When Worlds Collide

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We are loved by God in a way that we're unlike we're loved by anybody in anything else.

It's like a mighty flood that it overwhelms us.

Help us to see this morning in your word, not just that we're loved by God, but let us see the God who loves us.

That's what makes the love of God overwhelmingly fascinating when we see the nature of the God that loves us.

Then it takes on a whole new dimension and it rescues us from all the less wild lovers that we allow into our lives.

Holy Spirit, illuminate the scripture today so that we can have a right understanding for the necessary living.

This is our prayer, God.

We pray it in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

You can have a seat.

If you got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to Daniel chapter 10.

Daniel 10 · chapter mention

Daniel chapter 10.

Daniel 10 · chapter mention

We've been preaching through the book of Daniel.

We took a break for Holy Week, uh, and we'll get back in Daniel, and we're in the last section of Daniel, chapters 10, 11, and 12.

Daniel 10 · chapter mention

Really, uh, over the course of the book of Daniel, God gives Daniel three major visions.

It's kind of like the preview before the movie.

God says, hey, here's what's coming going to happen.

And Daniel, by this point, he's pushing 80.

He has a reputation as a man that hears from God.

He's faithful, he's consistent.

Uh, God's people trust him.

And the people that do not believe in God trust him.

Pagans trust him.

And so he is still connected to what God is doing.

And so when we pick it back up in chapter 10, I want to talk to you this morning about when worlds collide.

When worlds collide.

And you say, what do you mean?

The physical and the spiritual.

A lot of people think that the spiritual is up in heaven and life here on earth is just physical.

But what the Bible is going to show us today is that these two are connected, always have been and always will be, okay?

So I'm going to start reading Daniel chapter 10, verse 1.

Daniel 10:1

Uh, in the third year of King Sire of Cyrus, King of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Beltashazzar, and the word was true, and it was a great conflict.

And he understood the word and 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 for the full three weeks.

On the twenty-fourth 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 around his waist.

His body was like barrel, his face was like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like gleaming like flaming torches, and his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze.

And the sound of his words were 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 I saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me.

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

And 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 set 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 the first 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 twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me.

For I was left there with the kings of Persia.

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

For the vision is for the 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 man touched my lips and opened my mouth, and I spoke and spoke, and I said to him who stood before me, O my Lord, by reason of the vision, pains have come upon me, and I retain no strength.

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

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

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

And he said, O 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 said, Let my Lord speak, for you have strengthened me.

Then he said, Do you know why I have come to you?

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

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

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

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

Now, this is the third of the three visions that kind of make up the book of Daniel, where God reveals.

Now, by the way, in another book of the Old Testament, 2 Samuel, God says this it says, The eyes of the Lord run to and fro about the whole earth, searching for someone's heart that is fully his, so that God can fully support that person.

If there's anything that explains the life of Daniel and the book of Daniel, it's that one uh reality from the heart of God.

He says, I, hey, I my eyes are scanning the whole earth, looking for someone whose heart is fully mine, because then God says, I'm gonna work in and through that person in ways unlike anything you've ever seen.

And this is what we see in the life of Daniel as these worlds collide.

Let me point four or five things out from the text.

The first one is simply this is that Daniel's is a life of participation.

Daniel's is a life of participation.

I want to just draw your attention to the first three verses.

He says, In the third year of King Cyrus of Persia, this word was revealed.

And then he goes down there in verse two.

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

I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth.

Do you ever have a hunch about something, a feeling about something, or an impression about something that you cannot explain?

But you know, I feel this, I sense this very deeply, but I can't explain it.

Have you ever had that?

Say amen.

Daniel, this is what Daniel has, okay?

He is basically, he's not fasting completely, but he is like, hey, I'm not gonna have any meat or any wine, any delicacies.

When he says I didn't anoint myself, he didn't, he says, I didn't put lotion on my skin.

The climate there was very arid and dry.

And so he says, I didn't put any oil or lotion on my skin.

So he's kind of a crusty old man.

For three weeks, he's kind of saying, Hey, I'm gonna step back from the finer things because I want my posture externally and internally to be synced up.

I want to communicate to God, not just with my words, but with every fiber of my being.

And Daniel is a lot, his is a life of participation.

Now, what do you mean?

The first four words, in the third year of the uh of Cyrus, the king of Persia, it goes on, but in the third year kind of tips us off because it timestamps what's going on.

Because the Bible didn't happen in a vacuum.

There's historical facts that we could cross-reference and go, oh yeah.

Because see, why does the Bible say in the third year?

Because in the first year of Cyrus, he's the one that came along and said, you know what?

Remember, Daniel and his people have been taken captivity.

They've been taken from Jerusalem into Babylon.

