The Battle Is Real

Sometimes in my research for a message, I come across some interesting things. And there were two such times this past week when I was researching for this message. The first one is that I came across a plot summary of a movie from about a decade ago. Now, it's not a movie that I've seen, and it's not a movie that I'm recommending. So everybody take it easy. Because my guess is that it's probably full of lewd and vulgar language, and it probably is incessant along that line, because it's really just one of those stupid comedy kind of things. The name of the movie was Tropic Thunder. Some of you are going, "I'm not going to tell anybody that I've seen that." But nonetheless. So I read a plot summary of this movie that I haven't seen, and that I'm not recommending but here was the plot summary. It was really simple. The people that were in the movie were actors. They were playing actors who had been down on their luck for a bit and weren't having a lot of success recently in any of their films. And so what they did is that took on a role in a big budget high budget war movie, where they were going to be living out or acting out the story of this famous Vietnam veteran who it turns out, none of that was true his story was fake.

But nonetheless, they're going to act this out. So they start the process of shooting the movie, and the producers aren't very happy with how it's going, and so they decide to drop all of the actors in a real jungle, in the middle of wherever, and they're setting up special effects, and they give them machine guns with blank rounds and all that stuff. And so they basically are thinking, "Okay, we're going to put some secret cameras in the jungle, and it's going to figure out like, where, how their real expression should be to all of these things." So they do that, but what these actors don't realize is that they end up actually in a real battle zone with a bunch of drug lords who think that they're going to whatever. And so they're in real firefights, where they are shooting blanks, but they are being fired upon in real ways, and it's ridiculous because they're taking chances and they're doing stupid stuff because they think they're just acting.

Eventually though, when one of them finally gets captured, the rest of them realize, hey, apparently this is real. And so they end up having to try and become the soldiers that they are acting like or playing in this movie. I found that interesting when I read it, and I'll tell you why in just a second. The second piece that I came upon that was reasonably interesting was the transcript of an interview that was on NPR National Public Radio, and it was with a lady named Karen Piper. Now, again, I haven't read the book that she was being interviewed about that she had written, and the name of the book is A Girls Guide to Missiles. I haven't read it, it's not a recommendation. But she wrote this book and was being interviewed, and I read the transcript of the interview and it was interesting because at the age of six years old, she was living on a missile making base, a secret missile making base in the Mojave Desert because her mom and dad made missiles.

This was during the time of the back end of the Vietnam war, and so this little girl who was not allowed to watch much TV because their parents were strict along those lines, realize that eventually that she had been living on a base where they were making missiles for a war that she didn't even know was going on, because she didn't really see the evidence of the war, and she didn't see it so much on television. When I took those two things into consideration that I had come upon when I was researching for this message, it struck me that those two things helped me to actually say in a pretty clear way what we're going to learn and discover when we find ourselves in the book of Daniel in just a few minutes. Basically it's this, it's that even if it doesn't feel like it, and even if we can't see it, the battle we are in is real. Even if we can't feel it, and even if we can't see it, the battle that we're in, is real.

Now, I'm sure that it dawns on us at some point that we find ourselves in a battle that we didn't know we were in. I know that the Scripture is replete with examples of talking to us about the battle or the war that we find ourselves in both in Old Testament, and in New, we see that covered from cover to cover in the scripture itself. But it's only on rare occasions, that we are given an opportunity for the curtain to be open just a little bit, and we get to stick our head in to see some things that are actually going on in realms that are not visible to us, that we don't even understand. And occasionally, we get a chance to peek in behind the curtain and see some of that portion of the battle, like we will when we get to Daniel chapter 10, in a moment. But before we get to Daniel chapter 10, let me pause for a second because I realized that not everybody who is watching whether you're at this campus, or other campuses, or listening online or listening on WDCX, or you're watching the television show, wherever you might find yourself you might go, "You know what? I think I've heard of Daniel, but I'm not really sure exactly who he is."

Let me give you a brief update. Daniel is a young man who was in Israel and got ripped from his home when the Babylonians took over. They took him out to Babylon and Daniel and some of his friends were basically put in front of the king and told that they're going to have to be working for him. Now Daniel maintained his faithfulness to the God that he had learned to serve when he was in Israel, the God of Israel, Yahweh, the one true God. Daniel maintained his faithfulness to him and so to Daniel's friends, but that faithfulness would get tested, because King Nebuchadnezzar who was ruling the Babylonian Kingdom at that time, he ended up making an image of gold and he decreed through the land that everyone had to bow down and worship this image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar had created.

