WEBVTT
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Daniel chapter 10, starting verse 1.
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In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar.
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Its message was true and it concerned a great war.
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The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.
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At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks.
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I ate no choice food, no meat or wine touched my lips, and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
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On the twenty fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up, and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Upaz around his waist.
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His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.
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I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision.
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Those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves.
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So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision.
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I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale, and I was helpless.
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Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.
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A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees.
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He said, Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.
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And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.
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Then he continued, Do not be afraid, Daniel, since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.
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But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days.
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Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me because I was detained there with the king of Persia.
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Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.
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While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless.
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Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak.
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I said to the one standing before me, I am overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I feel very weak.
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How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord?
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My strength is gone, and I can hardly breathe.
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Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength.
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Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed, he said.
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Peace, be strong now, be strong.
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When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.
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So he said, Do you know why I have come to you?
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Soon I will return to fight against the Prince of Persia, and when I go, the Prince of Greece will come.
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But first I will tell you what is written in the book of truth.
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No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.
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And in the first year of Darius the Mead, I took my stand to support and protect him.
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Let's pray.
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We thank you, Father, for your holy word given to us by inspiration and for our benefit.
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We ask that you would help us to learn all that we can and then be all that we should, so that we might represent you well to those around.
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In Jesus' name, we ask.
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Amen.
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There are some encounters that we have that really stick in our mind that perhaps even change the course of our lives.
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Think back on people you've met in your life.
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Is there anyone you met for the first time and it left a remarkable impression, either for the better or for the worse?
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There are some people who are perhaps so unique, so eccentric, that it promises to be a very memorable encounter.
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Sometimes meeting somebody, encountering somebody can really change us.
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People can have an impact on us.
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They can influence us for better or for worse.
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The relationships that we build and the people that we meet can change the course of our lives.
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We have here in this passage this morning a meeting, an encounter.
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But it's not simply an encounter between two people, it's an encounter between Daniel and a messenger of the living God.
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It is an encounter that Daniel has with God himself.
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And Daniel is profoundly affected by it.
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Nobody who encounters God walks away from the experience unchanged.
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There are people that we see every day that we drive by, people that we wave to, say hi to.
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We might notice them for a moment, but at the end of the day, perhaps it didn't make a huge difference one way or another that we saw them, that we encountered them.
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Not so with God.
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When we encounter God, it is transformative, it leaves us changed.
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And Daniel here encountered God in a real and powerful way.
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And this text shows us some ways that a real and true encounter with God's presence changes us.
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And so as we look at the passage this morning, I want you to ask yourself this question: your relationship with God, is your relationship with God something that's purely past tense?
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Or is it something that continues in the present?
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If you were to share your testimony, the story of your Christian journey, the story of your faith, where would it end?
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Would it start with a conversion experience and then end the next day?
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Would the story of your faith end 10 years ago?
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Or would it continue up to the present day?
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Is the living God an ongoing reality in your life?
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I've heard it said that our testimony should never be more than 24 hours old.
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In other words, we should always be having a fresh experience, fresh encounter with the living God.
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This text shows us Daniel encountering God, and it shows us some ways that an encounter with God changes us.
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It tells us some truths about a true encounter with God.
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The text tells us, first of all, that a true encounter with God comes in response to us seeking Him.
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If we want to have a true encounter with God, it comes in response to us seeking God.
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Look at what it says in verse 12.
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Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.
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Daniel is in exile.
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He's in exile, he's living a life apart from his homeland, a place that is foreign, where his culture is not prevalent, where his faith in God is not respected.
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It's a strange, distant, weird place.
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And as I've said on occasion throughout this series, that we as followers of Christ should never feel too comfortable here in this world.
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We should always feel a little bit of a sense of discomfort because we know that this is not our true home at the end of the day.
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And Daniel here is in exile and he is seeking God.
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It says that he set his mind to gain understanding and to humble himself, and that he was speaking to God and that his words were heard.
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And this messenger appears to Daniel and communicates to Daniel the presence of God.
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Now, there is some debate about the exact identity of this messenger that's talked about.
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Some would say that this is Jesus himself before the incarnation, an appearance of the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ.
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Others might say, no, that's too far.
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This is an angel of some kind that's delivering a message from God.
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Regardless of the exact identity of the messenger, the point is that Daniel here encounters God's presence through this messenger.
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This messenger comes from God and communicates something of God's presence to Daniel.
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You see, God can mediate his presence to us in a variety of ways.
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God can communicate presence to us in all kinds of ways.
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God communicates his presence through his written word, the scriptures.
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It's been said that if you want to hear the audible voice of God, read the Bible out loud.
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God communicates his presence to us amongst his people when we are gathered with the fellowship of other believers.
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Physical, in-person presence is an important way that the presence of God can be mediated to us.
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God can mediate his presence to us when we take communion, the bread and the cup, which we do the first Sunday of each month.
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It's a way that we are reminded and nourished and strengthened by God's presence.
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God can mediate, can deliver his presence to us directly when we pray, when we seek him.
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Here Daniel had been seeking God, and in response to that, God's presence appeared to him.
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Now, in some sense, whenever we seek God, the fact that we seek him is actually a gift from him.
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Jesus says in the Gospel of John, chapter 6, no one can come to me unless the Father draws them.
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So God is at work drawing people to himself.
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God has not left us in a state of isolation and rebellion, but God is at work drawing people to himself.
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Of our own initiative, we would go our own direction and not seek God.
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God is reaching out, God is seeking after lost sinners.
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But nonetheless, we have to respond.
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We have to respond to God's invitation.
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And throughout Scripture, we see that God invites us to seek Him, and when we seek Him, we will find Him.
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God says in Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 13, you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
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Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God.
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Why?
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Because anyone who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that God rewards those who earnestly seek him.
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The writer to the Hebrews tells us that God rewards those who earnestly seek him.
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In other words, this is not simply a one-time quick casual prayer, but a life dedicated to, devoted to pursuing the presence of God.
