Let us pray once again. O God, we are unworthy of you who can ascend the hill of the Lord. And so we wait for you. Out of the depths we cry. Have mercy on us. Forgive us. Cleanse us. make us like children, to rejoice and delight in you, to find our strength in you, to look for you, to revive us, to resurrect us from our darkness, our hopelessness, our depression, our despair, all the weights that we carry. We lay down At the foot of your cross Be with your servant now through your spirit lords As unworthy as these lips are lord that you may be glorified Through the preaching of your word that this will not be my words, but your words I plead For your presence. I plead for your guidance lord Please oh god Please, in Jesus' name, amen. It has been said, if our churches don't pray, if people do not have an appetite for God, what does it matter how many are attending our services? Would that impress God? We can imagine angels sitting in heaven. Will they be impressed by a sanctuary lightning? Will they be impressed by The number of people sitting in the pew? No. Today we want to look at what really impresses the angels in heaven as sinners turn from their sins and they bow down before the Lord as God's people turn with all of their hearts to God. We have been going through a brief study on revival. We have looked at Ezra two weeks ago, now we want to look at Daniel. We could call this message the second part of the prayer for revival from Daniel 9, 1 to 23. Now, it's a coincidence that our text, Daniel 9, parallels very much Ezra 9. And I want to show you that this is actually more than a coincidence. see here a strict parallel between these two men of God and the prayer that they engage here together. Now Daniel is a little bit earlier than Ezra, a hundred years earlier, still in Babylon, by now become Persia. If you'd read the book of Daniel, you know he's trying to maintain the distinctive biblical faith among God's people away from Jerusalem, in exile. away from the promised land in a pagan surrounding. And we're still meditating on this same theme of restoration after judgment. And today is our last day focusing upon this theme of revival, which has developed as a burden in my heart in the past few years. As we look at the increasing decadent state of Christianity in North America, the increasing decadent state of our society, I want you to know that prior to revival, the situation always looked hopeless. That the only hope for our land is either that we turn to God, that we do so with awareness of the God that we have offended with our sin, or judgment comes. And this passage is very useful to assert what were the feelings of God's people right after judgment. And Daniel is an interesting character as well. It moves here in our story in chapter nine at a breaking point. You know, the first six chapters are a story. Now we move from story to visions. We move from a book written in Aramaic to a book written in Hebrew. And this prayer comes kind of as a turning point And a crucial break of the entire book. Verse 1 of chapter 9, we look at what sparks the prayer of Daniel, and that is the end of the 70 years of exile. Daniel is almost at the end of his life. He's an old man sitting on his desk with the scrolls of the book of Jeremiah. And he's there praying. And as he prays, through the aid of the Spirit, he's able to connect the dots that the prophecy of the restoration of God's people is about to come to pass. And it is time, therefore, for him to seek the Lord. He wants to make preparation to go back to Jerusalem. And so he goes on his knees in prayer. And like Ezra, what does he do? Same exact thing. He confesses the sin of God's people. He acknowledges that the nation has been rightly judged. And he pleads the Lord for restoration, revival. He trusts that the same God that condemned and destroyed Israel can faithfully deliver them according to what is Tephah's love. This is not just a prayer. This is a persistent prayer. This is pleading for the promises of God. And the wonderful thing about this prayer is that, unlike the other one, it receives an immediate response from the angels. As we noticed last time, revival begins when we turn back to the Scripture, that God's people return to the Bible. When God's people meticulously, like Daniel, set their minds to investigate all the counsels of God, with eagerness, But also verse 3, what are the circumstances of this prayer? And just like in Ezra, Daniel sets his face toward the Lord. What made in part this prayer effective was the determination of Daniel. As well as the humiliations, it was just like Ezra. He dresses in sackcloth, ashes, fasting. He's abased and in sorrow and said forgetfulness. I want you to see those details that surround the prayer. Don't overlook them. Later in chapter 10, Daniel will continue to pray. And he will receive more visions, which will produce more and more humbling in him. But here we see the triumph of his persistent praying. Here in our text, we see