June 8, 2025 • 44 mins
Have you ever found yourself building your own kingdom while claiming to build God's? Daniel chapter 9 confronts us with this challenging question as we witness a man of extraordinary faith grappling with national sin and divine mercy.
Daniel's prayer is nothing short of revolutionary. While he could have distanced himself from Israel's failures, he instead takes ownership of their collective brokenness: "We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled." There's something profoundly transformative about this approach to prayer - acknowledging corporate responsibility rather than simply pointing fingers at others.
The message cuts straight to the heart of modern Christianity. How many of us pray "Your kingdom come, your will be done" while mentally adding exceptions? Your will be done...unless it costs me too much money. Your kingdom come...unless I have to talk to that difficult neighbor. Daniel shows us what happens when we strip away these qualifiers and truly surrender to God's purposes.
What makes this episode particularly powerful is the contrast between Daniel's request and God's response. Daniel prays for restoration so Israel can resume temple sacrifices, but through the angel Gabriel, God reveals His plan for the ultimate sacrifice - Jesus Christ. This reminds us that our vision is often too limited. We pray for solutions to immediate problems while God works out eternal purposes.
The world doesn't need more religion, better churches, or flashier worship. It needs Jesus - the only one who can truly save us from our brokenness. When we stand in exile, surrounded by the consequences of sin, we have a choice: blame others or embrace humble confession that leads to transformation. Daniel chose the latter. Will you?
Listen now to discover how sin has distorted everything in our world, but Jesus brings us home. This message will challenge you to consider which kingdom you're truly building.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
So the book of Daniel is a case study in personal
character.
Daniel is someone who hasreally found himself in a place
that is not his own doing, and Ithink that that's important to
mention, because Daniel didn'tdo anything necessarily to put
(00:25):
himself in exile.
Now Jerusalem did Israel messedup the Old Testament.
I love the Old Testament and ifyou ever want to understand how
patient God is, just read theOld Testament, because if it was
me, I would have wiped thisentire people out a long time
ago and just started fresh.
He actually did that Back inNoah's day.
(00:48):
He kind of wiped the earthclean and started over, but with
Israel he still kind ofprotected this remnant.
And again, if I was God, Iwould have just been like nope,
we're done, but Israel continuesto find themselves worshiping
other gods and they keep losingsight of the God who has been
(01:08):
for them this entire time.
And listen, it's so easy to getdistracted.
I mean, I have three boys and Ican tell you like their level
of distractiveness is amazing,like my oldest ever.
Like I would ask him.
I'm like listen, buddy, pick upthis dish and take it to the
(01:30):
kitchen.
He's like okay, he picks up thedish, he goes to his room and
plays with some Legos, then hechases the brothers around the
house, then he has to go to thebathroom and then he finally
gets to the kitchen and I'm likeI don't know what to do with
this.
Like it's so easy to getdistracted, right?
And so Daniel, the book ofDaniel, it's easy to get
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distracted, so we're going toactually be in Daniel 9, but
we're going to kind of cliffnote Daniel 7 and 8.
Now, daniel 7 and 8 are twodreams that Daniel has.
Daniel, in these dreams, findshimself distracted.
So Daniel, chapter 7,.
(02:11):
Daniel has a prophetic dream offour great beasts rising from
the sea each different Lionswith eagle's wings this is often
interpreted as Babylon.
The bear, raised on one side,which is most likely the
Medo-Persia kingdom that'scoming.
A leopard with four wings andfour heads, likely Greece under
(02:34):
Alexander the Great, which wouldlater be divided.
And then a terrifying beast.
So in this dream he has all ofthese images of a terrifying
beast with iron teeth and tenhorns, with a little horn rising
up, often linked to Rome and inthe future it's an Antichrist
type figure.
The Ancient of Days, which isGod, takes his throne, judges
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the beast and destroys them.
The Son of man comes with theclouds and receives everlasting
dominion in a kingdom that willnot be destroyed.
So Daniel has these dreams andthey disturb him, right?
But again, we've been talkingabout the sovereignty of God
throughout the book of Daniel,and Daniel 7 reemphasizes this
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that although kingdoms will comeat the end, god remains in
control.