Well, Daniel's friends and certainly Daniel, they weren't having it. They weren't going to do that. You remember the story right? Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Some of you have heard that or if you watch veggie, Veggie Tales Shack, Rack and Benny, if you grew up in that area. The decree was this, that if you don't bow down and worship this image that's made of gold, then you're going to get thrown into a furnace, not a good ending, right? Bow down and worship or get burned to death. It was an awful choice that was to be made but Daniels friends who had remained faithful to God, they weren't going to bow down and they didn't. And so as a result, they were thrown into the furnace, but there was a fourth man in that furnace. And that fourth man in the furnace made sure that they were completely and totally fine. It was almost as if we could say it was a pre incarnate appearance of Jesus who showed up in that furnace alongside of those young men and made sure that they were going to be fine.

In fact, when they came out of the furnace, the Bible says not only were they not burned, they didn't even smell like smoke. Now that's doing something, because if you walk by somebody who's puffing on a Marlboro or a cigar, you smell like that for the rest of the day. And they were in a furnace meant to destroy them, and they came out not even smelling of a whiff of smoke. This was God's doing. Now Daniel, of course, would not have bowed down either, but we don't know where Daniel was when that occurred. You see, Daniel had been promoted to being the chief of all of the wise people in all of Babylon. He was leading that, and so either he was so high ranking because of his promotion, that he wasn't required to bow down or he could have actually been away from Babylon during this time because he might have been on Babylon business in some other nation, because of his rank in the king's court.

Either way, he wouldn't have bowed down and we know that because of what we read later on in Daniel. So they were tested right? But they came through with flying colors. Now, after Nebuchadnezzar died, his son Belshazzar took over. And when Belshazzar took over he threw parties for himself. Kings did that a lot in the ancient world, they had parties for themselves. Everybody else can starve but we're going to eat like kings, right? And so he had a party and at this party where they're having a great time, a hand shows up, you heard me correctly, a hand shows up and begins writing on a wall. Of course, everybody at Belshazzar's party is like, "Dude we drank way too much." There's a hand writing on a wall, but it wasn't because they were drunk, it's because God was writing something there on the wall. They didn't know what it meant.

And so they asked Daniel, because Daniel had an understanding of dreams and visions, like what exactly does this mean? Daniel told them but he broke it down for King Belshazzar and he said, "Basically this, you're going to die tonight." And sure enough, he did. By the hands of the Medes and the Persians or as we call them, the Meadow Persians came in and he was killed and they took over, and now King Darius is in charge. I mean Daniel's having to work through all of these people right? Now King Darius is in charge from the Meadow, Persian Empire, Darius the Mede. And Darius decides because all of his lackeys got around him and told him how awesome he was, and that he's like a God Himself. And they basically said this, we're going to create a decree in all of the land that everyone has to pray to you as if you're a god.

And if they don't, they're going to get thrown into the den of lions. Not a good ending there either. And Daniel's probably thinking, I've seen this movie before. Right? And so he tells everybody that they've got to bow down and they've got to pray to Darius. Well, Daniel, he prayed three times a day, and he would get alone with Yahweh, the God of Israel, and he continued to be faithful to praying to God, faithful to pray, faithful to pray. And so some people brought news back to the king and said, "Hey, your man, Daniel, he's not doing it. He's not praying to you. He's praying to his God." And so Darius says, "Well, then he's going to have to get thrown into the lions' den. So they throw him into the lions' den, and you know what God does, he shuts all the lion's mouth so Daniel's just in there just like, "What's up boys." Just got pets, right? They bring Daniel out and the king is like man this is unbelievable, we need to pay attention to Daniel's God, and then he said, "Who are the people who ratted out Daniel, where are they?"

And they brought them and they threw them in to the lion's den, and then Daniel leaned over went, "Here kitty kitty." No he didn't do that, he didn't do that. I'm sure he didn't do that. So this is where we find Daniel who's been walking faithfully with God throughout even though his faithfulness has been tested numbers of times. Well sometime later Daniel is reading the book of Jeremiah, and what he does in reading the book of Jeremiah is he realized that Jeremiah was told by God that the people of Israel were going to be in captivity for 70 years, and Daniel was thinking to himself, "Man we're almost done. This time is almost up." And so he was reading, and he was praying, and he was seeking God and seeking understanding, and notice what happened to Daniel chapter nine. Daniel says, "While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and making my request to the Lord my God for His holy hill, while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision an angel, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice, he instructed me and said to me, "Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, a word went out which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed.

Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision." Now, this is a remarkable thing because Daniel is reading Jeremiah, he's praying, he's seeking God. And as he's asking God for understanding, the angel shows up named Gabriel, who has appeared to him before and says, "I've come here to give you some insight into the vision, and right when you started praying I made my way to you. Your prayer was heard, and I made my way to you." So that's what happens to him in chapter nine, but sometime later in chapter number 10 we read about another revelation that Daniel is given, and more insight that Daniel is given. And I want you to pay attention to how it states it in verses one through nine.

It says, "In the third year of Cyrus King of Persia a revelation was given to Daniel who was called Belteshazzar. Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision. At that time I Daniel mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food. No meat or wine touched my lips, and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over. On the 24th day of the first month ..." Pause right there. The first month was the month of Nisan. The 15th of Nisan is the time of Passover for the Jewish people. And so Daniel was here during the time of Passover where he was fasting and praying, and when it says didn't use any lotions that means, we would say, didn't shower. He was just fasting, and praying, and doing all of that.

Then it says, "On the 24th day of the first month as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen with a belt to find gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like Topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude. I Daniel was the only one who saw the vision. Those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. So I was left alone gazing at this great vision. I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale, and I was helpless. Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground."

Now this is an extraordinary vision that Daniel is having right? And the description of the person that he's looking at when he's on the banks of the great river, the Tigris, is a description that sounds an awful lot like what John the Revelator's description of Jesus was in Revelation chapter number one. He actually describes it in a very similar manner. So the possibility does exist that who Daniel was seeing across the river was a vision of a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus. Do you understand what I'm saying when I say that? Pre-incarnate means before he put on flesh. In other words, you're seeing Jesus before Bethlehem. That happens a few times, by the way, in the Scripture, and in fact, in Daniel we see that because one like a son of man, not that Daniel yet, because one like a son of man actually is found in the fire with them, and most people would say that that is a seeing or a sighting of Jesus before Bethlehem ever occurred, before he put on flesh. Because you do remember Jesus didn't start in a manger.

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, the Scripture says, right? Jesus has always been, he didn't just show up as a baby in Bethlehem. It was Jesus, the glorified one who descended and humbled himself and put on flesh. There are occasions in the Old Testament where we see what we would call a pre-incarnate vision of Jesus, that may very well be what Daniel is seeing in this moment. And of course, he falls like a dead man. And then Jesus starts to speak, and he goes into this deep sleep and he's like, "I'm done for." But then the next statements that we see in Daniel, remind us that now it's gone from a vision of maybe Jesus, to an angelic messenger who's going to communicate with him. We see that because we know that he is a sent one. That's what angels are, they are ministering spirits sent for the people of God.

Notice what it says in verse number 10, "A hand touch me," Daniel said, "And set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I'm about to speak to you and stand up for I have now been sent to you." And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling, then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them." Now remember, he said that before, right? But notice the difference. "But the prince of the Persian Kingdom resisted me 21 days. Then Michael, one of the chief Prince's came to help me because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come."

While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless. Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and I began to speak and I said to the one standing before me, "I'm overcome with anguish because of this vision, my Lord, and I feel very weak. How can I, your servant talk with you, My Lord, my strength is gone, and I can hardly breathe." Again, the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. "Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed," he said. "Peace, be strong now, be strong." When he spoke to me, I was strengthened, and I said, "Speak my Lord, since you have given me strength." So he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I'll return to fight against the Prince of Persia. And when I go, the prince of Greece will come. But first I will tell you what is written in the book of truth." And then he says, "No one supports me against them except Michael your prince, and in the first year of Darius the Mede, I took my stand to support and protect him."

Now, I just read a lot of Scripture to you and you're going, "Okay. That's a lot. Help me understand what we're talking about." Well, what we see here is that we end up meeting a few people. It's probably Gabriel that's hear the angel because we've seen him already revealed in earlier parts of Daniel, right? And he comes and he says, "Right when you started praying Daniel, and you wanted some wisdom, and you wanted some understanding, I started coming to you, but I was detained. I was detained for 21 days, fighting with the Prince of Persia." That's an interesting statement, isn't it? Because an angelic being is saying that he was detained in making his way to Daniel out of response to Daniel's prayer. Now, this Prince of Persia is not just some human prince because no human is going to be able to withstand this angelic being for three weeks, for 21 days.

