WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:04.480 There was a uh you know, there's magazines for preachers. 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:11.199 And uh one of them made by Lagos and I had a subscription to it for a while or they just sent it to me. 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:12.800 I'm not sure what exactly happened. 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:19.600 But um it had an interesting story where they interviewed people who preached through Daniel. 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:21.359 And it was fascinating. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:36.880 Guys that were from the kind of all millennial world or even the uh the black church world, they said they loved preaching Daniel one through six. 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:43.520 And then they regret, their biggest regret was going on past chapter six. 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:46.240 Like they wish they would have thrown in the towel. 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:50.320 Um and yet many of them made it through. 00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:59.920 And then guys in the kind of the premillennial dispensationalist world, more in the Bible church world, our world, they had the opposite answer. 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:05.040 So the hardest thing was preaching Daniel 1 through 6, but they loved 7 through 12. 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:06.000 They loved it. 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:07.040 They loved it. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:19.120 I read some commentaries this week on um Daniel 10, for example, and uh it's amazing how many commentaries suggested that preachers skip this chapter. 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:20.480 Um just skip it. 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:22.400 It's not worth it for your congregation. 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:27.840 Um which lets me know that more pre-millennials need to write commentaries on the last half of Daniel. 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:30.560 Um so that's where we find ourselves tonight. 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:32.640 Let me pray for us before we dive in. 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:35.120 Lord, we do pray for your wisdom and mercy. 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:43.200 As you look into your word tonight, we know that your word contains truth that only your spirit can reveal. 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:45.359 And so we pray for the ministry of your spirit tonight. 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:47.519 Uh conform us into the image of your Son. 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:49.200 We ask this in Jesus' name. 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:50.159 Amen. 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:56.799 Well, tonight for Daniel chapter 10, the title of the sermon, Angel from the Realms of Glory. 00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:59.920 If you're familiar with this chapter, we will read through it a verse at a time tonight. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:09.199 I'm not going to read the whole thing now, but as we work our way through it, you'll see that Daniel encounters two different heavenly beings uh tonight as he's praying. 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:13.439 And the first of those two beings is a manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:24.000 And so as we look at this chapter tonight, I think that it's helpful for us to understand how God reveals himself to us in his triune form. 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:26.319 So we're going to give you an outline tonight to follow along. 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:28.240 I hope this uh helps you. 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:29.840 Trinitarian taxis. 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:32.879 The word taxis is a Latin word that just means order. 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:37.360 Uh that's why it's in italics there, so you don't think it's a Trinitarian taxi or anything like that. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:40.080 It just means Trinitarian order. 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:47.360 Now, when the Bible talks about the Trinity, the Bible presents the three persons of God generally in an order. 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:52.719 And generally presents the three persons of God as Father, Son, Spirit. 00:02:52.960 --> 00:03:04.800 And while all three persons of God are identical in essence, they share the same essence, they're one being, they present themselves to creation differently. 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:08.080 They present themselves as as doing different things. 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:10.879 And that's because they are different persons. 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:20.479 And so the question that I've often asked, especially as we were preaching through John chapter one, is how can you tell the difference between the father and the son and the spirit? 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:22.000 What are their differences? 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:27.680 If the father and the son were to walk into the room together, how would you know who was whom? 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:36.000 There was a story in the news yesterday about uh a Delta Airlines flight that was piloted by a mother and her daughter. 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:42.159 Uh her daughter went to flight school and she's now a pilot as well, and they got paired randomly, I suppose. 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:58.560 I don't know, the story didn't make it clear, but on the same flight LAX to Atlanta on a uh uh seven seven uh seven seven seven plane, and they were she was the first officer, the daughter was, and the mom was the pilot, and and I don't know what I would think about that if I were in the the cockpit. 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:01.759 Um questions like are we there yet come to mind. 00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:06.240 Um my daughters are younger, so maybe not. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:15.759 But it was obvious which one was the mother and which one was the the daughter, because there was an age distinction between them, and one was the captain and the other was the first officer. 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:23.199 But when it comes to the Trinity, how would you tell the difference between the father and the son, and of course between the spirit as well? 