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Now, in one sense, of course, God is everywhere.
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There is nowhere we can go where God isn't there.
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In that general sense, yes, God is everywhere.
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But God can mediate, bring his presence to us in a uniquely powerful way in response to us seeking Him.
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When we seek God, it's always in the context of His grace and His enablement.
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But nonetheless, we must seek after Him.
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Has there ever been something that you have wanted and you refuse to give up on it until you found it?
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There might have been something like that in your life.
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Many years ago, I worked at an elementary school, and it was the end of the school year, and they were getting rid of a lot of stuff from the school year, and uh some of the students had brought some old snacks, brought some snacks to school that they'd left there.
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And so they were throwing away all these old snacks, and there was this one box of something that looked kind of interesting, and one of the teachers said, Hey Eric, do you want to try this?
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I said, Sure.
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I tried it, I was hooked.
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It was some kind of a little caramel waffle with this caramel syrup in the middle of it, little like candy thing.
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I'd never had one before, but it was amazing.
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Unfortunately, there was only one left in that box.
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That kid had eaten all the rest of them.
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So I tried one.
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I said, This is amazing.
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And then I discovered they are not easy to come by.
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They're actually a Dutch specialty that is imported.
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I don't know where this kid got this, and school was out for the summer, so I mean I couldn't ask them.
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Thought it'd be a little weird if I called his house and asked his parents, hey, where'd you get those?
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So anytime I went to a grocery store, I looked around.
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I asked if they had these.
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Nobody had them.
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I looked online.
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I could buy them for great cost, imported, but I was having trouble finding them anywhere.
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Finally, I went to enough grocery stores that I finally found one grocery store that actually had them.
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And I bought several of them, enough to last me quite a while, because I didn't know when I was going to get my hands on this treat again.
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I finally found what I was looking for, but it didn't come the first time that I went looking for it.
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I had to search it out, seek after it.
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And the intensity of my search showed how much I loved them and how much I wanted to find these little candies.
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The things that we search for reveal what we truly love.
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The things that we set ourselves to find reveal what's most important to us.
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And God asks us to seek him, and he does that because the act of seeking him has a way of orienting our hearts toward him.
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That when we seek after him in prayer, when we seek after him through studying scripture, when we seek after him through fellowship with other Christians, it has a way of orienting ourselves to God and reminding us of what is truly important.
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Because in the search for those little treats, there were a lot of other things I could have been doing that I didn't do because I was devoting myself to looking for that candy.
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And when we seek after God, things that are of lesser importance to us fall by the wayside.
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And our hearts are oriented toward the one true God.
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We tend to find what we seek after.
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Perhaps you feel that maybe your life is not as rich with the presence of God as you would like.
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I ask you to consider the question: how earnestly have you been seeking after him?
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Have you been praying to God, asking him to reveal himself?
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Have you been putting yourselves in context with other Christians where God reveals himself most naturally?
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Are you seeking after God?
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Daniel here had a true encounter with God, and that encounter came in response to Daniel seeking God.
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If you want more of God, seek after him.
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True encounter with God comes in response to us seeking him.
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A true encounter with God, we also see from this passage, gives us strength.
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A true encounter with God will give us a kind of strength we cannot get anywhere else.
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Are you feeling weak?
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Are you feeling weary?
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Tired?
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This passage is for you.
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It says verse 18.
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The one who looked like a man touched me, that is Daniel, and gave me strength.
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Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed, he said.
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Peace.
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Be strong now, be strong.
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When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, Speak, my Lord, since you have given me strength.
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When Daniel had an encounter with God, it gave him a kind of strength that came from outside of himself.
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Now, ironically, the reason Daniel needed to be strengthened in the first place was partly because the encounter with God was so overwhelming that it actually left him feeling weak.
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Says in verse 16.
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Verse 15, that he was speechless.
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He bowed with his face toward the ground.
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Verse 16, he said, I am overcome with anguish and I feel very weak.
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And when people initially encounter God in Scripture, the consistent response is actually one of feeling weak and overwhelmed.
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In the book of Isaiah, we have a record of Isaiah encountering a vision of God's holiness.
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And when Isaiah doesn't meet, when Isaiah meets God, it's not a casual encounter.
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He doesn't say, Hey, what's up, God?
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How are you doing?
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Good to see you, God.
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He says in Isaiah chapter 6, verse 5, Woe is me, I am ruined.
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I'm a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.
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Kevin Zuber says that being intimate with God does not mean being casual with God.
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Being intimate with God does not mean being casual.
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And encounters with God are intimate, but they are not casual.
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Because God in his holiness is so much greater than we are, so much powerful, more powerful than we are, that when we encounter God, the natural response is actually an awareness of our own weakness, a realization of our own sin, and an acknowledgement that we could never come to him apart from his grace.
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The vision in Isaiah 6 continues.
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And Isaiah is told, your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.
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And we come into the presence of God and find strength because of the finished work of Christ on the cross for us.
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Isaiah wasn't able to stand in the presence of God apart from the forgiveness and the empowerment that God offers.
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Daniel wasn't able to stand in the presence of God until he had been strengthened in order to be able to do so.
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And so encountering God on the one hand, it humbles us, it kicks our ego down a notch, knocks us off kilter a little bit, helps us realize that maybe we're not all that after all.
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It humbles us, and yet it also uplifts us.
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An encounter with God humbles us, but it also dignifies us and strengthens us.
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And that's what happened to Daniel.
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He encountered the holiness of God and realized his own limitations, but then he was strengthened by the power of God and he received a new strength to stand and to move forward.
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You might be feeling weak this morning.
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Not just this morning, you might be feeling weak, period.
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Weak in your soul, weak in your spirit, weary from life, from disappointment, from sadness, from grief, heartache, the burdens that you're trying to carry.
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A fresh encounter with God is a way to receive strength.
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But ironically, sometimes when we encounter God, he's got to humble us before he can strengthen us.
