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Battle Creek Tabernacle SDA Church

These Things We Know

Chris Holland

These Things We Know: God is Faithful

These Things We Know: God is Sovereign

These Things We Know: God is Good

These Things We Know: God Is the Relentless Redeemer

God Still Speaks Part 1

God Still Speaks Part 2

These Things We Know: God Wins

These Things We Know: God is the Deliverer

These Things We Know: God is the Great Teacher

These Things We Know: God is a Friend

These Things We Know: God Knows the End From the Beginning

These Things We Know: God is the Author

These Things We Know: God is the Finisher

These Things We Know: God is the Promise Keeper Part 1

These Things We Know: God is the Promise Keeper Part 2

These Things We Know: God Fights For Us Part 1

These Things We Know: God Fights For Us Part 2

These Things We Know: God Stands for Us

Cleland Bodie McCaffey, professor of systematic theology at Union Seminary in Chicago, wrote the words to that beautiful hymn in 1901.

He had 2 nieces that suddenly and unexpectedly died from the bacterial infection diphtheria.

He and his brother, the niece's father, were devastated.

And so he wrote the words to this hymn to encourage thoughts of peace and comfort as they drew near to the heart of God in such a difficult time.

In fact Cleland's church choir learned the song And then the choir gathered outside the home of his brother and they sang this hymn to encourage the family.

No matter the circumstances, No matter what we experience, no matter the joy, no matter the sorrow, there is a place of quiet rest, of comfort suite, of full release, near to the heart of God.

A place where sin cannot attack, where we meet our Savior, where there is joy and peace near to the heart of God.

We wait before Him, knowing that He is working behind the scenes on our behalf.

And that as we draw near Him, no matter the circumstances, we will be sustained.

Father in heaven, as we open your holy word, it is our prayer that you would speak to us in clear terms.

And may the power of your Holy Spirit take my words that are coming from your word and do something dramatic in each of our lives.

So please help us, I pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Sarah Joseph Hale successfully campaigned for a national day of Thanksgiving.

She won the support of President Abraham Lincoln who declared a National Day of Thanksgiving on November the 26th, 1863.

Every president after Lincoln would do the same.

It was President Franklin Roosevelt who finally issued a proclamation that the fourth Thursday of November would be Thanksgiving Day.

And although over the years Thanksgiving has become a highly secularized holiday, its roots are in the Puritan settlers that originally came to the United States.

And those Puritan believers had regular days of Thanksgiving where they would celebrate God's blessings.

Whether it was for the rain that came during a drought, whether it was for a military victory or a bountiful harvest or provision during a difficult time, they had days of Thanksgiving and they did not restrict days of Thanksgiving to 1 day of the year.

But throughout the year, we can be thankful today for our health that We don't have multiple days of Thanksgiving throughout the year.

But these Puritan believers were thankful.

They knew and they understood that which Cleland McCaffey would write later in that hymn, "'Near to the Heart of God, ' that God blesses us abundantly even when we may not recognize it.

And today as we continue our study in the book of Daniel we are going to see that Daniel is introduced to a reality that will help him understand what he will see and vision for Daniel 11 and 12, but here in Daniel 10 he is introduced to this reality that there is a great deal going on behind the scenes in each and every 1 of our lives.

And he's introduced to the reality that while we may not understand it, and sometimes we may not even like it, And sometimes we may not even know what's going on.

There is a battle raging behind the scenes.

And we are called to not only understand that there is a battle, but to recognize that God wins the battle.

And that in that battle, God's primary purpose and role is to fight for us.

Satan will do his best to inflict wounds along the way, but God fights for us.

If you have your Bibles, I would invite you to open to Daniel, the 10th chapter.

If you do not have a Bible with you, there are a few Bibles there that you can open up.

Daniel chapter 10, and if you prefer to look it up digitally, please open your phone to Daniel chapter 10.

Stay focused on your Bible app and not the many distractions that come with it.

In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a message was revealed to Daniel whose name was called Belteshazzar.

The message was true but the appointed time was long and he understood the message and had understanding of the vision.

In those days I Daniel was mourning 3 full weeks.

I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all till 3 whole weeks were finished." weeks were finished.

I was thinking 1 thing and read what I was thinking rather than reading the words on the page.

Daniel was mourning and we don't know exactly why Daniel was mourning.

We can guess and it is quite possible and even likely that Daniel had received word from Jerusalem.