That's the context, and they are under a government that they do not agree with, okay?

And so they are in captivity.

And the first year, Cyrus comes into power.

He goes, You know what?

I'm gonna let some of you guys go back to Jerusalem and rebuild your temple, okay?

I want you to be able to worship.

So some people have gone back.

Daniel stays in Babylon.

He probably could have gone back, but he also realized, you know what?

I'm not a young man, I can't do manual labor like I used to could.

So I'm gonna stay here and I'm gonna engage and I'm gonna participate in ways that I can.

He's praying, he's interceding, he's fasting.

He has a sense that you know what?

Something's funky, something's not going right.

And what's happening is back in Jerusalem, people went back in the first year.

It's now the third year.

So they've been back for two years, and there's a lot of resistance.

If you read the book of Nehemiah, that's what he's talking about during that time.

Nehemiah, and they're trying to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, and they're trying to rebuild the temple.

And the enemies of God, because the people of God did not want to sing the songs of Zion in a foreign land.

Well, they get back to Jerusalem and they don't want to sing the songs of Zion there either.

And so there's kind of a lukewarm mediocrity is set in on the people of God.

They're like, you know what?

I know God said this, but huh, and Daniel's pushing 80, and his life is still connected to what's going on in heaven.

What's happening in heaven is being manifested in the life of a man here on earth, okay?

He can't do manual labor, he can't physically rebuild, but he can intercede.

Let me just say it like this: a disconnected life.

If you're not careful, ask yourself this question: Do you feel like the life you live is connected to what God is doing in the world right now?

Let me say that again.

Do you feel like the life that you live is connected currently to what God is doing in the world right now?

Because if you don't, then you'll give yourself license and freedom that the gospel never does.

Because if you feel like, well, my life doesn't really matter, then the next step is, well, therefore, if my life doesn't really matter, because it's not really connected to what God's doing, then it doesn't matter what I do in my life.

And pretty soon you're far removed from your created purpose.

And by the way, to be connected to what God's doing, most people, when they hear that, they think something profound, like, oh, I, I, I, I, no, no, no.

Sometimes it's just simple obedience.

Like uh, there's a family in our church uh that the husband has some heart issues, so he can't do a lot of physical exertion.

Uh, and so some of us are taking care of their yard uh and we notice that their sprinkler system was broken.

And and I was like, Yeah, I think that's just the poppet and the bonnet that needs to be replaced, called the guy in our church who does landscaping.

He goes, Yep, I got one of those kits, I'll drop it off, or you can come pick it up.

I said, I'll come pick it up.

Sure enough, I went over there yesterday.

It took maybe five minutes.

Took the old one out, unscrewed one screw, put the new one in there.

You would have thought I invented fire.

Now, not from their perspective, but from mine.

Just to get it right, because I mean, because their grass was all grayish brown.

I got that thing, put it in there, walked over there.

I said, Open your garage, let me turn on your sprinkler system.

That bad boy came right on, not a drip, not a drop, not a leak.

I came home and my wife and daughter were not appreciative enough, so I resented them.

I kind of walked in like, hello, your father, the sprinkler fixer is here.

And my wife's like, You want a sandwich for lunch?

What I want is a big heaping bowl of respect.

Now, I'm I'm only partially kidding because I came home high as a kite.

Why?

Because when you get the tangible reminder that you are a part of what God is doing, you are participating in what God's doing in the world, it's a high that you can't get anywhere else.

Because it's God bestowing upon you this feeling you were created for.

You may be thinking, dude, you did like a five-minute sprinkler fix.

That's okay.

The kingdom came down and his will was done.

Remember, this Jesus said, the disciples said, Hey Lord, how do we pray?

Part of the prayer was this thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

The man said, Man, I don't know how to thank you.

I mean, this is incredible.

And I just stood there and watched the sprinkler run.

I'm very easily entertained.

I just watched the sprinkler run.

I was like, I'm kind of awesome.

And I went home to a woman, it was kind of like, you're not awesome.

You're supposed to fix things.

Okay.

And then she said, What about our sprinkler system?

And nobody claps when I fix this one.

It's not as fun.

But anyway, I digress.

Again, Daniel's life is a life of participation.

You got to ask yourself, do I feel like I'm participating in what God is doing in the world?

And if not, why not?

Here's the second thing we see in the Bible.

Before God shows us anything, he shows us himself.

Before God shows us anything, he shows us himself.

That's verses 4 to 11, where Daniel's down the banks of the Tigris River, and he lifts up and he sees this vision of a man clothed in linen with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist.

His body was like barrel and his face like the appearance of lightning.

His eyes, the Bible says, uh uh were like flaming torches, his arms and his legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sounds of his words are like the sound of a multitude.

