Spiritual Warfare by Keith Malcomson

will you please uh turn in your bibles with me again to the book of daniel and we are going to daniel chapter 10 here tonight we're going to daniel chapter 10 and this is our 11th message our series is the heavens rule taken from daniel chapter 4 verse 26 and it says there the heavens too rule i hope you're persuaded by this point in this bible study series i hope you're fully persuaded that the book of daniel is a book for this hour and this time i really hope you've been encouraged strengthen that amidst all the crisis of this hour unbelievable what's going on in our world i pray that this series has helped to keep your eyes fixed on the lord to rest in the knowledge that he is in control and then no matter what happens with politics and world events or even locally in our own society in our job or our families are in our city and town here in limerick and ireland no matter what goes on i hope you realize and you're praying and believing and that you're resting in the knowledge the god in heaven on his throne rules over all powers all principalities all kings and all institutions god is going to get a testimony in this r i want you to be fully persuaded but here tonight please turn with me to daniel chapter 10 and we're going to read here on my message tonight is spiritual warfare spiritual warfare reading from daniel chapter 10 and verse 1. in the third year of cyrus king of persia a thing was revealed onto daniel whose name was called beltashazar and the thing was true but the time appointed was long and he understood the thing and had understanding of the vision in those days i daniel was mourning three full weeks i ate no pleasant bread neither click came flesh nor wine in my mouth neither did i not anoint myself at all till three whole weeks were fulfilled and in the fourth and twentieth day of the first month as i was beside the great river which is hedekai then i lifted up mine eyes and looked and behold a certain man clothed in linen whose loins were guarded with fine gold of euphase his body was also like the barrel and his face as the appearance of lightning and his eyes as lamps of fire and his arms and his feet like in color to polish brass and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude and i daniel alone saw the vision for the men that were with me sought not the vision but a great quake and fell upon them so that they fled to hide themselves therefore i was left alone and saw this great vision and there remained no strength in me for my calmlyness was turned in me into corruption and i retained new strength yet heard i the voice of his words and when i heard the voice of his words then was i in a deep sleep on my face on my and my face towards the ground and behold and hand touch me which set me up upon my knees and upon my palms of my hand and he said unto me oh daniel a man greatly beloved understand the words that i speak unto thee and stand upright for unto thee am i now sent and when he had spoken this word unto me i stood trembling then said he unto me fear not daniel for from the first day that thou did set thine heart to understand and the chastened thyself before thy god thy words were heard and i am come for thy words but the prince of the kingdom of persia withstood me one on 20 days but lo michael one of the chief princes came to help me and i remained there with the king of persia now i am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days for yet the vision is for many days and when he had spoken such words onto me i set my face towards the ground and i became dumb and behold one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips then i opened my mouth and spake and i said unto him that stood before me oh my lord by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me and i have retained no strength for how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord for as for me straight way there remain no strength in me neither is there breads breath left in me then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man and he strengthened me and said oh man greatly beloved fear not peace be unto thee be strong he be strong and when he had spoken unto me i was strengthened and said let my lord speak for thou strengthened me then said he newest thou wherefore i am come unto thee and now will i return to fight with the prince of persia and when i am gone forth lou the prince of gracia shall come but i will show thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth and there is none that holdeth with me in these things but michael your prince can we pray here together as we come to this final bible study here tonight part 11 spiritual warfare father i do pray that you strengthen us even as we're in this bible study no matter what the warfare is against us personally individually as a church or your church scattered across the world in this 21st century father i pray that the very preaching of your word is going to put strength in individuals as they listen the word of god you're going to set them upon their faith lord god while some may tremble others are going to be strengthened father i do pray that you minister from your throne that you'd send your angels your ministering angels which are flames of fire my god would you minister under your church in this hour we know there's a war raging on the earth but we also know there is a warfare region in the heavenlies above us and my god it's gonna decide the fate of nations and the peoples and of this generation we pray we join ourselves to the throne of god and we pray let your kingdom come let your will be done on earth even as it is in heaven we pray oh god let that which is bound in heaven be bound on earth and not which is loosed in heaven be loosed upon the earth that your name might be glorified alone we give thanks to you lord jesus as our savior and our redeemer thank you for the blood of jesus christ amen amen amen our message here tonight from daniel chapter 10 and i hope you realize why i'm calling this the name it is spiritual warfare you see i believe the theme of daniel 10 is spiritual warfare the holy spirit has drawn back the curtain he is revealing what is going on in the unseen realm we know what's happening on the earth we know what's happened in nations and kingdoms we've seen what's been happening down through these chapters but this chapter 10 is unique in the book of daniel it is unique in the old testament it is unique in the entire bible it is one of a few chapters in the bible that draw back the curtain of the unseen world and give us such remarkable insight to what actually is happening most of us never get to catch a glimpse of this with our naked eye or even through dreams or visions or through special revelations but you know what the bible the word of god reveals what is happening in the unseen realm it reveals to us and we can believe it we can know what is happening and we can even be a part of that unseen realm the warfare that is going on when we do what the bible says as we continue to look at the rise and the false of kingdoms and how god's plan works out in the midst of that we come to this 10th chapter we only have another two chapters in daniel to actually look at and this is daniel chapter 10. read with me here in verse one as we look at this bible study in verse one it says in the third year of cyrus the king of persia a thing was revealed unto daniel whose name was called