In chapter 10 verse number 1 the Bible reads,
In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar.
And the thing was true, but the time appointed was long.
And he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
In those days, I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.
I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth,
now that I anoint myself at all till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
So, this is the beginning of the final prophecy in the book of Daniel.
Chapter 7 and 8 and 9 were all separate prophecies that came unto Daniel many years apart.
Well, chapters 10, 11, and 12 are one prophecy,
and chapter 10 is basically just the prelude,
where he's basically confronted with the man that was described with the linen garment,
the belt of gold of Uphaz,
and he speaks with him and explains to him what he's going to learn.
And in chapters 11 and 12 he gets the actual meat of the prophecy,
and the Bible tells us, first of all, in chapter 10, verse 1,
he said the thing was true, but the time appointed was long.
Do you see that halfway through the verse?
He's saying this is something that's going to happen way out in the future.
So, in chapter 11 and 12,
we're going to get into some events that are way far out in the future.
That's why he's told in chapter 12 to seal up the prophecy,
for it shall be for many days to come.
Now, Daniel, it says here, was in mourning for three full weeks, 21 days.
Basically, he did not eat anything except bread and water.
He says in verse 3,
I ate no pleasant bread,
neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth,
neither did I anoint myself at all,
till three whole weeks were finished.
So, basically, just to get the picture,
he's on like a bread and water diet,
because he is mourning,
he's imposing this upon himself as a form of fasting.
He's not eating any meat,
he's not eating any pleasant bread,
he's not drinking any wine or juice or anything like that.
He's basically just eating bread and water,
he's mourning, he's not taking a shower,
I mean, he's not anointing himself.
He's basically just in a weeping, mourning type of mode.
Why?
Look at verse number 12 and it explains why.
It says,
Then said he unto me,
Fear not, Daniel,
this is when the man is standing before him.
Fear not, Daniel,
for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart,
and look at the next two words,
to under stand,
and to chasten thyself before thy God,
thy words were heard,
and I am come for thy words,
the words of his prayer.
So, why was it that he was fasting?
Why was he chastening himself like that?
Why was he mourning?
Because he wanted to understand,
he was trying to understand God's word,
he was trying to understand these prophecies
that God has given him.
Now, let me just quote a few verses
just to help you understand this.
The Bible says in the book of Psalms
that David chastened his soul with fasting.
Okay, so that's also the same thing here.
He says that when you started to chasten yourself
and to fast and to mourn,
the Bible says in the New Testament,
I believe 2 Corinthians says,
If we would judge ourselves,
we'd not be judged,
but when we are judged,
we are chastened of the Lord.
So, basically what God is saying here
is that it's good to be afflicted,
to chasten yourself, to fast,
to spend some time mourning and weeping.
Turn, if you would, to James 5.
Look at James 5 in the New Testament
toward the very end of the New Testament.
Look at James 5.
I'm sorry, James 4.
James 4, verse 8.
The Bible says in James 4, 8,
Draw nigh to God,
and he will draw nigh to you,
claims your hands, ye sinners,
and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.
Now, oftentimes you'll just see
just the first half of that verse quoted.
Draw nigh to God, he'll draw nigh to you.
But he tells us how in the same verse,
if you read the rest of the verse,
Cleanse your hands, ye sinners,
and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.
You see, you can't be close to God
while you're living in sin.
The more you get the sin out of your life,
the closer you're going to get to God, right?
But look at the next verse.
Be afflicted and mourn.
That's what Daniel was doing for those three weeks.
Be afflicted and mourn and weep.
Let your laughter be turned to mourning
and your joy to heaviness.
Why?
He said in verse 10,
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord,
and he shall lift you up.
So the purpose, according to the Bible,
one of the purposes of fasting
or mourning or weeping
or afflicting yourself before God
is just to humble yourself in the sight of God.
That's part of the reason why oftentimes in the Bible
you'll see people getting on their knees to pray
or getting on their face before God to pray.
It's just a sign of humility.
It's just humbling ourself before God.
But you see, today we kind of lost sight of this
and we go through our life.
We eat three square meals a day.
We eat a gourmet breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
You know, every single day we're perfectly groomed.
Every day we look great.
You know, I mean, some of us, no, I'm just kidding.
Anyway, you know, every day we look great.
We look like we're peeled out of an egg.
But you know what?
What about the inside?
Daniel didn't anoint himself for 21 days.
You know, he probably didn't look that good.
He probably wasn't feeling his best
after eating bread and water for 21 days.
But he was trying to humble himself in the sight of God.
He was trying to mourn and pray before God.
Why? Because he wanted to understand.
It just said understanding.
But you know, we know that he wanted to understand
God's Word, the vision, the prophecy that had been given unto him.
Look back, if you would, at the book of Proverbs.
Right in the middle of the Bible, dead center is the book of Psalms,
and the next book is Proverbs.
Go to Proverbs 2.
Proverbs chapter number 2.
And look at, while you're turning there,
I'll read verse 1, or chapter 1 verse 2.
It says, to know wisdom and instruction,
to perceive the words of understanding.
Look at chapter 2 verse 1.
My son, if thou wilt receive my words,
and hide my commandments with thee,
so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom,
and apply thine heart to understanding.
Yea, if thou criest after knowledge.
Now think about Daniel as we read this.
This is who Daniel was.
Yea, if thou criest after knowledge,
and liftest up thy voice for understanding.
Now, when was the last time you prayed to God for understanding?
You know, so often, people pray just for things that don't even matter as much.
You know, they just want physical needs met.
But here, he's saying, we should be begging God to give us understanding.
The Bible says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God,
to give it to all men liberally, and pray it not, and it shall be given him.
Here, he's picturing a man crying out to God,
begging for understanding.
Begging to understand God's word.
Begging to know wisdom and instruction.
Look at verse number 4.
If thou seekest her as silver,
and searches for her as for hid treasures,
then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord,
and find the knowledge of God.
Let me ask you something.
What is the greatest pursuit of your life?
Is it money?
Do you put as much effort, and work, and time,
into learning the Bible,
understanding God's word,
knowing these dark sayings of the Bible,
and the interpretation thereof,
as you would to get a paycheck,
or to make more money,
or to get some kind of a financial gain.
