13 and 14,

again,

that there is a vision of,

or that there is a message that comes along with this vision.

This vision is not just something in Daniel's head,

but there's suddenly someone there

and they're speaking real words to him.

They're actually physically touching him.

And these heavenly beings are recounting what's going on in the spiritual realm.

That there's a battle.

That there are these powers at war.

There's a battle between the power of those on God's side

and what he describes the princes of Persia and Greece,

or the kings of Persia and Greece.

We see this in 13 and 14 and in verse 20 and following.

We see that Michael is called your prince,

meaning that in some way he was particularly protecting Daniel and God's people.

We see that this battle is a fierce one

where even angelic beings fighting on behalf of the Almighty need help.

And so Michael helped this other person who may have been Gabriel,

if you go back to chapter 9.

That might be him, but we don't know.

But that similarly you see in 11.1

that this one who is talking to Daniel

went and helped Michael, it seems.

And that's what chapter 11 verse 1 is about.

That he stood with Michael

in the transition of power from the Babylonians to the Persians.

This is kind of heady stuff.

I'm sure you don't think about this on a daily basis.

But we shouldn't be surprised by this.

The Bible actually,

if we read it with the eyes to see it,

reminds us over and over and over and over again

that in fact this is true,

that the physical and the spiritual realities

are both at work all the time.

Think of Elisha

and his servant

when the king of Syria came

against

the king of Judah.

Elisha

when they were surrounded

and had no hope

and no army,

Elisha prayed

and said,

God, open my servant's eyes

because he was afraid.

And in 2 Kings 6

we see the story

of how God opened his eyes

and he saw

that in fact

there was a whole host

of heavenly warriors

ready to fight

for God's people

and to deliver them

from that

very physical army

on the other side.

We see the same thing

when Snakarib

brings his Assyrian army

to the very gates

of Jerusalem

ready to sack

the capital

of God's people

and take

the holy city.

And we see in 2 Chronicles 32

that Hezekiah

cries out to the Lord

and the Lord

sends an angel

and suddenly

the entire

encircling army

is gone.

They turn back

and they forsake

the battlefield

even though they had

the upper hand

and all the power

in the world.

The spiritual forces

influence

the physical

geopolitical reality

in those moments.

Jesus

reminds us of this

in the Garden of Gethsemane

when Peter

pulls out his sword

to defend him

against the ones

who had come

to arrest him.

And Jesus

looks at him

and says

don't you know

I have legions

of angels

I could snap

my fingers

and they would be

here to deliver us

but that's not

the way

that we're going

to play this out

because that's not

what God is doing

right now.

But don't you know

I could be delivered

in an instant.

We see it in the letters

over and over again

maybe one of the most

profound ones

is in 1 Peter 5

1 Peter 5:8

verse 8.

Peter is writing

to a group of Christians

who are being persecuted

within the context

of the Roman Empire.

Their persecution

is real

it is physical

it is political

and it is harsh.

Describes it

as a fiery trial.

And yet

Peter reminds them

that they have

an adversary

the devil

who prowls around

like a roaring lion

seeking to devour.

And so we see

throughout scripture

that this picture

that is being

unveiled for us

in the book of Daniel

Daniel 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10

that this is actually

an ongoing reality.

Let me

take a side note

for just a minute.

There are some

who have taken

this picture

of the intersection

between spiritual

and political

or physical powers

and made it

a very specific

ministry strategy

and a very specific plan.

They have called it

spiritual mapping

and identifying

territorial powers.

and friends

I'll tell you

that I think

that there's not

enough evidence

in this chapter

or in other parts

of scripture

to justify it

with the kind

of specificity

that it is presented

by some.

There are some

who think

the only way

that renewal

revival

or the kingdom

of God

will ever come

is if we engage

with specific knowledge

about the specific

spiritual powers

that are oppressing

specific places

to set them free

and that's the only way

that we are going

to do it.

