Upon receiving a vision from an angel in
Daniel 10, Daniel testifies that “when he had spoken such words unto
me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb.”
“If an angel starts giving you divine
information, the best thing to do is just look down and shut up,” says Jordan. “Daniel
says that when the angel talked to him, ‘straightway there remained no strength
in me, neither is there breath left in me.’
“You know, folks, you hear people all
the time say they communicated with an angel or something like that and they’re
just nuts. Daniel said, ‘Man, it just took the wind right out of me. I mean, it
just sapped all my strength. I became just limp.’
“Verse 18 says, ‘Then there came again
and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me.’ The
angel speaks to Daniel and gives him the Word and the Word strengthens him.
Then the angel said, ‘Don’t you know why I’ve come to you?’
“When Gabriel begins to give Daniel
the information, he’s strengthened. Folks, there are two things that happen
when prophetic truth is given out to Israel. No. 1, it strengthens them; it gives them heart strength and courage. No. 2,
it enlightens them: ‘I’m come to make
you understand; I’m come to make you know what’s going on.’
“There’s an interesting comparison
between this passage and the Book of Ephesians. Paul prays for the saints that,
‘The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know
what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his
inheritance in the saints.’
“In another place in Ephesians, Paul
prays, ‘That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened
with might by his Spirit in the inner man.’
*****
“Prophetic truth gave Daniel and the
prophetic saints enlightenment and strength, and our truth does the same thing
for us.
“Notice in Daniel 10:21 is a real
touching thing: ‘But I will shew thee that which is noted (marked down) in the
scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but
Michael your prince.’
“You see the angel’s attitude and
estimation toward the Word of God? You know what that Book is? Jesus said, ‘Sanctify
them by thy word, thy word is truth.’ Paul said ‘rightly divide the word of
truth.’
"Daniel 11:2 says, ‘And now will
I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia;
and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through
his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.’
“You know what Daniel had? He had
copies of God’s Word and the angel said, ‘The copies you got there, Dan, and
what I’m going to give you to write down, it’s gonna be true.’ That’s
fantastic, isn’t it?
*****
“Isn’t it wonderful to know God gave
you a Book and called it the truth and you don’t have to worry about error and
mistake, or human opinion or viewpoint?
“The only absolute final authority in
this universe is that Book and that’s why it’s different from every other book
in the universe and that’s why the world hates it, can’t stand it, gets upset,
gets it’s liver in a quiver every time you pull it out.
“You go get out here on the subway with
a Playboy or a Hustler, or some other godless pornographic thing that doesn’t even
have a name on it, and they’ll sit there and pant and look over your shoulder.
But you sit there and you get an old black Book out and you hold it up and
start reading it and you know what they do? They get all nervous.
“I took my seat on an airplane and the
pilot came on and told us it was going to be a full flight. I had gotten my
briefcase out and laid my Bible on the seat next to me. When the woman who was
assigned the seat arrived, she put her bags up and looked at that Book and
started looking for another seat!
“You know why that is? Something about
that Book, man! That’s God’s Word. You know what a saint does? He picks that
thing up and he loves it and it’s a friend.
“Look at that old Bible just wore out,
coming all to pieces, the back coming off. That’s my friend, man. You know how
it is with your Book, don’t you? You wear it out. That’s because you get
familiar with your Savior. It’s the Word of truth.”
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