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He's got to humble us, bring us to an end of ourselves, and make us realize that we can't do it on our own.
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And then once he humbles us, we're fit to be strengthened.
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Are you operating in your own strength or in the strength that comes outside of yourself?
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I was helping somebody move many years ago, which I don't recommend, by the way.
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I was helping somebody move, and there was a big old mattress that me and one other person were trying to carry, and you know, it looked fairly light.
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It was deceptive.
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We picked this mattress up off this truck, and me and this other guy were carrying it, and we realized pretty quickly we were not going.
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To be able to bear the weight of this ourselves.
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It's frankly a little embarrassing, though, to, you know, just drop it on the yard and say, nope, can't do this.
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We struggled along, struggled along, trying to get it across the yard, up through the front door, and a couple others saw that we were struggling and kindly came to our help and lifted it up, and we were able to get it across.
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We needed some strength that went beyond ourselves, but we were a little too proud to admit it.
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We need a strength from God that goes beyond our own strength.
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And when we can humble ourselves and admit our need for God's grace, that is when we're in a position to be strengthened and to be used for his glory.
00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:55.519
When Daniel encountered God, it came in response to Daniel seeking God.
00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:00.240
When Daniel encountered God, it gave him strength.
00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:11.519
And then, third and finally, we see in this text that when Daniel encountered God, it gave him insight into spiritual warfare.
00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:20.559
And when we encounter God, it gives us insight into the reality of spiritual warfare.
00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:27.119
When we come into contact with God, we begin to see behind the scenes.
00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:30.319
We see that there's more to life than just the material.
00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:34.400
There's more to be seen than what the eyes can see.
00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:40.720
There are spiritual realities about life with which we have to deal.
00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:44.640
Realities that go beyond what we can see physically.
00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:51.759
And here the messenger gives Daniel a glimpse in the spiritual warfare taking place behind the scenes.
00:23:52.160 --> 00:24:00.000
Says in verse 13 that there was a struggle going on for this messenger to be able to come to Daniel.
00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:03.920
He says, the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me 21 days.
00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:10.960
Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me because I was detained there with the king of Persia.
00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:18.319
In other words, this messenger says, Daniel, I was trying to come to you and deliver a vision to you.
00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:25.359
And yet there was a battle going on in the heavenly realms, and I was prevented initially from getting here.
00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:28.400
Michael, we've seen, is one of the angels.
00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:38.319
And it says that there was a prince of the Persian kingdom, likely some kind of evil angel or demon or something like that.
00:24:38.559 --> 00:24:46.319
And it says that Michael, one of the angels, came and assisted, and there was a battle going on in the heavens.
00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:54.720
Daniel receiving a message from God was something that happened on the other side of a struggle, of a battle.
00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:06.319
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus describes people as always seen but never perceiving.
00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:09.119
Always seen but never perceiving.
00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:13.200
There is a way to have 20-20 vision and yet be completely blind.
00:25:13.599 --> 00:25:20.960
And people who don't follow Christ often aren't aware that there is more to the world than what meets the eyes.
00:25:21.119 --> 00:25:24.079
There are spiritual realities to life.
00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:30.559
When a person comes to faith in Christ, there's a sudden awareness of new spiritual realities.
00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:35.279
But even as Christians, sometimes we can functionally live like atheists.
00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:38.960
We can live as if the only thing that's real is what we can see.
00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:45.039
When we encounter God, though, we began to see spiritual realities behind the scenes.
00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:52.160
As a kid, of course, I was into all kinds of classic superhero stories.
00:25:52.400 --> 00:26:02.319
Have you ever noticed that every superhero story has a showdown between a hero and a villain.
00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:05.519
The forces of good and the forces of evil.
00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:08.319
Batman versus the Joker.
00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:11.279
Spider-Man versus the Green Goblin.
00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:14.240
Superman versus Lex Luther.
00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:19.839
A cosmic showdown between the forces of good and the forces of evil.
00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:24.000
And that kind of a story seems to appeal to people.
00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:28.960
Superheroes, superhero movies are popular, not just with kids, but with adults too.
00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:40.319
It seems to appeal to an intuitive sense, perhaps we have, that there is a real struggle going on in the world.
00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:43.599
An intuitive sense we have, but don't always live in light of.
00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:50.720
An intuitive sense that perhaps we're aware of, but not fully living in light of.
00:26:51.759 --> 00:26:54.880
Listen to what Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12 says.
00:26:55.119 --> 00:27:07.599
The Apostle Paul says, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:15.680
When we become followers of Christ, we become part of a greater cosmic battle.
00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:21.039
When we become followers of Christ, we've picked a side.
00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:26.640
We've sided with Christ and against the enemy and his schemes.
00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:37.839
And what this means is that in our Christian lives, you know, our acts of obedience or disobedience, those aren't simply choices between chocolate and vanilla ice cream.
00:27:38.400 --> 00:27:46.720
When we choose to obey God or when we choose to disobey God, we are actually taking sides in spiritual warfare that is going on.
00:27:47.200 --> 00:28:03.680
When we commit ourselves to being part of the mission of God and we love others the way Christ calls us to, and share the gospel with others as Christ calls us to, we are taking a side, and there are spiritual forces that we cannot see, but that are trying to oppose us.
00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:11.599
If you are seeking to follow Christ, you are part of a spiritual battle.
00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:15.440
We know the end of the story.
00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:16.799
We know that God wins.
00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:18.559
Read the book of Revelation.
00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:21.759
It's not even a close battle, okay?
00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:28.160
I don't want to imply here that God is somehow trying to win, but he's so incapacitated and so weak that he can't.
00:28:28.400 --> 00:28:29.119
No, no.
00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:34.319
God can do as he pleases, and the victory is secure.
00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:49.680
But here in this time period before the second coming of Christ, there is this battle going on, and God allows Satan to be on a pretty long leash, even though Satan ultimately will be defeated.
00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:52.480
And we are part of the battle.
00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:59.920
And the day-to-day choices that we make about following Christ are part of that battle as well.