In other words, there's weight on the uh on the nature of this being, okay?

Now, I'm gonna tell you, I think this is what's called a theophany.

T-H-E-O-P-H-A-N-Y, a theophany, which is where God kind of reveals himself to someone.

Now, later on, when the guy touches him, that's not God, that's an angel.

But I believe that God gives Daniel a vision of himself.

But why is that?

Because before God asks us to do anything, he reminds us of the nature of the being doing the asking.

Did I totally use Lucia right there?

Let me say it again.

Before God tells us to do anything, asks us to do anything, he kind of goes first and says, Hey, by the way, this is who I am.

This vision that he has of this person who's got like these bonfires for eyes, and his legs are like gleaming bronze.

This is God saying to Daniel, hey, by the way, I'm the one talking here.

Don't lose sight of this.

Because unless you and I have this God-sized view of God, uh, everything feels impossible.

The problem with many people is the lens through which they look at the world, it's the wrong lens.

Because we look at the world, we look through the lens of ourselves, and we just kind of think, ah, well, I don't.

But when you get a God-sized view of God, everything becomes a possibility.

This is this pattern you see all through the Bible.

Don't turn there, but I just, Isaiah chapter 6, it starts off in verse 1.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

It says, In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah's in the temple, he's come to worship.

He's a little damn, the king has died.

He says, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.

Hello! Lofty and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.

And then he goes into detail.

He says, and uh above him were seraphs, these angelic beings, and with they flew with six wings.

Here, this is how kooky the Bible is, and I mean kooky in a great way.

He says, Above him were cherubs with six wings, and just envision this in your mind.

Stop wasting your life playing video games and envision the Bible.

You'll be much better for it.

With six wings, he says, with two wings that covered their feet, with two wings that covered their faces, and with two wings they flew.

In other words, that which is closest to God that attends to his being will not even look upon him and will not touch him.

He's that holy.

And they were the he says, then they were calling out to one another, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

They're warning each other, hey, don't put your feet on God and don't even look on God because God is holy.

And Isaiah, here's the here's here's why it's so important that we understand before God shows us anything, he shows us himself.

Look at me.

Because when you see God accurately, this the byproduct of that is that you see yourself clearly.

Let me say that again.

When you see God accurately, some of you are still fuzzy on yourself because you've never seen God accurately.

You have a cultural lens in which you look at God.

Oh my God, it's God love, and God's God's forgiving, and God's patient, and God's and God will lay the wood to you too.

He's all those things.

Let me say that again, the attributes of God, the character of God is not at war with itself.

And Isaiah is just overwhelmed in chapter six, and he says, Oh, I am ruined.

I'm a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the king.

Everything's fine until you see the king.

And God said he's just overwhelmed with his guilt.

And God sends an angel with some tongs, with a coal hot off the altar, and says, Pucker up.

Because he says, I'm a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the king.

It didn't matter that I had unclean lips because everybody I hang out with, everybody I drink with, everybody on my kids' softball team, we all live the same life, just in a different house.

And God brings this blazing, searing reality of God to bear on Isaiah and touches his unclean lips.

And he says, See, this has made you clean.

This has cleansed you.

Knock it off.

And then God, and then Isaiah hears the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send and who will go for us?

Whom shall I, singular, send, and who will go for us, plural.

To be sent, to represent God means you have to represent all that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, not just the part you prefer.

And Isaiah is climbed to say the least.

And Isaiah just bursts out, here am I, send me.

Again, unless you have a God-sized view of God, everything feels impossible.

You go home to your wife, like, you won't believe what I think God's saying.

I mean, is that crazy or what?

Oh, you have a God-sized view of God.

You're like, hey, let's put on our seatbelt, because I think it's about to get good up in here.

Why?

Because for God shows us anything, He shows us Himself.

A.W.

Tozer said this.

He said, we can never know who or what we are until we know at least something of what God is.

Hear that again.

We can never know who or what we are until we know at least something of what God is.

And what I'm asking you is, do you do you know at least something of what God is today?

Has that kind of gotten into you and infected you in ways for which there is no cure?

Are you just like, yeah, you know, God's this and God's that?

You're kind of just splashing around in the little baby pool.

Are you ever been taken out to the deep?

Or you have to ponder all the realities of God in ways that are overwhelming, and your little mind just snaps.

And you're like Isaiah.

I'm a man of unclean lips, I'm a woman of unclean lips.

And I live among a people, all my girlfriends I go to thirsty thirsty with.

They got unclean lips too.

Oh my gosh.

And by the way, that's not condemnation, that's mercy.

That's mercy.

Why?

Because before God shows you anything, he shows you himself.