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:29.279 And the answer to that is they're identical in every way, except one. 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:35.120 The father is the one who generates eternally, who or who begets the son. 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:46.720 And so the father is not the son, the son is the eternally begotten one, and the spirit is spirates, the spirit is the proceeds from the father and the son together. 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:48.240 And that's the distinction. 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:50.639 And you think, well, that's just saying the spirit is the spirit. 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:58.319 Well, yes, but there's a truth in there about how the trinity relates to one another that is, I think, important for us. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:03.360 And we can't get inside the mind of God, we don't know the details of the Trinitarian operations. 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:16.000 But as the Trinity interacts with the world, it's interesting that the Trinity presents himself in an order usually the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:25.680 And so tonight I want to look at that that order, the first, second, third person of Trinity, and just to make it as confusing as possible for you, we're gonna go in backwards order. 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:28.959 Hey, you buy the ticket, you take the ride. 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:30.319 Okay, you're all here. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:34.959 First, the spirit gives revelation, or shall I say third. 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:37.519 The spirit gives revelation. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:39.279 Daniel 10, verse 1. 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:47.040 In the third year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belshazzar. 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:51.519 And the word was true, and it was a great conflict. 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:56.000 And uh you could say the word was about a great conflict, I think would be a better way to translate that. 00:05:56.079 --> 00:05:57.279 And that's in the footnote of the ESV. 00:05:57.439 --> 00:05:58.399 It was about a great war. 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:00.879 The word conflict is the word for war there. 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:05.759 And he, Daniel, understood the word, and he had understanding of the vision. 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:11.279 So this is the heading, and the rest of the book is going to unfold that heading. 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:17.360 So it's not just tonight, but for the next two Sunday nights, we're going to see the rest of that vision that Daniel gets. 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:18.800 So this is just a heading here. 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:24.319 Daniel, in this third year of Cyrus, gets a vision from the Lord. 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:29.120 Now, this vision is about a great war that was described in detail in chapter 11. 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:35.680 Takes you all the way to the end of time in chapter 12, the resurrection of the dead in chapter 12. 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:39.279 But there's an interesting timestamp on here before we look at the role of the spirit. 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:43.040 It says it was in the third year of Cyrus the king of Persia. 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:47.839 And by the way, in verse 2, in those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:54.480 In those days that he received the vision, it produced a mourning in him that lasted for three weeks. 00:06:55.360 --> 00:07:06.399 If you recall two weeks ago when we looked at Daniel 9 with the 77s, the 70 weeks of there it was weeks of years, and that was kind of confusing, 70 weeks of seven years each. 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:13.199 It's interesting in Hebrew here, in verse 2, it says for three weeks, literally the Hebrew says, for three weeks of days. 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:15.759 And that's funny if you're coming off of chapter 9. 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:17.759 You're like, oh man, I've had up to here with weeks of years. 00:07:17.920 --> 00:07:19.120 Well, here you get weeks of days. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:23.519 We would just call normal weeks in English, and that's why the SV just renders it weeks of days. 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:28.800 But it is an interesting mark here, just to take you back to chapter 9, when it talks about weeks of years, that's what it means. 00:07:29.040 --> 00:07:37.759 Seventy sets of seven years is what it says, in the same way that right here is three sets of seven days for three weeks. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:41.279 Now we get the timestamp on this in everything. 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:45.680 Daniel was praying in the third year of Cyrus' reign. 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:47.199 You put this all together. 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:50.000 Cyrus became the new emperor three years before this. 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:52.000 Daniel is appointed to his position. 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:54.240 Remember, Daniel was the prime minister under Babylon. 00:07:54.399 --> 00:07:56.000 Babylon falls. 00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:00.000 Cyrus takes over with the Medo-Persians. 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:02.639 Daniel is appointed the prime minister now. 00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:13.839 At this time, this first year of Cyrus' reign, Daniel studies the book of Jeremiah and determines that the time of Israel to be in exile is complete and it's time to go home. 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:17.120 He then wants to pray about that. 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:20.399 This is when his enemies ban prayer. 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:23.199 They conspire with Cyrus to ban prayer. 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:29.600 Nevertheless, Daniel goes up to his room, throws open the windows, and prays facing Jerusalem. 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:36.080 This lines up very well with Jeremiah, where he understands that the years of exile are supposed to be over, so he prays facing Jerusalem. 