They identify this

with the rulers

the authorities

and the cosmic powers

of this present darkness

in Ephesians 6

and say

we need to identify them

and overcome them

by prayer.

Friends,

let me say this.

There may be

some truth in it.

I have lived

in places

where it seems

that there are

particular spiritual battles

that people fight

over and over

and over again.

New people

who come in

old people

who have lived there

for a long time

they fight the same

spiritual battles.

So I don't want

to discount it

as being completely

wacky or crazy

because I don't think

that it is

at one level

and yet I also think

that we must not see

that this is the strategy

the missing strategy

that's going to bring

in God's kingdom.

If it were

God could have been

far clearer

in his word

to help us know

how to fight

this battle.

It may be helpful

for us to pray

about the spiritual

influences

and dynamics

of the place

that we live

or the people

that we're praying for

but do you see

that even when

in a place

like this

where God

was almost

as clear

as he could be

about that

possibility

he didn't give

a prescription

Daniel therefore

you need to fight

the battle

against Persia

by praying

in these particular

ways against

this demon.

That's actually

not what the passage

says.

The passage says

there is a battle

in the spiritual realm.

It is real.

you engage

with it

by prayer

but you're

not the one

actually ultimately

fighting that battle

are you?

It is not up

to you

or to me

to bring in

the kingdom

by how we do

this

because ultimately

the witness

of scripture

is that it's

God who triumphs

over those powers

and principalities.

In Colossians 2

and in 1 Peter 3

it is explicit

that it is Christ

and through his death

and resurrection

and his exaltation

that he is now

seated at the right

hand of God

and he has disarmed

those rulers

and powers

and principalities.

It is he

who has done it

not us.

That's my little

excursus on that.

Let's go back

to the passage.

Think about

how about you?

How about you?

Have you ever seen

or experienced

a time

where God's

pulled back

the curtain

and you've seen

some kind of

divine intervention

that doesn't seem

to have any

physical reason

or rationale?

I was thinking

about

back in 1987

I was a new

Christian.

I was on a

missions trip

to India.

We had flown

in

to

Delhi

and

had a

tight

series

of

connections

to be able

to get

to the

place

that we

were going

in the

middle

of the

country

and

arrived

and the

plane

was

gone.

Cancelled.

And if you've

ever been in

these situations

you realize

that you

have no

ability to

engage with

that

helpfully.

You are

outside of

your language

you are

outside of

your culture

you have

it's 11

o'clock

at night

you're bleary

from a

14 hour

plane ride

and you're

thinking

what in

the world

and how

do I

do this?

So our

team sat

down and we

prayed

God help

us.

And then our

leader went

and got in

some line

that he

thought might

be the right

line to get

some sort of

information about

how possibly to

find a rebooked

flight somewhere

at some point

and thinking about

all the dominoes

that needed to

be reshuffled

because of it.

And behind

him a man

named George

came up.

And George

became our

guide through

that process.

He was a

local, he

was a

Christian, but

we wonder if

he was also an

angel.

Again, I

don't know.

I have no

idea.

But it sure

felt like God

came to our

aid in a

very supernatural

way, in a

way that we

could have no

control over and

has no reason

to expect except

that God

intervened into

our lives.

How about

you?

Do you

believe that your

reality includes

unseen spiritual

forces at work?

Do you think

there's a

connection between

what goes on in

your material

physical world

every day and

the spiritual

life?

C.S.

Lewis, in

the opening of

his great book,

The Screwtape

Letters, says

this,

there are two

equal and

opposite errors

into which our

race can fall

about the

devils.

One is to

disbelieve in

their existence.

The other is to

believe and to

feel an excessive

and unhealthy

interest in them.

They themselves

are equally

pleased by both

errors and

hail a

materialist or

a magician

with the same

delight.

Some of us

may fall into

the danger of

seeing a demon

behind every

parking ticket

and be constantly

casting out demons

from your broken

down jalopy,

your difficult

workplace

relationships,

or your

disobedient child.

my guess is,

here at

Trinity,

more of us

would fall

on the other

side.