the crucial lesson for us. And what is the crucial lesson for us, friends, is that no matter how desolate a nation looks under judgment, when a righteous man humbles himself, like Daniel is doing here, when a humble man of God bows the knee, aware of the majesty of God, boldly requesting God's forgiveness, you could say that revival is already at work. Like last time, Notice here, first and foremost, and our first point, which parallels Ezra very much, that revival begins with this corporate confession of sin. It's the same theme of Ezra. Verse 4 to 14, Daniel acknowledges that Israel broke the covenant and faced the exile as the payment for their own sin. So Daniel now prays to the Lord, verse 4. And when you read the book of Daniel, you know, How in previous chapter this man was willing to face incrimination simply for his praying. That's how much prayer mattered to him. It was dear to him even above his own life. And like in Ezra chapter 9 verse 7, here in Daniel chapter 9 verse 7, it's a prayer of confession. Daniel publicly admits the sins, the corporate sins of Israel as a whole. Not just the presence in, but also the past and the comprehensive dimension of these sins. But look at how he calls God as the great and awesome God. You could say the dreadful, fearful, or terrible God. A God to be held in honor, with respect, revered. Sadly, with all of their idolatry and disobedience, which brought exile and judgment, that's exactly where God's people had failed to keep in mind the greatness of God, the majesty of a God. And only recovering a high view of God, friends, as a great and dreadful and holy and perfect and majestic, eternal, self-sufficient God can bring any hope. But He also pleads the mercy of God, who God has kept the covenant. He has been faithful to His promises, regardless of our disobedience. That is the clarification of verse 4 and 5, that He has been faithful and merciful to those who love Him and keep His commandments. You see, the problem is that Israel, throughout the entire past history, you look at after they entered the Promised Land. after Joshua died, and then you go through the judges, and then you go through all the kings, and then you get all the way to Jeremiah, and it's a hopeless cycle of apostasy. They did not keep God's commandment. And so Daniel piles up several terms to describe the same thing. We sinned, we rebelled, we acted wickedly, we departed from your law. through idolatry, immorality, lying, cheating, all sort of things that Israel did. You see, the problem was not just the outward sin, it was the heart. Those sins in the heart that we allow, that we tolerate, instead of eradicate them. What happens if we don't? They flourish. And the worst thing is they not only sin, but they did not heed to the call of the prophets, God's servants. that the law is given but now the prophets come to say you have broken the law go back to that obedience those are the messengers that God sends but God's people ignore them or worse they started to persecute them and what was the result of all this God was righteous in sending judgment God's judgment is just according to Daniel While Jerusalem has no excuse, only deserves shame of face and confusion as it is to this day. The judgment was so humiliating, but it was deserved. It was fruit of the faithless hypocrisy of those who claim to be God's people. And now the temple is destroyed. They've been scattered all over the earth because of their unfaithfulness. That's exactly what Ezra prayed. But there's something more than Daniel prays to here. Daniel also acknowledges that there's one sin for which Israel is to be at blame here. In verse 8 to 14, that sin is the sin of prayerlessness. That not only judgment has come, but we have not called upon your name. Even in the face of such judgment, we have not turned to you, O God. And there's this parallel, to us belongs shame. We are humiliated. Jeremiah in Lamentations that we just read in chapter 3, verse 42, wrote, We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven. But now Daniel is pleading for that forgiveness and compassion and mercy of God to finally come. And friends, that is the same hope that we as well embraced. Judgment for all sins against an eternal God. But the gospel hope is this, that though we sinned, though we rebelled against God by breaking His law over and over again, not just with outward actions, but even in our hearts. Even when we hate someone, even when we lust in our hearts. That's the measure of us breaking the law. And God knows our hearts. but we can still receive forgiveness. That though we all sin, though we all fall short of God's glory, God can have mercy. That is the prayer of Daniel. But it is only possible, not because God says, okay, you're sinning. I'm going to put it under the carpet and it's fine. No, a price had been to be paid. That curse for your sin was taken by Christ upon His shoulders. And this implies also that now that you hear this, you look at the cross and