00:29:01.359 --> 00:29:06.799
And when we seek after God, it gives us insight into this battle.
00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:18.319
It gives us insight into the fact that we need to align ourselves with Christ and against the forces of the evil one who would oppose us.
00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:23.039
Seeking God is the way that we engage in spiritual battle.
00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:28.000
Seeking God is the way that we become aware of the spiritual battle.
00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:32.240
We might think that whether or not we follow Christ is inconsequential.
00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:37.680
But when we understand the battle, we realize that it's massively consequential.
00:29:38.720 --> 00:29:40.960
I like what Louis Giglio says.
00:29:41.200 --> 00:29:47.920
He says this to know, to truly know God, you have to learn to linger with him.
00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:55.839
Lingering with the Almighty is the very best defense against the enemy who's trying to get at your table.
00:29:56.079 --> 00:30:00.240
You stop looking at the enemy and you start looking at God.
00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:05.519
To truly know God, you have to linger with him.
00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:08.000
It can't be a quick high and buy.
00:30:08.160 --> 00:30:10.160
You have to spend time in his presence.
00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:14.640
Lingering with God is the best defense against the enemy.
00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:20.079
Satan hates it when you pursue God, and that is all the more reason to do so.
00:30:20.559 --> 00:30:26.400
There will be spiritual battle, there will be opposition, there will be hostility.
00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:34.319
When we encounter God, it strengthens us for the mission and it gives us insight into the stakes.
00:30:34.559 --> 00:30:46.400
It makes us realize that there is a spiritual battle going on, and we are called to follow Christ and live out his purposes in the world and further his kingdom.
00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:50.160
Encountering God.
00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:55.519
Who have you encountered in life and it left you changed?
00:30:55.920 --> 00:31:00.160
Daniel encountered the one true God and it changed him.
00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:05.519
When Daniel encountered God, it happened as a result of him seeking God.
00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:10.000
Daniel encountered God, it gave him strength.
00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:14.640
And when Daniel encountered God, it gave him insight into spiritual warfare.
00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:19.039
Are you seeking God that you might know him?
00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:24.400
Are you receiving strength from God when you encounter him?
00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:33.359
And are you growing in your understanding of spiritual warfare so that you can do your part to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ?
00:31:34.640 --> 00:31:38.640
I like an analogy here that author William Hendricks gives.
00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:41.119
He talks about the movie Jurassic Park.
00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:42.640
Some of you may have seen this movie.
00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:45.440
It came out when I was a young kid and I tried to watch it.
00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:46.960
It was too scary.
00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:51.119
I was little, I might still be too scared, I don't know.
00:31:51.440 --> 00:32:02.079
But in this movie, in Jurassic Park, scientists are able to clone dinosaurs from fossils, able to take old DNA of extinct dinosaurs and bring them back to life.
00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:05.039
The extinct dinosaurs come to life.
00:32:05.359 --> 00:32:17.599
And there's a moment in the movie when there's a paleontologist, someone who's been studying dinosaur fossils his entire life, and he actually encounters a real-life dinosaur.
00:32:17.680 --> 00:32:19.599
And he's shocked and he's horrified.
00:32:19.759 --> 00:32:21.920
His whole life he's been studying the fossils.
00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:32.319
He's been looking at drawings of dinosaurs, reading about them, but then he actually encounters an alive dinosaur and he's terrified and it completely undoes him.
00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:39.759
William Hendrick says that for many Christians, their encounter with God is a little bit like studying fossils.
00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:46.480
They study the records of something that happened in the past, but never experience him in the present.
00:32:46.880 --> 00:32:50.640
They study fossils of people who walked with God.
00:32:50.799 --> 00:32:54.319
They read books about people who walked with God.
00:32:54.480 --> 00:33:01.920
They're even perhaps around people who have encountered with God, and yet it's all like a paleontologist studying dinosaur fossils.
00:33:02.160 --> 00:33:04.720
The real living thing just isn't there.
00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:09.279
Is that your Christian life?
00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:17.359
Are you studying fossils or have you encountered the real living reality of who God is?
00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:22.799
Are you living a fossilized faith, or is your faith living and active?
00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:04.160
Daniel chapter 10, starting verse 1.
00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:12.320
In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar.
00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:15.839
Its message was true and it concerned a great war.
00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:19.359
The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.
00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:23.600
At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks.
00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:32.479
I ate no choice food, no meat or wine touched my lips, and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.
00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:46.240
On the twenty fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up, and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Upaz around his waist.
00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:58.960
His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.
00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:02.079
I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision.
00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:09.040
Those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves.
00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:13.439
So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision.
00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:19.519
I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale, and I was helpless.
00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:26.560
Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.
00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:31.680
A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees.
00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:42.079
He said, Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.
00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:46.560
And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.
00:01:47.200 --> 00:02:01.280
Then he continued, Do not be afraid, Daniel, since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.
00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:05.439
But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days.
00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:12.479
Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me because I was detained there with the king of Persia.
00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:19.840
Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.
00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:25.039
While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless.
00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:30.800
Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak.
00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:37.759
I said to the one standing before me, I am overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I feel very weak.
00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:40.400
How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord?
00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:44.319
My strength is gone, and I can hardly breathe.
00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:48.960
Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength.
00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:52.319
Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed, he said.
00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:55.599
Peace, be strong now, be strong.
00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:01.680
When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.
00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:04.879
So he said, Do you know why I have come to you?
00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:10.800
Soon I will return to fight against the Prince of Persia, and when I go, the Prince of Greece will come.
00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:14.560
But first I will tell you what is written in the book of truth.
00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:18.560
No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.
00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:25.360
And in the first year of Darius the Mead, I took my stand to support and protect him.
00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:27.280
Let's pray.
00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:34.560
We thank you, Father, for your holy word given to us by inspiration and for our benefit.
00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:42.879
We ask that you would help us to learn all that we can and then be all that we should, so that we might represent you well to those around.