belteshazzar and the thing was true but the time appointed was long and he understood the thing and had understanding of the vision now i want you to notice here verse one sets the whole trend for this entire chapter first to begin to understand it and in fact this verse sets us on a course for the next three chapters it actually mentions three times here in verse one the word thing and please don't ignore that here tonight the word thing is used three times in this one verse as we go into looking at spiritual warfare here tonight the word thing means a matter a thing spoken about or a actual course cause that's what a thing is and notice as well he talks about not only the thing but the vision you say i believe the thing was the vision that this thing mentioned three times in verse one is actually a vision that the lord reveals unto daniel and look what he says about this thing in verse 1. he says the thing was revealed notice god revealed it onto daniel this thing this spoken thing this vision was revealed unto daniel this is a vision being given by god unto daniel you cannot choose visions you you cannot create visions you cannot create create out of your own spirit and mind the church is filled with that and it comes to nothing but notice this was a thing or a vision revealed unto daniel it didn't come out of daniel's heart or out of his spirit or out of his mind it was a thing that came from heaven it was god revealing this thing on to daniel notice also it said this thing was true it was not only revealed but it was true when something is revealed by god it is true it cannot be a lie it will not fail it is not a deception every thing that god reveals will come to pass the third thing it says here is that daniel understood the thing or understood the vision in other words there are other visions and it says that daniel didn't understand the angel had to reveal it onto him or the lord had a given understanding but this thing revealed here in chapter 10 and verse one this thing it was not only revealed it was not only true or trustworthy it was actually understood daniel understood it he didn't need to be informed about it he had clarity about it a nervous thing it is the single pronoun now that that means it's singular it's not plural in other words this thing is a unity this vision is one there is a oneness here there is a complete vision there are many details that we're going to look at in this vision but it is one vision it is unified together there are many facts many details many persons many kings there are different nations there are events that are laid out over many generations and yet it is one condensed whole it is not many and i want you to note here this is the fourth of daniel's visions he had four visions and this is the last and the fourth one we've already looked at the other three do you remember what the three previous visions were the first vision we saw in daniel chapter 7 and it was the four beasts to come up out of the sea the second vision is found in daniel chapter 8 of the ram and the goat and the warfare between medo persia and the grecian empire then last week we looked at the third vision in daniel chapter 9 about the 70 weeks the prophecy that took us all the way down to messiah the destruction of jerusalem and then there's our last seven year period just at the very end of time before jesus returns to reign on the earth so those were three visions what remarkable visions daniel has had but notice here this is the fourth vision that we are beginning to look at and in fact the vision that we start to look at here tonight all of chapter 10 is just the context of the vision the vision is contained in chapter 11 and chapter 12 and we're going to look at it at least in the next couple of weeks not tonight we won't get as far as the vision but all i'm doing is laying out the context because you need to understand this before we look at the details of the vision but it was a singular vision and it fills two entire chapters of daniel it is the fourth and last vision it is the last two chapters of daniel is taken up with us and i want you to notice all four visions were given to daniel when he was in his 70s and 80s notice something else here concerning this vision it says the thing was true or the vision was true or the revelation was true but the time appointed was long can i just say just because the time is long doesn't mean it's not true and that's what it's saying here the time appointed was long but it was true the time appointed for the vision or the thing or the word or the revelation from god it was long the time was appointed was long and it was under the control of god but it was true and can i tell you if god ever reveals something to you you better hunker down and get ready because one of the great trials is time or a delay when there's a delay it's a testing time now look a bit closer here in this verse the time appointed was long do you realize in the hebrew here the word time appointed is one hebrew word listen very carefully listen to what time appointed means it's not just one about a length of time no it doesn't it means more than that listen to what the hebrew means it means a great gathering of soldiers an army organized and marching out to war i'm telling you the hebrew meaning of the one hebrew word it means soldiers prepared for a long military campaign it means to be a long warfare involving conflict hardship and suffering this is what this means so notice about this vision or this word that's going to be revealed the last vision of daniel do you know what the lord tells them nathaniel listen carefully the warfare surrounding this vision it is going to be like a massive army of organized soldiers gathering together against it it's going to involve to bring forth this vision to fulfill it to bring it to pass you know what it's gonna mean being in a great long hard warfare since most people never see the will of god come to pass because they're not prepared for the warfare most people don't get answers to prayer because they are not prepared for the warfare no most young guys don't hang along around long enough in the church and stay sanctified to find and the right girl sent to that church for them do you hear what i'm saying here tonight there is a warfare when god begins to reveal things there is a warfare and you know what i believe this is a warfare that comes against the fulfilling of it it comes to oppose it it will come against your prayer life it will come against you to move you from your position and so we say from verse one we see all the way through this chapter it's a chapter about spiritual warfare a warfare that you don't see a warfare we usually don't consider or think about but it's a very real warfare we're caught up in the visions we are caught up in the prophecies we are caught up in the dreams we are caught up in the words from the lord that's what gets us excited and yet we don't get excited about the warfare when the warfare comes we go what's happening here we begin to die we begin to fear we begin to ask questions now listen in daniel chapter 10 what was the context of it it says in the third year of cyrus the king of persia a thing was revealed unto daniel in other words this come this happened all of daniel 10 happened at a very precise time the third year of king of king cyrus of persia it's given us the time for a very specific reason do you realize it's two years ah now