God says that we should be searching, and seeking,
and begging for knowledge, and wisdom,
and understanding more than any of those things.
He says in verse 6,
For the Lord giveth wisdom,
out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
He lath up sound wisdom for the righteous.
He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
He keepeth the paths of judgment,
and preserveth the way of his saints.
Then shalt thou understand,
again that word is used,
righteousness, and judgment, and equity.
Yea, every good path,
when wisdom entereth in divine heart,
and knowledge is pleasant unto thyself.
So, I mean, good, do we need to just keep going on,
and read the whole book of Proverbs?
God is telling you,
get wisdom, get wisdom.
Wisdom is the principle thing.
So get wisdom.
And with all of our getting,
get understanding.
We as Christians need to be people
who are on a quest for knowledge,
for wisdom, for understanding.
We ought to know God's word.
And today, many Christians
just want to emphasize the feel-good,
or, you know, I went to church,
and it really encouraged me,
and I felt great.
But wait a minute,
did you learn knowledge at church?
I heard people say, you know,
they read the Bible
to get a little encouragement,
a little pick-me-up.
You know, in the morning,
I could start out in God's word.
Hey, that's great, I'm all for that.
But you know what?
You need to really dig in deep,
and learn the Bible,
like Daniel did.
I mean, this was a priority with Daniel.
Daniel could have said like Job,
I've esteemed the words of thy mouth
more than my necessary food.
More important than stuffing his face
to Daniel was getting into God's word,
and not just a superficial read a few verses.
Oh, isn't that sweet?
Isn't that a curse?
No, he wanted to dig in.
He wanted to learn it.
He wanted to know it.
He wanted to understand it.
And when he got to a part
that he didn't understand,
I mean, he begged God.
He pleaded with God.
I mean, you could picture,
obviously, Daniel to the people around him,
people knew that he was fasting, right?
Now, you remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6?
He said,
Moreover, when you pass,
be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance,
for they disfigure their faces
that they may appear unto men to pass.
He said,
Be not ye therefore like unto them,
but thou, when thou fastest,
anoint thine head and wash thy face,
that thou appear not unto men to fast,
but unto thy Father which is in secret,
and thy Father which seeth in secret,
shall reward thee openly.
I don't believe Daniel was a hypocrite for one second.
But when we read the story here,
you know, there were hypocritical people who did that.
But when we read the story,
the Bible is clear that Daniel did not anoint himself, okay?
Daniel did appear unto those around him
as one that was in mourning.
He was, you know, wearing the sackcloth
and going through the whole process, okay?
And I wonder if people looked at him
if they probably thought,
Oh, you know,
somebody near him must have died.
Or they might have looked at him and said,
Boy, he must really need something,
you know, he must really have a bad problem here.
Or, Wow, you know, his finances must be messed up.
Maybe his marriage is messed up,
you know, of course he wasn't married.
But people would look at him
and probably think of all these human reasons.
I wonder if anybody would look at him
and think that he mourned and wept
and fasted like that for 21 days
just to understand the Bible.
But that's where we need to be as God.
This is what made Daniel such a great man.
His love and thirst for knowledge,
for understanding, for wisdom,
his quest to know God's word.
This is what we need to learn from Daniel.
This was the excellent spirit that he had.
He was on a search for learning and knowledge all the time.
Now, I am very big on this
because I feel like part of the biggest problem
that we have today among Baptists
is the lack of knowledge.
You know, there are lots of Baptists out there
that have a lot of zeal,
they do a lot of work for God,
and they're out there working hard,
but in many cases,
spinning their wheels due to a lack of knowledge,
due to a lack of understanding.
And there's no glory in being ignorant
is what I'm trying to say tonight.
Some people literally will glory in being ignorant.
You know, I've even heard pastors
almost glorify the fact that they're ignorant.
Well, I'm just a country preacher, you know,
I don't really know anything, you know,
I don't really know much, but you know, Jesus saves.
Well, I'm sorry,
but there's more to it than that, isn't there?
I'm glad Jesus saves,
but I got saved when I was six years old.
That was 23 years ago.
You know, I'm on to other things
that I want to learn about in the Bible,
because God's Word has more for me in my entire life
than just salvation.
And it's great to be saved, but you know what?
I'm not going to preach on salvation three times a week
for the rest of my life here.
Because there's other things
that we as a church need from God's Word.
We need to dig in
and get these other truths from the Bible
so that we're preaching the whole counsel of God.
Now, if you want to hear me preach the plan of salvation,
that's really easy to arrange.
It's called soul-winning.
And pretty much any day you want to do it,
just let me know, and we'll go out soul-winning.
I'll take you out soul-winning.
And there's other people in our church
that you can go out soul-winning with,
and you can hear the plan of salvation
that the gospel preached all day long.
We'll preach it for hours.
We'll preach it from door to door.
But you know what?
Tonight, most people are saved tonight.
And on Sunday morning,
the vast majority of people in our church
will already be saved before they walk in the door.
And the same thing on Sunday night.
That's why I'm trying to preach
and expound other parts of God's Word.
I'm trying to feed the flock here
and you as a believer need to come to church
to be fed, to learn the Bible,
to get something new from God's Word
that you can apply to your life,
that you can understand something new,
but not to just come to church,
but to be like Daniel and go get with God
and get the Word of God
and understanding of God on your own.
Did you read the Bible today
before you came to church?
Did you read the Bible this morning?
Have you read the Bible yesterday?
Because if Daniel is begging and weeping
and not eating, can you at least read it?
I mean, that's the first step.
Just read it.
Let alone where Daniel's at
where he is really working hard
to understand and know God.
Can you at least read the Bible one time cover to cover?
That should be a challenge to you.
Daniel is a great man.
I'm going to show you a couple verses.
Look at Ezekiel 14.
Because Daniel is mentioned
a couple other places in the Bible.
Of course, the whole book of Daniel
mentions Daniel, but
there are a couple of other books that mention Daniel.
Ezekiel, Matthew, and Mark
are the only other three books in the Bible
that mention Daniel.
