Introduction

The ninth chapter of Daniel, I title it: Praying for God's Sanctuary in Desolation. The Book of Daniel is actually not easy to read, so I will try to share what I can understand. There are still many things I don't quite understand, but that doesn't affect our sharing of what we do understand. If you finish reading the Book of Daniel, you will find that God reigns in the kingdoms of men, and human history is in God's hands. If we know that God reigns in the kingdoms of men, how should we implement this? Many people do not know the answer.

I tell you, you must understand the end of things. If you do not understand the end of things, you cannot think properly. I am a very goal-oriented person. I like to clarify the goal in everything I do. If my end is a cremation urn, wouldn't living be easy? If my goal is to understand God's Word and know what kind of person God likes, I will determine to be a person pleasing to God, and this matter becomes easy too. What you ask for today represents what you value. Some people only ask for worldly things, and they get frantic when they don't get them. What do I ask for? I ask that God build His sanctuary in the desolation, because I know that worldly things are not important, and only God's temple, God's glorious church, is what I seek.

Why did I give this chapter this title? Because Daniel was a prime minister in the Medo-Persian Empire for many years, and his life was very good. He often read the books of the prophets. In the Book of Jeremiah, it was mentioned that the number of years of Jerusalem's desolation was about seventy years, and after seventy years, Jerusalem would be rebuilt. At this time, Daniel fasted and prayed, wearing sackcloth and ashes, and prayed to God, hoping that Jerusalem would be revived.

Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of your servant and his supplications, and for your own sake let your face shine on your desolate sanctuary. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. (Daniel 9:17-18)

What Daniel asked for was that this desolate sanctuary would be revived. Why would he ask for this? Because he cared about it. The New Testament gives us a very good teaching. Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. How many of us seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness? Many people ask me, what does it mean to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness? When I see him asking this, it means that he does not know what to ask for. Everyone must know what a wise man is. See what the Bible says:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)

Whoever Asks for Himself Will Surely Be Cursed

Many of us today are not seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness, but are seeking our own little things: Oh, my back hurts, pray for me quickly; oh, my legs hurt, pray for my legs; my head hurts, pray for my head; I have difficulty breathing, pray for my difficulty breathing... It's all these things. I'm not saying that you can't pray for these things, but what do you do after praying? After it gets better, do you think this is a wonderful thing, a treasure! But many people will say after praying: Thank God! Then continue on their original path.

Some time ago, a sister was very concerned about pension insurance. Can that thing be guaranteed? I don't know if it can be guaranteed. If we don't care about God's temple or God's kingdom, but only care about our daily life, sooner or later you will pay the price for what you care about. We are reading the history of Israel. Israel was destroyed by the Babylonian empire, and then God sent the Babylonian empire to destroy the Kingdom of Judah. Why was the Kingdom of Judah destroyed? Because they did not listen to God's words, they listened to their own words, so after they were destroyed, Daniel was taken captive to Babylon. After Daniel was taken captive to Babylon, God made Daniel the prime minister of the Babylonian Empire, but Daniel's heart was still filled with God's temple.

The history of the Israelites is very interesting. They were originally slaves in Egypt, and God brought them out of Egypt to the land of Canaan. As a result, some people did not want to enter the land of Canaan, and then they all died in the wilderness. Only Caleb and Joshua wandered in the wilderness for nearly 40 years, and then entered the promised land. That generation of people all died. After Caleb and Joshua entered the land of Canaan, the nation of Israel was established. Unexpectedly, after a few years, equivalent to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods in China, they were destroyed.

When did the Israelites enter the land of Canaan? About three thousand four hundred years ago. King David appeared about three thousand years ago, and the country was destroyed two thousand five or six hundred years ago, destroyed by the King of Babylon, so the history of Israel gives us a deep lesson. If you read the history of the Old Testament, that is, the history of Israel, you will find that they often deviated from God's way, because they did not seek the kingdom of God or His righteousness, only wanted to live a small life.