since what we dealt with last week in daniel chapter nine it's two years you remember last week the 70 weeks the vision of the 70 weeks was the first year of darius the maid not the third year of cyrus and their time frames work together and that's very important because you're going to see what the battle is what the warfare is here tonight you see two years previously gabriel revealed about the 70 weeks to daniel now here two years later is another revelation and something has happened do you remember last time i told you two years previous that cyrus gave the commandment for the jews to begin to return to jerusalem do you remember that that's what happened now two years later we actually read here that daniel in this chapter receiving this revelation he is in mourning for three weeks he is grieving why is he grieving do you know when it says that he is grieving he is burdened he is crying he is in distress why is he in distress in this third year of king cyrus i believe we have information of why he is in mourning why he isn't eating why he's fasting why he's praying why there's a spiritual warfare on why it seems there's a great army that has joined together against the vision you see i believe this chapter begins to reveal the true spiritual warfare for god having his way in his people what was happening it's two years since 47 000 jews first left babylon all excited under the command of cyrus the great to return to jerusalem to begin rebuilding the temple do you remember how daniel had been praying for this he said it's time and as he prayed cyrus has moved to make the command and they make the journey back to jerusalem and two years before chapter 10 they begin to rebuild if you were to go to the book of ezra you get the story of it in ezra chapter 2 they begin to raise up the altar again it's been gone for 50 years but they begin to raise up the altar where the blood sacrifices can be made once again the first time in 50 years they also lay the foundation for the temple and it's very important foundations are vital they didn't start with the temple they laid the foundation and as all those thousands of genuine believers who were rejoicing some were rejoicing some were cram you see some there could remember what the old temple looked like there were some that were older than 50 maybe 70 years old and they say i remember and they wept and the and the rejoicing and the weeping joined together as the people of god seen the foundation go down but ezra doesn't stop there you see they laid the foundation but then they began to get opposed the samaritans come in and try to join with them and when they said no we won't join with have big samaritans we'll build alone then the samaritans begin to come against them listen it says in ezra chapter four that the samaritan's hard counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of king cyrus of persia do you hear what i'm saying this is the third year cyrus initiated it in his first year daniel is praying saying praise god 47 000 are going back to jerusalem we are going to see the house of god built after only two years the entire work comes to a standstill it stops and there's nothing but opposition the people of god get discouraged they stop building they stop working they stop dreaming they lost all all of the energy and strength and you know what all of the tools go down the work stops and the people of god only start working on their own house they forget about god's house they forget about why they went back to jerusalem and they settled on for a period of 16 years 16 years of discouragement 16 years of not moving forward 16 years of opposition by the enemy and you know what this is the third year of cyrus two years of work and it was wonderful but in this third year the entire work of god stopped do you understand now the context of daniel chapter 10 here do you understand the spiritual warfare do you understand why this man is mourning this man of god oh yes there's people back in the land but very few most of them are still in babylon yes the foundation is laid but the house of god is going to stop do you realize that daniel is hearing the reports of this the work of god has stopped he must have asked himself why is this why is it when this was god's plan there's prophecies about this this is the will of god i prayed through why is the entire work of god come to a standstill and nothing is happening since i'm pulling back the cover tonight and i'm showing you how prophecy fits into society and into our world and into nations and into what's happening right at this very time do you realize there's a warfare going on do you realize something is hindering the people of god and yet god is perfectly you know that the temple is rebuilt for the 70th year of them departing from the time that the temple was destroyed you realize that amidst all of the delays all of the warfare all of the discouragement all of the tiredness all of the forgetting to serve god with all of your heart even all of that god waves into his plan and amidst his spiritual warfare he is going to be there on time since i'm i'm only preparing to warm up here now i'm going to my points here tonight that was just to set the context of it i've just got a few simple points here that i want to show you and i want you to be gripped by this you've seen what we've dealt with already and you're gonna in the two coming weeks we're gonna look at the vision but i'm showing you the spiritual warfare i'm showing you the cost and drawing back the curtain and showing you things that you normally never see about your own life you normally never see about your own prayers you normally never see about why things are being delayed or hindered and and often you have questions and this ought to answer certain questions that you have number one here prayer is spiritual warfare what is spiritual warfare prayer is spiritual warfare in my lifetime over the last three decades and more there has been a flood of strange unusual and biblical teaching about spiritual warfare i would dare say most of those that talk about spiritual warfare don't even know the basics and have no biblical concept of it most of them are caught up in false teachings and feelings that have nothing to do with what the bible says but i want you to say prayer is spiritual warfare in verse two it says in those days i daniel was mourning three full weeks i want you to see that in this three weeks of prayer that he passed through it was a spiritual warfare it was like an army was against him he couldn't see it he didn't know it but he could feel the opposition and it says here he is in mourning three full weeks he is a mourning he is broken he is weeping his heart is grieved you know there's people in the church if you spend three weeks mourning over the condition of the church they'd say just be happy i know preachers who preach um all over this world famous ones and they'll say i don't want you to leave this meeting sad i don't want you to leave here morning you know what it would do us a lot of good if some people left church mourning over their sin or over the condition of our world daniel was three entire weeks morning his heart was breaking it was heavy he felt like weeping continually three entire weeks some people try to make us happy thinking that god only wants us happy do you know god uses a heavy heart do you know god uses mourning do you know when you're at war it's not a