Address—P. Wilson
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Both parts. September 1956.
August of all documents.
The 9th chapter of the prophet Daniel.
Will not lead all of this after, but we'll go on to the next.
In the first year of Darius, the son of a Hazuris of the seed of the Medes.
Which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans.
In the first year of his reign.
I Daniel understood by books the number of the years were of the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet.
That he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
And I set my face unto the Lord God, to speak by prayer and supplication, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said.
Oh Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him.
And to them that keep his commandments.
We have sinned.
And have committed iniquity.
And have done wickedly and have.
Rebelled even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgment.
Neither have we hearken unto thy servants, the prophets, which bake in thy name to our kings, our Princess, our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us. Confusion of faith is as at this day.
To the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And unto all Israel that are near, and that are far off.
Through all the countries, whether thou has driven them because of their trespass which that they have trespassed against the.
Oh Lord, to us the longest confusion of faith.
To our King, to our Princess, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.
To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness is though we have rebelled against Him.
Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.
They all Israel, have transgressed by law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice.
Therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
20th verse.
And while I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God.
For for the holy mountain of my God.
Gays while yay, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning being caused to fly swiftly touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me and talked with me and said.
Oh Daniel, I am now come forth to give these skills.
And understanding.
At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee.
For thou art greatly beloved. Therefore understand the matter and consider the vision.
The next chapter.
In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name who was called Belty Shazza.
And the thing was true, but the time appointed was long and he understood the things and had understanding of the vision.
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In those days, I Daniel was mourning 3-4 weeks.
I ate no pleasant breath. Neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth. Neither did I anoint myself at all.
Till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
And in the four and 20th day of the first month, as I was beside by the side of the great river, which is typical.
Then I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen.
Whose loins were girded with fine gold of you fast. His body was like the barrel. His face has the appearance of lightning, And his eyes as lamps of fire, And his arms and his feet like in color to Polish black, And the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
And I, Daniel alone, saw the vision.
For the men that were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.
Therefore I was left alone and saw this great vision, and there remain no strength in me, for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retain no strength.
Yet heard I the voice of his words, and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground.
Behold, and hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.
And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved.
Understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright, for under thee am I now stand. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
Then said he under me, Fear not, Daniel, from the first day that thou did septine hard to understand and to chasten by yourself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
But the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia withstood me one in 20 days.
And but Lo, Michael, one of the chief Princess, came to help me, and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
Now I am come to make the understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days.
For yet the vision is for many days.
And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground.
And I became dumb, and behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips.
Then I open my mouth and spake, and said unto him that stood before me.
Oh, my Lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.
For how can the servant of this my Lord?
Talk with this, my Lord, for As for me, straightway there remain no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me.
Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me.
And said All man greatly beloved, fear not faith be unto thee, be strong. Yeah, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my Lord speak, for thou has strengthened me.
Then said He knoweth thou, wherefore I am come unto thee, and now will I return to fight with the Prince of Persia.
And when I am gone forthload, the Prince of Gracious shall come.
But I will show thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth.
And there is none that holdeth with me in these things. But Michael, your Prince.
Also I in the first year of Darius, to me even I stood to confirm and to strengthen him.
It was my thought.
To review somewhat these two prayers.
Of the prophet Daniel.
He's found praying in the 9th chapter and again in the 10th chapter.
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And it certainly is no unusual thing to find Daniel praying.
Was a characteristic of that man of God that he was found in prayer often?
You remember in the second chapter.
When the king had a dream and none could unfurl this at Daniel went to pray and he asked his companions to pray with him for the same purpose and as soon as he got the answer, he immediately thanked God. He didn't rush him to tell the king, he stopped and gave God thanks for the answers.
Then in the 6th chapter you know.
When the king was persuaded to sign a decree.
Fostered and promoted by the enemies of his Daniel.
The decree that said that they could not ask any petition of any God for 30 days.
Daniel went to his house and kneeled upon his knees and prayed three times a day. But notice something else in that chapter it says as he did a four times.
He wasn't too Hardy.
He wasn't trying to make a spectacle or a martyr of himself by going to pray, but he didn't alter his ordinary course of living.
He kneeled upon his knees and prayed three times a day, as he did a four times. He was a man of prayer.
And where you find a man of God, you'll find a man of prayer.
Well, Daniel began in this 9th chapter to pray.
He was in the first year of Jarius, the son of a Hazel.
But what put him, what set him to throwing at this time, was the fact that he had been reading and meditating upon the prophet Jeremiah.