We already looked at Matthew and Mark
mentioning Daniel
when Jesus was preaching about his second coming
and he talked about the abomination of desolation
as it was written in the book of Daniel.
But Ezekiel also mentions Daniel.
Now here's what's interesting about Ezekiel mentioning Daniel.
Daniel was still alive
while the book of Ezekiel was being written.
Just to give you a basic idea
of when the book of Ezekiel was written.
And obviously different parts of the book of Ezekiel
were written at different times.
But in chapter 1, you don't have to turn there.
Just turn to chapter 14.
But in chapter 1 verse 2 it says
in the fifth day of the month
which was the fifth year
of King Jehoiachin's captivity.
Okay?
The fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity
and Jehoiachin went captive about the time
that Daniel went captive.
So the book starts out
you know about five years into Daniel's captivity.
We don't know exactly what point that captivity is at
in chapter 14.
But basically Daniel was already
I guess the cliche would be
he was a legend at his own time.
I mean he was so well known
while he was alive
and even early on in his work in Babylon
that look what it says in verse 14.
And keep in mind
this is the Lord speaking.
This is God speaking unto Ezekiel.
It says in Ezekiel 14, 14
Though these three men
Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it
they should deliver but their own souls
by their righteousness, sayeth the Lord God.
Now, look who he's grouped in with.
Noah, Daniel, and Job.
Right? I mean he's grouped in with a man like Noah
the most righteous man on the earth
at his time that he was living.
Job, who was also called
the most righteous man that was living on earth at that time
in Job chapter 1.
So he's grouped in with these men.
What's the context? Look at verse 12.
The word of the Lord came again to me saying
Son of man, when the land sinneth against me
by trespassing grievously
then will I stretch out my hand upon it
and will break the staff of the bread thereof
and will send famine upon it
and will cut off man and beast from it.
Though these three men
Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it
they should deliver but their own souls
by their righteousness, sayeth the Lord God.
He's saying even if Daniel was praying for these people
I'd still destroy them.
Even if Noah and Job were here
I'd save them but I would destroy the rest of them anyway.
Look at the other mention in the book of Ezekiel
Ezekiel chapter 28.
Ezekiel chapter 28 is a portion of scripture
where God is actually talking about Satan here.
And he talks about it being back in the Garden of Eden.
He talks about the fact that he was the
anointed cherub that covereth
and it's talking about all the beauty and glory
that Satan had before he became Satan.
You know, back when he was Lucifer
in the Garden of Eden.
And look what it says about the devil
in verse number 3.
It says, Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel.
There is no secret
that they can hide from thee.
Of course, Daniel was the one who revealed
the great secret in Daniel chapter 2.
The word secret is found in that chapter over
10 times I believe in Daniel chapter 2.
So back to Daniel 10
I just wanted to show you those mentions of Daniel.
Just to show you what a great man he was.
That even in his own time
God was using him as an example to Ezekiel
basically pointing out to Daniel
as being the wisest man on the earth
and the most righteous man
living on the earth at that time
according to God and his dealings with Ezekiel.
Why was he so brave?
Because of his love for God's word.
I mean, you look at him.
He's reading it in chapter 9.
He was studying, reading the Bible, learning it.
In chapter 9 he's begging God to understand the Bible.
This needs to be who we are today.
If we're going to be like a Daniel
we need to love God's word
and seek after wisdom and knowledge
more than after treasures.
So let's keep going here.
It says in verse number 4
In the four and 20th day of the first month
as I was by the side of the great river
which is Hittakel
then I lifted up my eyes and looked
and behold a certain man clothed in linen
whose loins were girded with fine gold
a view past... basically is a belt of gold
and he's wearing fine linen clothing
and the river Hittakel is one of the four rivers
that's mentioned in Genesis chapter 2
about the Garden of Eden.
So this is Mesopotamia area
Tigris, Euphrates rivers.
It says his body also was like the barrel
and his face is the appearance of lightning
and his eyes as lamps of fire
and his arms and his feet like in color of polished brass
and the voice of his words
like the voice of a multitude.
So this is a pretty impressive guy, right?
Face like lightning
eyes like lamps of fire
his arms are like polished brass
I Daniel, it says in verse 7
I Daniel alone saw the vision
for the men that were with me saw not the vision
but a great quaking fell upon them
so that they fled to hide themselves.
You know, I think there's a little bit of symbolic meaning here.
Basically, sometimes a man who knows God
and walks with God
like Daniel is probably the greatest example we could find
he sees a great vision
you know, he sees things that other people don't see, right?
He's a man of great vision
and notice how the people around him don't see it.
You know, don't be afraid to stand alone
because many other people
and why didn't they see it?
Well, part of the reason why they didn't see it
is because they were afraid, right?
Look at the end there.
It says, but a great quaking fell upon them
so that they fled to hide themselves.
You know, oftentimes throughout the Bible
you'll see one man standing up
like in Elijah
standing up against the prophets of Baal
everyone else held their peace
and Elijah said,
I only I am left the prophet of the Lord
but Baal's prophets are 450
and everybody else was afraid to say anything.
You know, you have to get to the place in your life
where you're willing to stand up for what's right alone.
Don't be one of the scared people
who's off hiding themselves today.
Jesus Christ commanded us today
and people will often say,
well, you know, you got to use wisdom, you know.
Look, this is what Jesus Christ commanded.
He said, what I tell you in darkness
that speak ye in light
and what you hear in the ear
that preach ye upon the housetop.
We shouldn't be hiding what we believe.
We shouldn't be afraid to stand up
and maybe have a vision that other people don't have.
I'm not talking about an extra biblical revelation
but maybe getting up and preaching God's word.
We've got the word of God here.
Having a vision to do something great for God
to win souls to Christ
to start a church, to preach to serve
whatever it is that God has called you to do.
Don't be afraid to stand alone,
to stand up when everybody else is running away scared.
But he says in verse number 8,
therefore I was left alone.
And that's where you're going to be at life
in many cases, you know.
You're going to be alone when you're doing what's right
when you're walking with God.
Many times you'll be the only one.
Now, it can get discouraging
when you feel like you're alone sometimes.
Thank God we have a church here
filled with great Christians and people who love God.
But there are times in life when you start feeling alone.