laughing time when you're facing the powers of satan it's not something to be laughed at this is a man's business we're going to war and i tell you saints there's a lot of foolishness in the church but daniel was a real man who understood what the spiritual warfare is it is a place of prayer it's a place of intensity you don't always feel like laughing but you go i've got to pray through and touch god daniel knew what spiritual warfare was you know what he knew how to lay a hold of god and not let go until he gets an answer it says in verse three i ate no pleasant bread neither came flesh or wine into my mouth this was a partial fast he didn't stop eating you know he's a man of about 86 years old and there's a lot of old hands say i can't fast anymore i used to do that in my 20s but you know i'm too busy my work's too much for me i'm an old person now i've gotta watch my food here is a man three full weeks his heart is so affected it affects his appetite do you know what if your appetite isn't affected your heart isn't affected spiritually i i promise you when something deeply affects you you can't eat it's not a choice anymore you don't want to eat you don't feel like eating you you lose your natural appetite and look there's nothing wrong with eating pleasant bread or drinking wine which was fruit juice here and i don't have time to go into that and or eat to eat nice meat there was nothing wrong he's a jew but he's eaten meat there was nothing wrong with eating the flesh of an animal but notice he would touch none of these things during this three weeks his heart is so heavy he was on a partial fast it was a decision he made a decision to actually do this you see daniel is a man of prayer we find him in daniel chapter 2 praying as a young man just a young man 19 years old praying all through the night with his three young teenager friends what a remarkable thing that from a young man this is how i live or in daniel chapter 6 we see that it was the normal function of his life to come aside to go into his room open the windows towards jerusalem to get down on his knees and to pray three times a day he was disciplined in prayer prayer was the place of god uncertain so we get to see something about this man and even last week we didn't have time to go into that beautiful prayer of daniel chapter nine if you want to see how daniel prayed read daniel chapter nine verse four to verse 19. it is a remarkable prayer that prayer if you study it it will teach you how to pray that is how you pray since he was a man of prayer it says spiritual warfare has always raged around men and women of prayer if you're a person of prayer if you're someone who wants to pray if you're someone who wants the will of god i promise you you're in a warfare if you want to do anything for god if you are doing anything worthwhile for god there is a spiritual warfare raging around you and i promise you the only way to win spiritual warfare is in the place of prayer that that is the only way daniel actually didn't even anoint himself during this three times you know what he lost all interest here he is a man in one of the most influential political positions in the land but he's lost all interest three full weeks three weeks of days 21 days he is in this condition look at verse four it says where he is and in the fourth and twentieth day of this month as i was by the side of the great river which is hid a kale now this hidden hill is a river tigris it's just north of the city of babylon about 35 miles so it's just north so daniel wasn't in jerusalem neither was he in babylon he is actually by the tigris river where he'd gone with some friends i don't know why he is there but he has been there all through this period of three weeks i believe he's been there and listen we're told the actual date when all of this happens we're told when he is there and concerning that you know passover was the 14th day of nissan here we actually have the time of the fourth and 20th or the 20th for our sorry let me say it again the 24th day of nissan is when daniel came to the end of his three weeks so we have a specific time he's been doing this for three weeks do you realize he was fasting like this 10 days before passover again 10 days after passover what a remarkable thing that hears this man by the river tigress and here he is praying and mourning he's on a partial fast maybe he came aside for this time maybe he was away with some other jewish friends i don't know it doesn't tell us but i assure you there was a set time here he is seeking the lord he doesn't know when god is going to answer but you know what he is there in prayer he has only taken basic nourishment it's still a fast he is still seeking the lord he is still intensely in spiritual warfare he is a man of 86 years old i can remember a few years ago two old preachers sat with candace and me laughing about fast and making jokes saying about brother clinton and still thinks and lives like that but they used to do it in their younger days but they didn't do it anymore god help us when all preachers forget these disciplines basic nourishment nibbling at his food because it says in verse 12 he wanted to chase him himself you know what jason means it means you put your body under you discipline your body fasting or denying yourself i told you before i fasted t for three months you may say that's nothing it's an awful lot for malcolm son i love my tea day in day out three months i said i won't touch that cup of tea some of yous could deny yourself some of you ought to deny yourself some of you don't even know what spiritual warfare is you can't deny your bed you can't deny food and you wonder why you're spiritually defeated i'll tell you why you're spiritually defeated because you don't even know the warfare you're in the devil will trample over your family over your marriage over your own personal life he kicks you at work and he hinders you in ministry and you know what you don't even know how to fight you don't know how to chase in yourself or discipline yourself that's the first thing prayer is the warfare since it's not just finding demons it's not just rebuking some spirit real warfare is getting down to prayer getting down to fasting it is humbling yourself under the hand of god putting yourself in a place a spiritual place it's not feeling happy and nice and contented it is war it is going to war it is going to your knees it is being intensive second of all an angelic visitor notice in the midst of spiritual warfare three weeks of intense prayer and verse five it says then i lifted up my knives and looked and behold a certain man clothed in linen now i want to tell you a lot of commentators and preachers believe that this certain man was a theophany now you say what's a theophany i don't like to use words like this but i always explain it what is the theophany it is in the old testament how god appears in a physical form to men it happened at certain times uh throughout the old testament a theophany some believe that this certain man who appears to daniel here is a phenomena or the angel of the lord or the lord jesus christ before he was born of mary now jesus done that at certain times in the old testament where he revealed himself in a human form or a physical form and he spoke to man we find it in the old testament personally i do not believe this is one of them and i'll tell you why because this certain man this certain person mentioned