And he found out from Jeremiah writing that the children of Israel were to be in captivity.
In Babylon, 70 years.
And he knew that the 70 years was about us, and he believed what God said by the mouth of his servant Jeremiah.
And he fully expected the people to return to their land when the 70 years will were fulfilled.
And so, being a man of faith, a man of prayer, a man of the book, I like to think of Daniel not as the prophet in this chapter, but as the student of prophecy.
The man that could read the others prophecy and profit thereby.
He set himself to pray.
We know that God raised up when the appointed years had run their course.
He raised up Cyrus, the Righteous Man of the East, a man that he had named and Isaiah 45 about 175 years before he was born.
Raised him up to be king of the Persian Empire for the purpose of sending the people back.
Sending them back to the land.
Well, not only did God raise up.
This man Cyrus to take to send the people back, but he likewise raised up a Daniel at the right time to confess the sins of the people as his own.
You know you'll always be in accord with the mind of God if you make intercession for the people of God.
One place, he says. Oh, he marveled that there were no intercessors.
I think the only failure of an Old Testament St. recorded in the New Testament.
Is the failure.
Of Elijah, as we read in the epistles of the Romans, how he maketh intercession to God against Israel.
It was certainly contrary to the mind of God to make intercession against the people of God.
And after Elijah had prayed against the people of God and enumerated their wickedness, and claimed that he only was left, and they sought his life.
After that, he was told to go and appoint his successor in the person of Elijah.
Saw this man Daniel is raised up to pray for the people of God, and you'll see it in like manners in men like Samuel.
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In David.
And many others who pleaded with God for his people.
But what was the condition of that people?
The Daniel overlook their failure. Did Annual overlook all the sins and departure from God that had brought God's governmental dealings upon them? No, not in the least.
But he says, I set my face under the Lord God, deceit by prayer and supplication, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
Or it was no superficial work with Daniel, It was no feigned identification with his people.
He felt their sins, he felt it as his own, and it brought him low in sackcloth and ashes. It brought him down to fasting and not only prayer but supplication, which is the continuing in prayer.
And he says, I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made confession, and said.
Oh Lord, the great incredible God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments.
Now notice this next word.
We doesn't say they have sinned, he says. We have sinned and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled.
Or he fully identifies himself with all the sin of that people.
And I suppose if there were one man among the captives in Babylon that was free from blame, it was this man, Daniel.
A man that was taken there in his youth and a man that went there through no fault of his own, as we might say, he was taken captive. He didn't go there of his own free will.
And he'd lived for God there. I like to think of Daniel in the book of Daniel, that it records his life from that of a very young man to that of a very old man. And he went on through to God's glory.
He was a faithful man, as we've often spoken to the dear young people, how he purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.
It was not an outward thing, it was purpose of hearts that he would not defile himself. His affections were with the things of God, and he wanted to please God, and he saw that there were things there in Babylon that would defile him as a godly Jew, and he held himself a loop from it for God's glory.
And in keeping with the Word of God, He had Scripture for what He did. All May we, and you, dear young people who are here this afternoon, have the great to design by Scripture that which will defire you as a Christian, and have the grace from God to to put it far from you.
And that with purpose of heart.
Well, Daniel has gone on, and he's now an old man.
He's gone on faithfully and now he's identifying himself with the sin of the people. And he prayed.
And there's another thing about his prayer. Notice the seventh verse. Oh Lord, righteousness belongs under thee.
But unto us confusion of faces.
We must always bear in mind.
That God is right.
That God never makes any mistake. That righteousness belongs to Him.
It takes all the blame.
For himself and his people.
Notice again in the eighth bird, oh Lord, to us along the confusion of faces, to our kings, to our Princess, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against.
Thee and let us remember, dear fellow Christians, that we're living in a day of ruins. We're living in the last days of the history of the Church of God on earth.
That which began so brightly on the day of Pentecost.
Has suffered failure and ruin in the testimony that has been committed to the hand of man.
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The days of second Timothy are here, when it's a great house in which are vessels to honor and vessels to dishonor.
Well then, what are we to do? Are we to gather our skirts about us and say, well, I'm going to walk out of the great house?
No, fellow Christian, we cannot walk out of the Great House. The Great House is the profession of Christianity on earth, and you cannot get out of it unless you give up Christianity.
We're in that, which is a sad testimony to ruin and failure on every hand.
Well then, may I speak a few words?