You see, much like we discovered when some of the earlier messages that I have been preaching like in Ezekiel 28, where it talks about the king of Tyre, but it's actually describing the evil force behind the king. Or in Isaiah 14, where it talks about Babylon and the king of Babylon, but it's actually describing an evil force that is behind the king. So to here we see the king or the Prince of Persia, and we're hearing a description about the evil force or forces that are set up to oppose the things of God. Because this angel, probably Gabriel was being detained for 21 days before he could actually reach Daniel. That is until Michael showed up. Now, Michael, he's a stud in the angel army. I don't know if he's a general but here's what I know. He's called an archangel. You say what's an archangel? They're big time. Like in the angel world, big time, right?

So Michael ends up showing up and he takes on this King of Persia or this Prince of Persia so that Gabriel can come on to Daniel. We've met Michael in the New Testament as well by the way, because Jude in verse number nine, because there's only one chapter, tells us about him. He says, "But even the angel, Archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself, dare to condemn him for slander, but said, The Lord rebuke you." So what you see here, listen to this, but what you see is you see the Archangel Michael dealing with the devil himself, who is also a created Angel, and they are disputing over the body of Moses, but Michael doesn't use his own authority. He doesn't say, "I'm going to take you down." He says, "The Lord rebuke you." You see, the interesting thing is I wanted to make sure that you're clear about something. Some of us have a tendency to think that there are equal and opposite forces in the world, that there is God and good and there is Satan and evil.

Listen carefully, those are not equal and opposite forces. If you wanted to have a comparable for Satan, it would probably be somebody like Michael, two created beings in the angelic realm, because God has no comparable being in the universe. God is God. That's something that we need to make sure that we keep in mind. So what's interesting about this is we get an opportunity to look behind the curtain just a little bit. And we see some things that Daniel didn't even know what was going on. Daniel had prayed. Daniel didn't know that there was this delayed response to his prayer. He didn't know all of this was happening until Gabriel showed up and told him. So Daniel, listen to this for a period of time, even though he didn't know it, and even though he didn't see it, he was in a battle that was real. Even though it didn't feel like that, and even though he didn't see it, he was in a battle that was real.

What do we do with that? What do we do with this story and this teaching, and this understanding? What do we do with that? Well, I think here's what I want to do in our remaining time together is, I want to remind us all that we are in battles that are real. Even if you don't feel it, even if you don't see it, you and I we're in a battle that's real. So what I want to do, is I want to take from this passage of Scripture and a corollary passage, which is in the book of Ephesians 6, when Paul talks about this idea. I want to take those passages and here's what I want to do. I want to give you some battle notes. I want you to have some takeaways that you need to remember. Because all of us, we are coming out of a battle, we are in a battle, or we're about to enter one. All of us are in this battle field whether you feel it or not, whether you see it or not, whether you know it or not, you are. I'm trying to talk to you ... Listen, I'm talking to you about reality that sometimes is unseen, and sometimes people just go, "I don't really know." If you just live in that, "I'm not sure if I believe in all that stuff."

All you're doing, you're just a pawn in the battle. That's all you are. I'll show it to you in just a second all right? I want to give you some battle notes. Here's the first one that I want to mention to you. Remember that our enemy is organized. I want you to remember that our enemy is organized. Jerry, I'm not sure what you mean by that. You mean like, organized, organized? Yeah, that's what I mean. Like, this isn't just like slipshod running around just going, "I think I want to do bad today." No, there's a plan behind it. Let me show you what I mean. In Daniel 10:13 and verse 20. It says, "But the prince of the Persian Kingdom resisted me." This is the angel talking. "Resisted me 21 days. Then Michael, one of the chief Prince's came to help me because I was detained there with the king of Persia." So he said, "Do you know why I've come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the Prince of Persia. And when I go, the prince of Greece will come."

You're going okay, Prince of Persia or King of Persia referred to both of them, Prince of Greece, right? What are we talking about here? We're talking about the fact that Satan is so busy trying to parody the kingdom of God, that He wants to build his own kingdom of the world. And in so doing, he is assigning either himself or his emissaries to be an influence for evil among leaders and nations in the world. That's what we see here. The Prince of Persia, the Prince of Greece, we see in Ezekiel the king of Tyre, we see an Isaiah the King of Babylon, and it's all describing evil influences and dark forces that are doing their dead level best in an organized fashion to influence people, and nations, and leaders to set themselves up against God. Why? Because Satan wants to be God, even though he never will.

You see the enemy that we are facing is an organized enemy. But one of the things that we have to remember that is taught to us in the book of Daniel itself, is that that doesn't need to freak you out too bad because there are some things that God makes very clear even through the unlikeliest of candidates. I don't know if you remember, but Nebuchadnezzar, he had a little thing with God. He went a little bady. The hair grew crazy. The nails went a little nuts, and he started eating things like he was an animal. And when he came to the conclusion that, "Hey, maybe I shouldn't be so prideful and arrogant about how I'm the king of Babylon." Listen to what he said in Daniel 4. He said, "The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict. So that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes, and sets over them the lowliest of people."