Though we would

never deny it in

our formal

theology, we

practically live as

if the only

reality in our

world is the

material and the

natural one,

the measurable

and the visible

one.

And just to make

sure we balance

this right,

we know that

there are three

enemies of our

soul in the

world, right?

The world, the

flesh, and the

devil.

The world, meaning

the world in

rebellion, the

patterns of the

cultures and

societies that we

live in and the

way that they lead

us away from

faith and trust in

God.

The flesh, the

sinful nature that

when we are apart

from Christ, we are

enslaved to and have

no power over, and

even when we are in

Christ, how it

continues to cling

and to seek to

exert its influence

in our lives away

from godliness and

worship and love and

trusting faith and

persevering faith, and

instead exerting

itself in selfishness,

in self-dependence,

in disbelief.

So we have the

world and the

flesh, but we also

have the devil.

that there are

spiritual forces that

are seeking to trip

us up, that are

seeking to push our

buttons, that are

seeking to influence

us away from godly

living and from a

knowledge of Christ.

What we're being

encouraged to today is

to see how real that

is.

Now look, we can't

blame our sin on the

devil, and we

can't excuse the sin

in our world by

saying, well, that's

what the devil does.

We are meant to

fight those battles

and to be responsible

for our own lives, and

yet, we must recognize

that there is this

spiritual battle that

is real, and there

are spiritual forces that

seek to influence us.

Let me try to unpack

this a little more for

you so you can think

about it.

In your workplace, you

have a boss who's

taken a dislike to you,

and despite every

effort to work hard,

every effort to

understand his

expectations and to

fulfill them, every

initiative to address

unknown offenses, you've

done every human thing

you can to repair this

relationship.

Have you ever

considered that there

may be a spiritual force

at work seeking to

poison your workplace

and your relationship?

How about your last

fight with your spouse?

Yes, you were both

tired and stressed, of

course.

Yes, it was the

hundredth time you've

talked about that thing,

a hundredth time you

failed to address it

well.

And even though you

both wanted to be

different, you find

yourselves acting in

ways that you hate.

And even in the

moment where you know

you want to turn and be

gracious towards one

another, you end up

attacking.

Has it ever occurred to

you that there's a

spiritual influence in

that interaction that you

need to be aware of,

that you need to know

about?

Parents, children,

you've tried to be

patient with one

another and to be

gracious.

You've tried to

respect boundaries,

to follow through on

discipline as parents.

You've tried to trust

and obey as a child.

You've tried to build

closeness and yet it

feels like there's this

impenetrable distance.

Some might call it

teenagerdom, but others

would see it as a real

problem, a real distance

and distrust, even anger

or hatred.

You don't understand where

it's coming from.

You go through the list.

Is it new friends at

school?

Is it puberty?

Is it that we were bad

parents?

You wrestle through all of

these things.

Maybe can you acknowledge

that there's a spiritual

aspect to that as well?

That there's a battle.

That there are those who,

that there are spiritual

forces that are

whispering lies,

that are pushing

ungodly agendas,

that are fueling

ungodly emotions

in all of these things.

Friends,

let us recognize that

even today in our

political climate,

in the midst of

real disagreement,

and in the midst of

real issues that need

to be addressed well,

can we not see

that violence

and hatred

and fear

are the very things

that the enemy of our

soul

take gleeful joy in?

That these things,

that there may be

spiritual forces at work

driving

our country,

yes,

even our church,

away from the kind

of godly living

as compassionate

and righteous human

beings in this world.

That we may be tempted

to fall into attitudes

and actions

that compromise

the very gospel

of grace

that God has called us

to believe

and to proclaim.

Let us not be unaware,

brothers and sisters,

let us not be unaware

of these things.

Daniel 10

wants to remind us

that the battle

is fierce

and the battle

is real

and it's not

just physical

and social

and sociopolitical

and geopolitical

but it is spiritual

as well.

but the good news is

this passage tells us

not only is that true,

not only are we

to see our lives

through this lens

of this integrated

vision of reality

where spiritual

and physical

are not separate

but are actually

overlapping

and intertwined

but we see

that the help

and the hope

that we have

is greater as well

because of that.