you turn away from sin. And you begin to love the God that you once hated. And you begin to love and to be able, through His grace, to follow Him. So Israel rebelled, but God still can restore. Verse 10, Daniel continues the confession. He owns the guilt of God's people, just like Ezra. We have disobeyed the prophets and this curse and all the oaths that the old covenant, which had been taken at Mount Ebal before entering the promised land, had come upon us. We have broken the old covenant and the God's wrath has been poured out upon disobedient Israel. All the prophecies of dooms, that all the prophets were saying, if you don't repent, this is going to happen. Destruction is coming. And the destruction came. They did not heed the Word of God. The disaster, this great disaster. He speaks here, Daniel, it's all that happened to Jerusalem, the siege of Jerusalem, the destruction of Jerusalem. To the point that Daniel says, under the whole heaven, such has never been done as what's been done to Jerusalem. You look at a fall. of all sort of civilization. But Daniel was saying, this was the hand of God. This civilization was destroyed because we have not listened and gone back to God. Verse 13 and 14 speaks of the disaster, but again, the sin of prayerlessness. We have not made our prayer before the Lord our God. We are aware of all these judgments. We are still not turning back to God. Literally, in Hebrew, it's almost saying, we have not sought to pacify the face of God, which now is turned in anger because of our sin. You think about you and your spouse, if you have a quarrel, and you don't even make an effort to reconcile with your spouse. Try to think about doing this, not just for an afternoon, and afterwards you go to your spouse and say, honey, I'm sorry for behaving like that. No, you keep that for days, you keep them for months. Can you imagine the damage that this will do to your marriage? Now think about doing the same thing with God. You have transgressed His commandments and you have proceeded. This is what Israel was doing day after day, month after month, year after years. And then you face all the consequences of that broken relationship. And even after all that judgment, they did not go back to God. They didn't even try to go on their knees and admit their sin, confess their sin, turn back to God, and then being able to turn from their iniquity and understand the truth. Because anyone who is not repenting is still under the deception. The deception. He doesn't understand the truth. And so the Lord, kept the disaster in mind. The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on Jerusalem. That was the consequence of their judgment. But Daniel is saying, we have to go back to God. We have to pray. That is where revival begins. Revival, as J.I. Packer says, is the visitation of God, which brings to life Christians who have been sleeping. It restores a deep sense of God's near presence and holiness. And from that springs a vivid sense of sin. your own sin, that once you looked at it, it's not a big deal now, it's become so much real. And a profound exercise of the heart in repentance, praise of God, love for God. And then it leads, J. F. Packer concludes with evangelistic. You start to share that with others. People are going to notice that you're going to, you can't help but share God's word with others. And Daniel here in this prayer has this high view of God, And he couples that view of God with a low view of himself. Friends, that is what is effective to spark revival. Let's comment first about the help of prayer in every situation. Notice first how prayer is coupled with the meditation of the Word of God. The context of this praying is Scripture. If Daniel teaches us something here is that we must read the Word of God prayerfully. in order to understand it better, not to just rely upon our brains, our theological understanding. And I think as Reformed people, we tend to read the Bible. We tend to speak about theology a lot. We have big terms, lofty words, lots of pride, no prey. That doesn't please God at all. You're just mumbling words. You need the help of the Holy Spirit. You need to pray because you are dependent even for understanding scriptures. That's the situation of Daniel. He receives this list of visions he could not understand. And prayer is what unlocked the mysteries of God. And so in our prayer, like Daniel, we must begin with God, not with, Oh, I need this. I need that. It's not about you. Focus on God, exalt God, meditate on God, meditate on His greatness, His attributes, particularly His holiness, His love. Approach Him with reverence because He's so great. And when you do that, everything else, your needs, your sins, your progress in the Christian life will finally come to their true light. You will start to see truth. When revival comes, friends, you begin to be sensitive to the sins that you previously minimized. You begin praying like Daniel, feeling unworthy of yourself. And Daniel is a godly