The Kingdom Contested

Well, we've started on the right note this morning by joining together in some serious prayer. Prayer that is big, prayer that is bold, prayer that asks for God to wipe out viruses and heal people and stop, you know, economic catastrophe and so on. These are great big prayers that are being prayed this morning. And it is right and good for us to do so because we're going to be talking about prayer and prayer is something that God tells us to be busy with. You might remember that over the past three or so weeks, we've been doing a bit of a study on the kingdom of God.

At Easter, we saw that Jesus professes himself to be the king of a kingdom that he is about to establish in his death and in his resurrection. A week later, we went to Daniel chapter two, investigated what this kingdom is, what it looks like. We saw in Daniel two that it is this stone cut out of a mountain, not by human hands, that crushes all other empires and kingdoms of this world and fills across the whole world and is established forever. And we looked at what this kingdom is, what it looks like, what it represents. And then last week, we asked the very logical question, how do we become a part of that kingdom?

How do we enter into that kingdom? Because if it is the kingdom that lasts forever, if it is reigned over by the king who is so good, so loving, why don't we want to be a part of that? Why wouldn't we want to be a part of that? So we looked at how do we enter. And so we asked, who is the king?

What is this kingdom? How do we enter into this kingdom? And today we're going to look at a little bit what it means to live in this kingdom. What do we as citizens of that kingdom do now that we are a part of that kingdom? And so this morning, we're actually going to go back to the book of Daniel and we're going to think again, reflect again on this great theme of the kingdom that is just all throughout that particular book as well.

And this morning, we're especially going to see in Daniel chapter 10 a really good amount of teaching on prayer. That prayer is an essential part of life inside God's kingdom. Essential part of the Christian's life. And so, you may not have thought about it this way, but prayer is actually integrally connected to the kingdom. The life of a person inside the kingdom cannot be separated from prayer.

Because prayer is part of God's building and establishing his kingdom. And so it's for this reason that Jesus teaches us how to pray when he gives us the great teaching of the Lord's Prayer. And he says, you are to pray, God, may your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Kingdom come. And so we're going to look at this topic of prayer within this kingdom understanding.

And we're going to look at this through reading together Daniel chapter 10. And we're going to read from verse one. Daniel 10 verse one. In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia. Now, this is a different king to what Daniel had been serving under before. In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel who was named Belteshazzar.

And the word was true and it was a great conflict. And he understood the word and had understanding of the vision. In those days, I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all for the full three weeks. On the twenty fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, that is the Tigris, I lifted up my eyes and looked and behold, a man clothed in linen with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist.

His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision. But a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. So I was left alone and saw this great vision and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed and I retained no strength.

Then I heard the sound of his words. And as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in a deep sleep with my face to the ground. And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my feet and knees. And he said to me, oh, Daniel, man greatly loved. Understand the words that I speak to you and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.

And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, fear not, Daniel. For from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty one days. But Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me.

For I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come. When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and was mute. And behold, one in the likeness of the children of man touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke.

I said to him who stood before me, oh my lord, by reason of the vision pains have come upon me. And I retain no strength. How can my lord's servant talk with my lord? For now no strength remains in me and no breath is left in me. Again, one having the appearance of a man touched me and strengthened me, and he said, oh man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you, be strong and of good courage.

And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, let my lord speak for you have strengthened me. Then he said, do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia. And when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth.

There is none who contends by my side against these, except Michael, your prince. So far, our reading. Well, what is going on here? There is a lot of information for us to work through. But basically, what we are seeing here is regarding, I believe, the working of prayer, the power of prayer, how in time and space, a prayer like Daniel's can impact and influence the spiritual reality by which we also exist and live.

And so our first point this morning is that our prayer matters. Our prayer matters. By the time we get to Daniel chapter 10, we find Daniel to be an old man. He had been in Babylon since the age of about 15, perhaps even earlier. So we're talking seventy years that Daniel had been in Babylon.

He is about 85 at this stage. And verse two tells us that Daniel was busy mourning for three weeks, busy fasting and praying. He ate no delicacies, the Bible says. He ate no meat. He had no wine.

He didn't bathe or anoint himself with oil. And he explains that it was the first month of the year at this time, the twenty fourth day in particular where this vision comes to him. Now, scholars point out that if you work that out, three weeks that have passed, probably in relation to the Passover feast, was the ecclesiastical new year period for the Hebrew people. So why is Daniel fasting? Well, Daniel doesn't mention it explicitly, but I suspect it was in relation to what he was praying about.