here in verse 11 it says god sent him in verse 13 he needs help from the angel michael and in verse 21 we're told that he is equal in stature to michael in other words he's on the same level as michael now i want to tell you i don't believe this certain man is the lord jesus christ revealing himself or god revealing himself alludes likenesses and similarities i believe that this is an angel revealing himself to daniel we we already have seen in daniel chapter 8 and verse 15 that the angel gabriel came to daniel and it says there stood before me as the appearance of a man so chapter eight we see gabriel coming to daniel and he looks like a man he looks like a man and in the next verse it calls him gabriel you see we do see that again in daniel chapter 9 where we looked at last week we see the man gabriel coming to daniel you see in the book of daniel in fact in the entire bible we only have two names of angels sent from god only two angels gabriel and michael and both of these angels are named in the book of daniel only in the book of daniel it's remarkable in the old testament daniel is the only place where angels are actually named apart from lucifer who was a fallen angel no the first mention of an angel is in daniel chapter 8 and then he appears again in daniel chapter nine and i believe it's the same gabriel that could be it could be him in chapter 10 here it is most likely remember this is a spiritual warfare the end of three weeks of a partial fast he's mourning for the people of god in jerusalem he's hearing terrible reports he is discouraged why because they are discouraged saints have you ever got discouraged and you're in prayer and and you're maybe they're going oh god i'm so discouraged do you think god ignores that do you think that god is going to turn you aside because you're discouraged or you're feeling down-hearted but you're praying i assure you god cares about it here we have god sending an angel and if it is gabriel what a remarkable thing he comes in chapter 8 in chapter 9 and then here in chapter 10 again but notice what it says behold a certain man clothed in linen look at the description here of this man the angel looks like a man has an appearance of a man he has no wings he's not flying in the air but he looks up and he sees the appearance of a man look at how he's described here he's clothed in linen angels are clothed in linen it's always a symbol of righteousness it says his loins were girded with fine gold of ufas in other words he had a large belt around his waist made of fine gold or pure crystal gold so he's dressed in white is gold around his waist verse six his body also was like the barrel now what is a barrel it it is a gem it's a precious stone and actually it it's it's you can see through it it says his entire body is like a barrel that's what it is literally like his appearance is like translucent light shining through his entire body his face is the appearance of lightning can you imagine when you look on the face and it's like lightning flashing in the entire complexion since this was an angelic visitor coming in the midst of prayer i assure you there is always an angel where there's true spiritual warfare you will never get on your knees and travail in prayer with a broken heart without god sending an angel i am utterly confident about that you may never see it you may never feel it you may never know it but i'm pulling back the cover here to show you daniel got an insight it wasn't always like this in prayer daniel didn't have this every other day he didn't always have this experience but here in chapter 10 the veil is drawn back and daniel is saying that with three weeks of intensive warfare prayer of with a broken heart you know what there's more happening than you could ever imagine this is the appearance of this great angel appearing onto him it also said that his eyes were like lamps of fire and his arms and his feet in color to polished brass they were burning bright and the voice of his words were like the voice of a multitude not like one single man speaking it was like a whole army speaking in unison can you imagine or this angel i'm talking about spiritual warfare saints these are the sorts of angels that are involved in prayer when the saints begin to pray we sing that song when the saints begin to pray pray that the battle is in array then god answers from from heaven i assure you when the saints get down to prayer don't tell me such angels have never been sent to us in the hour of battle over this past seven years don't tell me when all hell was against you and you're there laying a hold of god and you feel nothing you see nothing you say why god aren't you answering you it seems like no answer is gonna come there's no change there's the heavens are silent don't tell me that god doesn't send his angels with an answer from heaven do you know in our generation people believe in ufos ancient aliens they don't believe in god they don't believe in holy spirit they don't believe that jesus died on a cross 2000 years ago they don't believe jesus is coming back they don't believe in angels they don't believe in the devil but they do believe in aliens that's what they do they believe these aliens visited the ancient sumerians and the babylonians and the made of persians and visited all the ancient cultures of grace that's what they believed but they refused to believe in angels i want to tell you the bible gives us the truth it shows us what is actually happening angels can appear as men in fact you could meet an angel and think it's just a man what we're seeing here is an angel revealed in his glory who's been in the warfare who has been waging a warfare for three weeks this angel standing here has been fighting for three weeks in connection with your prayer in connection with your to hear me tonight in connection with your prayer there's an angel being delayed in the heavenlies but he's there because of you he is waging a war he's fighting powers of darkness why because of your prayers because of your prayer saints of god i want to stir you up tonight you may never see an angel in your true whole life you may never have a dream or a vision you may not not have a prophecy revealed unto you but i assure you when the saints go to war in prayer third of all what happens when men encounter angels i've got to deal with this because there's so much of the faults in our generation what happens when men encounter angels look at verse seven what happened to this great man of god and i daniel alone saw the vision for the men that were with me saw not the vision but a great quake and fell upon them and they fled to hide themselves notice here that these men this was a real thing they didn't see the vision they didn't see the thing revealed but they felt something they knew something was happening these other men with daniel they actually so experienced something maybe in that room or by the bank of the river that it says a great quake and fell upon them this was unbelievable you know this great quake and means they tremble they're literally shaken in their boots they are terrified remember on sunday night candace was sharon about george fox and the old quakers and everyone jokes and say they're called the quakers because they waited on the holy spirit and he would move and they'd begin to shake and tremor and then they prophesied there may be a truth enough but that isn't the reason it was because george fox the