00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:44.960
In Jesus' name, we ask.
00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:45.919
Amen.
00:03:51.840 --> 00:04:01.120
There are some encounters that we have that really stick in our mind that perhaps even change the course of our lives.
00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:04.719
Think back on people you've met in your life.
00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:14.879
Is there anyone you met for the first time and it left a remarkable impression, either for the better or for the worse?
00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:25.759
There are some people who are perhaps so unique, so eccentric, that it promises to be a very memorable encounter.
00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:31.759
Sometimes meeting somebody, encountering somebody can really change us.
00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:34.480
People can have an impact on us.
00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:37.680
They can influence us for better or for worse.
00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:45.279
The relationships that we build and the people that we meet can change the course of our lives.
00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:50.720
We have here in this passage this morning a meeting, an encounter.
00:04:50.959 --> 00:05:01.199
But it's not simply an encounter between two people, it's an encounter between Daniel and a messenger of the living God.
00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:06.959
It is an encounter that Daniel has with God himself.
00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:12.079
And Daniel is profoundly affected by it.
00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:20.720
Nobody who encounters God walks away from the experience unchanged.
00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:28.560
There are people that we see every day that we drive by, people that we wave to, say hi to.
00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:37.199
We might notice them for a moment, but at the end of the day, perhaps it didn't make a huge difference one way or another that we saw them, that we encountered them.
00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:38.959
Not so with God.
00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:45.040
When we encounter God, it is transformative, it leaves us changed.
00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:50.639
And Daniel here encountered God in a real and powerful way.
00:05:50.800 --> 00:06:00.720
And this text shows us some ways that a real and true encounter with God's presence changes us.
00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:11.839
And so as we look at the passage this morning, I want you to ask yourself this question: your relationship with God, is your relationship with God something that's purely past tense?
00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:14.879
Or is it something that continues in the present?
00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:25.360
If you were to share your testimony, the story of your Christian journey, the story of your faith, where would it end?
00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:30.879
Would it start with a conversion experience and then end the next day?
00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:37.680
Would the story of your faith end 10 years ago?
00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:41.040
Or would it continue up to the present day?
00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:47.279
Is the living God an ongoing reality in your life?
00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:52.959
I've heard it said that our testimony should never be more than 24 hours old.
00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:58.800
In other words, we should always be having a fresh experience, fresh encounter with the living God.
00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:07.759
This text shows us Daniel encountering God, and it shows us some ways that an encounter with God changes us.
00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:12.160
It tells us some truths about a true encounter with God.
00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:20.480
The text tells us, first of all, that a true encounter with God comes in response to us seeking Him.
00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:26.639
If we want to have a true encounter with God, it comes in response to us seeking God.
00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:29.519
Look at what it says in verse 12.
00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:45.519
Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.
00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:49.279
Daniel is in exile.
00:07:49.600 --> 00:08:02.240
He's in exile, he's living a life apart from his homeland, a place that is foreign, where his culture is not prevalent, where his faith in God is not respected.
00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:06.399
It's a strange, distant, weird place.
00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:16.639
And as I've said on occasion throughout this series, that we as followers of Christ should never feel too comfortable here in this world.
00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:23.920
We should always feel a little bit of a sense of discomfort because we know that this is not our true home at the end of the day.
00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:28.800
And Daniel here is in exile and he is seeking God.
00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:38.720
It says that he set his mind to gain understanding and to humble himself, and that he was speaking to God and that his words were heard.
00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:46.639
And this messenger appears to Daniel and communicates to Daniel the presence of God.
00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:52.000
Now, there is some debate about the exact identity of this messenger that's talked about.
00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:59.679
Some would say that this is Jesus himself before the incarnation, an appearance of the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ.
00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:02.720
Others might say, no, that's too far.
00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:07.200
This is an angel of some kind that's delivering a message from God.
00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:18.480
Regardless of the exact identity of the messenger, the point is that Daniel here encounters God's presence through this messenger.
00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:24.320
This messenger comes from God and communicates something of God's presence to Daniel.
00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:28.399
You see, God can mediate his presence to us in a variety of ways.
00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:32.399
God can communicate presence to us in all kinds of ways.
00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:37.679
God communicates his presence through his written word, the scriptures.
00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:42.879
It's been said that if you want to hear the audible voice of God, read the Bible out loud.
00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:51.279
God communicates his presence to us amongst his people when we are gathered with the fellowship of other believers.
00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:59.440
Physical, in-person presence is an important way that the presence of God can be mediated to us.
00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:06.159
God can mediate his presence to us when we take communion, the bread and the cup, which we do the first Sunday of each month.
00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:10.720
It's a way that we are reminded and nourished and strengthened by God's presence.
00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:17.360
God can mediate, can deliver his presence to us directly when we pray, when we seek him.
00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:26.879
Here Daniel had been seeking God, and in response to that, God's presence appeared to him.
00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:34.639
Now, in some sense, whenever we seek God, the fact that we seek him is actually a gift from him.
00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:42.960
Jesus says in the Gospel of John, chapter 6, no one can come to me unless the Father draws them.
00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:47.519
So God is at work drawing people to himself.
00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:57.039
God has not left us in a state of isolation and rebellion, but God is at work drawing people to himself.
00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:02.399
Of our own initiative, we would go our own direction and not seek God.
00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:07.039
God is reaching out, God is seeking after lost sinners.
00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:09.679
But nonetheless, we have to respond.
00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:13.120
We have to respond to God's invitation.
00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:23.039
And throughout Scripture, we see that God invites us to seek Him, and when we seek Him, we will find Him.
00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:32.879
God says in Jeremiah chapter 29, verse 13, you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:40.399
Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God.
00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:41.120
Why?
00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:50.559
Because anyone who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that God rewards those who earnestly seek him.
00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:57.679
The writer to the Hebrews tells us that God rewards those who earnestly seek him.
00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:12.080
In other words, this is not simply a one-time quick casual prayer, but a life dedicated to, devoted to pursuing the presence of God.