It's like this in Jeremiah 32, verse 27, God says this, Behold, I'm the Lord God of all flesh.

Jeremiah 32:27

Is anything too hard for me?

God shows him himself.

And he says, Hey, by the way, because this is who I am, is anything too hard for me?

I'm the Lord God of all flesh.

Is anything too hard for me?

Now, we read things like that in the Bible and we pluck it out of context and put it on our football team or our baseball team or whatever.

No God, so no, no.

The context of Jeremiah 32 is exactly what Daniel's living.

Because the people, uh God's people were being knuckleheads.

And God said, Y'all keep this up, and I'm gonna raise up a nation that's gonna take you into captivity.

And they had cowardly preachers that were like, No, God wouldn't do that.

God's a God of love.

God would never discipline his people.

Let me tell you something.

If you don't discipline your kids, you hate them.

And I tell you that to your face, out of love.

If you just oh, well, you know, she's 15, she's oh, make her own decision.

No, she's not.

No, she's not.

You're lazy.

You want to get away with mama for the weekend, leave your kids at home.

Your kids can't handle that.

Mine's 17.

We're talking to the day, my wife about wanting to go get away for a few days.

She goes, I can just have a friend over and spend the night.

No.

No.

Why?

Because I had to kill people.

What'd you say, Dad?

You heard me.

I got an AR-15 with a flashlight mounted on it, so I can see you in the dark.

And she's just like, What?

I said, Yeah, I'll show you.

Tell Joe Biden to come get it.

And so I showed her, and she went, Oh my gosh.

And I said, Hey, by the way, guns don't kill people, all right?

Stop listening to liberal politicians.

Guns don't kill people.

People kill people.

People come into my house, people jerk my house around.

I gotta hurt people.

Saying that guns kill people is like saying your spoons make you fat.

You're missing, here's this is free.

You're missing personal responsibility.

Which we as a nation have we've blotted that out.

It's like, oh, it's everything and everybody else's fault.

But no.

No.

So my kid's a good kid.

I hadn't had any problem that's like, no.

You and your knucklehead friends ain't coming over here because some boy show up over here, and then we got to go alphabet AR 15.

Chitty chitty bang bang.

And my wife is like, really?

Chitty chitty bang bang.

That's one of our girls' favorite movies.

Well, I got a different version of the movie.

No, what what do you mean?

Behold, I'm the Lord God of all flesh.

Is anything too hard for me?

No.

What's the context of that?

Because God's telling people, hey, you keep it up, and I'm gonna I'm gonna send you guys into captivity.

And these cowardly preachers are gonna go, oh, God will never do that.

God's a God of love.

And so guess what?

God raises up a nation called Babylon, and they come and take God's people captive because they wouldn't listen.

And this is what Daniel's living in right now.

So when God says, I'm the Lord God of all flesh, is anything too hard for me?

He's warning his people.

You think I will not send you into captivity if you keep sinning?

Just try me on.

This.

See, unless you understand what God's capable of, oh excuse me, until you understand who God is, you do not understand what God's capable of.

Let me say that again, I'll demonstrate.

Until you understand who God is, his nature, and the totality of his being, not just what some preacher tells you in 22 minutes on a Sunday morning, but the totality of his being.

Unless you understand that, you don't realize what God's capable of.

You just don't.

I remember as a little kid, we would go on vacation.

And my dad would say, we're going on vacation next month.

And I'm thinking, Disney World, Six Flags.

No.

Vacation was going to Childress, Texas, to grandma's house.

If you've ever been to Childress, Texas, it's right next door to hell, okay?

It's 130 degrees, the wind blows all the time, there's nothing to do as a little kid.

I hated it.

And we had to get there seven-hour drive in a about 24-foot woody panel station wagon with a luggage rack on top.

And so it was me, my two brothers, my two stepsisters, my dad, and my stepmom.

And it was brutal.

And so I would get the very back rumble seat that faced out the back end of the station wagon.

And we'd be back there.

And my dad was old school.

Again, keep in mind, until you understand someone's nature, you don't realize what they're capable of.

My dad did not like nonsense going on the back seat, slapping, pulling hair, da-da-da.

And so he would just look in the mirror and he go, Y'all need me to come back there?

No, sir.

No, no, we're good.

We're good.

And so we're like, oh, we're good.

All right.

About 10 minutes later, my dad thumped the mirror.

That was the international sign of it's about to get off the reservation.

And he thumped the mirror and he said, Hey, hey, y'all want me to pull this car over?

And I was had my back to him.

I was like, Yeah, whatever, Leon, because that was his name.

That's what I called him in my head, but never out of my mouth.

I said, Yeah, whatever, Leon.

And my brother reached back and grabbed my hair with my hand back there and kind of pulled it up.

