Full Transcript for Daniel 10 - Encountering the Living God

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?