I remember when I was just a 12-year-old boy,
our church kind of went south
and there were all kinds of problems
and the church kind of fell apart and split apart
and pretty much ceased to exist at that time.
And we were out trying to find a good church
and it seemed like every church we visited
was just completely compromised, completely watered down.
And we were driving 45 minutes an hour
trying to find something good to go to.
And we just couldn't find it.
I remember my parents started to get discouraged.
And here's what my parents said.
They said, maybe we're crazy.
You know, because all these churches are all watered down,
they're all liberal, they're all...
You know, maybe we're just wrong.
Maybe we're just crazy.
And you know, I think the devil
loves to get you to feel that way.
Maybe we're just crazy, you know.
Maybe we're wrong.
And then what did we do?
You know, we basically as a family compromised
and started going to some really liberal churches
and it wasn't until five years later
that we got into a good church.
And by then we'd become back split.
You know, I know I'd become back split
within that time.
Just from being in these watered down
sorry excuses for churches for five years.
Preaching out of the NIV
and with the rock band
and nobody's ever getting saved and everything.
You know, we went to those type of churches
for about five years.
And it's all because of the fact
that we, you know, we started to get that idea.
You know, I was a child,
but just started getting frustrated,
disillusioned when you feel like you're alone.
And you know, you might get to a place in your life
where you feel like you're standing alone on something.
But don't follow the crowd.
Stand up and say,
hey, this is what the Bible says.
I know what it says.
I know God's word here.
I'm going to stand up for what's right.
Even if everybody else is fleeing and hiding themselves,
I will boldly stand for what I believe in.
And if I'm the only one, then so be it.
Look how many people in the Bible were the only one.
Look at Elijah.
Look at Noah.
You know, look throughout the Bible
at a man who had to stand alone in many cases.
And so he said, hey, I was alone.
Therefore, I was left alone and saw this great vision
and there remained no strength in me.
For my comeliness was turned in me into corruption
and I retained no strength.
Yet heard I the voice of his words.
And when I heard the voice of his words,
then was I in a deep sleep on my face
and my face toward the ground.
So basically, here's Daniel.
He's by the side of the great river Hittakel.
And he sees this man come to him.
His face is like lightning.
His eyes are like lamps of fire.
Everybody runs away scared and they're gone.
He stands before this man,
but he basically is just collapses to the ground.
You know, just loses all his strength,
just collapses on his face
before the glory of this man that he's standing before.
And he has no strength in him
and he basically just passes out, you know,
onto the ground out of weakness, okay?
It says in verse 10,
And behold, a hand touched me,
which set me upon my knees
and upon the palms of my hands.
So what position is he in?
He's on his hands and knees, right?
So basically, the hand of this man,
basically takes him and picks him up
and just sets him on his hands and knees.
So now he's on his hands and knees before him.
And he said unto me, verse 11,
O Daniel, a man greatly beloved,
understand the words that I speak unto thee
and stand upright.
For unto thee am I now sent.
And when he had spoken this word unto me,
I stood trembling.
So basically, he tells him to stand up, you know,
and he stands up and he's shaking,
he's trembling, standing up before this man.
Now, notice a word that keeps coming up
throughout the rest of the chapter.
He keeps calling Daniel a man greatly beloved.
He says, Thou are greatly beloved, Daniel,
he tells him later.
Why is that?
You know, because God's trying to encourage him
because he's probably lonely.
You know, he's feeling alone.
And so God's telling him,
Look, you know, I love you, Daniel.
And it's the same thing that's said about John
in the New Testament, right?
The disciple whom Jesus loved, right?
And so God loves Daniel here.
And he says, he stood trembling, verse 12.
Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel.
And this is really interesting
what he says next in verse 12.
For from the first day that thou didst set
thy heart to understand,
and to chasten thyself before thy God,
thy words were heard,
and I am come for thy words.
But the prince of the kingdom of Persia
withstood me twenty-one days.
But little Michael, one of the chief princes,
came to help me,
and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
Now, that's really interesting.
Daniel started praying, right?
Daniel started fasting and mourning
and on bread and water
and praying to God for understanding.
And the Bible says here
that when he first started praying,
God right away heard his prayer
and God right away answered his prayer.
Immediately, instantly.
And he sent this angel here,
the one that he fell upon his face before.
He sent this angel to bring the answer
to Daniel's prayer.
But basically, this angel,
this bringing the answer,
was withstood by this other entity,
the prince of the kingdom of Persia.
Okay?
And he got held up for twenty-one days.
So that's why it took twenty-one days
for Daniel to get an answer to his prayer.
Now, that's a little bit odd, isn't it?
Basically, there's some kind of spiritual warfare going on, right?
Between this angel that's trying to bring Daniel
the response to his prayer,
because God basically sent this angel
to come to Daniel and explain to him
what the Bible meant.
Now, is an angel going to come to us
and explain to us what the Bible means?
No.
Because in the New Testament,
we have the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Ever since the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
the Bible says that believers are indwelled
by the Holy Spirit.
And so we need not let any man teach us.
Because the same anointing of the Holy Spirit
teaches us all things,
and it's truth and it's a lie.
So we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us.
We also have the entire Bible before us.
Daniel did not have that.
Daniel did not have any of the New Testament.
He didn't even have all of the Old Testament yet.
And so Daniel had less Bible,
and he did not have the Holy Spirit
living inside of him.
And so God basically sent unto him this angel
just to explain to him the vision,
explain to him the Bible,
explain to him what's going to happen,
which he's going to explain,
in Daniel chapter 11 and 12.
But he got held up along the way
because there was this spiritual warfare
going on between this, you know,
you say, well, who is this prince
of the kingdom of Persia?
Go to Ephesians 6.
Who is this guy that this angel
is doing battle with
that's what's standing in
that's slowed him down
and took him 21 days
to bring the answer to Daniel?
Look at Ephesians chapter 6 for the answer.
New Testament, Galatians, Ephesians,
Philippians, Colossians.
Look at Ephesians chapter 6.
It says in Ephesians 6,
very famous passage,
but you may not have thought of it
as we were reading there in the book of Daniel.
It says in verse 12,
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities.
Now you remember what that guy was
that was withstanding the angel of the Lord?