00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:39.279 That's the prayer that's recorded in chapter 9 of the book. 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:41.120 We looked at that last time. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:46.320 That's, I think, the prayer, likely that he was praying under the ban of prayer. 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:48.559 Well, he gets fed to lions. 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:50.240 The lions go hungry for a time being. 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:54.240 Daniel lives, and then his enemies get fed to lions, and the lions get their fill. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:56.399 And Daniel goes free. 00:08:56.639 --> 00:09:00.240 When he goes free, this is where the narrative is picked up in Ezra chapter 1. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:01.360 This is how I understand it. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:04.159 I think if you were to make a harmony of all this, this is how it comes together. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:11.679 Up in Ezra chapter 1 is when Cyrus then gives the decree for the Israelites to go home, to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild. 00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:13.840 That's described in Ezra chapter 1. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:17.759 Well, then two years go by, two full years. 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:22.879 So we're probably now into the third year of Cyrus' reign, and the building gets stopped. 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:26.559 And this is because new enemies of Israel have arrived on the scene. 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:29.360 This is described in Ezra chapter 4. 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:31.039 The building gets stopped. 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:37.919 Now it doesn't get stopped indefinitely, it gets resumed again, but there's a lot of political negotiations that go along, and this is the story of the book of Ezra. 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:40.159 We'll look at that in the fall, Lord willing. 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:46.320 But for now, it's interesting that Daniel, during this, I think this fits right in this pause. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:47.679 Daniel now goes out. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:49.519 He leaves Babylon. 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:52.559 And he goes down, or he leaves the capital city of Babylon. 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:56.480 He's still in the Medo-Persian Empire, but he leaves the capital city and he goes down to the river. 00:09:56.559 --> 00:10:01.120 And you're going to see him praying at the river at the end of chapter even 10, and then into chapter 11. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:01.919 This is where he's at. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:03.840 He's left the capital city. 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:06.240 And I don't know what he's doing out there by the river. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:11.840 Some commentaries just suggest that he's trying to get the Jews to go back to Jerusalem. 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:13.759 After all, the exile is done. 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:16.879 What are you doing with living in Persia? 00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:19.519 Get out of there and go back to Jerusalem. 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:25.600 Well, he's in the wilderness and he spends three weeks praying. 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:31.039 Now, I bring this up because the dates here, this is the month of Nisan, beginning of the first of the month of Nisan. 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:33.039 This is the month that has Passover in it. 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:35.279 So Daniel is praying here and fasting. 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:37.840 We're going to get the dates in the next paragraph down in verse 4. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:42.720 On the 24th day of the first month, he was on the great river, that is a Tigris. 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:45.519 He's praying here through Passover. 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:48.799 This is why this is an emotional experience for him. 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:56.720 This would really be their first Passover when the Jews are back in Jerusalem, and yet the building has been paused, and Daniel is devastated. 00:10:56.799 --> 00:11:01.200 He feels like, oh, remember, the first time he's praying about this, he got fed to lions. 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:04.399 So this is kind of a big deal for him. 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:13.679 You jump forward a few years, the building has stopped, and Daniel is out in the wilderness begging the Lord for something for help here. 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:17.120 And for three weeks he doesn't have an answer. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:19.679 Very unlike his experience before. 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:26.799 When he prayed about the fulfillment of Jeremiah in light of Ezra 1, and God answered him with the vision of the 70 weeks, this is much different. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:31.360 Now it's even more dire in his mind, and the Lord is not speaking. 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:34.799 But back to the heading here in verse 1. 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:36.159 He does get a vision. 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:41.759 Now we're going to see how long it took him to get the vision as we go through tonight, but the heading here, he does get a vision. 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:43.679 And he understood the vision. 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:47.360 The vision in verse 1 was true, it says in the middle of verse 1. 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:48.879 It was about a great war. 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:52.960 He understood the word, and he had understanding of the vision. 00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:59.519 And we know that this is the Holy Spirit who is responding to Daniel's prayer. 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:03.840 We know that because only the Holy Spirit can give you vision from God. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:09.039 Only the Holy Spirit can give you insight into God's will, into God's plan, and into God's word. 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:16.399 And the fact that it's recorded and makes three chapters of Scripture here, Daniel 10, 11, and 12, makes it a slam-done conclusion. 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:19.440 This is the Holy Spirit who's ministering to Daniel. 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:22.720 Consider 2 Peter 1, verse 21. 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:30.480 No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:34.080 This is the way God reveals his word to the world. 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:37.679 God doesn't skywrite his word in the sky. 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:42.000 He doesn't have rocks proclaim his word, although Jesus made it clear that he could. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:43.679 He doesn't send an angel down. 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:54.559 He doesn't even do in the in Islam where Muhammad had the Quran essentially downloaded into his mind, or in Mormonism where Joseph Smith has the plates translated from the other side of a veil. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:57.279 That's not how God's word is brought into the world. 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:05.440 God's word comes into the world through the active agency of the Holy Spirit, who inspires its authors. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:20.000 Inspiration covers every detail of the author's life so that all of their experiences produce the kind of person who will write what God wants them to write, and the inspiration covers the details of the writing, giving the author the exact words that will be inspired. 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:22.080 Inerrant, infallible in every regard. 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:24.000 That is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:32.639 And it's not just that we know this is the Holy Spirit because it's scripture, but beyond that, we know it's the Holy Spirit because at the end of verse 1, Daniel understood the word. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:34.639 He had understanding of the vision. 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:43.840 It is impossible to understand the word of God unless the Holy Spirit opens your eyes, because non-believers without the Spirit of God suppress the truth in unrighteousness. 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:46.480 They exchange the truth of God for a lie. 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:49.120 It requires the Holy Spirit to cause somebody. 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:50.720 It's an effectual cause. 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:57.120 The Holy Spirit has to interact with a person's life and open their eyes to receive the word of God. 00:13:57.600 --> 00:13:59.600 This is why I prayed before I began tonight. 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:07.919 As I do before, I preach every time that the Holy Spirit would minister to us by opening our eyes to behold wonderful things from the law. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:09.759 That's a quote of Psalm 119. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:15.200 Because if the Spirit doesn't help you receive the word of the Lord, you will not be able to understand. 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:17.279 I mean, you could diagram the sentence. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:26.639 The world is filled with people with their PhDs in religion who could diagram all these sentences, but wouldn't have a fat clue what it means. 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:34.080 Just like Jesus' world was filled with Pharisees who couldn't get their minds around the fact that the guy who was born blind was healed by Jesus. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:38.320 Man, they knew how many syllables were in the Old Testament, but couldn't get their mind around that. 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:39.200 I love it. 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:41.679 They ask his parents, Are you sure that's your son? 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:43.039 What are you kidding? 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:50.320 That's what it looks like to be deprived of the active agency of the Holy Spirit. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:53.440 This is what Paul writes, 1 Corinthians 2 verse 13. 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:57.919 We impart this in words, not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit. 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:02.159 There are wise people in the world who don't have the Holy Spirit. 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:04.639 They have worldly wisdom. 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:07.519 But that's different than the kind of wisdom that's in the Bible. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:10.960 That wisdom comes taught, Paul says, by the Spirit. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:13.519 Interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:15.840 Do you have the word of God interacts with the believer? 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:20.240 You're spiritual, which means the Holy Spirit has regenerated you and given you spiritual life. 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:26.799 And now you interact with the word of God, and the Holy Spirit causes you to understand it and interpret it. 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:29.120 And this grows throughout your life. 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:37.360 This is the process of sanctification where you're putting off sin and putting on righteousness through the active ministry of the Holy Spirit. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:40.559 1 Corinthians 2 verse 14. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:47.279 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God because they're folly to him. 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:49.679 And he says this in 2 Corinthians 2.14. 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:52.000 He's not able to understand them. 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:53.519 He just can't. 00:15:54.720 --> 00:15:56.960 The Bible is Charlie Brown's teacher. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:15:58.320 You know what I mean by that? 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:01.120 To the non-believer, it's just rah- rah-rah- rah-rah. 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:04.799 But to the one with the Holy Spirit, Paul says. 