To those here this afternoon gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us beware of not, as it were, leading the sin often.
Let us beware of anything setting ourselves up.
As those that haven't failed.
Or I tremble when I when I see any tendency to exalt ourselves and say we've kept the truth, or the truth is kept by us all, brethren.
It's not to have learned our lesson well.
As an esteemed brother now along with the Lord, AH Rules said in his books that were published last year in one of his letters, he said.
To think that we are a sort of an asylum where the truth is maintained and everything is to be kept in order is not to have learned our lesson well of the ruling that has come in.
Brethren, we're a part of the ruin and we need to be in the spirit of Daniel is found in this 9th chapter of Daniel.
I am persuaded that if we set up ourselves to be something, God will show us that we're nothing.
God will definitely blow on pride.
These six things, Doctor, Lord hate, you seven are abomination unto him. And what is the first? A proud look.
Let us beware of setting ourselves up to be something or claiming to be.
Superior to some? Someone else?
The But let me give a word of caution now.
There is a path for faith. There is a path of obedience. And if we walk in that path, may we do it with bowed heads, conscious that we're part of the failure, the failure of the testimony of the Church of God on earth, or there's a way of maintaining the truth, maintaining the truth.
Of remnant testimony in these last days, but doing it with bowed heads in the sense of our parts in the failure of Christendom.
Well, with this man Daniel, he makes us a prayer. He prays here rather.
And.
When we come down to the 20th verse, he gets the answer and how promptly the answer came.
And while I was speaking and praying and confessing my sins and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before my the Lord my God, for the holy mountain of my God.
Yeah, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel.
Whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning being caused to fly swiftly.
Touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
All he got an immediate response to his prayer. He was in a state of soul, and the answer came quickly.
And he gets the most wonderful unfolding of the future.
The prophecy of the 70 weeks of Daniel 9 is given to him as a result of the state of soul.
In which that beloved man of God was found.
Notice.
Too.
That he was touched about the time of the evening oblation was when they offered the evening lamb. You know, they offered one the word to offer one lamb in the evening and another in the morning.
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I'm the one who the fire on the altar was to never go out.
I met with his sweet sailor was to rise up from warnings, from evening till morning, all night until the morning is set.
Or it was about that time Daniel was often Babylon. There was no evening sacrifice.
That had all ceased because of their sin.
But Even so, he was in the good of it, and he was conscious of the time, of the offering of the evening sacrifice. And in the good of that he gets this answer at this time. But now let's pass on to the next chapter, the 10th chapter.
Another king has come to the throne, and this time it's Cyrus.
A man who was raised up of God to restore the people to their land.
Daniel had learned in the 9th chapter that while the people were to go back in accordance with the prophecy of Jeremiah.
The prophecy that was given to him, to Daniel.
Showed him that the real blessing for Israel was postponed for a long time.
And therefore you do not find Daniel going back to Jerusalem.
With those that went back in the first day in the first chapter of Ezra.
But he's still in Babylon, in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
But has his state of soul changed? No.
He's had a revelation of the future for a long time to come, and he's had it revealed to him of the glory of Israel, but at the glory of Israel as it related to the Messiah.
And all the glorious time when Messiah would come.
But he saw that it was for a long time. Notice in the first verse of the 10th chapter, the time appointed was long.
Now in the second verse.
In those days, I, Daniel was born in free four weeks.
I ain't no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all till three whole which were accomplished.
One time he got the answer immediately.
While I was speaking and praying, the answer came, he said. And here he was, praying and exercising himself before God, free 4 weeks, 21 days before the answer came.
I ain't no pleasant bread.
Margin says bread of delight.
Brethren, fellow Christian.
What do we know?
About real prayer and intercession before God.
Sometimes the question has been asked about fasting. You noticed in the previous chapter that he was fasting and praying.
Here's the same thing. In other words, I ate no pleasant bread.
Neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth. Neither did I anoint myself at all.
He was in the spirit of fasting and mourning.
The question is often asked, is there such a thing as fasting today?
Well, may we not say that if we were in earnest before God, we might know more of self denial, which is the principle of fasting?
Self denial. How much is do we in this day of wealth and prosperity and luxury leisure? How much do we as Christians know of self denial?
Or maybe that's the answer to the fact that we so seldom hear of our prayers being answered, you know the James says.
Ye have not because you have not. Sometimes we are both because we do not ask for God delights to give.
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Sometimes we're both, as James says, because we asked a myth that we may consume it upon our luck.
