Rev. David Holwick L The Book of Daniel, #7
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
March 30, 2008
Daniel 9:1-23
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I. True Confessions, internet style.
from www.dailyconfession.com:
My husband is a devout Christian.
His parents are missionaries.
He married me because we have the same beliefs, views, morals,
values, and love for our father who art in heaven.
What he does not know, is that I do not believe in God.
I think an intelligent writer penned the Bible and it has been
changed over and over throughout the ages by the hand of man.
How can this be words from 'the Lord'?
I just don't believe it.
I know, I am lost.
I will continue giving my excuses for not attending Sunday services
such as 'I don't feel well' and 'it would be nicer to sit home
and read the Bible together', etc.
I pray that I will not die a non-believer and that I will see the
light before it's too late.
I long to bask in the glory of the Lord, but right now I just
don't believe in any of it.
#6619
Confession is hot right now. Sort of...
On Easter Sunday last year, one Florida church launched a website
to help people open up about their sins and learn from their
mistakes.
Visitors to this website have confessed to drug abuse, self-harm,
and abortion.
One person even confessed to stealing $15,000.
People love these websites.
A man who started such a site says, "It's kind of the car wreck
you're driving by. You can't help but watch."
Another person wrote:
"I'm totally addicted to this site!
I can't even get any work done during the day.
I love to read about all the adultery, cheating, and crazy
stories, they absolutely fascinate me!
Everyone, in one way or another, is completely messed up and
I love it!"
#34515
A. Confessions aren't what they used to be.
1) Even Catholics don't do it that often.
2) We confess out of guilt, but don't expect change.
3) We confess anonymously and enjoy the attention, but give
little thought to what God thinks of us.
B. Daniel knew how to do confession right.
1) In the longest prayer in the Bible, he pours himself out
to God.
2) We can learn a lot from him.
II. Daniel let himself be informed by the Bible. 9:2
A. He wanted to understand his troubled times.
1) There had just been a political change. Much upheaval.
2) Daniel searched to find what God had to say about it.
B. He found his answer in the book of Jeremiah.
1) Jeremiah 25:11 mentions the desolation of Israel for
seventy years.
But at the end of this period he will do the same to
its enemy, Babylon.
2) Jeremiah brings up the topic again in 29:10 and following.
a) Here there is a more positive focus - at the end of the
seventy years, God will bring the Jews home again.
b) Verse 11 is quite popular with Christians:
"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the
LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.'"
c) Jeremiah also gives the response God hopes for.
1> The Jews should come to God and pray to him.
2> They should seek God with all their heart.
3> If they do this, they will find God again.
d) This is exactly what Daniel does here.
C. The Bible is an answer book.
1) I don't think it is a magical answer book, however.
a) Some people throw darts at it, hoping for divine insight.
2) The Bible's answers deal with how we should live.
a) It has guidelines for relationships and habits.
b) It also gives knowledge on the goal of human history.
3) Daniel studied the Bible on a regular basis.
a) Many people, like the woman whose story opened my
sermon, have lost confidence in the Bible.
1> They say it is just a human document, warped over
time.
b) I don't think so, and neither did Daniel.
1> He may have lived to see the fulfillment of
Jeremiah's prophecy.
2> It was something Jews may have hoped for, but
would not have expected.
III. Daniel had a humble attitude. 9:3
A. He prepares for prayer with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.
1) This is a way of showing outwardly what you feel inwardly.
a) Sackcloth was like burlap - very uncomfortable.
1> Jews wore it when a loved one died.
b) The ashes expressed repentance.
1> Catholics practice this when they put ashes on
their heads on Ash Wednesday.
2) Christians should do this in a different way than Daniel.
a) We can still fast, but Jesus says we should put a smile
on our face when we do it.
b) Visible spirituality has a way of degenerating into
phony spirituality.
B. He also shows humility in his attitude.
1) Daniel doesn't demand anything of God.
2) He knows there is a great gap between God and us.
a) God is righteous, but we are shameful. 9:7
b) The gap remains today.
1> But, praise God, it has been bridged by Jesus.