The angel comes to him, he says, in response to this prayer. And what is this prayer? Well, it was an explanation of what was happening with Israel at the time. In chapter nine, just a chapter before we get to chapter 10, obviously, many of the Jewish exiles had been in Babylon for seventy years. And Daniel, at some point in time, opens a scripture and he reads in the book of Jeremiah, that prophet that came before the exile or during the early stages of the exile, that this exile was to last seventy years.

Seventy years in Babylon before God's people would return. And Daniel is a smart man, but you don't have to be too smart to count up seventy. And he counts. He says, it's roughly now. And from that moment, Daniel starts praying.

And I believe that in this point in time as well, in Daniel chapter 10, maybe a few months after that first occurrence in chapter nine, he is praying for God to recover and restore his people. He is fasting and he's praying. And so we find Daniel praying for God's kingdom to be restored. He is praying for God's kingdom to come. And what does God do?

He sends Daniel a messenger. And that messenger addresses Daniel in verse 11. This is what he says, verse 11. He said to me, oh Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words I speak to you and stand upright. For now I have been sent to you.

Daniel says, and when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, fear not, Daniel. For from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard and I have come because of your words. And so this is the first point that I want us to think about. This messenger is sent in response to Daniel's prayer.

I have come because of your words, Daniel. Like I said earlier in chapter nine verse two and three, Daniel searched through scripture, the writings of the prophet Jeremiah. He discovers that God's disciplining of Israel would take seventy years. Daniel knows that time is up and he's praying, God, be faithful to that promise. God, do what you have said you will do.

Will you send us home, Lord? And I believe here in chapter 10, we are finding Daniel still wrestling with God in prayer for this very thing. But now, God responds by sending this messenger who not simply will tell Daniel, yes, I am going to send Israel home, but Daniel receives a vision beyond that as well. A vision of the later things to come, the things that would lie in store for more than just Israel. Daniel receives a vision that spans across chapter 10 into chapter 11 and 12.

But the question is, what is the catalyst for this vision? And it was Daniel's prayer. It was Daniel's prayer. I have come because of your words. I wanna ask you, I wanna ask my heart, how much are we trusting that prayer can be, that prayer is the catalyst for God's kingdom to be established?

How is your prayer life looking at this moment? Do you as a person who knows scripture, that knows God, who thinks they understand the Bible really well, do you think sometimes that God is so big and so all knowing and He is. But that He is so big that your prayer is a mere formality and that He will do as He sees fit? Do you think that God will do whatever He wants to do and your prayers don't really amount up to much? Messenger says to Daniel, I have come to you because of your words.

Spiritual words said in prayer impact spiritual realities. The saying is true. God always gives an answer to our prayer. It's either a yes or a no or a let's wait. But God always answers our prayer.

We cannot and we must not forget that. So I wanna encourage you that you're interceding on behalf of your family, that matters. That is important. Your prayer for safety and security, for a job, for a recovery from illness, your big prayers for our government leaders or our nation or our church, all these things matter. And whilst you may think that they are only small thoughts, hidden or enclosed with small words, the Bible says that they are precious to God.

Revelation 5:8 gives us this beautiful picture and I want you to remember this, that the prayer of God's saints are stored up in golden precious bowls and they are described as incense, sweet smelling incense in the throne room of God. The prayer of the saints dwell in the throne room of our God. That is how precious they are to Him. Do you believe that you are being heard when you pray? Do you believe God will actually respond and answer and give what you have asked for?

Be encouraged and let your heart be warmed by the inside of Daniel's prayers. Your prayers are not just received, they are heard. They are well regarded. They are stored up as a sweet fragrance of love, of dependence, of faith and honour to our God. By your prayers, you honour God.

Why? Because every time you pray, you are saying, God, I love you and I need you. And I'm praying because you are God and I am not. Don't think for a moment that your words are worthless. What we see in Daniel 10 is an amazing behind the scenes explanation of how God responds to the request of one man's prayer, that God moves heaven and hell almost literally to answer that prayer.

Spiritual words in prayer affect and impact spiritual realities. So what do I mean then by God moving heaven and hell to answer Daniel? Well, it brings us to the next point. What we also see as members in God's kingdom is that there is an opposition to this kingdom. There is an enemy to the kingdom and we must be aware of spiritual warfare.