The prince of the kingdom of Persia, right?
Look who he says that we as Christians,
we as believers wrestle against.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities,
against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God
that you may be able to withstand in the evil day,
and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore,
having your loins girt about with truth,
and again he recites the armor of the Lord here
that we need as believers to do battle against his evil.
But he says we don't wrestle against flesh and blood.
Now flesh and blood would be a human being, right?
A human being has flesh and blood.
Now you remember when Jesus Christ rose from the dead?
He came to them,
and he showed them in the upper room,
his hands and his feet,
where he'd been pierced
when he died on the cross for our sins.
Well when he showed them that,
he said, come handle me.
He said, for a spirit
hath not flesh and bone as you see me to have.
So he said, spirits do not have flesh and bone.
He said, I do have flesh and bone.
And so he showed them,
and they basically handled him and so forth,
and they felt the holes in his hands,
and they saw that it was not just a vision or an apparatus,
but it was Jesus Christ,
physically, in the flesh, bodily,
had risen again.
But see this here,
that it's talking about,
is not flesh and blood that we wrestle with.
He said, the rulers of the darkness of this world.
Now it's interesting,
with that in mind,
go back to Daniel chapter 10.
So we're talking about devils.
We're talking about the devil and his angels, right?
And of course the Bible talks all about,
in Matthew, Mark, and even John,
many people are possessed of devils,
and we see tons of mention of the devil throughout the Bible.
But that's who's withstanding this angel,
basically the devil or a devil,
you know, one of the devil's lieutenants,
I guess you could say,
who is basically assigned to the kingdom of Persia.
Because he says,
we wrestle against principalities,
against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.
According to the Bible,
this world, in many cases and in many ways,
is run by Satan.
And many of the governments in the world today
are controlled by Satan.
Now, a lot of people will try to get you to believe,
and this is a doctrine that's real prevalent right now,
as we approach the last days possibly,
the very last days,
we don't know, of course,
when these things are going to happen
in the book of Revelation, the book of Daniel.
You know, we don't know when the Antichrist is going to come,
may not even be in our lifetime.
You know, but it probably will be in our lifetime,
though, you know, some of us anyway,
they're young, I'm just kidding.
But anyway, it could be in our lifetime.
This doctrine is real prevalent today,
just basically trying to teach you
that like the government,
no matter what government it is,
no matter what they're doing,
they love you, they're righteous,
you know, God has put them there to help you
and to be a good thing.
Now, this is a total perversion of the truth.
What God has explained to us in the Bible,
He explains to us,
and I'm not going to turn to Romans 13
just for the sake of time,
but you know, I have the chapter memorized,
you know, we've turned to it many times in this church,
and you know, basically, the Bible says,
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers,
for there is no power but of God,
the powers that be are ordained of God.
Whosoever therefore resisted the power,
resisted the ordinance of God,
and they that resist shall receive themselves damnation.
For rulers are not a terror to good works,
but to the evil.
Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?
Do that which is good,
and thou should have praise of the same.
For he is the minister of God to thee for good,
but if thou do that which is evil,
be afraid, for he beareth not the sword of vain,
for he is the minister of God,
a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Now, what the Bible's explaining there,
and it's really just picking up from the end of chapter 12,
what God's explaining there is that human government,
as an institution, has been ordained by God.
You see, what right does the government have
to tell us anything, to have any law?
Well, God is the one who gave governments
the right to rule over men, okay?
Just as my children have to obey me as their parent, right?
What if my son just said,
well, no, dad, I don't want to obey you.
Why should I?
Why do I have to obey you?
Just because I'm your son, I don't have to obey you.
But what's my answer to that?
How can I really prove to my son
that he has to obey me?
Somebody help me out.
The Bible says, right?
So where does my authority as a parent come from?
God, right?
God is the one who ordained fathers and mothers
to have authority over their children,
and he commands the child to obey that parent.
That is an institution that God is set up,
and that God commands us to respect.
And we must obey, as children,
you know, living at home,
we must obey our parents.
That is the command of God.
If we disobey our parents, who are we disobeying?
God.
Not because our parents are God,
but because of the fact that God commanded us
to obey our parents.
Isn't that right?
That's an institution God is set up.
Now, is my authority as a parent absolute?
No.
No, it is not.
You're right.
Because of the fact that there's someone else
who supersedes me, right?
God.
Okay?
So, but it's pretty,
I have a lot of authority as a parent though, right?
Tons of authority.
But it's not completely absolute
because if anything I say conflicts with what God says,
they don't have to obey me, okay?
Because the Bible says,
let every soul be separate under the higher powers.
Higher is a comparative word.
Something's higher than something else.
Well, God's higher than my parents, right?
So basically, if I'm a child,
I should always obey my parents
unless it conflicts with what God says.
Does that make sense?
So anytime my parents tell me to do something,
unless it violates God's word,
I'm supposed to do it
because it's pretty near an absolute authority.
But it's not totally absolute.
Okay.
Now, pastors in churches have authority
given to them by God
because the Bible says,
basically to obey them,
they have the rule over you,
have spoken unto you the word of God,
whose faith follow
considering the end of their conversation.
But see, my authority as a pastor
is far more limited than a parent's authority, right?
Am I your parent?
You know, just treating you like a child,
telling you what to do,
ruling over every aspect of your life.
Now, as a parent,
I rule over almost every aspect of my children's life, right?
I mean, I can pretty much put my foot down
about just about anything
unless it flies in the face of God.
My authority as a pastor
is limited to the jurisdiction
of being a pastor,
which I'm the pastor of a church, right?
So the authority that the bishop or the pastor has
is authority in the church.
Does my authority extend into your home?
No.
I don't come to your house
and start telling you
how things are going to be in your house.
And I don't come to you, man,
and start, you know,
commanding your wife around or whatever.
Because that's not my wife, right?
My authority is in the church.
I basically rule in the church.
Now, you rule in your own home.
And I'm speaking to the men right now.
Also, the ladies have authority in the home
over the children.
That is your jurisdiction.
Your home is your castle, right?
Well, in the church,
obviously Jesus Christ is our final authority.
He's the head of the church.