founder of the quakers he so preached repentance sue preached the horrors of hell he so preached eternal judgment he so preached the need for repentance he's so dealt with sin that sinners used to tremble they literally used to tremble in their boots and they used to repent and get saved that's why they called them the quakers look at these men with daniel when when this begins to happen they don't see the angel they don't see the vision they don't know what's going on but you know what they so quick that they fled and they hid themselves i assure you spiritual warfare is real don't play with it don't you play with spiritual things you could actually begin to touch things and unleash things that you don't realize i want to assure you these men did not realize uh what was going on here but look at verse 8 with daniel therefore i was left alone sometimes in spiritual warfare you've got to be left alone others may flee for their life some might say what is going on here or what what what is happening but i assure you daniel was there left alone and saw this great vision and there remained no strength in me look at this when an angel appears to daniel he saw the angel he saw a man you see in our generation when people see angels they begin to take photographs they begin to laugh they begin to talk about they get excited that never happened in the bible when a man really saw an angel i assure you what happened to daniel here both in the old testament and the new testament strange things happen you cannot have an angel like this appear to you and yet remain the same daniel said that he will he remained with no strength for my calmlyness look at this in mercy my calmlyness or my face was turned in me into corruption in other words his actual appearance of this 86 year old man this man of god and prayer his skin become corrupted in other words he become ugly he become very very repulsive to look on so look at him he loses all of his strength his physical appearance becomes horrible and i retained no strength he become utterly weak it says yet i heard the voice of the words and when i heard the voice of his words then was i in a deep sleep on my face and my face was towards the ground look at daniel here he loses three things in the next verses he loses his strength he loses his speech and then third of all he loses his consciousness an experience of seeing an angel isn't something to be coveted you may say if only i could see an angel go study what happened to men and women who've seen angels or had a vision of christ go study it i assure you they trembled in their boots absolutely in the following verses three times this angel touches daniel in verse 10 verse 16 verse 18 and each time the angel touches him he receives strength something happens i tell you one angel sent from the presence of god if he just touched you on your shoulder immediately strength would come into you i promise you i promise you it is so real here we see a man of god having a real experience with an angel a real face-to-face encounter and you know what there's a lot of foolishness in the church they know nothing about spiritual warfare they know nothing about prayer and they know nothing about angels you know all these glory clouds in churches where it's a fan gone wrong and a bit of dust blowing about the place and they get excited take pictures and post it on facebook and they're laughing and wanting selfies that's not god that's not god don't tell me that's god that's either someone fooling them or something demonic but don't tell me that's god that's not god there's nothing of the holy spirit in that i'm talking about real spiritual experience i'm talking about the unseen realm being revealed to a man of god you know what he is left powerless he is less speechless he is left without any desire of knowing what to do and it says and when he had spoken such words onto me i set my face verse 15 i set my face towards the ground and i became dumb and behold one like the symbol of the sons of men touch my lips then i open my mouth and i speak have you ever had the lord touch your lips where you couldn't preach and you couldn't speak and you couldn't evangelize and you're there in prayer and you're saying oh god help me i'm scared and the lord touches you and instantly you can stand and preach i've had it i didn't see the angel i didn't feel the touch of his hand but i tell you god answered my prayer sometimes we don't realize what's going on sometimes we don't realize what is happening around us we're in a spiritual warfare and prayer and all the time god is answering but we normally do not see this an angel can touch us and release our tongues or touch us and put us back on our feet you know we need more angels putting men back in their feet in the church then people falling down and rolling about laughing i can assure you show me a man that gets on his feet and stands it takes more holy ghost to do that than anything verse 18 and there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man and strengthened me you know what he says in verse 19 to daniel oh man greatly beloved fear not peace be unbelieve be strong ye be strong saints my third point here angels and prayer angels in prayer and it says in verse 10 and behold and hand touch me which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands and he said unto me oh daniel a man greatly beloved do you know what that means it means one delighted and you say god loves everyone yes he does he loves sinners god loves the world that's true but look he says daniel is greatly beloved the word beloved means to leiden one who is pleasant one who is desirable not all sinners are desirable not all sinners are pleasant same in the church not all christians are pleasant you ever met an unpleasant christian i have i have i assure you but daniel was pleasant he was one to be desired and this angel look at the angel comes to answer his prayer man greatly beloved of the lord understand the words that i speak unto you and stand upright listen for unto thee am i now sent do you realize why this angel was sent to daniel do you know the answer that do you know why this angel left heaven's presence the glory of heaven came through three weeks of warfare and stands before daniel do you know why because daniel prayed because daniel prayed why did god send this angel because daniel set his heart to pray he began to go into a partial fast so god sent an angel to answer the prayer i'm talking about angels and prayers angels are connected with our prayer life you may never see them or feel them you may never have this experience but i promise you angels have been activated sent from heaven commissioned to work in limerick city or in other nations because of the prayer this church don't underestimate our prayers as a church intensify our prayers in this day is there a warfare is this a dark hair let's intensify our prayers god help us saints god help us to seek him in this hour do you remember in acts chapter 12 whenever peter was thrown in prison he's going to be killed like james was do you know what it says about the church in acts 12 and 5 it says therefore the prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto god for him what did god do god sent an angel to his prison cell and his chains fell off and the door opened up an angel let him out had it had to smack him to wake him up first some of you so that god would send a smack an angel to waken you