Why Talk About Sin? Are You Trying to Bring Us All Down?
If our goal is to enjoy our salvation, to delight in time spent with our Heavenly Father, then why do we focus so much on sin? Why not just focus on the happy part of serving Christ? As pastor and physician Martyn Lloyd-Jones explains, truly grasping our own sinfulness is a first and basic step before we can escape the sorrows of this life. — Mark Lindsey There are certain simple principles about which we must be quite clear before we can ever hope to enjoy this Christian salvation. The first is conviction of sin. We must be absolutely
Seventy More Weeks
Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place (v. 24).- Daniel 9:20-27 For more than one hundred years, Daniel 9 has been one of the most intensely studied passages in the Bible. It has been incorporated into charts that depict the series of events that are supposed to happen before the end of time. It has been used to separate churches according to whether
Confession Resources
Here are several resources on the practice of confession that I mentioned in the Daniel 9 sermon Sunday, June 13, 2021. The Valley of Vision A collection of Puritan Prayers that have great personal application, especially in the area of confession. https://www.amazon.com/Valley-Vision-Collection-Puritan-Devotions/dp/0851512283 The Examen This is a great way to end your day - by giving thanks to God for His kindnesses that day and confessing any known sin. Jake Mason has put together this little guide. Daily Review of Self Examination Bookmark Single Thoughts on Corporate Confession Pastor Kevin DeYoung has written 2 helpful blogs on this difficult topic. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/toward-theology-apology/
MERCY: THE THEME OF OUR SONG (Daniel 9)
Read: Daniel 9:1-23 "His mercies are new every morning". Post those six words on the mirror that you look into each morning. Affix them on the door of your refrigerator. Tape them to the dashboard of your car. Glue them on the inside of your glasses. Put them somewhere where you will see them every day. Don't allow yourself to have a view of yourself, of others, of circumstances, of daily joys and struggles, of God, of meaning and purpose, and of what life is all about that is devoid of this gorgeous redemptive reality: mercy. Mercy is the theme
Appalled But Productive (Daniel 8)
READ: Daniel 8 The vision in Daniel 8 is appalling. The great beastly enemy of God is allowed to kill huge numbers of saints. His power shall be great...and he shall cause fearful destruction and shall succeed in what he does, and destroy mighty men and the people who are the saints. (Daniel 8:24) Daniel is made sick by the vision. But in spite of being sick and appalled, he does his work. And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king’s business, but I was appalled by the vision and did not
Regroup on the Book of Daniel!
As we wade into the back end of the book of Daniel in our study on Sunday mornings, now would be a great time to take less than 10 minutes to watch this super helpful little overview by the Bible Project. They masterfully show how the book fits together and help provide a framework for these difficult visions in the latter chapters. Overview of Daniel Enjoy!
The Ancient of Days and the Son of Man (Daniel 7)
READ: Daniel 7 The title Son of Man appears in the New Testament four times outside of the Gospels. It is used for our Savior unambiguously in three places (Acts 7:56; Rev. 1:13; 14:14), but whether Hebrews 2:6 intends it as a title for Jesus is debatable. Since it is Jesus’ favorite title for Himself, it seems strange that it is not found more often in the apostolic writings. Maybe the original audiences of the epistles did not know the title’s meaning as well as the Gospels’ first readers. As we continue to study the meaning of this title, we must first consider what it does
WELCOME TO EXILE: IT’S GOING TO BE OK.
READ: Daniel 6 When I was a child, I was taught this chorus: This world is not my home,I’m just a-passing through.My treasures are laid upSomewhere beyond the blue. Honestly, until recently I had no idea what I was singing. For us in the English-speaking West, this world has tended to feel very much like home, and our treasures have been right before our eyes. Perhaps it is only in the last few years in the United States that we have finally faced that what the Bible says is true: in this world we really are sojourners and exiles (1 Pet.
Humbled By the Hand of God
Read: Daniel 5 Humility is not self-taught. Try as we might, we don't just up and humble ourselves by our own bootstraps. Within measure, we can take certain kinds of initiatives to cultivate a posture of humility in ourselves, but the main test (and opportunity) comes when we are confronted, unsettled, and accosted, in the moments when our semblances of control vanish and we’re taken off guard by life in a fallen world — and the question comes to us: How will you respond to these humbling circumstances? Will you humble yourself? Humility Received, Not Achieved God takes the initiative
Thirty Manifestations of Pride and Humility
Last week Larry mentioned that there was a "Craig's List," where I had developed a list of ways Pride could be displayed in a person's life. It is true that I provided Larry a list, but this is not a list that I created. It is a list developed by Stuart Scott, in his book, The Exemplary Husband. Scott calls this list, Thirty Manifestations of Pride. He also provides Thirty Manifestations of Humility. Each of these lists have been useful to me, but particularly the Manifestations of Pride. Scott is surgical in his ability to cut directly to the heart with each example on the list.