I want to tell everyone that living a small life is definitely the enemy of God. Why do people want to live a small life? Because people think that living a small life will be good, not knowing that people live and die in this world, so they live very seriously when they are alive.

I want to pour cold water on you. SARS more than ten years ago made people panic, and now the pneumonia in Wuhan is also causing panic. What can people stop? In fact, nothing can be stopped. A good Christian friend of mine sent me a lot of things, like gargling with salt water, a pneumonia prevention manual, can these kinds of things protect people's lives? It would be good if they could.

Let's take a closer look at the Christians who live a small life, there are a lot of them! Do they know the harm caused by living a small life? They don't quite know. Why did Israel perish? Why were they shamed? Why did they suffer? Why were they thrown around among the nations? Why did the curses written in the Law of Moses fall on them? Why did these disasters come upon the Israelites? Why didn't they receive God's grace? Why did these people only see the wrath of God? Actually, the reason is very simple, not because they killed and set fires, but because they lived a small life, that is, did not seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

You say they are completely living a small life, not really. They still go to church on Sundays. But what are they thinking about? It's all worldly things. So, in our church, if you are not seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness, it is a bit redundant for you to stay with us. Of course, when you first come, you want to receive grace and want to know God more, which is normal. But if you have been here for a long time, you must make a decision on what you are seeking.

Seek Only the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness

Daniel was the prime minister of the Persian Empire, second only to one person and above ten thousand, living a very wealthy life. Why would he wear sackcloth and ashes and determine to pray to God when he saw that the number of years of Jerusalem's desolation was about to be fulfilled? Because this is a wise and intelligent thing. People must know the end of this world, and also know what the situation is after they kick their legs and close their eyes.

Why do people receive great love from God in this world? If we seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, these will be added to us. There is also a way of living, which is to seek your own little things, filling your mind with your work, your career, your development direction, being extremely careful about your own little things, and being very careless about God's things.

I will re-challenge the brothers and sisters among us. In the past few years, who have you shepherded? If you have been a Christian for three or five years, or even longer, and you have received a lot of grace among us, do you feel that you can stand before God? If you were Daniel, would you pray for God's sanctuary in the years of desolation? Today, this sanctuary is God's church, God's temple. What are you asking for? This is crucial. What you have in your heart is what you ask for.

Many Christians go to Jerusalem on pilgrimage. After the pilgrimage, they still see no hope. Why? Jerusalem is actually God's sanctuary, and the sanctuary is God's church. The New Testament and the Old Testament are in the same line. We must know what God's will is.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May those who love you be secure! (Psalm 122:6)

Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my resting place? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. (Isaiah 66:1-2)

God dwells in His glorious church. We build God's glorious church according to God's will, and God dwells among us. That is God's temple, that is God's resting place. So today, praying for God's sanctuary is an extremely wise choice, and it will surely prosper. Daniel served many emperors in the Persian Empire, three dynasties and four generations, from Babylon to Media, Persia, and has always been the prime minister, very powerful. Why is he a greatly beloved person? Why is he a wise and intelligent man? Because his heart is always filled with the kingdom of God. Through Daniel's prayer, you will find that his understanding of God and his understanding of the sins they committed are very clear.

while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. He made me understand, speaking to me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas a word was issued, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision. (Daniel 9:20-23)

I want to encourage everyone to start knowing one thing, no matter what, be a God-loving person, pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for God's church, for God's sanctuary, for God's temple. Whether it is Jerusalem, Zion, God's temple, holy water, or the holy city, in the New Testament, they all refer to the body of Jesus Christ, the church of God. Daniel sought in this way, and he became a greatly beloved person. I feel sorry for many brothers and sisters among us, because they have received a lot of grace, but if you ask him to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, he will say, what is the kingdom of God and His righteousness?