man, okay? He sinned less than any of us in this room. And yet he's interceding for others. He's owning the sin of God's people. He has an incredible burden that we should have for the lost, the coming ruin. for those who do not know the Lord. Now this goes even for us, those among us who this morning do not know the Lord savingly. Yes, it goes for you, that you can be saved. But you can be saved only when you realize who this God is. That you keep in the balance His justice and His mercy, His wrath and His love. You realize the dreadful, how dreadful is the punishment for your sins. And that the fact that Out of love, Christ came and He took that punishment for your sins, present, past, and futures, all the wrath of God. He came to give His life. He came to die on the cross for you. My friend, do not despise this offer like Israel despised the prophets of old. I'm going to continue with my life. I'm going to turn my back on the cross. See, Israel's issue was not only sin, but the despising of the warning. That there is a warning of a judgment to come. That if you fail to embrace the gift of eternal life, God's wrath still abides on your shoulders. And it will lead you, if you don't go to the only remedy, which is the cross, to an eternity in hell. And the reason is, as we prayed, it's because our sin, which looks so small in our eyes, is done against an eternal God. And there's an eternal punishment for such eternal sin. Ponder, friends, what you have done against this God. Prayerlessness is what destroyed Jerusalem. It wasn't the lack of politicians who would come to help. It was prayerlessness. They did not call upon God. If they did, it was a ritual. It was a A repeated prayer. The first steps is to pray. And so I'm pleading to you to pray to God to save you, to realize who this God leads that leads you to confession and through confession leads to true change. See that's when God becomes high and great, we become low. We become extremely realistic about our sin. And that's where God begins to work. And a person can confess his sin only if he's humble enough. Most people in their pride cannot make it into this first step to openly confess your sin. Now, we don't have prophets today, but you can have professing Christians who despise and hate those who expose their sin. And that would be something to ponder. Many embrace a false idea of cheap grace. But it's just like it's normal in human relationship. It is so with God. There is no true reconciliation without true repentance. Turn away from sin and embracing Christ by faith. And you focus upon God, that produces in the godly, like Daniel, great humiliation, shame, recognition, admission of sin in all its measure. Even in the believer, that you are coming closer and closer and closer to the holiness of God. And you're going to say, like Isaiah, woe is me. I'm a man of unclean lips. We're no longer pretending, friends. No longer hiding. No longer ignoring. Realizing the deadly fruit of our sin and owning it for ourself. And we finally break free. That's where healing begins. Not just for us as individuals, but corporately as a church. Not just as us as a church, but even as a nation. Like Ezra, Daniel is taking the place of the entirety of God's people. And the universal Church of God must do the same, realizing that we are in the same boat, the same faith. We cannot ignore the consequence of sin. Let us also ponder this second aspect, that Daniel recognizes God's justice. God is just and punishing. Justice is giving to everyone what is due. So before you say God is unfair in sending this or that chastisement, realize that if God gives you what is due, you will end up in hell tomorrow. You have no right. The breath you breathe is borrowed by the Creator. And there's a price for disobedience. When you blatantly reject the Word of God, then there's judgment upon nations. And that's the same for our nation if we keep ignoring the few voices that are left warning us. The full measure of the judgment comes upon nations that forget God. To the point that there was no equal to what had happened to Jerusalem. That you can compare all sort of World War War, but if it's a judgment from God, it pales in comparison. That God really unleashes righteous judgments. And what is worse is even after the hardship of judgment, people still didn't go back to God, still didn't pray, still expect a solution from politicians, rather than fully coming back to the Lord. Friends, what would it take to awaken us? But let us now look at the second point of our text. What is the definition of revival from our text? And that's verse 15 to 19. And we see here in Daniel that rebellion, in essence, is a plea for restoration. Daniel is pleading for God to show mercy. He moves from confession now to supplication. And he mentioned Egypt. That is an interesting reference. Why is it important to look back to Egypt? Because when everything is hopeless, when everything seems lost, the strategy to count your blessing, to