Because look at

what happens

to Daniel

in the midst

of this passage

where he is

clearly weary,

worn out.

How many times

as I read through

does he say

my strength failed me

when he fell down

into a deep sleep

because he was

so overwhelmed,

when he turned

his face to the ground

and was mute,

all of these things.

What did God do?

God sent him.

God sent him

his messengers.

His people,

his,

these spiritual beings

to come

and what did they do

over and over again?

They reminded Daniel

that he was not alone.

They reminded Daniel

that there were others

fighting for him.

They reminded Daniel

that in God

and with God's people

there can be strength

strength given,

strength found

for us to stand

and to not fall,

to continue to

in our,

in our battle

to find that there

is a help

and a hope for us

that is good.

Just run back

through the passage

with me.

Look at verse 10.

As he has fallen,

prostrate,

because of this vision,

the angel touches him

and gets him

to his hands and knees.

Isn't it encouraging

that it doesn't all

happen at once?

Because that's how

we feel, right?

We get touched

when we feel

God's presence

helping us.

We sometimes think,

well,

why can't it just be easy

and have it be overcome?

But instead,

Daniel gives us

a very realistic picture.

No,

that help was simply

to get up off the ground

onto his hands and knees,

trembling.

And then verse 11,

the touch came first,

then the words,

stand and be strong.

And these words

strengthened him,

so he stood up,

yet still trembling.

And that trembling

may have just been,

it's consistent

throughout scripture

that whenever we encounter

heavenly beings,

we fall on our faces

and we're afraid.

It's the only thing

that angels seem to say,

don't be afraid.

afraid.

And he has to say it

all the time

because of course,

every time we see one,

we're afraid.

But having said,

don't be afraid.

He touches him

to remind them,

you are not alone.

And then the words

that he speaks,

look in verse 11.

Oh man of God,

you are greatly loved.

Isn't this an interesting thing?

He didn't come

and exhort him,

Daniel,

buck up.

Pull up your bootstraps.

You can do this.

What does he say?

He says,

you are dearly loved.

Have you ever thought

about that?

That the greatest power

that we have

in the battle,

in these spiritual battles,

is to know

that there is a loving God

who is fighting for us

and who is with us.

That he has set

his love on us.

What an incredible thing.

Not only

does God remind him

that he is deeply loved,

but he's also,

in verse 12,

he says,

you've not been ignored.

Your prayers

have been heard.

Your cries for help

have been heard.

Isn't that encouraging

when we feel

in the midst

of those times

when we just think,

God,

how can we ever

keep going?

where I don't have

the strength

to keep going,

to know

that God hears

our cries.

And in verse 19,

he expands the words

even more.

Fear not.

Peace be with you.

And here he does say it.

Be strong

and of good courage.

And he goes on

to explain why.

Not,

I'm going to give you

the victory.

Not,

these troubles

are going to go away.

not,

why you're so afraid.

If you weren't so afraid,

this wouldn't be

such a problem.

But he goes on

to say,

be strong

and of good courage

because I

have been fighting

for you

and I will continue

to be fighting

for you.

What a remarkable thing

that God sends

this kind of help.

Heavenly beings

to come

to meet with Daniel,

to touch him,

to speak words

to him

so that he may be helped

in his time of trouble.

How encouraging

it might be for us

similarly

if we remember

how God

has sent

the greatest

spiritual being

to us

who says things like,

behold,

I am with you

to the ends

of the age.

Who says to us,

I will never

leave you

or forsake you.

Whose servants

write reminding us

that there is nothing

that can separate us

from the love

of God

in Jesus Christ

for his people.

The one who said

to his disciples

even while he walked

the earth,

I have said

these things to you

that you might have peace.

In this world

you will have

tribulation.

but take heart.