After reading the Book of Daniel, they do not understand what the prime minister of the Persian Empire is doing? It's okay for Jerusalem to be desolate, it's okay for seventy years to be fulfilled! If he were the prime minister of the Persian Emperor, he would not pay attention to it, and he would not care about it. Daniel is busy every day, there are too many things to do, but he prays there three times a day. Why doesn't he take his work so seriously? Because the kingdom of God is in him, he knows that he can be the prime minister of the Persian Empire not because of anything else, but because he is a greatly beloved person.

Tremble at God's Word

Today, many of our brothers and sisters have turned it upside down. I see those foolish people among us, they are very concerned about their little things, and they have not grown much over the years. It is difficult for you to make him grow. He also attends meetings and tithes. But I want to tell you one thing, what is in your heart? If your heart is filled with these things, you are no different from the Israelites who perished.

Do you tremble at God's word? When we read the Book of Daniel today, do we see the desolation of this generation and the desolation of the church in the desolation? Do we pray for God's sanctuary? Do you think that those hypocrites do not sacrifice? They will all sacrifice. If you are a person who chooses your own way, you will not tremble at God's word, you do not care so much, what you care about is your work, and as a result, your work cannot protect you.

If we are wise people today, we will not choose our own way, because we live by every word that comes from the mouth of God. If we rely on every word that comes from the mouth of God, will we care about those things? Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and build God's glorious church, we lack nothing. Some people have so many worries in their hearts, what does Isaiah say in chapter 66?

I also will choose delusions for them and bring their fears upon them, because when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my eyes and chose that in which I did not delight. (Isaiah 66:4)

Do you want to be such a person? The history of the Israelites has come this way. The Israelites do not seek the kingdom of God nor His righteousness, nor can they be the prime minister of the Persian Empire, and then what? How does the Bible describe it? They eat their own feces when their country is destroyed, which is so disgusting and shameful. Daniel very much hopes to see the house of God prosper, thinking about Jeremiah's seventy years every day. In a blink of an eye, decades have passed, and he has been the prime minister of several empires. Seeing that the seventy years are coming to an end, he began to wear sackcloth and ashes and pray there. Is his work busy? How can being a prime minister not be busy? But he can set aside time to pray for the kingdom of God.

Do you have such a mentality? You may just be a small clerk, and you are so busy doing small things, and you are nervous when something happens. In God's church, you have not successfully pastored anyone, and you don't take it seriously, and you have not become a blessing to others, just receiving blessings among us. I can tell you that God will surely choose delusions to come upon you. Because when God calls, no one answers, when God speaks, no one listens, but they do what is evil in God's eyes and choose what God does not delight in. As for us who tremble at the word of the Lord God, we will surely prosper, because we are imitating Daniel.

Do you see the desolation of the church today? What is your reaction when you see it? I don't have time to take care of this? I am so busy with work, can you help me solve my work problems? If you have such a reaction, I am really extremely sad. There are too few people who pray for the house of God. God sees the desolation of the sanctuary, sees the cries of people in the darkness, sees the needs of this generation, but is completely indifferent. You say he doesn't sacrifice, but he also sacrifices. You say he doesn't love God, but he seems to love God too. But the highest priority must be those things he is living for, and the things of God are just a hobby.

Daniel was praying for God's sanctuary in the desolation, so he became beloved by God. As a result, Gabriel answered his question:

“Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint a most holy place. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem until an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”(Daniel 9:24-27)

The angel came to tell Daniel that the desolation was decreed. In fact, we are in the desolation today. Do you think this passage is only written to Daniel? In fact, it is written to us. Daniel saw the desolation of Jerusalem, wearing sackcloth and ashes there, determined to pray and plead with the Lord God. Today, when we open our eyes and look, how desolate the church is. All are wise and tactful words, and there is little clear evidence of the power of the Holy Spirit, and people are easily labeled as heretics, because they think they are very orthodox, but they have no resemblance to Jesus Christ at all, which is very strange.

Some time ago, a pastor came to me. He promoted praying in tongues and promoted healing and deliverance in the church. Isn't this a matter of course? Then someone said: So and so did not say that! Why don't they look at what the Bible says? As a result, a lot of people left the church. When the pastor came to me, I told him that this was a good thing, it depends on whether you can start to see the glorious temple of God in the desolation!