In other words, what we've been reminding you in this series so far is that God is sovereign. Nothing can thwart the consummation of the ultimate will of God for all things. Even if we see nations and leaders that are influenced in wrong ways, as we did in this context, and as we can in our own world today, even when we see that globally, we don't have to fear, because God's sovereign over all of it. There is a king, and there is a kingdom, and the Kingdom has come and is coming. It is an already and a not yet kingdom. That's what we have to keep in mind. But that said, I don't want you to make the mistake of thinking that the enemy we face is disorganized, because he's not. And I don't want you to think that he doesn't wield some power, because he does. Think about it this way, an angelic being like those are awesome. We're not talking about little naked baby angels like you got on your little, your heart at your house, and you put above the fireplace. It's like, "Look at me ..."

We're talking about when they showed up in the Bible and human beings saw them, human beings fell on their face because they thought they were in the presence of God. And these angels would go, "Get up, we're not God. We're just messengers, get up." These will make you sober in a hurry, right? You just go ... So an angelic being like Gabriel was trying to make his way to a human being Daniel to bring word from God about some things that Daniel was praying about, and was with stood for three weeks. That's a powerful force. That's not something you just look at and go, no big deal. That's a powerful, strong force. Now, Paul actually talks to us about these forces and how organized they are in the companion passage in a Ephesians 6. Notice what he says. He 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."

When you start to break those words down in the Greek language, they have a military tone to them, almost as if you've got the idea that the enemy has set up almost like military ranks in terms of his organization, to try and oppose the kingdom of God. Sergeants, and generals, and lieutenants, and deputies. Various types of organism. The enemy is organized. Here's why I tell you that. Because here's where my concern lies as a pastor and for my life personally and for your life. Our enemy is incredibly organized to try and resist the kingdom of God, and try and resist you in a multitude of different ways. Yet so often as believers, we are content with being lazy in our faith, sleeping through the Word of God, and not concerned at all about whether or not we need to be disciplined and battle ready. And so we live lives ... Listen to this, we live lives of distraction. Do you think that's a tool of the enemy?

I don't care if you're scrolling or you're swiping. It's just like "... doing nothing." You're just sitting there almost like you're you know ... You're just drooling, just doing stuff. "What's going on? What's going ..." Distraction, distraction is a great tool of the enemy, and we just distract ourselves. We feed ourselves, just entertain my mind, just give me a little bit of something to think about. Just pop me for just a second, let me have that little bit of ... right? That's what we want. We don't take the time to pause and reflect and discipline our lives, and think, and dive into the nature of who God is, and reflect on the things that matter. No, no, we're just carried away through the strategy of the enemy who's just carrying us down a road of destruction. Or maybe it's a road of comfort because we think that the world exists for us to be comfortable.

Everything just exist so that my needs are met and everything's comfortable for me, and so we pursue this god of comfort, and the enemy's going, "Perfect. That's exactly what I was hoping for. I don't want them to be serious about their faith, that might require them to sacrifice, that might require them to risk. I want them just to be comfortable. That's all I want." We find ourselves in these places, we continue to pour into our minds over and over just garbage. Like literally we just fill our minds with garbage. We don't think about our eyes being the gateway. We just let anything and everything come through them, is part of the time it's why we're scrolling, then we stop and we're like, "Oh, man, I probably shouldn't be watching that, but I am." And we just let all of this garbage just invade our minds. And what you allow to invade your minds is what shapes your world. But we don't think about those things, why? Because the enemy is organized and we are just lazy.

Instead, we need to be organized too. We need to be disciplined in our own personal lives. We need to realize that we are living as people who need to be battle ready and who need to be battle tested. Let me give you a second thing. Second Battle note. Remember that our enemy is angry about the future. I don't want you to forget this, we need to remember that our enemy is angry about the future. Let me explain what I mean. In Daniel 10:14 it says this, the angel says, "Now I've come to explain to you Daniel, what will happen to your people in the future? For the vision concerns a time yet to come." And then he begins to tell him after that, "I'll let you in on the book of truth." He's talking about the future, right? This idea of the future. Why is the enemy so uptight about the idea of the future? Because in this context here, God had made a promise through Jeremiah, that this people Israel would be in captivity, but it would be for a certain period of time.