get some perspective, to save you from despair, because you look at the judgment and say, there's no way out. That's what Daniel is doing here. You see, exile is the opposite of Exodus. The God who judge is also able to deliver. And that is what Daniel is pleading. Like God did in the Exodus, Daniel is aware God is capable to deliver us again. And He did, in fact, He did bring His people back to Jerusalem. But verse 16 says, I am praying this not because of my righteousness, but according to His righteousness. The question is, how can a righteous God be just and act according to His righteousness and let His fury be turned away from Jerusalem? And the solution is if it's only if in that same holy mountain of Zion, God Himself comes down to what? To satisfy such righteousness by living a perfect life, by dying for all of your sins and iniquities. And it is in the basis of this righteousness of another, not your own. And that's the righteousness you plead for God to answer you in prayer. And it can only be embraced by faith. If even good Daniel could do no otherwise, let alone me and you. So Daniel prays, O Lord, may your fury be turned away from Jerusalem. As we have become a reproach to all nations, all the curses of Deuteronomy 28. God had warned, if you don't obey me, Israel, you will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn and ridicule to all the nations where the Lord will drive you. and the final plea of Daniel, verse 17 to 19. Hear my prayer, O God. Hear my supplication. Cause your face to shine upon us. Look upon this Jerusalem that lies desolate because of your righteous deeds, because of your great mercies. Hear, forgive, listen, act. Do not delay. Samuel Chadwick, a Puritan, once said that the one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. If he hears nothing from prayerless studies, if he hears nothing from prayerless work, if he hears nothing from prayerless religion, he laughs at our toil, he mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles when you pray. He trembles. This prayer of Daniel is mindful of God's work in the past. And now Daniel urgently desires for God to have mercy and to act in the presence. And that is what is effective to fuel revival. Friends, all will be lost for us in those seasons under hardship, were it not for the help of the past. That you draw strength from the faithfulness of God in your past. The promise of Psalm 17, 6, I call upon you, Lord, for you will answer me, O God. I'm sure you have a story or two to tell about ways in which God has delivered you. But there's a condition, you see. Daniel's mind was fixed on God. He wanted to be a vessel of noble use, determined to obtain God's blessing. The problem is Israel disobeyed. And when you disobey, all sort of harm comes. If you don't obey God's Word, if you remain half-hearted, then don't expect this prayer to work. What is part of Daniel's plea here is also something we see even in Moses. He's almost asking God, please do not afford the surrounding nations an opportunity to doubt you because of our sins. But all will be lost also because If we didn't have God's mercy, friends, if you remove the forgiveness of God from the message of Scripture, then all will be lost. The hope for us is that in wrath, God remembers mercy. And so we should be thankful, thankful for all the benefits that we have compared to Israel in the Old Testament. We have the Holy Spirit inside of us. We live in the New Covenant. Yet God will chastise His own. And we pray that God forgives our debts. And the plea of Daniel here, even in the midst of judgment, is for restoration. And it is an invitation for you and me to return back to God. He torn us, yes. But why did He torn us? That He may heal us. He has struck down that He might bind us. This is the plea, friends, when the church looks almost defeated. Justly punished for the disobedience, the apostasy. We must pray God intervene bring us back And there's a beautiful outcome to this prayer and I want to turn now my attention with you To our last point the most beautiful part of our text, which is verse 20 to 23 the first part The revival aims as a as a divine response. That's the aim of revival Then you receive the answers of god for one reason And what is the reason? Because he's beloved of the Lord. Look at verse 20. While I was still confessing my own sin, no sooner Daniel was done praying, as he was confessing his own sin, confessing the people's sin, making supplication for the holy mountain of God, Zion, then an angel came. Gabriel, this is the same angel who would announce the birth of Christ. He flies swiftly toward Daniel. Daniel is distressed. He has these visions that are bigger than himself. He needs wisdom. He needs help. And he's also looking at the events unfolding. And God brings this heavenly touch. Have you ever had a direct line? Whether you go to a business class on an airplane or you benefit from a quick customer service. Think of something as fast as that and think