up in the middle of the night in order to follow him out of trouble in captivity when the church begins to pray god sends angels to answer prayers isn't this a remarkable thing what else does it say here listen to what the angel says to daniel verse 12 for from the first day that thou did set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy god thy words were heard and i am come forth for thy words the first day saints you say god isn't answering you you say the heavens are brass you say you don't feel anything you you say i'm getting tired and awake and weary i'm discouraged three weeks of being discouraged no answer from heaven god isn't hearing me how do you know how do you know the angel said the first day that you set yourself to pray as soon as you set yourself to pray and began to pray i was sent i was sent 21 days the prayer got delayed how many of you have lost answered prayers or the angel got halfway down and said sure they're back there they're filled with unbelief they've left the place of prayer they've given up they've they've actually told god there's no answer i'm giving up i wonder if the lord called a few angels back home just you come back don't waste your time going there are fighting through for that individual the first day that you set yourself to pray god answers and sends angels but you know what there may be a delay there may be a great warfare there may be suffering there may be great opposition in this 21 days this prayer of daniel would answer you say he was a man of faith a holy man a consecrated man a man with a reputation a man with a history a man who walked with god and yet there was a delay to answer prayer for 21 days god help me if it was delayed for him what about us church pray on i knew in the past year some prayers have been answered in the past year that weren't answered in the previous six years for this church do you understand what i'm saying six years we prayed and those prayers were weren't answered but they were answered they began to be answered that the past year we we could pray and pray and pray and it seems like nothing you don't feel anything you don't see anything you don't know anything you don't understand anything my fourth point here angelic warfare angelic warfare look with me here i'm talking about spiritual warfare prayer is the warfare prayer is the warfare and when prayer comes angels are connected with thought warfare but here this fourth point angelic warfare verse 13 you know i'm not into strange things but i'm telling you what the bible says verse 13 and it says here but the prince of the kingdom of persia was stood me one and 20 days why was prayer delayed why didn't an answer surely god just answers prayer and gives it to you instantly surely god if god was listening to you he would answer immediately not according to this verse in this chapter this reveals that god has ordained certain things not only that men would pray well sure if god gives it to me i don't need a fast and i don't need to pray and i don't need to seek him for three weeks no god has ordained this god works his sovereignty together with man's responsibility but also god sovereignly works with the angelic hosts of satan's kingdom and god's kingdom the angels of lucifer and angels of michael there is angelic warfare on all of this god says this is going to happen go answer his prayers but there is still warfare in the heavenlies since we've got to realize this or you'll be a victim of spiritual warfare you'll walk off the field of prayer utterly discouraged saying it's hopeless i'm not made for this because you don't understand what is going on do not give up keep praying for your family members now notice what this angel says the prince of the kingdom of persia was stood me he opposed me he hindered me he stopped me for 21 days this great angel that we saw described here got hindered for 21 days he couldn't get through but listen michael one of the cheap princes came to help me and i remained there with the kings of persia there are three princes mentioned in the next verses there's the prince of the kingdom of persia there is michael the prince he's the prince of israel in a short bit we say um a prince of greece or of gracia there are three princes mentioned here very clearly now who's this prince of the kingdom of persia notice it again in verse 13 and verse 20 the prince of the kingdom of persia we know what the kingdom of persia is it is a country it is a nationality it is a kingdom it is an empire that that uh rose up in the earth was cyrus the great he was the king of persia you remember he was the king of persia it become a great empire he is the king of persia but this is the prince of persia one prince of persia look at verse 13 as well it talks about the kings of persia the prince of persia is different than the king of kings of persia and notice it says kings of persia not one king but many kings of persia there are many human kings of persia they come one after another for a period of 200 years there's going to be kings of persia for 200 years but there's only one prince of the kingdom of persia who is he he is a fallen angel he is an angel that stands with lucifer as satan this is not satan this is one of the princes of darkness of the fallen world he is a fallen angel one of the third stars that fell was satan he is a rebellious angel or what we call demonic spirits fallen angels are demonic spirits don't let anyone tell you they're different what is a demon that can inhabit someone it is a fallen angel a spirit or the king james calls them all devils they're also called principalities and powers and notice how do i know the prince of persia is a fallen angel well he opposes an angel in the heavenlies for three weeks a man can't do that only an angel can do that he actually opposes a elect angel or a good angel he opposes answered prayer he is hindering daniel he is denying insight to the prophecy you see have you ever said in our world it seems like someone is behind all of this someone you know people out there they think it's saurus or they thought it was obama some of them thought it was trump now many said spiden others say it's klaus schwab others say it was kissinger in the past generation some even think it's prince charles and they say it's these individuals that are pulling all the strings organizing everything do you realize concerning nations and kingdoms and empires and what is happening in god's people on the earth in jerusalem do you realize the real spiritual warfare it is not man it's not flesh and blood it is powers and principalities it is the prince michael it is the prince of persia it is gabriel the angel i assure you there is a warfare behind every adult hitler there's a demonic power behind every mussolini there's a power behind every biden there's a spiritual power and i assure you there was a warfare going on here daniel is praying he says cyrus gave the command for jerusalem to be rebuilt the temple rebuilt and now it's all come to a standstill what's going on daniel don't you realize that there's a spiritual warfare and your battle at 21 day battle is only reflective of a 16 year spiritual warfare that is going on in jerusalem you say oh no i thought you're saying there's only 21 days of warfare sometimes there's 16 years for the body of christ to break through and prevail the people in jerusalem will take 16 years for them to come back to that place where they begin