But as the pastor,
he's given me authority, basically,
just to keep things straight here
and just to run things while he's gone,
you know what I mean?
And so that's the authority of the pastor.
It's just within the church.
You know, I decide what's being preached.
You know, I decide what direction
we're going to go as a church.
But I don't rule over you personally, right?
I can't just make rules about your personal life.
Okay?
Because that is going outside of my authority, isn't it?
Okay?
Well, what authority does the government have
according to Romans 13?
What is their scope of power?
What is their jurisdiction?
Why does the government exist?
For the punishment of evildoers.
And that's all.
Period.
End of story.
And that's what the Bible teaches from cover to cover.
Their job is for the punishment of evildoers.
But today, what's being preached and taught
across the pulpits of America
is that the government has the absolute authority
that a parent has over you.
Because this is what preachers will teach.
They'll say you have to always obey everything
the government says as long as it doesn't contradict the Bible.
Who's heard somebody say that?
Every hand should go up.
Because, I mean, we've all heard it a million times
and a lot of hands do go up.
Because they'll say that,
well, as long as what the government's telling you to do
doesn't conflict with the Bible,
no matter what they tell you to do,
you must do it.
Now, look, the government is acting outside of its scope
when they're doing something other than punishing evildoers.
The Bible is explaining in Romans 13,
because let's say Romans 13 were not in the Bible,
and it's not just Romans 13.
There are a lot of other passages that tell us
to obey magistrates and kings and so forth
that are set over us, the human government.
If it weren't there, then we could just say,
well, you know, we don't have to obey the government at all.
And that's not the way God wants us to live,
because God has ordained human government.
So we should have a government,
and we should obey that government.
But does that mean that the government
has the right to parent my children, for example?
No.
Does that mean that the government
has the right to run this church?
No.
Because that's outside of their scope of authority,
outside of their jurisdiction.
That's not the purpose that God ordained government.
Government is the revenger to execute wrath
upon him that doeth evil, okay?
And I don't want to spend my whole sermon on that.
I'm just giving you that basic teaching.
I quoted it to you from Romans 13.
You can read the chapter.
You can read other chapters in the Bible
that explain the same thing.
But God has commanded us, as much as dwell within us,
if it be possible, to live at peace with all men.
So there are a lot of things that we go along with,
you know, that the government tells us to do, right?
Even though they don't necessarily have the right
to, you know, a lot of things we just go along with
because of the fact that, you know,
we're just trying to live a quiet and peaceful life.
We're just trying to be godly and honest.
But you know what?
The government is out of control in our country today.
They're basically in the process of enslaving us,
who are free people.
We're born free.
We have a document that guarantees us
all kinds of freedoms, which is the highest law on the land.
So if we're to obey the higher power,
you know, the Constitution would be basically
the highest law on the land.
Everyone will agree.
That's where we go to get the higher power.
And then higher than that is obviously the Lord Jesus Christ.
But in realms of government, in realms of civics,
you know, the Constitution is the highest law in the land, okay?
And then there are other laws below that
and other people below that, okay?
So if our government is in violation of the Constitution,
you know, we need to submit to the higher power.
We don't have to submit to the guy at the very bottom
who's violating the law himself.
You know, for example, if a police officer came to my house
and said, hey, my squad car is dirty,
you know, wash my squad car.
And if you don't, then I'm going to taser you.
If you do not come out right now with a sponge
and a bucket of hot water and soap
and wash my squad car,
and then I want your wife to come shine my shoes
right now while you're doing that.
Now, does anything in that command conflict with the Bible?
No.
You know, I mean, I don't know if it really conflicts with the Bible,
but I'm not doing it, okay?
Because it's just way outside the scope of that guy's authority
because I am not his slave, right?
He does not own me.
I'm a free person according to the law of the United States.
I do not have to serve him, okay?
Because I'm free according to our laws.
So he doesn't just walk around just making up his own law.
I say, so it's law now, okay?
So does everybody understand that?
Does that make sense?
So according to the Bible here,
what we're reading in Daniel is this government ruled
and are the governments of this world run by Jesus.
Now, people will try to say that they are.
Now, hold on a second.
If you are one of these Calvinists, or hyper-Calvinists,
or hypo-Calvinists, or quasi-Calvinists,
or pseudo-Calvinists, or kind of Calvinists,
or homo-Calvinists, or whatever you are,
you know, I'm head of it.
I think Calvinism is garbage, okay?
Is that clear?
But here's the thing.
If you're one of these Calvinists
who thinks that everything that happens is God's will
and God's running all the governments of this world,
then you're saying that Jesus is funding abortion.
That's what you're saying.
I mean, you're saying that Jesus is killing
innocent people across the world,
whether born or unborn.
I mean, look at all the wicked leaders
that exist in our world today,
because there are more countries
than just the United States, right?
I mean, there are wicked leaders all over the place
that murder people, that torture people.
You know, look, there's Communist China.
There's all kinds of places in this world
that are abusive governments.
I mean, what about China's one-child policy?
Are they a little bit outside their jurisdiction?
Yeah, did you know that one out of five people
in the world live there?
Think about that for a minute.
One out of five people in the world today
live in a country, I mean, 1.4 billion, right?
And there's, what, seven billion people in the world?
So one out of five people in this world
live in a country where you're not allowed
to have a second child,
or you're going to be forced into an abortion.
So does that sound like the governments of this world
are ruled by Jesus Christ?
No, there's the prince of the kingdom of China,
and it's some devil, you know?
And the prince of the kingdom of the United States,
and the prince of the kingdom of this,
and the prince of the kingdom of that.
Look, the devil is called the god of this world
in the book of 2 Corinthians.
And so, yes, God is there.
Yes, God rules and reigns
and has way more power than the devil,
and he's the one who is at the top of things, obviously.
He has all power,
and he gives the devil only certain power
that he can operate within.
And obviously, God has all of his angels, right?
Like this guy that was battling
against the prince of the king of Persia.
Look, if you would, at chapter number 11, verse 1.
Daniel 11, 1 says this.
Also I...
Now, who is speaking here than I?
This is the man that's clothed in linen
that has the golden belt.
The man who is basically explaining these things to Daniel.