00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:15.759
Now, in one sense, of course, God is everywhere.
00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:19.279
There is nowhere we can go where God isn't there.
00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:22.320
In that general sense, yes, God is everywhere.
00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:33.600
But God can mediate, bring his presence to us in a uniquely powerful way in response to us seeking Him.
00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:38.480
When we seek God, it's always in the context of His grace and His enablement.
00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:42.159
But nonetheless, we must seek after Him.
00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:50.639
Has there ever been something that you have wanted and you refuse to give up on it until you found it?
00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:53.840
There might have been something like that in your life.
00:12:54.080 --> 00:13:11.679
Many years ago, I worked at an elementary school, and it was the end of the school year, and they were getting rid of a lot of stuff from the school year, and uh some of the students had brought some old snacks, brought some snacks to school that they'd left there.
00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:19.519
And so they were throwing away all these old snacks, and there was this one box of something that looked kind of interesting, and one of the teachers said, Hey Eric, do you want to try this?
00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:20.799
I said, Sure.
00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:24.000
I tried it, I was hooked.
00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:34.080
It was some kind of a little caramel waffle with this caramel syrup in the middle of it, little like candy thing.
00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:36.960
I'd never had one before, but it was amazing.
00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:41.200
Unfortunately, there was only one left in that box.
00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:43.440
That kid had eaten all the rest of them.
00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:44.559
So I tried one.
00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:46.320
I said, This is amazing.
00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:51.039
And then I discovered they are not easy to come by.
00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:55.120
They're actually a Dutch specialty that is imported.
00:13:55.440 --> 00:14:00.000
I don't know where this kid got this, and school was out for the summer, so I mean I couldn't ask them.
00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:05.039
Thought it'd be a little weird if I called his house and asked his parents, hey, where'd you get those?
00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:09.519
So anytime I went to a grocery store, I looked around.
00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:11.120
I asked if they had these.
00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:12.720
Nobody had them.
00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:14.240
I looked online.
00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:21.600
I could buy them for great cost, imported, but I was having trouble finding them anywhere.
00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:28.960
Finally, I went to enough grocery stores that I finally found one grocery store that actually had them.
00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:37.360
And I bought several of them, enough to last me quite a while, because I didn't know when I was going to get my hands on this treat again.
00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:43.440
I finally found what I was looking for, but it didn't come the first time that I went looking for it.
00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:46.080
I had to search it out, seek after it.
00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:53.360
And the intensity of my search showed how much I loved them and how much I wanted to find these little candies.
00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:58.320
The things that we search for reveal what we truly love.
00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:05.519
The things that we set ourselves to find reveal what's most important to us.
00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:14.879
And God asks us to seek him, and he does that because the act of seeking him has a way of orienting our hearts toward him.
00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:30.720
That when we seek after him in prayer, when we seek after him through studying scripture, when we seek after him through fellowship with other Christians, it has a way of orienting ourselves to God and reminding us of what is truly important.
00:15:32.159 --> 00:15:44.000
Because in the search for those little treats, there were a lot of other things I could have been doing that I didn't do because I was devoting myself to looking for that candy.
00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:51.360
And when we seek after God, things that are of lesser importance to us fall by the wayside.
00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:57.200
And our hearts are oriented toward the one true God.
00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:00.080
We tend to find what we seek after.
00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:06.720
Perhaps you feel that maybe your life is not as rich with the presence of God as you would like.
00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:11.919
I ask you to consider the question: how earnestly have you been seeking after him?
00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:17.120
Have you been praying to God, asking him to reveal himself?
00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:23.519
Have you been putting yourselves in context with other Christians where God reveals himself most naturally?
00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:26.720
Are you seeking after God?
00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:35.759
Daniel here had a true encounter with God, and that encounter came in response to Daniel seeking God.
00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:40.960
If you want more of God, seek after him.
00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:47.600
True encounter with God comes in response to us seeking him.
00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:52.720
A true encounter with God, we also see from this passage, gives us strength.
00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:58.879
A true encounter with God will give us a kind of strength we cannot get anywhere else.
00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:01.200
Are you feeling weak?
00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:02.799
Are you feeling weary?
00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:03.759
Tired?
00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:06.799
This passage is for you.
00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:09.680
It says verse 18.
00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:17.039
The one who looked like a man touched me, that is Daniel, and gave me strength.
00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:21.119
Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed, he said.
00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:22.160
Peace.
00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:25.599
Be strong now, be strong.
00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:33.039
When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, Speak, my Lord, since you have given me strength.
00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:40.400
When Daniel had an encounter with God, it gave him a kind of strength that came from outside of himself.
00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:52.720
Now, ironically, the reason Daniel needed to be strengthened in the first place was partly because the encounter with God was so overwhelming that it actually left him feeling weak.
00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:57.920
Says in verse 16.
00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:01.759
Verse 15, that he was speechless.
00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:05.039
He bowed with his face toward the ground.
00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:10.720
Verse 16, he said, I am overcome with anguish and I feel very weak.
00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:21.039
And when people initially encounter God in Scripture, the consistent response is actually one of feeling weak and overwhelmed.
00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:28.160
In the book of Isaiah, we have a record of Isaiah encountering a vision of God's holiness.
00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:32.720
And when Isaiah doesn't meet, when Isaiah meets God, it's not a casual encounter.
00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:34.480
He doesn't say, Hey, what's up, God?
00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:35.359
How are you doing?
00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:36.720
Good to see you, God.
00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:42.000
He says in Isaiah chapter 6, verse 5, Woe is me, I am ruined.
00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:51.440
I'm a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.
00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:59.839
Kevin Zuber says that being intimate with God does not mean being casual with God.
00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:04.799
Being intimate with God does not mean being casual.
00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:09.759
And encounters with God are intimate, but they are not casual.
00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:29.519
Because God in his holiness is so much greater than we are, so much powerful, more powerful than we are, that when we encounter God, the natural response is actually an awareness of our own weakness, a realization of our own sin, and an acknowledgement that we could never come to him apart from his grace.