Daniel chapter 8.
Daniel has another set of dreams.
He sees a ram with two horns,one higher, charging west, north
and south, again talking aboutthe Medo-Persia empire that
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would be coming, a goat with aprominent horn.
This represents Greece and thehorn represents Alexander the
Great.
So you realize he's having thesame dream but different visions
.
So the goat's large horn isbroken and is replaced by four
smaller horns a division ofAlexander's empire.
This actually happenshistorically, which is pretty
(04:03):
cool.
After the fall of Alexander theGreat, four generals take over
his kingdom historically and itbecomes an entire mess.
So from one of the four horns alittle horn arises.
This is traditionally linked toAntiochus.
The fourth of Epiphanes said hewas a king who desecrated the
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Jewish temple of Epiphanes, thathe was a king who desecrated
the Jewish temple.
So again we see these imageriesand it's two chapters, right,
and it's important that we don'tget too distracted by this
because, when we look towardsthe future, daniel and the book
of Revelation are connected toeach other and there's a lot of
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people historically who havetried to interpret the book of
Revelation.
I think it was 2014.
On my birthday in 2014, theworld was supposed to end.
Some guy in Florida hadpredicted God had given him a
vision the world was going toend, and he put billboards
(05:06):
everywhere.
I don't know if you rememberthis, but there was like
billboards all over the place.
I was mad because I was like,that's my birthday.
Like God, why would you end theworld on my birthday?
Right?
And so this guy spent a ton ofmoney, a ton of resources
convincing people the world wasgoing to end.
He distracted people.
(05:28):
Clearly, the world didn't end.
So again, daniel 7, daniel 8, ittalks primarily.
The dream is focusing onkingdoms that are going to
affect the future of Israel.
Talk about the Romans and theGreeks and the Persian alliance,
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and then you had Babylon.
But it does look towards thefuture and it connects itself
with Revelation.
But again, don't get distracted.
The point of these dreams andthe point of Revelation is that
God wins you and I can get stuckon what the imagery is, who the
Antichrist is.
When I was in my 20s it wasOprah, which I thought was
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interesting because I never metthe woman, but I didn't really
think she was the Antichrist.
But what do I know?
I'm sure there were people whenyou were younger that were
hailed as the Antichrist.
But again, the focus is on thefact that God is sovereign, that
no matter what comes of thisworld, what comes, what kingdoms
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come, that all kingdoms willfall.
So that's Daniel 7 and 8.
That's all we're going.
We're not going any furtherthan that.
Just know he had some crazydreams, some really interesting
imagery, but God is establishingat the end that he's sovereign,
that no kingdom will overthrowhim.
So then we get to Daniel,chapter 9.
(06:57):
Daniel, chapter 9, verses 1through 19, is more more of a
confession by daniel.
So, starting in verse 1, itsays in the first year of darius
, son of xerxes, a mead bydescent who's made ruler over
the babylonian kingdom, in thefirst year of his reign, I,
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daniel, understood from thescriptures, according to the
word of the lord given toJeremiah, the prophet, that the
desolation of Jerusalem wouldlast 70 years.
So I turned to the Lord, godand pleaded with him in prayer
and petition and fasting, and insackcloth and ashes.
And keep in mind that at thispoint Daniel had been in exile
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roughly a little more than 60years.
So for him the end is coming.
So he starts in verse 4.
He says I prayed to the Lord,my God, and confessed Lord, the
great and awesome God, who keepshis covenant of love with those
who love him and keep hiscommandments.
We have sinned and done wrong.
We have been wicked and haverebelled.
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We have turned away from yourcommands and your wrong.
We have been wicked and haverebelled.
We have turned away from yourcommands and your laws.
We have not listened to yourservants, the prophets who spoke
in your name, to our kings, ourprinces, our ancestors and to
all the people of the land.
I said Lord, you are righteous,but this day we are covered with
shame.
The people of Judah and theinhabitants of Jerusalem and all
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Israel, both near and far, andall the countries where you have
scattered us because of ourunfaithfulness to you.
We and our kings, our princesand our ancestors are covered
with shame because we havesinned against you.
The Lord, our God, is mercifuland forgiving, even though we
have rebelled against him.
