Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - written by 57 year old widower, father of six.

His wife had died in 1861 after her dress had caught fire.

He tried to put the fire out, but was unable to save her life.

Two years later, his oldest son left to serve the Union Army in the Civil War.

During his time, he had been severely injured as he was shot through the shoulder and the bullet had nicked his spine, nearly paralyzing him.

However, he would recover, but would take at least six months to heal.

He would come home on December 3, 1863.

On Christmas Day in 1863, as his son lay recovering, Henry heard the Christmas bells ringing in Cambridge and the singing of “peace on earth” and reflecting on all he had seen in his life, did not see or feel the peace that was being sung about.

Thus, the fourth, fifth, and sixth verses of his original poem go as follows:

Then from each black, accursed mouth

The cannon thundered in the South,

And with the sound

The carols drowned

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent

The hearth-stones of a continent,

And made forlorn

The households born

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;

"There is no peace on earth," I said;

"For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Do you ever feel this way?

We talk of peace on earth and the peace that Christ has come to bring, but we can have a hard time seeing and sensing the peace we are supposed to have.

We can still look around the world and hear the reports of war, school shootings, violent protests, changing moral landscapes, and more.

Where is the peace that the Angels promised to the Shepherds in Luke 2:14?

This is where we find Daniel in chapter 10.

Read Daniel 10:1-12

Daniel 10:1–12 (ESV)

In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar.

And the word was true, and it was a great conflict.

And he understood the word and had understanding of the vision.

In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks.

I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks.

On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river (that is, the Tigris) I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist.

His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.

And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves.

So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me.

My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength.

Then I heard the sound of his words, and as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground.

And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees.

And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.”

And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling.

Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.

He is praying and mourning during the third year of the reign of Cyrus.

Why is he mourning?

We know, based on what we read from Ezra 1, that in his first year, Cyrus gave the decree to rebuild the temple.

However, the people did not leave for Jerusalem until his second year.

When they got to Jerusalem, the first thing they did was to rebuild the altar so they could offer sacrifices again.

But by the third year, they had not yet started rebuilding the temple.

Although we know that according to Ezra 3, they would begin building the foundation the following month.

So Daniel might be mourning because the temple wasn’t rebuilt yet.

It could also be that only 50,000 people returned to Jerusalem.

Now, Daniel is close to 90 years old at this time, so he and many others are unable to make the journey back home.

He will never get to see his homeland again in his lifetime.

He might be mourning that he cannot be there to sacrifice and celebrate the passover at home.

It might also be that he is mourning for all those who could go back but have refused because they have become too comfortable in their new home of Babylon.

Whatever the reason, things are not how they should be.

The end of the seventy years are passed, and even though he knows it will be longer until God brings about a total and final salvation, things should seem better than what they are right now.

The Vision:

So Daniel is being given another vision.

Before, he has had Gabriel come and give him a message.

But now, I believe we are seeing Christ coming as the messenger to encourage Daniel in his time of mourning.

Daniel sees a vision of this metal man, a man with burnished bronze arms and legs with a sash of gold around his waist.

While some think this might just be another angel, many scholars believe this is Christ because of this description, which John picks up in his vision of Jesus in the book of Revelation:

Revelation 1:13–16 (ESV)

and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow.

His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.

In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

There is Peace Because God is In Control

What is the reason for this vision of this metal man?

This image conveys the strength and permanence of God

The appearance of this metal man is meant to take us back to Daniel chapter 2, with Nebuchadnezzar’s vision of a metal statue.

That statue represented the world kingdoms and power, beginning with Babylon as the head and then moving on through the world powers of Persia, Greece and Rome and then ending in its destruction with a rock that was not formed by any human hand.

While that statue represented human power and authority, this metal man is showing us the One who is Lord over all the nations.

Metal is a picture of strength and power.

It is also a pI tire of permanence.

So God is communicating to Daniel that He is the true King of all nations and is moving history to its proper end, even though current events still appear chaotic and conflict still abounds.

This vision communicates the reality of spiritual warfare that is affecting world events

Through the rest of this chapter, this metal man is going to describe a conflict that is going on beyond what Daniel can see.

All he can see is that things are not where they should be.

Not all the people have chosen to go home.

The people have not even started rebuilding the temple yet.

And even when they do, they are going to face opposition in their endeavors.

He, himself, is unable to be at home with his people.

The world is not at peace yet!

However, this metal man is going to be talking about being in a conflict with spiritual powers.

As we watch the news and see what’s going on in the world around us, we need to realize there is a spiritual war going on for the souls of people all around us.

We do not talk much about this as Baptists, but this is a reality that Scripture talks about quite often and God wants Daniel to know that this spiritual war is affecting what he is seeing in the world around him.

Paul talks about this in Ephesians 6:12

The true conflict we are witnessing is not what we see, but in what we cannot see.

And our true enemy is not those with flesh and blood, but those of the spiritual realm.

For Daniel, his enemies were never those of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, or Darius.

It was the spiritual powers to which those men are enslaved.

And God has his army actively involved in the fight against those spiritual powers.

Why hasn’t God just eliminated those evil powers?