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:14.399 For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:16.639 As a very, very profound verse. 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:23.200 Who has understood the mind of the Lord to instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ? 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:25.759 Now I want you to trace out the logic here. 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:35.200 You're dealing with a word from the Father who comes to the earth, which is namely Jesus Christ, who is the embodiment of revelation. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:36.559 He is the word of God. 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:40.000 Who can understand the Father? 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:45.360 Only the Spirit, only the mind can understand the Father. 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:48.159 This is what I mean when the Holy Spirit is spiritual. 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:56.240 And the Spirit, then, who knows the mind of the Father, who's intimate with the Word Himself, can now deliver that revelation to you. 00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:59.200 This is why it's so critical that you're dealing with the Trinity here. 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:03.600 You're dealing with the Father and the Son, and the Spirit who relates the two of them. 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:07.119 Any relation between the Father and the Son is his own person. 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:12.400 You and your husband or you and your wife are two different people. 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:16.160 But you're not infinite, omnipotent beings. 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:18.640 You're not exclusive in all of your attributes. 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:20.160 You're not eternal. 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:26.799 But because God is, of course, any interaction between the Father and the Son would have to be a third person. 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:30.559 There's nothing outside of eternal outside of God. 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:32.960 And this is the Holy Spirit. 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:36.480 This is exactly what Paul means at the end of 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:39.279 Who has understood the mind of the Lord to teach him? 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:40.480 Nobody. 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:47.039 But we have, through the Word and the Spirit, the mind of Christ. 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:55.759 Notice how the Holy Spirit here is described as the mind of the Lord, the mind of the mind of the Father, the mind of the Son, who brings us the Word of God. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:17:58.480 Second Corinthians 3. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:06.160 Not that we're sufficient in ourselves to claim anything is coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who's made us competent to be ministers of the new covenant. 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:08.160 Not of the letter, but of the Spirit. 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:14.000 You don't understand the new covenant if you think just studying the Word of God without a spiritual interaction will help you grow in godliness. 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:14.640 It won't. 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:18.319 The letter kills, but the Holy Spirit gives you life. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:22.079 And the Holy Spirit gives you life by bringing the Word of God alive to you. 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:33.759 So when you're dealing with the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, it is the Spirit who causes you to believe and understand revelation. 00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:42.319 As Peter said, 2 Peter 1 21, no prophecy ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:44.319 This is the experience of Daniel right here. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:45.279 He understood the word. 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:49.519 He had an understanding of the vision, clearly interaction with the Holy Spirit. 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:54.079 Second, the Son is the image of the Father. 00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:56.240 The Son is the image of the Father. 00:18:56.319 --> 00:18:58.960 In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks, verse two. 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:01.680 I ate no delicacies. 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:05.519 Sounds like whining a little bit. 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:07.519 No delicacies. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:11.440 But understand that we're dealing with a guy who's been a lifelong prime minister. 00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:21.119 You know, ever he the days when he was a 15-year-old who just had to eat carrots to get by with the Babylonian guards, that was just a few pages to the left, but it was 80 years earlier, okay? 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:22.799 The guy's in his 80s. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:25.039 He's been accustomed to comfort. 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:26.480 No delicacies. 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:27.599 No meat. 00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:28.400 No wine. 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:31.039 It's like he's going back to his youth. 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:34.400 He's striving to get the Lord's attention. 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:36.799 He's striving to receive this revelation. 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:42.079 Nor did I anoint myself at all for three full weeks. 00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:44.559 Again, some of you might be rolling your eyes. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:46.720 It's been three weeks since he put on aftershave. 00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:47.839 Can you believe it? 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:51.039 What he's saying here is he's not taking care of himself. 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:53.599 He's not, he's not acting like the prime minister. 