We have not obeyed the Lord,our God, or kept the laws he
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gave us through his servants,the prophets.
All Israel had transgressedtheir law and turned away,
refusing to obey you.
Therefore, the curses and swornjudgments written in the law of
Moses, the servant of God, havebeen poured out on us because
we have sinned against you.
You have fulfilled the wordsspoken against us and against
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our rulers by bringing on usgreat disaster.
I know the whole heaven.
Nothing has ever been done likewhat has been done to Jerusalem
, just as it is written in thelaw of Moses.
All this disaster has come onus.
We have not sought the favor ofthe Lord, our God, by turning
from our sins and givingattention to your truth.
The Lord did not hesitate tobring the disaster on us.
(09:29):
The Lord, our God, is righteousin everything he does, yet we
have not obeyed him.
So Daniel starts thisconversation by addressing the
sins of the nation, starts thisconversation by addressing the
sins of the nation, and it'sinteresting because he's not
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blaming Israel.
He's taking ownership andsaying God, we have sinned
against you, we are in this mess, we are in exile, literally
because we have failed to liveup to your standards Again.
Daniel was a case study of aman who's seeking to follow God,
(10:15):
but it's also a case study ofwhat happens to a nation when
they fail to follow God.
Israel is in exile.
They failed to repent of theirsins and their ways.
All of this has been brought onthem because of their
disobedience.
Daniel doesn't blame them, heowns it.
(10:38):
This man who has lived arighteous life throughout his
time in exile, who has had greatfaith, who has prayed regularly
, he owns the fact that he,being part of this nation, is
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also responsible for where theyare.
So, then, he continues in verse15, says Now, lord, our God,
who brought your people out ofEgypt, calls back to the Exodus
With a mighty hand, and who madefor yourself a name and adores
to this day.
We have sinned, we have donewrong.
Lord, in keeping with all yourrighteous acts, turn away your
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anger and your wrath fromJerusalem, your city, your holy
hill.
Our sins and the iniquities ofour ancestors have made
Jerusalem and your people anobject of scorn to all those
around us.
Now, our God, hear the prayersand petitions of your servant.
For your sake, lord, look withfavor on your desolate sanctuary
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.
Give ear, our God, and hear,open your eyes and see the
desolation of the city thatbears your name.
We do not make requests of youbecause we are righteous, but
because of your great mercy.
Lord, listen, lord, forgive,lord, hear and act.
For your sake, my God, do notdelay, because your city and
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your people bear your name.
Daniel is calling out to God andhe's saying God, hear our
prayer, show us your grace andyour mercy, not because we
deserve it, god, but becausethat's who you are, god.
(12:24):
Don't forget us, don't forgetall that we've done.
We know we've messed up, but,god, we're your namesake, we're
your children.
Come hear us, god.
You know there's somethingabout coming to God in prayer,
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in the state of brokenness.
You know, so many times in mylife I think about my prayer
time and I think about thethings that I pray for.
When I was younger, my prayerswere, needless to say, they were
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selfish.
I'd always pray for a betterjob.
Before I was married, I wouldalways pray for my wife, but I
would pray that she looked acertain way.
Listen, I'm just being honest.
I would pray for things and Ithought, if I was really
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specific, and I would oftentimespray for God to bless my things
.
God, I know I'm in thisrelationship.
That's bad for me.
This person doesn't even knowyou, but God bless this
relationship.
God, I know that I have no ideahow to budget my money, but
make sure that there's money inmy bank account every day when I
need it.
I know that I need food, butinstead I bought a PlayStation 4
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.
God bless me.
My prayers were arrogant, butthe older I got, the more I walk
through life, the closer I getto God, the more I realize that
most of my prayer is simple,that most of my prayer is simple
.
A lot of my prayers nowadays areGod, help me.
God, allow me to be the fatherthat you want me to be.
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God, allow me to be transformedinto the pastor that you need
me to be.
God, allow this church to betransformed into the church that
you need it to be.
God, allow the conversations tobe in my life, in my life to be
filled with conversations ofyou.
God, help me lead other peopleto you.
God bless my marriage so thatit honors you.
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God, raise my kids up so that,no matter where they go, they
are young men who follow you.