And I was like reaching over the sea, and all of a sudden, next thing I knew, I heard, whoa! And by the way, when that station wagon is doing 75 miles an hour, and you pull off in the sandy gravel, that thing slides sideways, a big cloud of dust comes up.

And my dad jumped out, jumped around, opened the back door, and with his left hand opened the back door, with his right hand was grabbing his belt, it sounded like this, like a rattlesnake coming to get you.

And one by one, he just reached in there, grabbed the kid, just whipped him and threw him in the dirt and grabbed another.

My brother was kicking his feet.

My dad got him by the ankle, held him like a pinata, and just whipped him until candy came out and threw him over there.

Cars were pulling over on the side of the road.

I'm in the back.

He's got four people to go before he gets to me.

And so people, three cars.

I'm not making that.

Three cars pulled over.

They're gonna call.

Maybe this is a policeman or something.

People got out of the vehicle, they were looking at my dad was like, You mind your own business there.

And I'm just like, I looked at my dad.

I turned around like, sorry, I'm in the back back.

Remember, until you understand the nature of a being, you don't realize what they're capable of.

By the time my stepmom reached over and turned the key to the left, the back window goes down.

My dad walked around to reach there and got me by the neck and just drug me out.

Just put me up against the car, put me over there.

And I'm thinking these people are gonna call the law.

There's a man sitting beside his plumber smoking.

Yeah, I saw that cloud of dust.

I thought you had it ready.

Well, you're just tearing your kids up.

Go ahead, mister.

Now, if this was 2021 in Fort Bend County, my dad would be in jail right now.

He whipped all five of us, and then the guy there ain't smoking, and then he breaches in his shirt pocket because back then that's where people kept their cigarettes.

He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and said, You want one?

My dad said, Don't mind if I do.

He just lit up and talked to a total stranger.

He goes, Yeah, I'll tell you what about them kids.

I told them to shut up twice.

He goes, They got what they deserved.

We all crawled back in the station wagon, drove the rest of the way the children's like three hours, not a peep.

I just sat back in the back, just thinking, Hey, memor the self, dad can get you wherever you be in this car.

And I got to my grandma's, who I love, my grandma Dawson, and she said, How was the trip?

And I was like, I started crying.

She said, Baby, what's wrong?

Dad, Dad whipped us on the way.

Why'd he whip you?

And my dad walked by, tell her.

Tell her why I whipped you.

And if you lie, I'll whip you again right here.

And my sweet grandma, who had the beehive hair, looked like the lady on the Simpsons, had her hands on my shoulder and she said, Why'd you get a whipping, sweetie?

Because we were cutting up in the back and daddy told us to stop and we didn't stop.

And she dug her thumbs in under my clavicle.

She said, You deserve that.

Crazy old woman wears a moo moo.

And guess what?

I had no one to blame.

Because when my grandma said it, I was kind of like, I'm not a victim.

I want to be a victim.

I'm a grandma.

Grandma put a thumbs in my clavicles and said, No, you ain't a victim.

You a rebellious little kid who got your butt told up and you deserved it.

You feel how awkward it is in here right now?

Y'all are like, I'm not so sure about that.

Your kids are looking at you like, I think timeout works for me.

This is free, young lady.

I never got put in timeout.

Ever.

I remember when I got married, my wife said, We were dating.

I want to talk about how we're gonna discipline our kids.

I was like, just tear that thing up and they get out of line.

I don't believe in corporal punishment.

I was like, okay.

She mentioned timeout.

Now, by the way, we could tell our girls, hey, we're disappointed in you.

They would cry.

If my dad would ever say about disappointing you, that's tough for you, huh?

Thanks for sharing.

But he never did.

75, going down the road with a miller high life between his legs.

Whipped that bad boy over and went to town on all of us.

We got back in.

I remember looking around, we were covered with white dust.

Looked like a bunch of ghosts, just got a whipping.

Now, why do I tell you that?

Here's why.

Look at me.

All right.

I never doubted my dad's capacity after that.

My dad would leave for two or three days.

I gotta go down to Mexico and handle some business.

You boys got this farm?

Yes, sir.

All right.

All right.

If there's stupidity when I get back, I'm gonna deal with it.

Okay.

I just remember being covered in white dust.

I don't want any more of that.

Here's the third thing we see in the text that things on earth affect things in heaven.

You still with me?

I wasn't abused as a kid.

I had foolishness in my heart, and the rod of discipline drove it out.

That's all.

I read that, I read that in a book one time.

Anyway, I also read this things in heaven affect things in earth.

Uh look at verse 12 of Daniel chapter 10.

Daniel 10 · chapter mention

Verse 12, what do you mean things of heaven?