You'll remember this is taking place in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia.

Cyrus would have already given his command to return to Jerusalem, and Daniel likely in this third year of Cyrus's reign would have gotten word back that the Samaritans were impeding the work of building the temple in Jerusalem.

And so Daniel was likely distraught over that but I want you to take note that Daniel the Bible says was mourning.

That word pleasant is translated a variety of ways in different versions but it can be translated tasty, delicacies, rich, or desirable.

Daniel was fasting during a 3 week period where he was only eating the simplest of things.

He denied himself fancy and tasty food, but the Bible also says that he did not anoint himself.

The use of oils to perfume and soothe the skin was a common practice in Daniel's day, and in the arid place of Babylon, it would have been a significant denial to comfort on his body to not anoint himself with oil to soothe the dry skin.

He denied himself and for 21 days was seeking the counsel of God.

Daniel in his self-denying, in his fasting and praying, the Bible continues in verse 4 of Daniel chapter 10.

Now on the 24th day of the first month as I was by the side of the great river that is the Tigris I lifted my eyes and looked and behold a certain man clothed in linden whose waist was girded with the gold of Uphaz.

His body was like barrel, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze and color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude." Daniel is praying, Daniel is mourning, Daniel is fasting because news had come to him that the rebuilding wasn't going well and what did God do for Daniel?

A being came to visit Daniel And in case we're not sure who that being was, this is the same description that John gave in Revelation chapter 1 when he saw the Son of God, Jesus Christ, in vision.

Keep your thumb in Daniel chapter 10 and turn to Revelation chapter 1.

There in Revelation chapter 1, the aged apostle John on the lonely island of Patmos, the last living apostle, wondering what was going to happen to the church.

1 came to visit him and He describes him beginning in verse 13, and the midst of the 7 lampstands, 1 like the son of man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.

His head and hair were like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes like a flame of fire.

His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters." In the midst of Daniel's time of mourning, In the midst of Daniel's time of mourning, in the midst of Daniel's time of distress, he has shown the answer to distress and mourning.

He has shown the answer to life's greatest challenges.

Daniel was shown in vision Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God.

It is a lesson to each and every 1 of us today that Jesus is the answer to all of life's stress and distress.

The amazing thing about Daniel chapter 10 is that no 1 else saw what Daniel saw in vision, Yet even though they didn't see it, the Bible records that they fled to hide themselves because great fear had come upon them.

And the Bible records that Daniel felt weakened.

It was a different hand, it was a different being that touched him that he had seen.

In Daniel chapter 10, beginning in verse 11, it describes this interaction as this angel visitor touched him.

And he said to me, oh Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you and stand upright for I have been sent to you.

While he was speaking, while he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling.

These words that were spoken to Daniel were virtually identical to the words spoken to Daniel in Daniel chapter 9 by the angel Gabriel.

It seems obvious that this is again the angel visitor Gabriel who has come to Daniel in his time of stress and distress.

And Gabriel calls Daniel greatly beloved.

In the English, we don't see the play on words, but it is a play on words.

Daniel denied himself of all pleasant things.

The word beloved and the word pleasant are the identical Hebrew word.

So while you deny yourself of beloved things, know this Daniel, you are beloved.

And in our life we may not be experiencing pleasant things, we may not be experiencing all the joys of life, but we must know this, that while our experience may be 1 of trial and tribulation, you are beloved.

And then the angel Gabriel began to open up to Daniel what was going on in the unseen world.

Gabriel told Daniel that he was delayed because he was contending with the Prince of Persia.

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Series

These Things We Know

These Things We Know: God Fights For Us Part 1

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Facing the Final Judgment with No Fear

38m

7 Keys for Overcoming Temptation

52m

Exact Proof the Bible is Accurate Using Time Prophecy

57m

Delighting in the Almighty

3. Enjoying God to the Fullest

28m

A God Worth Knowing

03 The Faith of Jesus

1h 1m

The Power of Perspective

Two Altars

53m

Scary Mary, Cheater Peter

38m

Encounters With Jesus

Jesus’ Encounter with Philip and Nathanael

38m

Drowning In the Will of the Almighty

34m

Plenary

Radical Practice

1h

Manliness 101

Session 3: The Difference Between Men and Dogs - What is Manliness, Anyway?

46m

Howling

45m

Sound Doctrine