God bless me with riches so Ican give more away, your prayer
changes and Daniel comes to Godin this repentance, saying God,
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not because we deserve it, butbecause we need it.
God, forgive us, show us grace,show us grace, show us mercy.
Prayer is the most powerfultool we have as believers, but
it's often the last one we go to.
I know why it's because a lotof times you and I forget our
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place.
You know, those two dreamsDaniel had were kind of crazy,
but they reminded him that Godis ultimately in charge.
So our future, where we'reheaded, the things that are
coming next in our life, eventhough we do have a part in it,
ultimately God is the one who'sin control of it.
So, as NT Wright offers apowerful metaphor to describe
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this partnership betweenbelievers and God, he compares
it to a stonemason working on asection of great cathedral.
This craftsman is not building acathedral of their own design.
Rather, they're faithfullyexecuting the plans of someone
else, focusing intently on theirsmall part.
They aren't creating aminiature cathedral for
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themselves, and Wright explainsthis.
He says they are not themselvesbuilding the cathedral, but
they are building for thecathedral, and when the
cathedral is complete, theirwork will be enhanced, ennobled,
which will mean much more thanit could have meant, as they
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were chiseling it and shaping itdown in the stonemason's yard.
And so he talks about this.
The kind of relationship wehave with God is you and I are
building the kingdom of GodAgain.
My prayers in my 20s wereselfish because all I could
think about was my world, mycathedral.
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But here we see that Daniel issaying God, forgive us, show us
mercy for your namesake, showthe people around us just who
you are, not because we deserveit, but because you do.
(17:23):
You deserve people who arefollowing after you.
You deserve people who arefollowing after you.
You deserve people who areliving for you.
You deserve to be built thatyour kingdom will last forever.
God hear us, god answer us.
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I often Let your kingdom come,your will be done.
It's probably one of the mostpopular prayers that people
repeat, but I wonder if wereally mean that your kingdom
come, your will be done, or dowe have an asterisk next to it.
(18:12):
That your kingdom come, yourwill be done, or do we have an
asterisk next to it?
Your will be done unless youcall me to give more of my time,
my money, my resources.
Your kingdom come unless youcall me to be a missionary in a
country that I want to go toyour kingdom.
Come, unless you call me to bea missionary in a country that I
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want to go to your kingdom.
Come, your will be done.
Unless I can't buy that new carthat I just bought.
Unless I have to talk to myneighbor who I don't like
because he can't agree how tocut the grass correctly.
Unless I have to share my faithwith my mother-in-law to my
neighbor, who I don't likebecause he can't agree how to
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cut the grass correctly.
Unless I have to share my faithwith my mother-in-law or
father-in-law I don't know howfather-in-laws work.
We say that your kingdom come,your will be done.
And listen, there's no, unlessthat's it.
When Jesus prays this prayer inMatthew 5,.
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He says your kingdom come, yourwill be done on earth as it is
in heaven.
And Daniel is saying to Godbecause of who you are, show us
mercy.
Your kingdom is eternal.
Your kingdom is the only oneworth building.
(19:38):
I think oftentimes in thechurch today, we want to have
God and we want to have us.
We want to have our kingdom aslong as it's next to God's
kingdom, and sometimes weelevate it.
But what if we became a peoplewho really meant when we said
God, whatever you need us to do,whatever transformation needs
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to happen, god allow that totake place.
Place in my life.
You know, in the very beginning,before he even gets to this
prayer of redemption, danielacknowledges the sin of their
life.
Sin has distorted everything.
(20:26):
You go back to Adam and Eve inthe garden.
Their sin was they wanted to belike God.
That's what they were temptedwith.
Right, eat of this fruit andyou'll be like God.
They did, and the consequenceof that was eternal they lost.
I mean, they literally walkedin the garden with God, had
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everything they ever needed nota single care in the world.
There wasn't even birth andchildbearing.
And then they ate of the appleand all of that came with it the
downfall of humanity.
I often wonder how thatconversation goes A week or two
after the fact and one of themstubs their toe is Adam like Eve
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?
Look at what you did.
And then we all have to look atAdam and be like, yeah, you
were there too, buddy.