about that in prayer. Why? Because of your faithful devotion toward God. Friends, what could be ours if only we had the same attitude of Daniel, the same focalized prayers, the same priorities, the same humility. Notice also in connection with Ezra, this happens in the same time, evening offering, at the time of the evening offering. And if you remember from Ezra 9 verse 5, there's a meaning between that. And I'll explain that. But then there's the beauty of the ending of our text, verse 22 and 33. I have come here, Daniel, to give you skill to understand. And know this, Daniel, at the beginning of your supplication, no sooner you began to pray, I was commanded to come to you. Chapter 10, we'll repeat this. Beautiful promise, verse 12, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humble yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. And what is the reason for this immediate answer prayer? Because you are greatly beloved, highly esteemed, you're greatly valuable, precious. The King James almost rendered it as a treasure. It's a thing that you can see the best, more costly and valued because rare. From the first moment on, Daniel is treasured by God. He is held in high esteem. God loves Daniel. He's not just beloved of God, but greatly beloved, very much. Someone said, our prayers. lay the track down which God's power can come. This is the prayer of a righteous man, and it is effective to bring revival. And the revival in this case was that the temple will be rebuilt. In fact, this prayer is part of a far, far broader plan that Daniel initially understood. So our text really shows us the immediacy on this answer prayer and the beauty of it, of a speedy response. Like that promise of Isaiah 65 verse 24, Before they call, I will answer. And while they're still speaking, I will hear. That's how quick angels may come to our help when we eagerly pray, when we become earnest about the things of God. Friends, may this church receive such speedy answers as we pray for God to accomplish His work. I remember, as I said, the evening sacrifice. As we saw the last time, two weeks ago, is when the lamb was offered, the blood was sprinkled. Don't you praise God that it's only Christ's blood that makes your prayers acceptable to God? Don't you thank God that the mercy seat is there in heaven right now and it's sprinkled with the blood of Christ? You see, we cannot come to the Holy Presence of the cherubims and seraphims worshiping the throne of God. We cannot. If we do, we would die instantly. But through the power of the blood of Christ poured out for your sins, you can, through the intercession of Jesus Christ, our high priest, our prayers can be accepted before that majestic throne of heaven. This is the encouraging ending of our story, friends. That God delights when we humble ourselves in faith and contrition. And we come to prayer, not as a burden, but as a privilege, a privilege. That's what makes you, like Daniel, so given up to prayer. That you entreat the Lord to change the course of events, receiving immediate answer from God's heavenly throne. And from the myriads of his angels. So let this be an encouragement to you. of the power of prayer. Now, I know this is not always the case. Sometimes, as Spurgeon says, we pray, pray, we wait, oh, we wait. We have knocked the heavenly door so many times and it's still shut. But he says, Spurgeon, delay is no denial. Water is at its lowest ebb before there is a spring tide. I want to speak that especially to those who in this room today are weary in their praying Or failing to receive an immediate answer We're wrestling with God in prayer sometimes for months sometimes years Notice that the Lord is delaying to grow your faith and know this also That you are greatly loved You are precious. Your words matter to Him. He hears you. Now you may say to me, I'm not righteous. I'm not like this Daniel, this great godly man. Maybe this morning you can't even lift your head up toward God because you feel the weight of your sin. He still calls you to pray. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Put Him to the test now if He's not going to hear the genuine plea of a sinner who confesses his sin, to turn away from his sin, and pleads for the forgiveness that is available to you in Christ. Put Him to the test now. He will hear you at once. He will come upon your word. He will forgive. Whenever we genuinely turn to God in prayer, we can expect His answer. Trust Him. Believe Him. Even as you wait, He will revive you in the process. I want to conclude with one quote, one of my favorite quotes on revival, which has stirred this reflection as a book. Ian Murray has written a book called Revival and Revivalism, if you're interested. It's a very long book, but it traces for us the story of God's work in this land, a work that many of us forgot. And he says this during the seasons of God's visitation on his church in this land. He says that prayer, that throw believers in heartfelt need of God, with