The man who is what stood
by the prince of the kingdom of Persia for 21 days,
who was doing battle with him,
and we don't really understand these type of things.
But it says here,
Also I, in the first year of Darius the Mede,
even I stood to confirm and to strengthen him.
And now will I show thee the truth.
Behold, there shall stand up.
Yet three kings in Persia, and on and on he goes on.
I don't want to get into chapter 11 until next week.
But what we see here
is that there's a spiritual battle going on, isn't there?
Between guys like this guy,
we don't know his name,
this angel that's showing Daniel these things,
and then there's this other prince of the kingdom of Persia,
and then he mentions at the end of chapter 10,
look at the end of chapter 10 verse 21,
But I will show thee that which is noted
in the scripture of truth,
and there is none that holdeth with me in these things,
but Michael your prince.
So basically they had a prince over their kingdom
that was the good prince, Michael, okay?
Michael the angel, you know?
And then there's this other prince of the kingdom of Persia.
So there are basically good and evil forces today
working and basically behind the scenes
changing the authority in government.
Because we see that this good angel here
that we're reading about in Daniel 10
was strengthening and lifting up Darius the Mede,
who was a righteous man, right?
And then we see this other wicked prince of the king of Persia
that was withstanding everything that was right,
you know, he's basically trying to rule
in the affairs of the kingdom of Persia.
Does everybody understand what I'm saying?
Or is this just going way too, you know?
It's kind of creepy when you actually think about it.
You know, just all this spiritual battle that's going on.
I mean, but it's really happening.
You know, we don't really see it.
But man, it makes you think,
man, I should do some praying.
Because it seems like if we pray, right,
it could really make a difference here.
Because, you know, Daniel prayed
and basically brought this guy on the scene
that was basically battling this other guy,
and he came and brought him all the answers to his prayer
and everything like that.
So, you know, I don't want to go too deep into this
because, you know, it's already getting a little bit spooky here.
No, I'm kidding.
I don't want to get too into this here.
But let's just leave it at this, you know,
for the scope of the sermon tonight
because I got a few other things I want to say about this chapter.
There's a spiritual warfare going on.
There are evil forces at work
that rule and reign in this world.
Basically, there's an authority structure among these devils
and we often call demons,
what people call them, the Bible calls them devils.
There's a power structure here
where some of them are more powerful than others
and there are these principalities and powers
and there are the rulers of the darkness of this world.
It's funny, people will say,
oh, you know, you're a conspiracy theorist
if you think that there are like dark forces at work
controlling events of the world.
You know, you've heard stuff like that, like,
oh, there are these dark forces at work
and if you believe that, you're a conspiracy theorist.
Well then, the Bible is a conspiracy theorist
because the Bible is saying that there are dark forces at work in this world.
That's where a lot of the warfare comes from.
That's why when the devil is cast into hell for a thousand years
during the millennium,
there's going to be total peace on earth, okay?
Because all of this demonic devilish activity
is basically ruling over our world today.
Our world is in darkness today
because of spiritual wickedness in high places,
because of the rulers of the darkness of this world.
Now it's funny because a lot of the so-called conspiracy theorists,
they don't believe in God.
So they think it's just like these bankers are running everything.
Now look, yeah, the bankers are running everything
but guess who's running the bankers?
Satan. That's the part they're missing.
That's the part they don't see.
Like, oh, it's these bankers have gotten together and stuff.
You know, that is hard to believe.
But when you realize that Satan is real
and when you realize that he has all these millions and millions of devils under him
and when you realize that he has an infrastructure and a bureaucracy set up
where he has different devils assigned to different governments
and different countries and different places
and they're constantly doing battle with these spiritual forces of good.
When you realize that, you can see how it all fits together,
how there's a structure in place controlling this behind the scenes
and it's the devil controlling it behind the scenes.
That's why we're going toward a one-world government.
You know, that's why we're going toward one-world religion.
That's why we're going into oppression and slavery worldwide.
That's why people are dying innocent all over the world today.
That's why the unborn are being massacred wholesale
and we as Christians are forced to pay for it, you know,
when we go to work and it's taken straight out of our checks.
You know, why?
Because of the fact that the devil is there orchestrating this thing.
He is the ultimate ruler of the darkness of this world.
That's who we're up against.
And so, no, it's not just some bankers who are greedy and whatever.
You know, they already have all the money that they need, right?
They're multi-billionaires.
No, they're being controlled by Satan.
That's what's really going on.
The real ruler today and we can scream and yell about Obama and be mad about Obama
and Obama is truly a wicked person.
He's a very wicked person, but he is just a tool.
He's just the tool of Satan.
I mean, he's not the real man that has the real power.
He is the puppet of Satan.
Just like all these other wicked leaders you see across the world
are the puppets of Satan and his minions.
So, he's not really at the top of the power structure.
Above him, there are unseen forces at work
and spiritual forces that rule the darkness of this world.
And so, I don't want to get too far into that,
but I hope that that makes sense to everybody
and that you understand that there's a spiritual battle going on today.
We need to put on the whole armor of God.
You know, we need to be in prayer.
We need to be like Daniel, praying and fasting and getting in our Bibles and so forth
because of what we're up against in this world.
But let's get through the rest of the chapter here.
He said in verse 13,
So basically, the angels on both sides, the evil and the good, are both called princes
because they're basically leaders, rulers, principalities.
So basically, this messenger from God here that Daniel's dealing with,
he was withstood by the prince of the kingdom of Persia for 21 days.
The reason that he was finally able to defeat the prince of the kingdom of Persia
is because this other angel, Michael, came and helped him.
So let's keep reading.
It says in verse 14,
Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days,
for yet division is for many days.
Who are God's people in the latter days?
Us.
Believers in Jesus Christ, whether we be Jew or Gentile,
whether we be bond or free.
God's people are born-again, Bible-believing Christians.
Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are his people, are the saints
that are talked about so much in the book of Daniel.
Look at verse 15, it says,
And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb.
Man, he just got up finally.
You know, he's on the ground, he got on his knees, he finally stood up,
then he fell on the ground again.
And it says,
And the old one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips.
Then I opened my mouth and spake and said unto him that stood before me,
O my Lord, by the vision,
And by the way, he's not speaking unto God here, okay.
