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Nov 08, 2020

Kingdom Courtroom #3 - Our Guilty Plea

Passage: Daniel 9:1-24

Speaker: Brian Land

Series: Daniel

Category: Grace Brevard

Keywords: grace, forgiveness, repentance, confession

Chapter 9 is Vision #3 of 4 to end the book of Daniel, but this one is different. It begins with a deep, humble repentance followed by a vision of the angel Gabriel who brings word from the Lord that our forgiveness and renewal are sure. This is where we have an opportunity to turn our eyes inward to “understand” and confess our treacherous spiritual adultery against the Great Groom of Heaven, and then lift our eyes up to see the Redeemer bring Redemption in his nail scarred hands, feet and side, securing His Bride a renewed and eternal place of love with Him forever.

11.08.20 GBV Livestream from Grace Brevard on Vimeo.

Order of Worship

WELCOME  / ANNOUNCEMENTS

OPENING: How Did We get Here?

CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 95:1-3

SONG: Jesus I Come

SONG: O Come to the Altar

READING: 

  • Jeremiah 2:12-13
  • Lamentations 3:21-24
  • Prayer: Look upon us, O Lord, and let all the darkness of our souls vanish before the beams of thy brightness. Fill us with holy love, and open to us the treasures of thy wisdom. All our desire is known unto thee, therefore perfect what thou hast begun, and what thy Spirit has awakened us to ask in prayer. We seek thy face, turn thy face unto us and show us thy glory. Then shall our longing be satisfied, and our peace shall be perfect. (Augustine, 354 - 430)

MESSAGE TITLE: Kingdom Courtroom #3: Our Guilty Plea

ILLUSTRATIONS: 

CENTRAL TEXT: Daniel 9 (edited)

RESPONSE: Confession and Assurance of Pardon: 

Confession: Daniel 9:17-18
Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 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.

Assurance of Pardon: Psalm 103:8-13

8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.

SONG: Great Is Thy Faitfulness

BENEDICTION: 

May God the Father bless us;

may Christ take care of us;

the Holy Ghost enlighten us all the days of our life.

The Lord be our defender and keeper of body and soul,

both now and for ever, to the ages of ages. (Æthelwold c 908-984)

Sermon Discussion Questions

(Download them HERE)

Daniel is writing this book while living in The Exile, God’s discipline of His people:

    What sins were they sent to Exile for?

    What’s the purpose of The Exile?

Daniel finally breaks down in repentance, beginning like this:

“O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments...

Why is it essential for repentance to BEGIN with seeing the beauty, glory and purity of God?

If we don’t, how will we mis-see our sins?

After “understanding” God’s awesomeness, he turns to his sights to himself and his people:

5 we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.

Look at all the “ands” in this...what does that tell you?

Before we dig deeper into what repentance is and how to do it, we need to first understand was sin is (and what our sins are). To help with that let’s go to what Daniel went to...the book of Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

    Read Jeremiah 2:12-13 (“two evils”)

1) 2:12 -- The Big Picture: how “bad” are these sins?

2) 2:13a - Part 1 of sin is “Forsaking” God. What does this mean?

3) 2:13b - Part 2 of sin is “hewing” our own cisterns from which we try to find life, satisfaction, hope...how is that a beautiful way to describe what sin actually is?

The HEART of Sin is revealed in Ezekiel 23:18-19. This is really rough and painful language. Explain how “infidelity” is the heart of sin.

What is the difference between “sin” and “sins”?

AFTER we understand what SIN is, we can then turn to what individual specific “sins” are.

Part 1: Jeremiah 5:27b-28a…therefore they have become great and rich; 28 they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil;

    How is it that our sins begin with ME > You?

Part 2: Jeremiah 5:28b…they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy.

    Why is injustice and a lack of mercy to the needy so bad?

We need to be able to repent of sins (those actions and inactions we do) AND repent of Sin...the heart that produces the sin fruit.

Repentance / Confession.

What are some “wrong” ways that we often repent?

    (“I didn’t mean to” - “I made a mistake” -  “I’ll do better”)

Read Daniel 9:5 -- How should repentance be both specific as well as comprehensive?

Read Daniel 9:18b - How does repentance fully rely on Christ?

Our spiritual infidelity has led to God “divorcing” us (“forsaken”). How does this make the Father forsaking Christ incredibly powerful?

Read and talk about Hosea 2:14 & 19 -- how the Father treats us now that he has fully paid the price for our infidelity.

How can (should) repentance then be an act of JOY?

ILLUSTARTIONS

11.08.20 Album