But two, is there not such a thing as being in a state of walking before God in humiliation, with bowed heads, that our part in the failure of the whole testimony of the Church of God and our own failures in particular? Is there not such a thing as walking in that sense of it, and with you and with self denial?
Well, even then we find that Daniel waited 3-4 weeks. Our brother was saying in the reading meeting the other day that God hasn't promised to answer our prayers in our lifetime.
Many a dear St. of God has prayed for things that he never saw answered in this life.
He got some answered it after he he left his team. The answer came in his own due time. We cannot hurry God.
And we'll have to wait on Him. But let us be sure that there's the suited state in US, so that God may not have to withhold the answer because of our pride or our foolishness or our self indulgence.
Well, in this 10th chapter.
He was by the river which was the river Tigris, and it would seem that he might have been on official business at this time, because going to the Shoe Shan and the palace of Persia, he would have had to cross the Tigris.
And it's very, it reminds one very much.
Of the time that Pearl or Saul of Tarsus journeyed to the masters.
The men that journeyed with him heard a voice that they couldn't understand.
Fall alone understood the voice that state well. Here they the men that were with with him fled.
They heard, saw an observation, for they fled. A great trembling came upon them.
But Daniel saw the vision. All it takes a state of soul to have the communication of the mind of God. I'm not saying that we're going to get special revelations today.
Like Daniel did.
But there is such a thing as understanding the Word of God as it relates to present circumstances until the problems of daily life, and if we walk with God, will know more about it.
Well, we'll Passover this in the earlier part of the 10th chapter.
There is something there about the one that he saw in this vision that would remind us of the one in the first chapter of Revelation.
And when the John the Beloved apostle saw the Lord Jesus as the Son of man in his judicial robes in the first chapter of Revelation, he fell at his feet is dead. Well, a similar thing has happened to Daniel here.
Notice the eighth verse. Therefore I was left alone and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me, for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retain no strength.
For comeliness, the margin says bigger.
All a glimpse of the glory of the person that spoke to him brought him low.
We may have high thoughts of ourselves when we look at ourselves or compare ourselves with others.
But the way to get low thoughts of ourselves is to get into the presence of God.
Well, a hand touched me, he says, and which set me upon my knees, and upon the palms of my hands. And he said unto me.
Oh, Daniel, a man greatly beloved.
Here's an old man, addressed now as greatly beloved.
All dear young Christians read the book of Daniel, read how Daniel went, began at the very beginning with purpose of hearts to please the Lord and how he went on in that pathway and now we see him as at the end of his journey.
And he gets a beautiful testimony. He's addressed as a man greatly beloved.
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All he didn't get that by going on and living a careless life.
He didn't get that by saying, when in Babylon does the Babylonians do?
No, he got that as a result of a rocket face living in separation from the evil that surrounded him in Babylon.
I remember last year when I was in Illinois speaking to a group of young men.
All of which were working for degrees in universities, colleges.
I remember commenting to them.
About the degrees for which they were working.
Daniel got a good degree.
He got a degree that should be the envy of any servant or child of God.
All we know that God loves all his children. There is a way in which he loves each one equally. But then there is a love of complacency, the love of delight in seeing an obedient child. And that's what we get in this expression. All man greatly below.
Dear young Christians, would you like, as you go on through life, to have a degree like this?
M GB.
Man greatly beloved. Well, if you're going to acquire that degree at the end of a pathway down here, you're going to have to walk the path of faith and separation from this world.
And you know when we look at this.
This might also remind us of a word not only for young Christians, but a word for older ones. For us who have gone on in the past a little longer, we often address our remarks to the young business.
Or our alarm to see the dear young Christians come out decidedly for Christ, to take a stand for him in this world, if they are only happy past to live devoted lives for Christ.
It's good young Christian to begin your Christian path well with purpose of heart.
Not in your own strength, seeking the Lord help to live for Him. But it's not only good to begin while it's good to end well.
And how sometimes we see those that began well, miss the path as they go on in life, turn out of the way, turn aside when they get older.
All fellow Christians, may we be kept from our youth to our old age if God would leave us here for that.
Going on in faithfulness and dependence and devotedness that we may hear at the end of the journey.
Man greatly beloved. Or that's a title that we may well cover. A degree that would be.
To our.
To the glory of the one that died for us too.
Something too, that we would enjoy.
Well the go on in the 10th chapter.
The 12Th verse.
And he then said, he under me. Fear not, Daniel.
Oh, how does that sound like the word to God?