00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:32.559
The vision in Isaiah 6 continues.
00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:37.039
And Isaiah is told, your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.
00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:45.759
And we come into the presence of God and find strength because of the finished work of Christ on the cross for us.
00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:54.000
Isaiah wasn't able to stand in the presence of God apart from the forgiveness and the empowerment that God offers.
00:19:54.240 --> 00:20:00.960
Daniel wasn't able to stand in the presence of God until he had been strengthened in order to be able to do so.
00:20:01.839 --> 00:20:15.599
And so encountering God on the one hand, it humbles us, it kicks our ego down a notch, knocks us off kilter a little bit, helps us realize that maybe we're not all that after all.
00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:21.759
It humbles us, and yet it also uplifts us.
00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:26.799
An encounter with God humbles us, but it also dignifies us and strengthens us.
00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:30.480
And that's what happened to Daniel.
00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:42.480
He encountered the holiness of God and realized his own limitations, but then he was strengthened by the power of God and he received a new strength to stand and to move forward.
00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:45.839
You might be feeling weak this morning.
00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:49.279
Not just this morning, you might be feeling weak, period.
00:20:50.160 --> 00:21:01.359
Weak in your soul, weak in your spirit, weary from life, from disappointment, from sadness, from grief, heartache, the burdens that you're trying to carry.
00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:07.119
A fresh encounter with God is a way to receive strength.
00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:14.000
But ironically, sometimes when we encounter God, he's got to humble us before he can strengthen us.
00:21:14.799 --> 00:21:22.079
He's got to humble us, bring us to an end of ourselves, and make us realize that we can't do it on our own.
00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:26.559
And then once he humbles us, we're fit to be strengthened.
00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:34.799
Are you operating in your own strength or in the strength that comes outside of yourself?
00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:42.000
I was helping somebody move many years ago, which I don't recommend, by the way.
00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:50.960
I was helping somebody move, and there was a big old mattress that me and one other person were trying to carry, and you know, it looked fairly light.
00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:52.559
It was deceptive.
00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:59.680
We picked this mattress up off this truck, and me and this other guy were carrying it, and we realized pretty quickly we were not going.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:02.480
To be able to bear the weight of this ourselves.
00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:08.319
It's frankly a little embarrassing, though, to, you know, just drop it on the yard and say, nope, can't do this.
00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:22.640
We struggled along, struggled along, trying to get it across the yard, up through the front door, and a couple others saw that we were struggling and kindly came to our help and lifted it up, and we were able to get it across.
00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:31.039
We needed some strength that went beyond ourselves, but we were a little too proud to admit it.
00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:36.559
We need a strength from God that goes beyond our own strength.
00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:48.079
And when we can humble ourselves and admit our need for God's grace, that is when we're in a position to be strengthened and to be used for his glory.
00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:55.519
When Daniel encountered God, it came in response to Daniel seeking God.
00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:00.240
When Daniel encountered God, it gave him strength.
00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:11.519
And then, third and finally, we see in this text that when Daniel encountered God, it gave him insight into spiritual warfare.
00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:20.559
And when we encounter God, it gives us insight into the reality of spiritual warfare.
00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:27.119
When we come into contact with God, we begin to see behind the scenes.
00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:30.319
We see that there's more to life than just the material.
00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:34.400
There's more to be seen than what the eyes can see.
00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:40.720
There are spiritual realities about life with which we have to deal.
00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:44.640
Realities that go beyond what we can see physically.
00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:51.759
And here the messenger gives Daniel a glimpse in the spiritual warfare taking place behind the scenes.
00:23:52.160 --> 00:24:00.000
Says in verse 13 that there was a struggle going on for this messenger to be able to come to Daniel.
00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:03.920
He says, the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me 21 days.
00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:10.960
Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me because I was detained there with the king of Persia.
00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:18.319
In other words, this messenger says, Daniel, I was trying to come to you and deliver a vision to you.
00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:25.359
And yet there was a battle going on in the heavenly realms, and I was prevented initially from getting here.
00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:28.400
Michael, we've seen, is one of the angels.
00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:38.319
And it says that there was a prince of the Persian kingdom, likely some kind of evil angel or demon or something like that.
00:24:38.559 --> 00:24:46.319
And it says that Michael, one of the angels, came and assisted, and there was a battle going on in the heavens.
00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:54.720
Daniel receiving a message from God was something that happened on the other side of a struggle, of a battle.
00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:06.319
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus describes people as always seen but never perceiving.
00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:09.119
Always seen but never perceiving.
00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:13.200
There is a way to have 20-20 vision and yet be completely blind.
00:25:13.599 --> 00:25:20.960
And people who don't follow Christ often aren't aware that there is more to the world than what meets the eyes.
00:25:21.119 --> 00:25:24.079
There are spiritual realities to life.
00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:30.559
When a person comes to faith in Christ, there's a sudden awareness of new spiritual realities.
00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:35.279
But even as Christians, sometimes we can functionally live like atheists.
00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:38.960
We can live as if the only thing that's real is what we can see.
00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:45.039
When we encounter God, though, we began to see spiritual realities behind the scenes.
00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:52.160
As a kid, of course, I was into all kinds of classic superhero stories.
00:25:52.400 --> 00:26:02.319
Have you ever noticed that every superhero story has a showdown between a hero and a villain.
00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:05.519
The forces of good and the forces of evil.
00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:08.319
Batman versus the Joker.
00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:11.279
Spider-Man versus the Green Goblin.
00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:14.240
Superman versus Lex Luther.
00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:19.839
A cosmic showdown between the forces of good and the forces of evil.
00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:24.000
And that kind of a story seems to appeal to people.
00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:28.960
Superheroes, superhero movies are popular, not just with kids, but with adults too.
00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:40.319
It seems to appeal to an intuitive sense, perhaps we have, that there is a real struggle going on in the world.