He says, Then he said to me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before God, your words have been heard, and I've come because of your words.

Hello.

Wait a minute.

Heaven responds to the things of earth?

Absolutely.

Daniel does two things that posture him in such a place that God responds with with his angelic visits.

Number one, he set his heart to understand.

He says, Hey, since the first day that you set your heart to understand, he set his heart.

The Hebrew word for set is to entrust or give over.

To set your heart is to entrust your heart or to give it over.

By the way, every time you turn your TV on, you are setting your heart towards that.

Every time you go to Netflix, you're setting your heart towards that.

Now, I'm not saying TV's bad, Netflix is bad.

I think there's bad things on both of them, but I'm just saying, hey, be careful what you set your heart towards, okay?

Because here's my concern is that our hearts are given over to so many lesser things that there's not much room in our heart for the things of God.

Like I give you an example out of modern day.

My heart, I can't set my heart towards the NCAA.

Because these people in America that for years have said, oh, you people cannot legislate morality.

Come along, and now they want to legislate morality by saying, Oh, unless you're for transgender athletes, we're not going to do anything in your state.

Well, great.

You're just the NCAA.

You're a bunch of bloviating administrators.

Who cares what you think?

But that almighty dollar gets people, and people are like, say, so here's the thing: all the only thing they understand is when they come on TV, you turn your TV off.

It's called ratings.

And so you just, but they know, hey, you you say one thing out of your mouth, but your heart, you can't you can't turn the TV off.

And nothing will change in them until we just say, you know what?

No, thank you.

I'm not gonna be a part of this.

Daniel understood that, that things on earth affect the things of heaven.

And so he sets his heart to understand.

He did, and this is, by the way, is what God says to Jeremiah.

We take this passage out of context, probably more than any in the Bible.

Uh, it'll sound familiar, but this is written to these people in captivity.

Jeremiah 29, starting verse 11, he says, God says, For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare, not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

And then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you, and you will seek me and find me.

Hear this part when you seek me with all your heart.

Daniel seeks God and finds God serving in a pagan administration with a bunch of godless individuals.

Why?

Because he sets his heart to understand the things of God.

And God said, Hey, to these people, to Daniel and everybody else in captivity, hey, you're gonna seek me and you're gonna find me when you set your heart to come after me with all your heart.

The second thing he does is that he just humbles himself before God.

He just humbles himself.

He sets his heart to understand and he humbles himself before God.

When I say things on earth affect things in heaven, these are the two things that Daniel does on earth that affect the activity of heaven, that bring heaven to bear on the earth.

Now, a lady came up to me after the first service and said, Hey, what does it mean to humble yourself before God?

And I said, This, listen carefully, okay?

Um I said, let me be clear.

I I don't think you should ever try to be humble because even that becomes prideful, becomes fueled by pride if you're not careful.

I'm gonna be humble.

Okay.

So, see, great question.

She goes, So, what do you do?

I said, just obey everything God says.

Humility is the byproduct of obedience, it's the byproduct, not the goal.

Because if the goal is humility, you become prideful in pursuit of that goal somewhere along the way.

Just seek to obey.

That's how Daniel humbles himself before God.

He says, God, I'll say and do everything you tell me to say and do.

God's like, Got it.

Here's the fourth thing I want to see in the text.

There's a spiritual dimension to life.

There's a spiritual dimension to life.

Now I want you to listen carefully, okay?

Because I want to approach this part here like a woodpecker with a headache, all right?

I want to be cautious and I want to be clear.

Uh good.

Look at verse 13.

I want you to see where I get this right out of the Bible.

Verse 13 says, 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 I say there's a spiritual dimension to life, here's what I mean.

When the Bible says the prince of the kingdom of Persia, that's not a person, that's a spiritual entity.

Uh, that's what the Bible refers to as a demon.

Uh, some people call it territorial spirit because it doesn't sound as whatever, but but but but it's a demon, okay?

And now I want to just let me just give you four things that come up on the screen right here, uh, that I want you to understand uh uh about the spiritual dimension to life.

That and the first one is simply this that angels and demons both exist.

Angels and demons both exist.

And so if you're a thinking person, you may be thinking, what's what's the difference?

Uh one of those was expelled from heaven.

Uh they that they started off as angels, they rebelled because they believed the lie of Lucifer, and they were expelled from heaven.

And so those fallen angels are now what we refer to as demons, okay?

You say, Well, uh here the Bible talks about it in Revelation chapter 12, starting in verse 7.

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

I'll just read it to you.

Now war arose in heaven.

Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated.

There was no longer any place for them in heaven.

And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.

He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come.

For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they love not their lives even unto death.

Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you who do you who dwell in them.

But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short.