Words that the apartment of Lord Jesus spoke to one and another in his life, to Verna.
The Lord would have us in the in his presence with the unchoved foot of reverence. He would have us in His presence with a sense that He is gone.
But he would have us at ease.
In his threat, fair knock.
For from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand and to chasten myself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words now. That's that's the key to something. This verse is a key to the fact or to the reason why he was kept waiting.
3-4 weeks.
All his words were heard from the beginning.
From the very first day.
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The 13th verse adds But the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia withstood me one and 20 days. How long? 3-4 weeks.
Why did God allow the messenger that was dispatched with the answer for Daniel to be held up to be delayed for 3-4 weeks?
Could not God have intervened?
And sing to it that the message got through at once.
Yes, indeed.
But he allowed the he allowed the interruptions. He allowed the delay. Why?
For the exercise in Daniel's soul, and sometimes with us, we wait on the Lord for something that's a burden on our hearts. Sometimes He allows us to wait on Him without burden, apparently unremoved day after day and month after month and perhaps even year after year.
We think of the Apostle Paul, the one that was given a vision, given to see something, I'll go more than say it with a vision. He was actually caught up into the 3rd heaven and he saw things that it was not possible to utter in human language. But when he got down to earth, there was danger that he would be puffed up because of the abundance of the revelation. And there was given him a thorn for the flesh to keep him humble, and he was sought the Lord three times to take it away.
All finally he got the answer. The answer wasn't what he was looking for, but it satisfied him. The answer was, My strength is made perfect, and weakness. And then the beloved apostle says, most gladly, therefore will I glory in my affliction, that the power of Christ might rest upon me.
Well.
This delay of 3-4 weeks takes us behind the scenes. I'd like to say some words on this.
This 10th chapter, the Papa Daniel, is one of the few places in Scripture that takes you back beyond into the unseen world.
You know, there's, there are things that are unseen to our natural lives. There are things that are unheard by our ears.
Is only a small percentage of the spectrum that we can see with our eyes, and there's only a small percentage of the sounds that we can hear with our ears.
There are many sounds that we do not hear both above and below the range of our hearings. They say that the Hummingbird has a beautiful song, but it our ears are not attuned to hear it.
Well, there is something else. There is an unseen world, and there are powers in the unseen world.
We find in this chapter that there's an Angel. There are two angels mentioned here this chapter in the previous chapter, Gabriel and Michael.
They're the only two angels whose names are recorded for us in scriptures, but we do read of angels.
Those who had seen angels we find in scripture that they excel man in slink with that there is God's messengers that do his will. We find that God uses angels and the exercise of his providential over ruling of this world.
All there are angels.
And they are sent forth to the Minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.
I'm satisfied, fellow Christian, that when we get the glory, we'll learn something about the times that we have been the objects of the ministration of angels. We'll find out how many times we've been cared for and helped through the administration of angels. There is a world in which God operates that's unseen to the human eye, and he squished the word of God speaks of cherry of them and spare of him.
We know of those two kinds of angels.
Michael is spoke spoken of as the Archangel.
How many other heavenly beings there are that man cannot see, we do not know. But one of these messengers?
That do God's will with this back with the answers to Daniels prayers and shall I add to Daniel's state of soul so that he was in a position and a state to receive the wonderful communication that found in the 11Th and 12Th chapters. That's what was revealed to him by this Angel.
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But while he was on his journey carrying this wonderful.
Prophecy to Daniel.
And it's a most marvelous prophecy, the accuracy of the 11Th, the prophecy of the 11Th of Daniel is such a marvel that the infidels that have studied secular history.
Have tried to say well no man could have written it prophetically, Daniel must have lived after the events and witness as history, but the Lord Jesus says Daniel the prophet.
Not Daniel the historian. And you know, there's one thing that dooms the conjectures of men that Daniel lived after the event.
And that is that the prophecy of Daniel was translated from Hebrew into Greek and put into the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament before the events were fulfilled.
All he was Daniel the prophet, and he received a wonderful prophecy in the 11Th chapter.
With minute details.
But.
There's something else In this 10th chapter, we find that besides the angels of do God's bidding.
There is a force in the unseen world headed by Satan.
We find that Satan has his angels, he has his ministers that do his will, do his bidding.
Perhaps he's organized his whole system along the lines of the government of God.
The Lord Jesus said that if Satan passed out Satan, he cannot stand that his Kingdom will fall.
