[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by narfforc

He is reminding Denethor that he [Gandalf] is a representative of a higher authority than Denethor is (i.e., The Valar and/or Iluvatar).

This suggests that Denethor was aware of the nature of Gandalf's mision (and that of the other Istari) as emissaries of the Valar (and, ultimately, Eru). Is there anything else to suggest that this may have been the case? I was rather under the impression that only a select few (essentially, the White Council and, possibly, Sauron) were aware of this.