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:59.680 He's roaming along the Tigris River out here in the wilderness, begging the Lord to speak to him. 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:01.680 He's not eating the proper food for himself. 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:02.559 He's not bathing. 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:04.559 He's not taking care of himself. 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:10.799 On the 24th day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, there's a tigress. 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:19.359 I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Euphaz around his waist. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:28.079 His body was like barrel, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze. 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:32.160 The sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:41.359 Now, this is, I think very clearly, the interaction with the second person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God. 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:45.200 I think that for several reasons. 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:54.000 This kind of description he's describing seems to line up well with what Ezekiel saw around the same time in Ezekiel chapter 1, a little bit earlier, but Ezekiel chapter 1. 00:20:54.160 --> 00:21:02.559 But most certainly, if you look at Revelation chapter 1, and you can flip there if you want, or I'll just read it to you, but it's Revelation 1, verse 12. 00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:08.640 John says on the Island Patmos with his revelation of Jesus Christ, which you get from Revelation 1.1. 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:19.119 It says this is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave through the Spirit, of course, and that's what he's going to hit on there at the beginning of the book. 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:22.319 But then down in verse 12, I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me. 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:24.880 And on turning I saw seven golden lampstands. 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:30.880 In the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe, a golden sash around his chest. 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:32.079 You see that back in Daniel. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:34.960 The hairs of his head were white like white wool, like snow. 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:36.720 His eyes were a flame of fire. 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:41.680 His feet again were burnished bronze, the same thing you saw back in Daniel, refined in a furnace. 00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:44.000 His voice was like the roar of many waters. 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:45.920 His right hand he held the seven stars. 00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:48.160 From his mouth came a sharp two edged sword. 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:50.960 His face was like the sun shining in full strength. 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:54.319 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. 00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:59.519 But he laid his hand on me and said, Fear not, from the first and the last the living one I died. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:03.440 And behold, I live forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades. 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:05.519 And he goes on and said, write these things. 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:07.920 This is exactly the interaction Daniel has. 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:10.400 We'll get to the last where John had it all at once. 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:13.200 Daniel's going to have it again as we get down to chapter 12. 00:22:13.920 --> 00:22:17.039 But if you go back to Daniel 10, look at this encounter. 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:19.039 The man is clothed in linen. 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:20.720 Linen is what the priests wore. 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:22.640 It represent their purity. 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:28.880 The priests would wrap themselves in white when they went into the most holy place, and it demonstrated they were morally pure. 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:30.880 And this is the prophecy in Zechariah. 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:35.759 The priests would be able to exchange their filthy rags for pure rags. 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:42.400 Rags, by the way, are robes, by the way, that were white with linen because they were drenched with blood, soaked in the blood of the Lamb. 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:43.440 That's the prophecy. 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:50.720 And you think if you, you know, if you get a little chocolate on a shirt, my shirt today, and it was, you know, had to wash it off. 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:55.599 You have Jesus here whose robes will be white because they're drenched in blood. 00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:57.359 His blood sanctifies. 00:22:57.519 --> 00:22:58.400 His blood purifies. 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:00.480 It reminds me of the encounter in Matthew 8. 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:03.680 Jesus touches a leper and the leper gets cleansed. 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:05.359 Jesus doesn't get leprosy. 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:08.480 Jesus' garments, his blood sanctifies. 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:09.440 And that's the idea here. 00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:11.359 It's robed in white linen. 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:14.079 He's got a belt on it. 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:22.079 The belt is of gold, remonstrating his deity, his prerogatives, that he's the Lord of heaven that holds him all together, his royalty. 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:24.880 His body is barrel, which is a precious jewel. 00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:27.359 His face is the appearance of lightning. 00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:30.799 In John, it's lightning coming out of his mouth. 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:37.119 His tongue is the two-edged sword, meaning that he is the bringer of the word of God. 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:43.039 His eyes are flaming torches, which speaks of his omniscience. 