So when the Bible talks about angels and demons, you say, Where do demons come from?

They're fallen angels.

It's a third of the angelic hosts believed the lie of Lucifer and rebelled, and God expelled them out of heaven.

I had a conversation with someone one time that they worship the dark side.

And she said, Well, we're powerful.

And I said, Well, let me just ask a real practical question.

If your God is so powerful, why did my God kick your God out of heaven?

And she's like, I never thought about that.

You should think about it.

Because it's not about power, it's about authority.

And so here's the second thing I want you to see the angels and demons engage each other in spiritual combat.

This is what he's saying in verse 13.

He says, The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days.

But Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me.

There's this, there's this battle, this conflict that is going on.

This is early on in chapter 10, he says, hey, he refers to it as this great conflict.

Here's the third thing I want you to understand that certain angels and demons are given particular geographical and governmental assignments.

When he says the prince of Persia, that that territorial spirit is assigned to Persia.

You know, he says later, hey, and then the prince of Greece is going to come.

That territorial spirit is assigned to Greece.

When you see wicked, evil governments, that's not just flesh and blood.

You should think the Prince of Persia, the Prince of Geek of Greece, you should also ask yourself, I wonder what the Prince of Washington, D.C.

is like.

Hey, folks, you don't war against flesh and blood.

Ephesians chapter 6 says it like this we do not war against flesh and blood, but against principalities and spiritual wickedness in high places.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

So when the Bible says, look at me, I'm going to show you something real practical.

When the Bible says we do not war against flesh and blood, look at me.

If you can touch it, it's not your enemy.

If you can lay hands on it, it's not your enemy.

Now I have to tell myself that every once in a while because every once in a while people get mad at me.

I don't know why.

You find that hard to believe, don't you?

Say amen.

Yes, like, oh my gosh.

And look at me.

When I I I get word third hand, so-and-so's mad at you, and I'm like, well, come see me.

Let's talk about this.

I may need to repent.

Nope, I just want to be mad at you.

See, I want to get mad back, but I have to remind myself, and the Holy Spirit is gracious just to go, hey, by the way, he's not your enemy, she's not your enemy.

And the reason I know that is because I can touch them.

I do not war against flesh and blood.

Look at me, beloved.

Do not waste your life fighting against flesh and blood.

That's not your enemy.

The real enemy wants to turn you against that person, but against principalities and spiritual wickedness in high places.

This is what the Bible is very clearly telling us right here.

The fourth thing I want you to understand is that our prayers affect the battles being fought.

Our prayers.

Daniel, for three weeks, not really understanding.

He just, hey, it's not going back in Jerusalem.

So I'm gonna pass on the Merlot and the flank steak, and I'm just gonna have cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I'm not punishing myself, I'm preparing myself to be connected here on earth to what's happening in the heavenlies.

Our prayers affect the battles being fought.

Now, let me be very clear here, okay?

The ultimate battle has already been won by Jesus.

So when I say our prayers affect the battles being fought, a lot of times, and usually they're on TV because that's where bad theology flourishes.

Uh, preachers make it sound like you better bear down in prayer so God can win.

Look at me.

God's already won.

And so when I say that that our prayers affect the battles being fought, what I'm saying is that prayer reminds and reorients us around the victory.

Prayer just kind of reminds us, oh, by the way, this is remember, but before God chose us anything, he shows us himself.

Oh, yeah, you you were the crucified risen king.

You've already won.

Oh, yeah.

You made a spectacle out of Satan and all his demons.

You triumphed over them on the cross.

Okay, thank you very much.

Here's the last thing I want you to see.

This is the fifth thing that God reveals in order to strengthen.

God reveals in order to strengthen.

Verse 19, and he said, O man, greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you, be strong and of good courage.

As he spoke to me, I was strengthened, and I said, Let my Lord speak, for you have strengthened me.

Here, verse 20.

And then he said, Do you know why I've come to you?

Do you know why I've come to you?

Very simple question with a very uh obvious answer.

Basically, this angel says, I've I've come to you to remind you of four things.

Number one, you're greatly loved.

Secondly, I don't want you to be afraid.

Fear not.

You're greatly loved.

Oh man, greatly loved.

Fear not, you're gonna be afraid.

Thirdly, you can be at peace.

Peace be with you.

I mean, there can be chaos all around you, and you can be at peace.

Fourthly and finally, he says, I've come, I've come to visit you because I want you to be strong and I want you to be courageous.

Now, God reminds Daniel these four things.

Just as we close this morning, what if you just apply those to yourself and just kind of said, you know what?

I'm greatly loved, I don't have to be afraid.

I have the peace of Christ with me, and because of this, I can be strong and courageous.