All Satan has an organized system, an organized Kingdom and here we read of one of Satans messengers that withstood the Angel that was bringing the message to Daniel notices 13 verse but the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia withstood me one in 20 days.
But Lo, Michael, one of the chief Princess, came to help me.
All he was in combat there with one of Satans messengers at the seat of the power of the Kingdom of Persia. Little did Cyrus the Persian know that there was a struggle going on in the unseen world concerning his Kingdom. Remember that God had raised up Cyrus the Persian to bring to send his people back a remnant of them at least back to Jerusalem.
And to give them the rights and the.
Wherewithal to build the House of God?
Well.
Satan was going to frustrate if he could. Satan is always opposed to that which is according to the mind of God. And if you see and know that which is according to the mind of God for the day, be assured of this, that Satan is opposed to it. And Satan will do everything in his means to frustrate it if he can.
Well, here his object was to send his messengers to the Kingdom of Persia to frustrate the purposes of God concerning the earthly people.
And this Angel that was dispatched was held up there in conflict with the Prince. This had one that Satan had at the Kingdom of Persia. And lo Michael, one of the chief Princess.
Or one of God's chief instruments in the angelic hopes came to help this Angel.
And I remain there with the kings of Persia.
Now we find Michael mentioned here and in.
The Epistle of Jude and in the 12Th chapter of Revelation.
And in each place we find him in conflict either with Satan or with Satan's Emma service.
Here Michael comes to help the Angel that is withstood by Satan's emissary at the Kingdom of Persia.
In the epistle of Jude we find that. Let's turn to it to keep this place.
Tesla, Jude.
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And verse 9.
Yet Michael the Archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a race.
Now that tells us something that we didn't learn from the Old Testament. In the Old Testament we learned Moses was taken up onto the mountain and there he died, and it says that God buried him. I believe that we learn from this epistle that he was buried by God, by the instrumentality of Michael the Archangel.
And and when Michael was about his business, the devil withstood it.
It has been suggested and I believe it to be this thought.
That while the children of Israel refused Moses in his lifetime, the devil knew that if he could get his body to them, they would have made a shrine out of his burial place and they would have worshipped a man in death that they refused to follow in life.
Ah, but Michael the Archangel withstood the devil.
He does not bring against him a railing accusation for remember his great in power.
I might add this that if you want to know something about the glory of Satan, you can find it in the 28th chapter of Ezekiel.
The title of the king King of Tyrus not in not in Isaiah 14.
Not under the name of Lucifer. For Lucifer there is a representation not of Satan.
But of the Last King of the of the.
Of Gentile dominion, the head of the revived Roman Empire. No doubt he'll be activated and energized by Satan. But Satan is a glorious being and might kill the Archangel, just not bring against him a railing accusation. But, said the Lord, tribute to dear fellow Christians. We have no idea of the powers of the World of Darkness that are all about us.
We have no idea of the forces that are arrayed against us, but let us take comfort from the a word that we find in second King. There be more with to be with us than they that be with them. We have one on our side that's superior to all the host of stations.
Nevertheless, let us not forget.
The seriousness of the condition.
And the forces that are opposed to our progress.
Might kill the Archangel does not bring against Satan the railing accusation. Sometimes you'll see people that say.
To the devil, get behind me. Thank you. I do not believe that that is anything for a child of God to you.
We're not called upon to do any such thing. We're told to resist the devil. We're not told to repute. We're not told to tell him to get behind me. Only the Lord Jesus Christ could do that.
And how are we to resist it? Resist him with the word of God.
As the Lord Jesus resisted him in the wilderness.
The Lord Jesus resisted Satan and defeated him were 3 words.
It is written.
He used the word of God not to silence Satan, but he used the word of God as the guide for his own conduct. And if we use the word of God as the guide for our conduct, Satan is defeated. We find there a man is walking in the same spirit in which Christ walks.
And he'll flee something.
Well, in the 12Th chapter, Revelation, who might turn to that gift?
Revelation 12 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun.
Say in beginning that this woman is Israel.
A woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of 12 stars.
And she, being with child, cried, traveling in birth and pain to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and 10 horns, and seven crowns upon his head.
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And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and it cast them to the earth.
And the dragon stood before the woman, which was ready to be delivered or to devour her child as soon as it was born.
And she brought forth a man child, or a male of might.
Who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron?
That should make it clear who who. This is one of the second Psalms.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
And her child was caught up under God into his throne. Notice that it's his birth and his ascension. His death. Resurrection isn't mentioned here, but his birth and his attention.