And at the conclusion of that period of time, they would be out of captivity. The enemy did not want Israel, the people of God to be back in the land of promise, because do you know what that would say to the world? That God made a promise, God fulfilled it, God controls the future, not you, Satan. Satan is angry about the future and what that looks like. That's why he's so invested in trying to trick us all the time. Notice what Paul said. Paul said in Ephesians 6, "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's ..." here it is, "schemes." He's always scheming, why? Because he's so angry about the future. He's angry that he's not God. That's all he ever wanted to be. He's angry that the victory has been secured in what Jesus has done on the cross through his death and his resurrection. He's angry that every promise God has made will be fulfilled because God is sovereign over everything, and God is going to bring everything as he said into completion. That all these old things are going to become new in him.

There's going to be a new creation, and God is the one who's going to superintend all this and Satan, he's angry about it. See, God wants to give you a future. Satan wants to jeopardize your future. God wants to give you a future. Satan's only interested in killing and stealing and destroying. But Jesus said, "I've come that you might have life and have life, abundantly, everlastingly, forever. Why? Because Jesus is interested in your eternal future that is with God, and Satan he's mad about it. He's mad about it. He wants your future to be one that is more like your past sin. Instead of your identity and your purpose in Jesus who can make all things new. He's angry about the future. Let me give you a third battle note. Remember to prepare yourself before the battle. There's the key word, remember to prepare yourself before the battle. One of the great things about Daniel's life, is that if you went back and you read Daniel 1, there's a great statement in there that says Daniel purposed in his heart. Daniel purposed in his heart, or it might say, that Daniel covenanted in his heart.

Daniel made a commitment in his heart before everything went crazy. He said, "I'm going to be faithful to God. I'm going to be faithful to God. Come what may I'm going to be faithful to God." Daniel was making, listen to this. Daniel answered the questions before the temptations actually showed up. Daniel was letting his character be developed so that he would be in a position that when the battle came, he was ready for it. Paul tells us the same thing in a Ephesians 6, here's what he says. He says, "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground." He's saying it's going to come, and your job is to be ready when it does. One of the battle notes here is that we've got to remember to prepare ourselves before the battle. Now, this week, I also read about an article from National Geographic that talked about Alaskan bull moose. You're going, "Dude, you read some weird stuff, man." I know. It was about Alaskan bull moose.

And here's the thing they talked about that in the fall, the Alaskan bull moose have a breeding time in the fall. And so the males get into these big like bash each other antler battles. Have you ever seen those on like any of the channels, like National Geographic Channel or whatever? They just like, they're going to town. They've got these humongous antlers, and they're just ... It's bam, bam. You got all that right? Eventually they're trying to win the day, because they want the girl moose ... She probably has a name. The girl moose right? Because it's breeding time. They actually call them cows, but I didn't want to say cow, because then you'll go like, "What moose, cow, what's happening?" It's a moose, but it's just a girl moose, so everybody take it easy. So, right, they want the girl moose, and they want the territory. So they're trying to win with their big antler bashing deal.

That happens in the fall. But the battle's actually won in the summer. Because the summer this article went on to talk about, is when they do all of their eating, when they bulk up. And those who are doing the right amount of eating, and the right kind of eating actually feed the ability for their antlers to grow big, and to grow strong, so that the battle is actually one in the summer, not just when the battle is happening in the fall. You see, that's the position that we need to find ourselves in Ladies and gentlemen, it's why we need to find ourselves in a disciplined way seeking after God with all of our hearts, because we are going to find ourselves coming into a battle and we need to be ready when we show up. It's much more difficult to make good decisions in the midst of a bunch of flying bullets.

It's much more difficult to make good decisions in the midst of the fog or the haze of battle, but we need to go ahead and write it down and sign it by the grace of Jesus that when we come to these kinds of things in our lives, we've already made decisions about what we're going to do in that regard. We're not just getting into the midst of it and trying to be thrown around. That's what people and soldiers they do. They prepare for the battle before the battle. They don't just sign up and go, "Okay, let's go." They're training, they're trying to discipline themselves to prepare themselves when the battle comes, before the battle happens. Let me give you a last word. Remember that the battle is the Lord's. This is the final battle note. Remember that the battle is the Lord's. Look at what the angel was saying to Daniel in Daniel 10. Daniel said, "Again the one who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength. Do not be afraid you who are highly esteemed, he said, Peace Be strong, now be strong. When he spoke to me I was strengthened and said, Speak, my lord since you have given me strength."