The book of Daniel is a book with that recurring theme of the kingdom. Over and over again, God's kingdom is being held up as the greater kingdom better than Babylon, better than Persia. God is the greater king. Daniel proclaims Him and even Nebuchadnezzar, the great emperor proclaims Him king of kings, lord of lords. And God is busy building a kingdom, Daniel says, that is going to last forever.

And yet here, we find an incredible explanation of the spiritual resistance to that kingdom that God and His people face as that kingdom is being established. Daniel begins his prayer for God's kingdom to be restored. Three weeks of praying is taking place. Then, all of a sudden, a messenger comes to him and tells him that God has actually sent him at the start of those three weeks. It has taken three weeks to arrive to be with Daniel.

This messenger says that he's been delayed by an enemy called the prince of Persia, according to verse 13. This is what he says, the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty one days. But Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. For I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days for the vision is for days yet to come. Now the word prince here isn't referring to earthly leaders like Prince Andrew or Prince Charles or it's referring to spiritual beings.

This character by the name of Michael in verse 13 is also referred to as a chief prince who, instead of being part of the prince of Persia group, is another prince that comes to the aid of this particular messenger to help fight against this delay. There's also, at the end of the chapter, a reference to another prince, the prince of Greece, mentioned in verse 20. Meanwhile, Michael is said to be the prince of Daniel and his people. Your prince. And so according to history, look that up yourself, there was never a physical prince in the Israelite kingdom by the name of Michael.

There was never a prince in the royal lineage whose name was Michael, at least not in this time. And so what we have to start understanding, what we sort of have an inkling about, we're not talking here about physical human leaders. We're talking about an angelic prince, an authority, a leader in the spiritual realm. And what we see is that there's a clash in these heavenly places, in this spiritual realm between God's angels and the forces of Satan. And the interesting thing is, there in this fighting is paralleled the fighting and the scrimmages in the physical world.

There is a prince of Persia, a leader of that nation in the heavenly realms that counteracts and is opposed by the chief prince, Michael of Israel and Daniel. But somehow, that is also reflected in the geopolitical time of that moment as well. Messenger says to Daniel, I'm coming to give you God's response, but the forces of God's enemy has tried stopping me from getting to you. Now, if you're sitting back and thinking, man, that is pretty mind boggling. What is really important is for us to come to grips with this idea that there is something more than what we see here around us.

It explains to us something that we are probably innately aware of, that there is opposition to God's kingdom. If you've been a Christian for even a few days, you will realise that not everyone loves God. We know that there is a resistance towards God's kingdom being established here on earth. We face it every day. But what is really significant for us to learn from Daniel 10 is that this resistance is not simply what we see in the here and in the now around us, it is somehow paralleled or reflected on a spiritual level as well.

We see just a glimpse into the contest over the future of God's people in Daniel's time. A battle fought, not simply on the physical plane of politics and intrigue in government. It's a contest on an eternal celestial plane hidden from human eyes. But it warns us that God's people should not be oblivious. We cannot be blase.

God's people need to be ready and to be aware. Now, you think that this is just an old testament thing and maybe things have changed in the new testament, the apostle Paul famously teaches in Ephesians 6:12 that our wrestle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Look that verse up and you will see he uses the words authorities and rulers in the exact same way as this prince, this ruler of Persia is being referred to. They are spiritual princes. And so what this means is that Christians cannot remain oblivious to the idea of spiritual warfare.

As reformed people, we can sometimes downplay those things that have been taken too far perhaps by other denominations when it comes to the spiritual. But Daniel 10 gives us some very clear teaching, teaching that you can sink your teeth into about a world beyond our own. And we see that if we are a part of God's kingdom as Daniel was, then we are part of God's war somehow. It's a battle, but it's not a battle against flesh and blood alone. And what we see here, again, amazingly, is that the weaponry used in this battle, that things into motion, these are things that start with prayer, a simple prayer.

That's the amazing thing we see here. Daniel's prayer that is prayed in a physical space, in a moment between time and space, that prayer pierces the veil between the natural and the supernatural and sets in motion these events. There is a cosmic battle as the birth pains to God's restoration of His people back to the promised land starts happening. The angel is sent by God to tell Daniel that his prayer has been answered, that Israel's time in exile is up, that God would be busy restoring them, that God is preparing an eternal kingdom through Jesus Christ. But we also see that we cannot be oblivious, that there is an opposition to God's work.

And so what does this mean for us? Well, calls us to be persistent in prayer. We should pray not for our own needs then, but like men and women, famously in World War One and Two, would go and help with the effort by putting together tanks and planes and ammunition. Those prayers is part of the ammunition of this battle. And our prayers are to ask that God would smash down those who resist that kingdom, those who will delay the message from coming out, those who are building strongholds so that they may rebel and be safe against Him in those days.