true concern for the salvation of sinners, will not go unanswered. Prayer of this kind precedes blessing. When such spirit of prayer, like Daniel, exists, it's a sign that God is already intervening to advance His cause, friends. When was the last time you prayed like this? As if your life mattered. with this eagerness. We pray like this only when we are in desperation. But the truth is, if we were fair with our state, we should say, I am always desperate. I'm always needy for you, God. Where is the reverence toward such grace, God? The humiliation, the frank confession of sins. God, I know you know about the sin, and I've been hiding it from everyone, but it's there. And I confess it to you this morning. What is the identification with our corporate sins, even national sins? Do we have a burden for the universal Church of God and the needs that she stands right now to confess the sins, not just of ourselves, but of our families, of our city, of our nation? How can we expect God to move if all these things are lacking? And why are they not there, I wonder? How can restoration come if God's people haven't turned to God in the first place? It could be a little bit discouraging, but enough for the assurance. I want to say the prayer of true believers. Walking in truth shall be immediately heard in the heavenly throne. Immediately. Immediately. The angels will come to your assistance. The Christ blood will cover your imperfections. And you hear this voice. that You're precious in my sight, that I love You. What an honor to pray. What a privilege. May God grant us wisdom to understand the times we live in. I want to leave you with that. Verse 23 continues all the way to the end of 27. Daniel was given a window to the future. That is the context of this prayer. Now, we don't have time to expound those final verses, Our purpose remains to reflect on prayer and revival. Yet it is significant that this prayer is within a eschatological surrounding. The 70 weeks answers to prayer concerning a specific future prophecy about the coming Messiah who came. Our text, chapter ends, it says, He will bring an end to sin. Daniel needed to know about the ultimate hope of restoration. the ultimate consummation of this promise that he's pleading is the sacrifice of Christ that makes an end of sin and reconciles the people of God in one day like elsewhere in the prophet however there's a double fulfillment Matthew 24 Jesus will use those verses speaking about a future come a future time of wings of abomination that makes desolate And I know among Reformed people, we tend to be kind of agnostic about eschatology. But the end might be nearer than we think. The end of Christ. So many professing Christians will be swept away. And in the midst of all this turmoil that has overwhelmed Daniel because he's just a man, his answer prayer reached to the ends of times. It reaches down to you and me to watch and pray. what does he teaches us through his prayer that what we must bring home from daniel's prayer for revival is this friends and here we kind of tie the knots of our meditation when god is big when he really becomes who he is in our mind we become small very very small all of our idolatries all of our self-worth all of our trying to battle and Even fight against other christians or our little camp, you know, I got this Reform litanies and that's where i'm at. No all of that disappears Disappears i'm serious Leonard ravenhill He said this about revival. God gets so sick and tired of being missing misrepresented that he shows himself and in the case of daniel was through that prayer. So let this be an encouragement to you. Let us pray. God, we thank you for your word today. And as unworthy, Lord, as I have been in bringing this word, Lord, I plead that you will use it for your purpose, not our own. God, I thank you for this church, and I do pray that you will be with this church Help this church to grow lords to the likeness of christ until we reach the full stature of christ and lords we come having contemplated just the foothill of your majesty recognizing How unworthy we are How sinful how prone to wonder how Little do we actually know and experience of the fountain of your greatness. And therefore, we pray that you will prepare us to make us vessels able to receive as much as we can receive from you. I plead for those in this room who have not turned from their sins yet, that you will work in their hearts to lead them to true repentance, to true faith, to embrace your cross, where the wrath of God was satisfied once and for all, for all of our sins, granting us eternal life. We plead for your work in that regard. We also plead, Lord, for your work in the church. Awake us from sleep. Awake us from slumber. Help us to be watchful, Lord. Help us to be faithful in the little things as well as in the big things, Lord. Help us to guard our hearts above all things, Lord. And be with us, Lord, in this day until you come to take your bride home. Amen. Jesus, come.