Daniel's strength at this point was not his own. This was something that was coming from God maybe through His Messenger, but was given to Daniel, "You have given me strength." This is exactly what Paul says in Ephesians 6. Pick it up with me, Ephesians 6:10. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of who?

God.

Did he say put on your armor?

No.

It's not your armor. It's God's armor, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. Put on the full armor of God. You see God is the one who gives you the victory here, the battle is the Lord's. See so many times we think it's ours, right? "Man I'm just in a battle." And you act like it's just you, and like somehow by your strength and your willpower, you're going to be able to figure it all out. It's not your battle. It's God's, and he will fight for you. But you've got to surrender yourself to Him. And gear up, you've got to participate. You've got to gear up, but it's his armor, and it's his battle. Listen to what he says the armor is in verse number 14. He says, "Stand firm then, Paul says. With the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

Listen very carefully to me, ladies and gentlemen. Every single one of these pieces of the armor come from God. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, and the word. They're all from God, all of them. They're not yours. They're his. Why? Because the battle is the Lord's. And he's given us everything that we need for life and godliness. He's more powerful. There is no one higher, no one greater, no one like our God. God is more powerful, and those with God are more numerous than those who are against them. And that's what we fail to understand, because just because we can't feel it, and just because we can't see it, don't be confused, there's a real battle that's going on, but God is bigger and his forces are more numerous. And in fact, let me remind you of that. See there was a story in the Old Testament from a guy named Elisha. You remember Elisha right? He was with Elijah, and then he got the double portion Elisha, sometimes we get them confused.

Elisha had this insight given by God. And there was an enemy of Israel at the time, his name was Ben-hadad. And Ben-hadad was getting all upset with Elisha. You know why? Because God would tell Elisha their every move. And so he'd be able to go, "Hey, Israel, go east. They're going to go this way, go east." And then like Ben-hadad's all mad because he's like, "I can't ever get to them, what's the problem?" And then they tell him, "It's that Prophet Elisha." So you know what Ben-hadad says, "Go get that dude. Let's go get that dude because I'm sick and tired of this." Mistake. Don't be going after God's guy. But that's what they were going to do right? And remember Elisha, he's living out in the middle of nowhere. He's living in a place called Dothan, and he's with his servant. He's got a servant that helps him out, and the servant's a little nervous. But notice how the story unfolds in 2 Kings 6. The King says, "Go find out where Elisha is, so I can send men and capture him." The report came back, "He is in Dothan." So the king sent his horses, and chariots, and a strong force there.

He's basically sending an army to go get Elisha. They went by night and they surrounded the city. When the servant of the man of God, in other words, Elisha's servant got up, and went out early the next morning, there was an army with horses and chariots that had surrounded the city. That's a pretty big army. Now cities in that day and age weren't so big, but that's a pretty big army. And they'd surrounded the city. Here's what the servant says, "Oh, no, my lord. What shall we do?" Here's what a Elisha says, "Don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, "Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see." Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he looked and he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. You see even if we can't ... Listen even if we can't feel it, even if we can't see it, the battle is real, the battle is real. But the great reminder for us ladies and gentlemen is that living on this side of the resurrection, what we know for sure is this, is that the battle is real but the war is over.

Because now we know that what Jesus has done is he has disarmed the principalities and the powers triumphing over them by the cross and the resurrection. And what he has also done that we have the privilege of on this side of the resurrection, is that he has given us the residency of the Holy Spirit living in us. And there's a truth about the Holy Spirit living in us that I want to make sure you understand, that John told some little children. He said, "You, dear children are from God, and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." Those of us that are in Christ have been given the Spirit of God to live in us. And I can tell you this right now, it is not a fair fight between Satan or his emissaries and the Holy Spirit of the Living God. There is no comparable battle there.

When God says, "Go, you go." This is the reminder for us, ladies and gentlemen. Even if we don't feel it, even if we can't see it, the battle is real. So let's start acting like it. Pay attention to the battle notes that we have been given and begin to live those out as people who live in a wartime world spiritually speaking, because there's a battle for souls. You're here maybe and you're maybe new to church and you're going, "Whoo, man like, dude. I thought you were just going to give me like a little pump up talk." And be like, "Hey, have a great week. Hope your Thursday goes good." You're like, "Man, you're like breaking Bible down on my head." Yeah, here's why. Because there's a war for your soul. That by the way you probably don't even know about, and you may not even be concerned about it. Man I'm just doing my own thing, doing my own thing, doing my own thing. That's exactly what the enemy wants, you're pawn. You're a pawn.