1 Tim 2:5
IV. Daniel prayed intensely and specifically.
A. For his personal sins, and the sins of his nation.
1) To be sure, he uses the word "we" throughout this prayer.
a) He is saying he is no different than the other Jews.
2) Their biggest sin was idolatry.
a) Other sins like sexual sin and abuse of the poor are
dealt with in the passages verse 11 alludes to.
b) The curses in passages like Deuteronomy 28 are more
numerous than the blessings in that chapter.
c) Daniel doesn't make excuses - Israel has gotten exactly
what it deserves.
B. The concept of sin is still believed in - sort of.
1) A recent survey looked at American attitudes.
According to the Ellison Research Study, 87% of
Americans believe in the concept of sin.
The researchers defined sin as "something that is almost
always considered wrong, particularly from a
religious or moral perspective."
As Albert Mohler writes, it is somewhat reassuring to
know that most of our neighbors believe that at least
some acts are "almost always considered wrong."
It is hard to imagine how we would sleep at night if a
majority of people in our town believed otherwise.
#35286
2) However, we are not clear on what that sin is.
a) The "biggies" are clear.
81% think adultery is wrong.
74% think racism is wrong.
65% think using hard drugs is wrong.
b) But more and more sin is pushed into gray areas.
Gossip is considered a sin by only 46% of Americans.
Only 41% think smoking marijuana is a sin.
Not attending church - just 18% think it's a sin.
#35286
C. Daniel knew he was a sinner. Do you?
V. Daniel focused on God's character and glory. 9:15-19
A. He knows God is an awesome God. 9:4
1) He has power.
2) He has integrity - he keeps his promises.
B. God has done stuff before, and he can do it again.
1) Many times the Bible lifts up the Exodus as an example. 9:15
2) The return from the Exile would be just as stupendous.
C. God's mercy is the key.
1) Daniel knows God doesn't owe him anything. 9:18
2) Salvation has always been by grace, not works.
3) We don't deserve it. But, like Daniel, we can plead for it.
VI. God wants to answer more than we want to pray. 9:20-23
A. Daniel's answer came before he finished. 9:21
1) From experience, we know this is not always the case.
2) At least, the answers WE want.
3) But dramatic answers are all around us.
4) What God has done for others, he can do for you.
B. Seek God while he can be found.
1) Make a conscious effort to contact God.
2) Preacher David Dykes asks, "Can you say: 'While I was
praying, somebody touched me?'"
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 6619 "True Confessions: Kill Your God and Be One," adapted from entries
at Dailyconfession.com, downloaded March 29, 2008.
#34515 "Car Wreck Confessions: Online Mea Culpas," by Charles Colson,
BreakPoint Commentary, May 15, 2007.
#35286 "Sin By Survey? Why We Lock Our Doors At Night," by Dr. R. Albert
Mohler Jr., President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary,
http://www.albertmohler.com, March 20, 2008.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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Draft outline of passage
I. Jeremiah searches the Scriptures. 9:2
A. Momentous change in his foreign land, a new conqueror. 9:1
B. He comes across prophecy by Jeremiah.
1) Seventy years of desolation. 9:2
II. He pleads to God.
A. Prayer, fasting, sackcloth, ashes. 9:3
1) Mourning and abasement involved to show seriousness.
2) He acknowledges God as his Lord.
a) "My God" shows personal ownership, relationship.
B. He confesses. 9:4
1) We have sinned and done wrong. 9:5
a) No mincing around.
2) We have ignored your warnings. 9:6
C. He refers to God's character.
1) God is acknowledged as being righteous. 9:7
a) The Jews are shamed because of unfaithfulness.
b) The leaders are shamed because of their sin. 9:8
2) God is merciful and forgiving anyway. 9:9
a) His judgment is just. 9:10
b) The whole nation has rebelled. 9:11
c) God's standards were revealed in the Torah.
3) God has a history of great deliverances. 9:15
III. Appeal for God to relent. 9:16
A. Based on his character and mercy, not their righteousness. 9:18
1) "Listen, forgive, hear, act, don't delay." 9:19
B. Answer comes immediately. 9:21
1) Gabriel's prophecy of "seventy sevens."
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