The prayer of God's saints become weapons of war. Battles are won through prayer. And so Christians, we need to be found praying. And we pray big prayers, audacious prayers, courageous prayers for God's kingdom. But then we have one final question to ask.

What is the guarantee of the outcome? What will be the outcome of these prayers? Who wins this battle? Do we fight this fight in the desperation of people seeing their fate hang in the balance? Is that how we pray, not knowing where this coin flip is gonna land?

Well, no. Because we also know that the victory is guaranteed. There was a mortal wound to the enemy dealt on the cross. It's true that God's restoration of Israel is being resisted. That's true.

The enemy's princes, the spiritual rulers of these earthly kingdoms of Persia and Greece, they were indeed resisting God's kingdom, resisting the messengers that would announce this change in this state of play. For three weeks, they do delay the messenger to Daniel. But notice, the message comes through. This is what we need to remember. In our intercession for people, in our intercession for nations, for the mission of God's church, victory is assured even whilst there may be resistance.

And so when we pray, you know, and I am definitely at fault here, I may pray once or twice and then think, that's it. Maybe that means no. Meanwhile, we have to keep in mind there is perhaps resistance. There is still a battle that needs to be won over this particular thing, this particular person. Don't quit just yet.

And we see in this cosmic battle that resistance may be tough. I mean, who can delay an angel of God for three weeks? It is a fierce enemy. But this enemy will not win. And so we don't need to fear it.

We don't need to lose hope against it because we, in God's kingdom, are on the side of victory. Again, have to ask how do we know that? Well, because of the great victory that is hinted at in this very message to Daniel. With a vision to the future, God is promising Daniel that the fortune of Israel will be restored. But in the restoration of Israel, God is not simply restoring the geopolitical nation of Israel.

God is setting up a kingdom that will last forever. No longer will God's fame, God's glory, God's honour be tied to simply the nation of Israel. God is establishing it for Himself and the whole world now will be His domain. How is Daniel to believe this? What evidence can Daniel take to trust that this is true?

After seventy years in exile, Daniel has seen everything. He's seen a temple, the temple of Jerusalem, God's dwelling place destroyed. He's seen Israelites, many thousands upon thousands, hundreds of thousands abandon their faith, become consumed by the culture and the paganism of the Babylonian life. They have left their faith in God behind. How can Daniel believe that God is going to establish His kingdom?

One that will never fall into that situation again. Well, it's through the person of Jesus Christ that Daniel believes. It's the love, the grace, the encouragement of Jesus Christ Himself that Daniel sees, experiences, and therefore receives hope for. How does Daniel experience this? Well, it's in that messenger who came to see Daniel that day.

Who is this messenger? Some scholars, particularly old testament scholars, would say it was just an angel, just a messenger from God. Someone who was similar to the angel Gabriel who came and saw Daniel in Daniel 9:20. The angel names himself as Gabriel in this point, but it's more or less the same sort of messenger. But it isn't Gabriel again, is it?

Gabriel isn't mentioned. His name isn't introduced. Daniel does not recognise this angel. We also know that it's not the archangel Michael, this chief prince, the warrior angel that comes and helps this messenger get to Daniel. So is it just another messenger who God had sent?

One of the many thousands that God may have at His disposal? Well, I think the Bible tells us a far different story. Who Daniel witnesses here is someone far more awesome than an angelic being. Look at that passage and three times, this messenger touches Daniel and Daniel receives strength. Daniel is restored after being absolutely flattened by the glory of God.

Verse 10, verse 16, verse 18, three times, this messenger touches Daniel and he receives strength. What angel does that? Daniel's description of the messenger is also far beyond what he's witnessed of other angelic messengers. Daniel says what he sees here is someone like a man wearing white linen. This is in verses 5 and 6.

Wearing white linen which was the garbs of the Israelite priests. Around his waist is a belt of the finest gold in the world. His face has the appearance of lightning. That's how bright He is. His eyes are flaming torches.

Can you imagine? His strong arms, his strong legs glow like polished bronze. And when He speaks, His voice thunders with the power of a thousand voices. Who is this messenger? It is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Son of God, the king of this everlasting kingdom.

Daniel has promised that God is going to win on behalf of His people. He's gonna win for the sake of His own glory. And He's going to establish His kingdom for Himself. And the promise is made. That promise is made by Jesus Christ Himself to Daniel.

