How to Handle Suffering

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 99
• Hymn — Glorify Thy Name
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin
• Assurance of Pardon — Psalm 28:6-7
• Scripture Reading — Luke 6:20-26
• Hymn — Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit (The Beatitudes)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Hymn — Jesus, Lover of My Soul
• Sermon
• Hymn — In the Cross of Christ I Glory
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: How to Handle Suffering

Scripture: Daniel 10

I. Be Confident in Prayer

A. Daniel mourns and fasts for three weeks (Daniel 10:2-3), suffering because of the reversal of Cyrus's edict to rebuild Jerusalem

1. Cyrus initially issued the edict in his first year (c. 538 BC) allowing Israel to return and rebuild
2. Enemies of Israel persuaded Cyrus to rescind the edict (Ezra 4), halting the rebuilding
3. Daniel's suffering reflects the seeming cruelty of a gift taken away

B. Daniel's prayer is one of humble seeking for understanding

1. The desire for understanding is a recurring theme throughout the chapter
2. Crying out "I don't understand" in suffering is not a failure of faith — even Christ on the cross cried, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

C. God answers Daniel's prayer from the very first day (Daniel 10:12)

1. "I have come because of your words" — God answers prayer
2. Daniel is called "man greatly loved" (Daniel 10:11, 10:19)
3. John 16:26-27 — the Father himself loves you and hears your prayers
4. Psalm 86:7 — "In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me"

D. Application: In suffering, be confident that the God who loves you hears and answers prayer

II. Be Confident in Christ

A. The mysterious figure of Daniel 10:5-6 is the pre-incarnate Son of God

1. Church fathers, Reformers, and scholars identify this figure as the glorified Christ
2. The description closely parallels John's vision of Christ in Revelation 1:13-15

B. The figure connects to earlier imagery in Daniel

1. In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar's statue depicts four kingdoms in different metals; the small stone crushes it
2. Here the glorified figure consolidates all majesty into one king — the small stone now in glorified form
3. The fourth beast of Daniel 7 spoke great words; this figure's voice is like the sound of a multitude

C. Daniel's and John's responses to the vision are nearly identical

1. Both fall prostrate, lose strength, and are breathless before the Lord of glory
2. Both are touched and addressed: "Man greatly loved, fear not" (Daniel 10:19); "Fear not, I am the first and the last" (Revelation 1:17)
3. Both receive the vision in the midst of intense suffering — Daniel under national crisis, John exiled on Patmos

D. The fear of God is a comforting doctrine for the suffering believer

1. Matthew 10:28 — fear him who has the keys of death and Hades, not those who can only harm the body
2. The most fearful and dreadful being in the universe is for you in Christ — this is the ground of comfort
3. Challenge: Read Revelation focusing on the descriptions of the glorified Christ rather than prophetic chronology

III. Be Confident in Heaven

A. The princes of Daniel 10:13 and 10:20 represent angelic beings engaged in heavenly warfare

1. The prince of Persia and prince of Greece are evil angels serving Satan
2. Michael is the chief prince serving the pre-incarnate Christ
3. This describes a literal battle in the heavenly realm correlating to earthly events

B. The suffering of God's people will be ongoing — victory over Persia gives way to the battle against Greece

1. Antiochus Epiphanes and the Seleucid Empire will bring the abomination of desolation (Daniel 11)
2. Yet the "book of truth" (Daniel 10:21) assures Daniel that God is sovereignly writing history

C. The heavenly battle is already being won

1. Revelation 12:7 — Michael and his angels defeat the dragon; Satan is cast down
2. Revelation's events are primarily heavenly — it pulls back the curtain (apokalypsis) on the spiritual realm
3. Abraham Kuyper: "If once the curtain were pulled back…the fiercest battle fought on earth would seem by comparison a mere game. Not here, but up there."

D. The believer's true battle is spiritual, not earthly

1. Ephesians 6:12 — our battle is against rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers in heavenly places
2. Colossians 2:15 — at the cross Christ disarmed the rulers and authorities, triumphing over them
3. The weapon in this battle is not therapy or self-help but the gospel of the cross of Christ

E. Application: In suffering, pray "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," trusting the conquering Christ who was slain but now lives and wins the victory for his saints — fear not, you are greatly loved