I have overcome

the world.

Friends,

this is the good news

of the gospel

for us

in the midst

of the spiritual battle

that we fight.

And this is

a remarkable thing

because at the end

of the day

it's not our battle.

Oh,

we are to engage in it.

We see in Ephesians

that we are to engage

in it

but how do we engage

in it?

We are to take hold

of all that God

has done for us

in Christ.

Putting on the armor

is simply to believe

and entrust in

the grace of God,

the truth of God,

the righteousness of God

that is expressed

most fully

in Christ.

For friends,

we know

that it is Christ

who ultimately

has won the victory.

When he came,

when he left heaven

and came to earth,

it was God's greatest

divine messenger,

God's greatest

divine being

because it was

his very self

coming and taking

on human form

and invading

this world

and as he went

to the cross,

the greatest battle

that has ever been

fought

in the spiritual realms

and in our world

was fought

and Jesus

defeated

sin and death

by,

not by conquering

and raising

an army

to sweep over

the powers

of the enemy,

but by offering

up his very

own life.

He achieved

victory

by loving

self-sacrifice

and having

risen from

the dead,

he defeated

sin

and death

and indeed

the power

of the devil

himself.

And friends,

we know,

we know this,

right?

This battle

is not over.

You know

the analogy,

we are between

in the spiritual realms,

in the sweep

of human history,

we are between

D-Day

when the decisive

battle has been won

and V-E-Day

when the victory

is complete.

We know that we live

in this in-between time

of the now

and the not yet.

Jesus has disarmed

those powers

and rulers

and authorities

and yet they are

still at war

with us

in this world

and we are called

to stand firm

in the midst

of them.

And so we live

as exiles

and yes,

as warriors,

but not the warriors

the way we so often

think.

We are warriors

who fight a battle

by following

in the footsteps

of the one

who has already

won the victory,

by being steadfast

in endurance,

by persevering

in faith,

by continuing

to love

our enemies

and to pray

for them,

to bless

and not curse.

We fight

this battle

in prayer,

calling upon God

that his kingdom

would come

and his will

would be done

on earth

as it is

in heaven.

But at the end

of the day,

we fight this battle

most clearly

by trusting

in him

who has won

the battle

and who will

one day return

and he will come

and if you want

to read Revelation

12 through 14,

you can see

all the echoes

of the imagery

of Daniel in it

where we see

that these

spiritual forces

will one day

be overcome.

Where the warrior,

the great warrior,

Jesus,

will come

and like one

riding on a horse,

he will overthrow

the enemies forever

and he will restore

this land

by making it

a new heavens

and a new earth

and suddenly

the physical

and the spiritual

that feel so separate

to us sometimes

right now

will be brought together

and God's dwelling

will be with his people

and there will be peace

and that is our hope.

That is the hope

of the gospel

in the midst

of this spiritual battle

that we face.

So friends,

as you go home today

and you have a spat

with your spouse

on the way home

or you fight

with your friend,

you go home

and realize

that you've got

a really difficult

workplace

to go back to tomorrow,

you interact

with someone

who disagreed

with you

about the outcome

of the election,

whatever it is,

friends,

be aware

of the spiritual battle

and look to Christ

who has won it

for you.

Let's pray.

Oh Lord,

we need you.

We need you

to be our champion

and our warrior.

Lord,

to fight for us

when we have no strength.

Lord,

to come and remind us

of your presence

and of your love.

Lord,

and that you are the one

who will fight for us.

Lord,

that you,

we need to be reminded,

Lord,

that you will never let go

your people.

And Lord,

though this world

with devils filled

should threaten

to undo us,

Lord,

may we be those

who do not fear

because we know

that you,

God,

have won the victory

already

and that our lives

are in your hands

and that one day

we will rise

with you victorious

forever.

Help us,

Lord.

Help us,

Lord,

each day

to see

and to trust

in Jesus.

And Lord,

to fight

the good fight

of faith,

Lord,

under him.

And we pray this

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.