You believe in a God that is so personal that he would want to communicate those realities to you like he did to Daniel.

Let's pray together.

If you're a guest, we like to teach the Bible, and then we just give you some space to think about it.

So let me voice a prayer and some questions come up on the screen.

This is just a time for you to reflect and think digestively about what the Bible has said.

Let's pray.

God, thanks for the truth, it sets us free.

The truth reminds us today that uh there's a great conflict taking place, but the battle has already been won.

And we get to, as believers, we get to stand in the victory that Christ has accomplished on our behalf.

So, Holy Spirit, we don't live in fear.

Give us understanding of everything the text says today.

We pray this in Christ's name.

Father, we're humble today by what you allow us to be a part of.

God, we want to be like Daniel.

We want to we want to understand that our lives are intended to participate in what you're doing in the world, right now, today.

April of 2021, not 586 BC, right now, today.

Because when we believe that our lives are disconnected, then the next step is to believe that our lives don't matter, and that's not true.

And so, Holy Spirit, lead us into the truth today.

We forsake every other way of living, and we do so in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

Thanks for your presence today.

If you're our guest, hope we've had a chance to fill out one of those guest cards in the seatback pocket in your row.

If you haven't, would you grab that right now?

And then over the next couple of minutes, just fill it out.

And on your way out, just drop it in one of the wooden boxes by the door, okay?

And for the rest of us, if today's the day you worship God through obedience or generosity, that's where you would take care of that as well.

Uh, we have a few things coming up in the life of our church we want you to know about so you can participate in.

So let's check out our video announcements.

Thank you for joining us today.

Here's a few things we want you to know.

Our women's weekend is happening April 23rd and 24th here on our campus.

Here's Cynthia Jeter with a word on how the women's weekend impacted her life.

My husband really encouraged me to sign up and to go.

And I wanted, I wanted to want to go.

Um, I wanted to be in this room with these women, but again, I just didn't know that many people, and that was a huge barrier for me to just show up.

What would the weekend look like?

Where would I sit?

Who would I talk to?

And I didn't register.

One day I was sitting at home and an email popped up in my phone.

And it was an email from Sally Clear.

And it was her asking me to join her team for Women's Weekend to be a greener.

I'm so touched by her specific time to meet.

And I wrote her back.

Absolutely love to be on her team for the weekend.

I'm mad so many women that year after Women's Weekend.

My family not only joined the community for But we became deeply involved with the community group.

A group of people, to be perfectly honest, that I can't imagine my life without.

We raise our kids together, we homeschool together, we're in gymnastics together, and I genuinely don't know what my life would look like if it were not for the community group.

And the reason I joined and I reached out is because of Women's Weekend.

We not only found our place at Grand Park Way, we kind of found our place in the world.

It became so clear and so obvious to us.

How much we needed a church home and how much it was growing us every single day.

We really felt like we started living differently every day.

Our eyes and our hearts wide open to the goodness that God had waiting for us and that we just had to walk into and accept.

It all started with Women's Weekend because if it were not for Women's Weekend, I just don't know how brave I would have been or my family would have been in making steps forward toward becoming more involved and building our community and finding our place at Grand Parkway.

To find out more, head to Grandparkway.org/slash events or find our kiosk in the lobby.

Starting point is happening April 18th.

If you're ready to make Grand Parkway your church home, or if you would like to learn more about our church, Starting Point is for you.

Register at Grandparkway.org slash events.

Men's Breakfast is happening this Tuesday at 6 a.m.

We'll meet at the warehouse to enjoy coffee, breakfast, and teaching from God's Word.

After each service today, you and your family are invited to the construction site of our new building to participate in Soul Graffiti, where we will write down scriptures and prayers on the framework of the new building.

After the service, exit the north side of this building, and one of our pastors will assist you at the construction site.

If you're new or have any questions about what you've heard today, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.

So let me remind you, ladies, our women's weekend, the dates for that are April 23rd and 24th, which is not this coming weekend, but the following weekend.

So there's plenty of time to register.

They're registering in the lobby today at the kiosker if you have any questions about it.

It's Friday night and through Saturday afternoon.

I think you get done around 2, 2:30, something like that.

But they have all the information in the lobby.

We would love for you to be a part of that.

It's a great weekend.

They've already got over 200 women signed up.

It'll be right here on our campus.

You don't have to spend the night at a retreat center.

You sleep in your own bed, all that good stuff.

And lunches from Sandy McGee's.

Yeah.

Yes, that's a place men don't eat.

But anyway, clap if you want.

My wife is like, you want to go to Sandy McGee's?

No, there's no men in there.

Thank you very much.

Anyway, if you have any questions, ladies, uh they're there in the lobby, they'd love to answer them.