Today, you must know that the people of a prince will come to destroy this city and the sanctuary. That is not the temple where God dwells. God's resting place is his church. In the Old Testament, Moses' tent, Solomon's temple, Nehemiah, the temple built by Ezra, and the temple rebuilt by Herod, these are just temples built by human hands. Today, we want to live in the glorious church built according to God's word. Are we praying before God in the desolation with eternal hope? Look at Daniel's prayer:

**I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who

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## To Be Greatly Beloved by God

Why does God allow desolation? Why are God's people often persecuted? It is because in this desolation, God sifts out His people. The path we walk is a narrow one, and the gate we enter is narrow. This desolate era is good, for it immediately sifts out those who are greatly beloved and those who seek Him. In times of desolation, there is immense grace! For it is precisely then that your love for God is tested and revealed.

If you believe that being a Christian simply means becoming a governor or a mayor, then such a Christian proves little. You are merely in it for personal gain. Today, in this desolation, do you still have the resolve to be raised up in this generation, to be a people who shine in this dark age? Today, let us build God's sanctuary among us, build God's glorious temple, so that this place may become God's resting place. You are those whom the world is not worthy of.

Living a small life is not the solution, for God detests such a life. Those who pray for the peace of Jerusalem will surely prosper. I am in a Christian group filled with all sorts of information—calls to wear masks, to infuse saline, how to maintain health, how to practice wellness, how to massage, what to eat and drink, New Year greetings, and so on. But I rarely see a longing for the church to be like Jesus, a desire to do what Jesus did! It is truly a sorrow!

How many are truly willing to build God's sanctuary in this desolation, to pray for God's sanctuary? In this desolation, until the last seven years of the end times, in the first three and a half years, a king will make a covenant with many. He cannot unite the whole world into one nation alone, so he must make a covenant with many. After three and a half years, all is completed, and the entire earthly kingdom becomes the kingdom of the Antichrist, unified into one nation, causing the sacrifice and offering to cease.

At that time, you will not be able to pray, nor will you be able to trust in God. You will not be able to continue; your only path will be martyrdom. At that time, if you do not have the mark of 666 on your body, you will not be able to do business, not even buy a loaf of bread. You will have only one choice: martyrdom. The abomination that causes desolation will come swiftly, meaning that the Antichrist will be in power.

**It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. (Revelation 13:7-10)**

At this time, it will be impossible to survive. You must either bear the mark of the beast on your body or be martyred. The remaining three and a half years are the seven bowls in Revelation, with seven bowls of wrath poured out on the earth. If you are still alive and worship the beast, you will only have three and a half years left. If you do not worship the beast, you will live three and a half years less and be martyred for the Lord. That is roughly the end. Daniel's hope is in eternity. He longed to know the future and wrote these future events in the Book of Daniel.

## Conclusion

If we knew the end of the world, would we still have hope in this world? If you are greedy for life and afraid of death in this world, you will probably bear the mark of the beast. Brothers and sisters, be those who love God, greatly beloved, so that the Spirit of God may reveal to you. If you know the predetermined end, you will not care so much about the things of this world. A greatly beloved person, who became the prime minister of Persia and Media, is life a problem? If you read the Bible carefully, was life a problem for any of them? Was life a problem for those who loved God—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? It was not a problem.

Joseph became the prime minister of Egypt, was life a problem? It was not a problem. Was Daniel's life a problem? It was not a problem. Was King David's life a problem? It was not a problem. Therefore, we must know how to make choices, what we should care about, and what kind of things we should pay attention to. God wants us to live in the light, not in darkness, not in emptiness. Let us know that today we are building God's glorious temple, building the body of Jesus Christ, building God's glorious dwelling place, and the Spirit of God will dwell among us.

**And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.' Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' And He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.' And He said to me, 'It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.' (Revelation 21:3-8)**

Let us run the heavenly path in this world with eternal hope, for this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. May God bless everyone. Amen!