But here's the thing, God loves you so much, that even in your ignorance and mine, because I was in that same space. I was like, "Man, I'm doing my deal. I'm doing Jerry. I'm a king of my own world. I'm going to do what I wanna do, when I wanna do it, how I wanna do it, I'm doing Jerry." Until God finally got ahold of me, and showed me that I was living in ignorance, that I was upon in the hands of an enemy who wanted to ruin my present and destroy my future." But God in his grace while I was yet a sinner, Christ came and died for me, and he changed everything. He put a new song in my mouth. He put my feet upon a rock giving me a firm place to stand. This is what God has done in my life, and by the way what God wants to continue to do in the lives of so many people. Some of you, I don't know where you are in your life, some of you are aged, like you're older and you're like, "Well I'll just take my chances." Like you're closer to dying than other people are if all things go naturally. And you're like, "Well I'll just take my chances."

Don't take your chances, that's exactly what the enemy wants you to believe. This isn't about chances. It's not about a rolling of the dice, there is one way to God. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." You can't carve another path. Maybe you're here and you've been living in your own pride, and living in your own deal and you're like, "You know, I'm generally a pretty good person." Compared to what? Compared to God? Compared to God, we are all like filthy rags. We're dirty scumbags, every one of us and I'm putting myself at the front of the line. You're like, "Did you call me a dirty scumbag?" "Yeah, but I called myself one first." All of us are in that position, when we try and compare our lives to the holiness of God. It's not about you comparing yourself to somebody else. "Oh, man I've never killed anybody, that's usually your line isn't it? I've never killed anybody. I've been pretty good. I pay my taxes most of the time. I don't cheat but just sometimes." It's like, "All in all, maybe my good will out weigh my bad, that's not the scale God's using.

God's not using the scale of if your good outweighs your bad, because even your good was selfish and selfly motivated. God is using the scale of his own holiness. And that means you and I fail. But that's why God put on skin in the person of Jesus, and came and died in our place to satisfy the justice of a holy God who will always judge sin, and he judged your sin and my sin in Jesus. Jesus paid for our sin and got up from the dead demonstrating that his payment was sufficient. That now if we would put our faith in Christ, we would find reconciliation with God, forgiveness of our sins, a brand new life, hope for this present world and a promise of an eternal future. This is what God desires. Satan doesn't want any of that, so don't be a pawn. I tell you that because I love you. Don't be a pawn. I was one. God loves you enough to rescue you right now if you surrender yourself to Him. Let's bow our heads together for prayer.

Before we walk out, and you've been so patient and kind, and I thank you for that. But I really sense God wants to rescue some people today. If you're here and you've never before surrendered your life to Jesus, you've never come to that place of seeking God's forgiveness in Christ and submitting your whole life to him by faith. Then when we dismiss in just a moment, I want you to do something that I promise you the enemy doesn't want you to do. I want you to leave your seat and on your way out, I want you to go right into a room. It's called the Fireside Room. It's right out in the atrium. You're like, "That kind of scares me. I'm a little nervous about doing it." I get it. The enemy loves to strike fear in people's hearts, that's what he wants to do. He wants to fear you out of obeying God. But I want to promise you, you're surrounded by friends. You're surrounded by people who love you, and I hope that you realize that I'm trying to tell you the truth about what the Word of God says.

We'd love for you to come over there not because it means you're joining our church or you're having to sing a solo. You have to get up in front of everybody, or it's not that. We want to talk to you about what it means to surrender your life to Jesus and know Him as your Lord and Savior. To have your sins forgiven, your life transformed in the now, and to give you hope for an eternal future. There's nothing more important than that, and no distraction that you have, nothing will measure up to this. It's the most important thing you'll ever do. So when I finish praying and you guys are leaving, I'm going to put that in your lap. And you'll do with it ... If God is serious in your heart, and you're serious with him, you'll do it. Because there's nothing more important.

Father, my prayer for all of us is that we would sense the reality that we are in a battle. That it's real, and that we have a responsibility to gear up for the battle that we're in. I pray as well God that you'd remind us that there's a battle for souls all around us, that the reason the enemy doesn't want us to love and follow Jesus is because people will be attracted to the Jesus in us. And other people's futures might be altered for the glory of God. And as a result, the kingdom of darkness loses another one to the kingdom of light. Lord, help us not to be pawns in the scheme of the enemy. Help us to have the discernment of the Word of God that comes by your spirit using the word, to give us a sense of what the enemy schemes are, and help us not to fall prey to them. But instead to commit ourselves to surrendering to who you are, and surrendering God to all that you want to do in our hearts and lives to shape us into the image of Jesus. Make us battle ready for your glory. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.