00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:43.599
An intuitive sense we have, but don't always live in light of.
00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:50.720
An intuitive sense that perhaps we're aware of, but not fully living in light of.
00:26:51.759 --> 00:26:54.880
Listen to what Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12 says.
00:26:55.119 --> 00:27:07.599
The Apostle Paul says, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:15.680
When we become followers of Christ, we become part of a greater cosmic battle.
00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:21.039
When we become followers of Christ, we've picked a side.
00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:26.640
We've sided with Christ and against the enemy and his schemes.
00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:37.839
And what this means is that in our Christian lives, you know, our acts of obedience or disobedience, those aren't simply choices between chocolate and vanilla ice cream.
00:27:38.400 --> 00:27:46.720
When we choose to obey God or when we choose to disobey God, we are actually taking sides in spiritual warfare that is going on.
00:27:47.200 --> 00:28:03.680
When we commit ourselves to being part of the mission of God and we love others the way Christ calls us to, and share the gospel with others as Christ calls us to, we are taking a side, and there are spiritual forces that we cannot see, but that are trying to oppose us.
00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:11.599
If you are seeking to follow Christ, you are part of a spiritual battle.
00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:15.440
We know the end of the story.
00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:16.799
We know that God wins.
00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:18.559
Read the book of Revelation.
00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:21.759
It's not even a close battle, okay?
00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:28.160
I don't want to imply here that God is somehow trying to win, but he's so incapacitated and so weak that he can't.
00:28:28.400 --> 00:28:29.119
No, no.
00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:34.319
God can do as he pleases, and the victory is secure.
00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:49.680
But here in this time period before the second coming of Christ, there is this battle going on, and God allows Satan to be on a pretty long leash, even though Satan ultimately will be defeated.
00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:52.480
And we are part of the battle.
00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:59.920
And the day-to-day choices that we make about following Christ are part of that battle as well.
00:29:01.359 --> 00:29:06.799
And when we seek after God, it gives us insight into this battle.
00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:18.319
It gives us insight into the fact that we need to align ourselves with Christ and against the forces of the evil one who would oppose us.
00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:23.039
Seeking God is the way that we engage in spiritual battle.
00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:28.000
Seeking God is the way that we become aware of the spiritual battle.
00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:32.240
We might think that whether or not we follow Christ is inconsequential.
00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:37.680
But when we understand the battle, we realize that it's massively consequential.
00:29:38.720 --> 00:29:40.960
I like what Louis Giglio says.
00:29:41.200 --> 00:29:47.920
He says this to know, to truly know God, you have to learn to linger with him.
00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:55.839
Lingering with the Almighty is the very best defense against the enemy who's trying to get at your table.
00:29:56.079 --> 00:30:00.240
You stop looking at the enemy and you start looking at God.
00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:05.519
To truly know God, you have to linger with him.
00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:08.000
It can't be a quick high and buy.
00:30:08.160 --> 00:30:10.160
You have to spend time in his presence.
00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:14.640
Lingering with God is the best defense against the enemy.
00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:20.079
Satan hates it when you pursue God, and that is all the more reason to do so.
00:30:20.559 --> 00:30:26.400
There will be spiritual battle, there will be opposition, there will be hostility.
00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:34.319
When we encounter God, it strengthens us for the mission and it gives us insight into the stakes.
00:30:34.559 --> 00:30:46.400
It makes us realize that there is a spiritual battle going on, and we are called to follow Christ and live out his purposes in the world and further his kingdom.
00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:50.160
Encountering God.
00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:55.519
Who have you encountered in life and it left you changed?
00:30:55.920 --> 00:31:00.160
Daniel encountered the one true God and it changed him.
00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:05.519
When Daniel encountered God, it happened as a result of him seeking God.
00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:10.000
Daniel encountered God, it gave him strength.
00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:14.640
And when Daniel encountered God, it gave him insight into spiritual warfare.
00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:19.039
Are you seeking God that you might know him?
00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:24.400
Are you receiving strength from God when you encounter him?
00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:33.359
And are you growing in your understanding of spiritual warfare so that you can do your part to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ?
00:31:34.640 --> 00:31:38.640
I like an analogy here that author William Hendricks gives.
00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:41.119
He talks about the movie Jurassic Park.
00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:42.640
Some of you may have seen this movie.
00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:45.440
It came out when I was a young kid and I tried to watch it.
00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:46.960
It was too scary.
00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:51.119
I was little, I might still be too scared, I don't know.
00:31:51.440 --> 00:32:02.079
But in this movie, in Jurassic Park, scientists are able to clone dinosaurs from fossils, able to take old DNA of extinct dinosaurs and bring them back to life.
00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:05.039
The extinct dinosaurs come to life.
00:32:05.359 --> 00:32:17.599
And there's a moment in the movie when there's a paleontologist, someone who's been studying dinosaur fossils his entire life, and he actually encounters a real-life dinosaur.
00:32:17.680 --> 00:32:19.599
And he's shocked and he's horrified.
00:32:19.759 --> 00:32:21.920
His whole life he's been studying the fossils.
00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:32.319
He's been looking at drawings of dinosaurs, reading about them, but then he actually encounters an alive dinosaur and he's terrified and it completely undoes him.
00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:39.759
William Hendrick says that for many Christians, their encounter with God is a little bit like studying fossils.
00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:46.480
They study the records of something that happened in the past, but never experience him in the present.
00:32:46.880 --> 00:32:50.640
They study fossils of people who walked with God.
00:32:50.799 --> 00:32:54.319
They read books about people who walked with God.
00:32:54.480 --> 00:33:01.920
They're even perhaps around people who have encountered with God, and yet it's all like a paleontologist studying dinosaur fossils.
00:33:02.160 --> 00:33:04.720
The real living thing just isn't there.
00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:09.279
Is that your Christian life?
00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:17.359
Are you studying fossils or have you encountered the real living reality of who God is?
00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:22.799
Are you living a fossilized faith, or is your faith living and active?