And the woman glared into the wilderness, and there where she happened, placed prepared of God that they should feed her. There 1203 score days. And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought in the dragon, and the dragon fought in his angels. There we find Michael in conflict with those powers of darkness again. And in Daniel we read that Michael is the Prince that standeth up for the children of Israel.
We find that at the time of the end, Michael will stand up for us. We find at the time of the end Michael in conflict with Satan and the powers of darkness, all his evil spirits that are in the heavens, and they're going to be cast out of heaven.
Some people, some Christians, would gasp with astonishment if they were told that Satan and his fallen angels are in heaven.
That is not in the immediate presence of God, but they have access into the heavens, and he's called the Prince of the power of the air.
Spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, but the time is coming when they're going to be expelled and cast out to the earth. But while we're in the 12Th chapter of Revelation, I'd call your attention to something else.
In connection with the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, we get a. We get a.
An insight here.
Into the fly that Paris sought to kill the Lord Jesus when he was born.
You remember the Herod inquired of the wise men when the Lord when the star appears, and then he sent forth and destroyed all the children in that section from 2 years old and under seeking to destroy the Lord Jesus when he was born. Well now it's outwardly it looked like it was a wicked man heard that was doing it. When we come to the 12Th chapter of Revelation, we see the sinister power that was moving behind Harris.
All we find that the the dragon Satan stood before the woman, ready to devour her child as soon as it was born.
All these chapters take us behind the scenes and let us see something of the struggle that's going on and going on at the present time too.
Yes, Satan was there to devour that child as soon as it was born. Yes, Eric was the instrument that he used. But Satan and his wicked spirits in his organization are working at the seats of government.
I was thinking the other day when the Heads of Government got together in Geneva to talk things over, I was wondering how many of these wicked spirits of Satan would be there.
These are not imaginary things. These are not.
Something These are not fictitious tales, but God draws aside the curtains here and there and let's just look into the unseen.
Well, there are other cases that we could refer to, for instance in the book of Job.
We find out that the trials of the set job while they look to be the same as those that came to his neighbors.
Were actually the moving of wicked spirit unseen as the neighbors into jokes. Oh, he said. He knows Satan is another, he said. Knows nothing of love with the power of love. No, but he can. He could raise the winds and he could influence the lightning.
He could raise up marauders and thieves and those things were all allowed of God. But be it remembered from the book of Job, we learned one thing and one thing clearly.
And that is that not one thing can happen to the child of God without God's permission.
Remember too that when the Lord Jesus said this to Peter, he said Peter for Simon Simon Satan has desired to have these that he May 50 is weak. He didn't say I'm going to keep Satan Satan from getting you into his this. No, he says I prayed for these with thy faith. They are not all he knew it was for Peter's good that he would get into the sins and he got into the 70 and Satan gave the civil an awful shaking and he got rid of a lot of chats.
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And Satan was only doing the Lord's work to show Peter what he himself was.
All brethren, fellow Christian here this afternoon. It's so much better to learn our lessons in the school of God, to learn them in communion with God, and to learn them in Satan sins.
But sometimes the Lord for our good allows us to get into the civil. He allows us to find out what four weeks things we are and they lose some of our self-confidence to find out if we don't know it before that we're poor, failing things after sale and to displease our Lord.
Well, I want to call your attention to the first verse of the 11Th chapter in closing.
This Angel says.
Or the 20th verse of the 10th chapter. First then said he, Knowest thou Wherefore I come unto thee. Now will I return to fight with the Prince of Persia, and when I am gone forthload, the Prince of Gracias shall come.
All the power of Greece was the next power to arise. It would be interested in God, earthly people with Jews and God and Satan had his instruments to work at the King, the seat of government of the Kingdom of of Greece.
If you would turn back to well, let's go to the first verse of the 11Th chapter before we do that and I in the first year of Darius the need even I stood to confirm and strengthen him. Now if you were to turn back to Daniel six, you would see there Darius the meat.
In the IT pleased arise to set over the Kingdom of 120 Princess which should rule the over the whole Kingdom and over these 3 presidents of whom Daniel was first.
Now when Darius the Mead came into the Kingdom after the fall of the Babylonian Empire, that night, that faithful night.
The Darius elevated Daniel.
He reorganized his government and set up 120 Princess, and then he put over them three and made Daniel the chief.
All here with one of the sons of Israel. Here was one of God mercy people who had lived for God at the seat of government of the Greece of the.
Well, good faith in life that no, but we find in this 11Th chapter that this.