to rebuild and they finish the work 16 years do you not think there was a spiritual warfare there they are in the city opposed by humans by the samaritans by division in their midst they get discouraged but they don't say there's a spiritual warfare daniel began to see where the warfare was but the people in jerusalem it took them 16 years before two prophets came and stirred their hearts to finish the work that began and they finished right on time in god's calendar when it was 70 years since jerusalem had been destroyed you see michael came to help this angel came through the the angel of the kingdom of persia was hindering them you know why it was going to affect the kingdom of persia and he was hindering there there's demonic powers that we have to face but michael one of the cheap princes notice what he's called one of the cheap princes and we're gonna see him before we reach uh the end of daniel again and it says i remained there with the king of persia these are extraordinary things that we are reading in this michael helped this angel and he remained there with the kings of persia he remained there with the kings of persia do you know what that means he got the victory he won a spiritual battle where this angel that was sent is going to prevail and gonna bring forth god's will in these continuing kings saints i want to exhort you i've got so much to say but like always i'm half of my message i've got an awful lot to say about spiritual warfare but maybe we'll deal with that at another time but it says here let me close here tonight in verse 20 then said he noah star wherefore i am come unto thee and i'll return to fight with the prince of persia and when i am gone forth lord the prince of gracia shall come look at this warfare this angel's speaking to daniel here he says we prevail there is a spiritual warfare raging over what persia does and what israel does and what happens with your prayers and what happens with bible prophecy being fulfilled in your generation since there is a warfare going on right now in this generation the 21st generation the 2020s i believe is an hour of great spiritual warfare i believe revelation 12 is going to take place where michael and his angels are fighting satan the lucifer the devil and his angels and they're gonna get cast out of heaven i'm talking about a spiritual warfare that has raged for thousands of years and i want you to know that this angel that left daniel he says when i go back to fight you see these angels are fighting it's real they can't die they can't die but they can be hindered with answers to prayer and he says when i go back and when this battle with the prince of persia is finished lo the prince of gracia shall come the prince of gracia is another angel that is connected to the rising empire of grace under alexander the great i want you to notice that behind every political leader are demonic forces trying to gain control and every time god says thus far and no further i've got a plan i've got to pray in church i've got a purpose of fulfilling the earth you know what he does he restrains the devil he sends his angels there is a hindrance to the powers of darkness oh god help us if the prince of persia would have had his way from cyrus for 200 years what would have happened if the prince of gracia would have been allowed to control alexander the great what would have happened but you know what there was a spiritual warfare and look at this angel 200 years is nothing in this spiritual warfare it rages from generation on to degeneration on degeneration you only think about a few days or a few weeks or at most your lifetime that's all you think about but you know what i believe daniel caught a glimpse of how the plan of god goes from generation to generation right down to the last generation since chapter 10 is the context the backdrop the unseen realm in daniel receiving his fourth and last vision and we're going to teach on it and the two common weeks but my fifth and final point and i'm i'm not even going to go into it here is answered prayer there is a long intensive warfare prayers do get hindered there are real experiences to go through it's not easy there could be a delay of 21 days 16 years or even 200 years but i want to promise you prayer is answered and the angel came to daniel and he says daniel i have come to you to make you understand what shall befall my people in the latter days for the vision is for many days we are in spiritual warfare we are maybe in the greatest spiritual warfare that has ever come to our world when you look at the change from trump to biden and suddenly america changes from being pro-israel to turn into the palestinians and all in one election america goes from opposing iran and a prose in china to suddenly capitulating under biden um and beginning to renounce uh and and begin to give their money again to iran and begin to be sympathetic and come into unity with china don't you realize there's powers behind this we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities and spirits of darkness since we the church are wrestling in prayer we're not immune to this we are right at center stage of what is happening in nations in the fall of kingdoms and the rise of kingdoms and the final fulfillment of bible prophecy we are right at the center of the stage and don't think you you're that you're a little pawn right on the edge of the board that's insignificant and your prayers don't matter what i'm telling you tonight is in this vision your prayers have everything to do with the final fulfillment of bible prophecy and the breaking through in spiritual warfare will you pray with me tonight as we close lift your hands just where you are in your homes hallelujah oh hallelujah my god my god give us a vision tonight that we'll never forget concerning prayer and fasting lord god and waiting for answers from you on what happens on your body in your church when it gets discouraged lord god that we begin to understand where the battle is what the battle is how the battle functions my god that we continue to pray for things when we don't see and we don't fear fail and we don't hear keep praying for our loved ones to get saved for revival in our church and our nations to pray for an outpouring of the spirit for the rebuilding of jerusalem lord god for your by for your will to come to pass on the earth my god we're small we're insignificant and yet we're center stage that power and principality of darkness knows where the praying church is in ireland the powers of darkness know what limerick city church is that it is a church that preaches a word that understands prophecy and is praying for a move of god father i pray strengthen us send your minister and angels to strengthen us that we might speak the word of god and pray until there's an answer in jesus mighty name god bless you tonight may the word of god strengthen you in the spiritual warfare may your eyes be opened tonight as you listen the word of god may you have a whole different perspective of the battle not from your perspective but from god's perspective in the word of god god bless you tonight in jesus name

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Keywords: Revival, Character Of God, Free Sermons, Video Sermons, Jesus Christ, What Is The Gospel, SermonIndex, What Is The Truth, Keith Malcomson

Id: uG9jdxEQl3s

Length: 75min 36sec (4536 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 18 2021