When he says,
O my Lord, he's just basically using the word Lord as boss.
You know, because the Bible uses that word a lot in that way.
The disciples not above his master, nor the servant above his Lord.
So he's basically just being very submissive and subservient to this guy that he's speaking to.
Kind of like in Spanish, who knows what the word for the Lord is in Spanish?
The Lord.
El Señor.
El Señor, right.
But have you noticed that you also call people Señor?
Because it basically means sir, okay.
Well, that's the way my Lord has meant in the past in English, okay.
Not the Lord, but just, you know, my Lord as in my boss.
Sort of like when Sarah called Abraham her Lord.
You remember that in the book of Genesis?
Genesis chapter 18, she called Abraham her Lord.
And then she's praised for that in 1 Peter chapter 3,
where it says,
Even as Sarah also obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord.
You know, not giving him a deity name,
but just basically acknowledging the fact that her husband was the boss,
because she was a wonderful example of a Christian wife,
according to 1 Peter chapter 3.
She was submissive to her husband.
She was not trying to wear the pants in the family.
So it said,
O my Lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.
For how can the servant of this my Lord talk with this my Lord?
For as for me, straightway there remain no strength in me,
neither is there breath left in me.
So he's out of breath.
Then there came again and touched me, one like the appearance of a man.
And he strengthened me, and said,
O man greatly beloved, fear not, peace be unto thee.
Be strong, yea be strong.
And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said,
Let my Lord speak, for thou hast strengthened me.
Then said he,
Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee?
And now will I return to fight,
remember I said there was this spiritual warfare going on between these entities?
I will return to fight with the prince of Persia,
and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Gresa shall come.
But I will, that's another, you know, basically devil that he's doing battle with.
But I will show thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth,
and there is none that holdeth with me in these things but Michael your prince.
So, let me quickly wrap this up.
Early in the chapter, what was Daniel on a quest for?
It starts with a U.
Understanding, right?
He's begging God, he's studying the Bible, he's praying,
he's trying to get understanding, okay?
Later on in the chapter, he basically receives strength from God.
God commands us to have knowledge and strength.
The Bible says,
They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint, okay?
Basically, he's saying that if we run out of strength,
when we're weary, when we're faint, God will strengthen us.
The word comforter, which is called the Holy Spirit.
The comforter comes from the word fort.
Comforter means to strengthen, to give us strength,
and that's what the comforter does.
But, let me just close by saying this.
How are we going to get understanding from God?
In the day of technology and information technology,
it's so easy sometimes to go to the internet when we need understanding, right?
Let's say I get to Daniel 10, right?
And I know it's like, okay, it's Wednesday night,
I'm preaching and, you know, I'm Daniel chapter 10,
and boy, I've been studying this, I've been learning it,
and, you know, I cannot figure out what Daniel chapter 10 is talking about for the life of me.
So, what do I do?
You know, I get on the internet, right?
And I Google Daniel chapter 10 commentary.
Daniel chapter 10, you know.
That's not how God wants us to get our answers today.
And so, if you Google anything,
I mean, something's going to be out there.
You know what I mean?
The internet's a pretty big place.
And if you type anything into that internet,
any question, what does this mean in the Bible?
Somebody's going to be on there to give you the answer,
but is it really the right answer?
No, you know, you don't know.
It might be, but the best way to get your answer
is to get your answer from God.
Get on your knees and pray.
I mean, I can't tell you how many times
I struggle with something in the Bible,
and I just pray and then beg God,
and he gave me the answer.
You know, if you ask God, if you beg God,
he will teach you the Bible.
And so, every time you're reading the Bible,
and you get to something you don't understand,
pray and ask God.
And sometimes I've prayed for weeks on the same thing.
And after a few weeks of reading my Bible and praying,
I understood the answer.
And I knew where I got the answer.
From God.
Not from man.
Not from Google.
I got the answer from God.
And so, don't just think that this life
is like the fast food society,
where it's just, you know,
oh, I'll just push a few buttons,
boom, yeah, all the,
all biblical truth is at my fingertips
right here with this computer.
No, this is biblical truth right here,
in your hand.
Man is out there to deceive you
and to lead you astray.
Get with God, get with the Holy Spirit,
get with the Holy Bible,
and you'll get the answers that you need.
Get your understanding from God.
But you know, we live in a lazy society
where people don't even want to pick up this book
and read it.
Let alone eat bread and water for 21 days.
Let alone put on sackcloth at morning and weeping.
Let alone begging and praying and fasting.
They don't even want to read this book.
They'd rather just be spoon-fed
at Fun Baptist Community Center,
down the street,
some little spoon-fed
that'll tell them what they need to believe.
No, you need to dig into this book
and get serious about God's Word.
You need to change your little talk with Jesus
to sweet hour of prayer.
And you need to change
your little five-minute Bible reading time
to a serious session of getting in God's Word.
Because He said,
my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
And many reasons why people get mad about what I preach
is because they don't even know the Bible.
So I'll preach something and they think I'm wrong.
When really, they just haven't read.
Now I'm not saying I'm never wrong.
But I'm saying that there are a lot of times
when what I'm preaching is right
and people think I'm wrong
because they just don't read the Bible.
They just haven't read the Bible.
They think I'm wrong.
They don't know what they're talking about.
So, I don't mind somebody standing in judgment of my preaching
but know what you're talking about.
Learn the Bible and then come and judge my preaching.
You know, and see if it lines up with God's Word.
But study the Bible for yourself.
Let's go ahead and have a word of prayer.
Father, thank you so much for your Word.
And God, thank you for the Holy Spirit.
I'm glad I don't have to wait 21 days
for this guy to show up
that's going to knock me on the ground
and explain to me what the Bible means.
I thank God that...
I thank you, Lord, that we have the Holy Spirit
living inside of us, guiding us, correct?
And I thank you so much that I have a book in my hand
that Daniel would have loved to have in his hand.
Daniel would have loved to have the whole Bible in his hand
and we have it today, God.
Help us not to take it for granted.
Help us to read it and learn it
and meditate upon it day and night.
Help us to be a modern-day Daniel.
And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.