What an assurance. Again, someone might say, how do we know? And some people may even disagree with me this morning. But I wanna show you just how amazing this revelation was to Daniel and why it gave him so much strength, even though he may not have really known who he was seeing. If you wanna turn to Revelation 1:13-15, we get a description there of none other than Jesus.

John the apostle sees Jesus. He says, this is Jesus. And John knows who Jesus is. Right? He was one of the disciples.

But this is the description of Jesus and then I'm gonna compare it with Daniel's vision. Daniel 10:5-6 says, the appearance of this man was like a certain man. Revelation 1:13 says, He had the appearance of a son of man. His clothing, He was clothed in linen in Daniel 10, Revelation 1, clothed with a garment. He had a belt that was girded by gold of Uphaz.

And Revelation 1, girded about His chest was a golden band. His face in Daniel 10 had the appearance of lightning. Revelation 1, His head and His hair were white like wool, white as snow. His eyes were like flaming torches, Daniel 10. Revelation 1, His eyes were a flame of fire.

His arms and His feet burnished bronze, Daniel 10. His feet were like fine brass as if refined in fire. And His voice, oh, that voice. It was the voice of a sound of a multitude of thousands of thousands upon people. And His voice in Revelation 1 is the sound of many waters.

Who was this man that Daniel meets? It was the Lord Jesus Christ. What an incredible thought that Daniel would see the one to whom all his prayers had been aimed at. To see the one that all his hope of God's restoration would be built on. Three times Jesus reaches out to touch Daniel that he would have just enough strength in the glory of that moment to hear the message that was being proclaimed.

But I believe that Daniel experienced the power of Christ to know in the deepest parts of his heart that God was going to win. And that's what happened, didn't it? Jesus, four hundred years later, came and became flesh and bone. He became a man so that on the cross, He would bear the penalty of man. Through this act, He crushed the head of the enemy.

That promise at Genesis 3:15, which really, some people say the rest of the Bible is simply the footnote of that promise. Genesis 3:15, I will put enmity between your offspring, Satan, and the offspring of this woman. You will strike at His heel, you will resist Him, but He will crush your head. It's a beautiful moment, isn't it, in The Passion of Christ, Mel Gibson's movie where Jesus standing up in the Garden of Gethsemane having wrestled in prayer for what He was about to do, stands up and there's a snake and He crushes the head of that snake. Symbolically, He was going to win and there was nothing Satan could do.

How fortunate Daniel was to have seen Christ in all His glory. Imagine that image that he would have seen. But know this, every time we come to God in prayer, we are meeting with our victorious and glorious Christ in a similar way. Prayer is access to that same Lord and He is the one that is fighting on our behalf. And so be encouraged as you pray, that we pray for the kingdom to be established.

That is what we do as kingdom people. We pray therefore then for ourselves. That is fine. That is good. We pray for our family.

That is good. Our friends. But we pray because we're praying on behalf of the kingdom. We are praying so that the kingdom be established. And we pray because prayer changes things.

Least of all, prayer is moving us. Moves us closer to the Lord that we love. The Lord that gives us strength in the way that Daniel receives strength. Timothy Keller writes in his book on prayer these words, prayer is the way that all the things we believe in and all the things that Christ has won for us actually becomes our strength. Prayer is the way that truth is worked into our hearts to create new instincts in us, new reflexes, new dispositions to how we experience life.

So in closing, friends, as we live in the kingdom of God, one through the work of Jesus Christ, hard work, let's remember that our prayer makes a difference. It matters. Understanding that prayer is contending on behalf of the kingdom. Understanding that prayer is the ammunition by which spiritual battles are being fought. Understanding that your prayer is holy and precious to God.

But also remember and be comforted by the fact that we fight from a position of victory. There's nothing that lies in the balance. We have won. And we have won through Jesus Christ. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for this truth. And may our church, may your people here be found to be praying. Praying for those that are lost, that are seeking, those that are sceptical, those that are hard of heart. Father, may your kingdom be established. May your kingdom grow in and through us.

Oh God, we have eyes of flesh. We don't have spiritual eyes to see just the enormous battles that are being fought, the skirmishes that are being fought as you wait patiently to make every enemy a foothold for your feet. We ask, Lord, that you will give us the power, the determination, the perseverance to stand with others in this battle, to pray on their behalf. Lord, thank you for the privilege it is to be part of a church community that will do that for one another. Oh God, may we also then have the privilege of seeing amazing prayer answered, amazing battles won.

And God, will you have your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.