Angel that was sent to Daniel stood to confirm and strengthen to riot.
To riot the man that that was used as the Duke of his ministers to have Daniel put into the den of lions.
You find Daniel, you find Darius coming to Daniel and saying, by God whom thou service is able to deliver thee. And you find Darius coming the next morning to the den of lies and crying with a lamentable voice, and saying, Oh, Daniel, is thy God able to deliberately to say that? Wayne somewhat in the night, and then when he found Daniel alive and well, he caused Daniel to be taken up out of the den of life.
They hadn't framed their law so that it would preclude taking him up if the lions hadn't eaten him in a certain time. He had been put in, the law was fulfilled.
Was taken up.
And then Darius takes these men that have accused Daniel and cast them into the den of lions and the ravenous beasts tore them to pieces as soon as they came to the bottom. All to me I connected six chapter of Daniel and the and the act of Darius and the faith that he showed and the interest in Daniel and the way he treated Daniel's farm enters and persecutors.
With the Angel that stood the confirm and strengthened a riot.
And then as we think of another thing.
We think of the Angel at the Prince at the Kingdom of the Persian Empire.
Read the Book of Esther Read the book of Esther and think of the powers that were going on in the unseen world when Haman.
Got to be the head of the government in the Persian Empire and had it in his power to wish to edict with the king signature that all the Jews and all the Persian Empire should be put to death upon a certain day.
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All was Satan working behind the scenes against God earthly people. Let me add something else that if Satan could have achieved his purpose in next him exterminating the Jewish race.
Through the instrumentality of Haman and the Persian Empire, he would have achieved the undoing of the whole human race, because Satan knew that through that race was to come the deliverance, the one that was to bruise his head.
And he sought, with one massive slope, to eliminate the whole race and get the Jews and doom the whole human family.
All but behind it all, there was a struggle. Behind the scenes. There was not only Satans, emissaries at the power of the Kingdom of Persia, but there was an Angel from God.
Well, brethren and fellow Christian here this afternoon.
These are realities.
We're after just coast along through this world and think that everything is just as we see it. No, there's up. There are powers in the unseen world. But I want to read the last few verses of the 8th of Romans.
The last two verses of the 8th of Romans.
It's not for us to be discouraged, but it should make us sober as we walk through this world. And may we know something of walking in the spirit of Daniel. Realize, realizing the failure that has come in and realizing our part in the Santa, and that we may walk with bowed heads and broken spirits interceding for the people of God and seeking His grace to go on in simple obedience to His words.
I'll tell you rather obedience to the word of God, if it takes us into a passive separation to Him, to the Lord is one thing, but if we lift up our heads and pretend to be something, that's another thing. Let us seek the Lord help to put pride far from us and to walk in simple obedience and broken spirits before the Lord.
And now shall we be discouraged because of these powers of darkness? Can they touch us?
Or, as we said before, the Lord might allow us, might allow Satan to touch our goods. He might allow, as he did with Job, even to touch his flesh for our good. He might allow, as he did with with Peter, to let him give us a rough shaking to get rid of some of our pride and self-confidence.
But can he in the end really touch the child of God? The last verse? The last two verses of Romans 8.
For I am persuaded.
That neither death nor life.
Nor angels.
Nor principalities, nor powers, and I take it to those two terms apply to these unseen beings.
That are arrayed against the principalities and power.
Or in the previous verses each spoken of.
Earthly things. But here's something that goes deeper.
Nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creatures shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Not one thing.
However, Great Satan himself included not one.
Can never touch the life and security of the sainted God, and he's not going to allow God is not going to allow Satan or his emissary to put forth his hand and touch you even in your circumstances, without his horrible ruling, without his divine allowing it.
He may allow it, but if he does it, it's for our good. And remember this as we noticed from the Book of Job, that while we may have the same things happen to us that happened to the none saved neighbor from the Book of Job, we learned that they're all ordered for our good. They're all divinely allowed, and they have a different character with the child of God than with the unsaved neighbors.
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Well, may, in closing, we just close with those last words of Romans 8. I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities.
Nor power, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate it from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. What security we have. But there's enough, brethren, with all our security.
Make us sober Christians as we walk through this world, and may we seek dear young this and to begin the path of faith with purpose of heart and devotedness to Christ. And may we have grace as we go on if we're left here.
The world age, I'm sure the coming of the Lord is at hand, but some of us are oldest. May we be kept in that path of faith till the moment we hear that shout. It's not far off.
May we sing him 191.