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:45.039 He sees right through you. 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:46.160 He sees in you. 00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:50.880 They didn't have night vision goggles back then, with our X-ray goggles back then, but that's kind of the image. 00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:59.039 He is the omniscient Lord. 00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:04.160 Burning with lightning, torches, arms of burnished bronze. 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:12.000 What a contrast with the statue earlier in Daniel, his feet and legs were ironed and into clay as it, you know, decomposed in the ground. 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:17.200 The sound of his words were the sound of a multitude, or John says in Revelation 1, the sound of many waters. 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:21.119 In other words, it's just cascading, a cacophony of revelation from him. 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:25.119 It's cascading that you can't, without the agency of the Holy Spirit, you can't make this out. 00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:27.359 It's just overwhelming. 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:31.039 He is the very word of God. 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:32.640 He is the water of life. 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:34.319 Water comes from him. 00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:40.319 He tells the woman at the well in John, if you knew who he was, who you were talking to, you'd ask me to get you water. 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:41.839 And she says, You don't have any water. 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:43.680 You don't have any buckets, you don't have any water. 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:45.519 And this is the well that Jacob got from him. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:48.319 Jesus says, I have better water than Jacob. 00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:52.880 I am the water of life, the river of life. 00:24:53.920 --> 00:24:55.359 It's coming out of him. 00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:57.359 He gives life. 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:03.279 Daniel, of course, says what John does in Revelation 1. 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:04.960 Verse 7. 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:06.000 I saw the vision. 00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:07.440 He's going to fall down and collapse. 00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:08.880 But notice first, I saw the vision. 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:11.279 The men who were with me did not see the vision. 00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:15.279 But a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. 00:25:15.519 --> 00:25:18.079 You think, why would they flee if they didn't see the vision? 00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:20.960 Maybe they heard something, that's likely. 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:23.039 And the sound of his voice. 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:24.559 Maybe they just saw light. 00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:26.880 Maybe they saw Daniel losing his mind. 00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:28.319 And they got out of there. 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:29.279 But it's very interesting. 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:32.160 This is the same experience that Saul had on the Damascus Road. 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:34.480 Remember, the Jesus appears to Saul. 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:36.559 Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:38.079 And what are you talking about? 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:39.680 Well, only Saul sees. 00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:40.960 Everybody else bolts. 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:43.920 Same experience here. 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:47.759 So I was left alone, Daniel says. 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:49.359 I saw this great vision. 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:51.440 No strength was left in me. 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:55.279 My radio appearance was fearfully changed. 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:57.839 I retrained no strength. 00:25:58.079 --> 00:25:59.440 I heard the sound of his words. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:00.799 I heard the sound of his words. 00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:04.319 I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground. 00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:07.279 Now Daniel has seen some crazy things in his life, right? 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:08.960 But he has not seen this. 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:10.000 He is out. 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:13.839 Jesus appears to him, Jesus talks to him, and Daniel is done. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:15.920 He faints on thunk. 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:19.039 85-year-old prophet face down in the dirt. 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:21.440 Daniel's out, and friends are gone. 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:25.119 Deep sleep, face to the ground. 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:30.160 Well, the son, of course, is the image of the Father. 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:32.319 This is not the Father. 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:35.039 And you'll see the angel of the Lord many, many times in the scripture. 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:44.000 And it's right to say the angel of the Lord is deity because the angel of the Lord receives worship without rebuke, whereas when angels receive worship, that usually accompanies the rebuke. 00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:53.680 The angel of the Lord, we don't have time to go through the different ways he's presented himself through scripture tonight, but you can do a study of theologians called a theophany, which is an appearance of God. 00:26:53.759 --> 00:26:56.880 I prefer Christophany, an appearance of the Son, the Christ. 00:26:57.039 --> 00:26:58.880 It's a pre-incarnate appearance. 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:01.920 The Son at this point doesn't have a human nature. 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:09.839