But I often wonder how oftendid they reflect back on what
they had?
Because, see, they were soconvinced that building
themselves up to being like Godwas better than being with God.
And they learned really quickthat doesn't work that way.
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Daniel and the people of Israelhad learned that building the
kingdom of God is better thanbuilding their own kingdom,
because their own kingdom can besnatched away in the blink of
an eye.
But he acknowledges their sin,their brokenness.
He says, god, we have sinnedagainst you.
And then the consequences thatwe are going through, god, these
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are just.
We deserve this, we deserve allof this.
But then he says, god, I'mappealing to you, in your mercy
and your grace and the fact thatyou're sovereign, you will
restore us.
God, that if we could just goback home, if we could just go
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back to the temple and thesacrifices, god, if we could
just go back to the temple andthe sacrifices, god, if we could
just go back to bringing thatforgiveness back into our lives,
because, god, we've beenmissing it.
If you can just send us backGod, this time we'll do it right
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.
If you know anything about theOld Testament, that's not true.
They continue to mess it up.
So Daniel 9, verses 20-27, sayswhy Daniel was speaking and
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praying, confessing my sin andthe sin of my people, israel.
It says, while I was still inprayer, Gabriel, the man I had
seen in an earlier vision, cameto me in swift flight about the
time of the evening sacrifice.
Can you imagine that?
Praying?
And this angel shows up.
He instructed me and said to meDaniel, I have now come to you
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to give you insight andunderstanding.
As soon as you began to pray,word went out which I have come
to tell you, for you are highlyesteemed.
Can you imagine being told byan angel that you're highly
esteemed?
I'm like, yeah, thanks, that'scool.
Therefore, consider the word andunderstand the vision.
It said 77 are decreed for yourpeople, in your holy city, to
finish transgression, to put anend to sin, to atone for
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wickedness, to bring ineverlasting righteousness, to
seal up vision and prophecy andto anoint the most holy place.
It says no one understand this.
From the time the word goes outto restore and rebuild
Jerusalem.
Until the anointed one.
It's talking about Jesus.
It says until Jesus comes, theruler comes, there will be seven
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, sevens and 62 sevens and itwill be rebuilt with streets and
a trench when times of trouble,and after the 62 sevens, the
anointed one will be put todeath and he will have nothing
the people of the ruler who willcome and destroy the city and
the sanctuary.
The end will come like a flood.
War will continue until the endand desolation had been decreed
(24:41):
.
He will confirm a covenant withmany for one seven.
In the middle of the seven, hewill put an end to the sacrifice
and offering and at the templehe will set up an abomination
that causes desolation until theend of his decree is poured out
on him Again.
Don't get distracted.
The angel is saying Jesus, theanointed one is coming, and the
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anointed one will put to deathwith nothing.
And once this happens, therewill be one who comes after him
that will establish his ownkingdom and it'll be a failure.
It'll be against the God mosthigh, but he will reign in that
position until the final endcomes.
You know, daniel comes to thisand says God, if you could just
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let us go and sacrifice for theforgiveness of our sins.
And the angel Gabriel sayslisten, you don't understand
that.
There's one coming who will besacrificed for all sins.
You're short-sighted.
You're looking to save yourself.
God's looking to save the world.
Because you're right, daniel,your sin is a problem.
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The sins of your people are aproblem.
The sin in our life is aproblem?
The things that we do that arenot of God lying, deceit,
adultery, disobeying our parentslet's just walk through the Ten
Commandments.
All of these things that areconsidered sin have separated us
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from God, and you and I have toacknowledge that Daniel, in all
of his righteousness and all ofhis faithfulness, could have
blamed Israel for their sin, buthe doesn't.
He says, have blamed Israel fortheir sin.
But he doesn't.
He says, god, it's our sin thathas caused this problem.
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It's our brokenness that hasled us to this place.
We're a nation that's walkedaway from God.
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God's not highly revered orfavored anymore.
If anything, he's mocked.
It's almost like under KingDarius.
People put up with us, they putup with us until a decree comes
, but all of that is because ofthe sin of all of us.
(27:25):
Listen, if I've learned onething in my life, it is really
easy to look at someone else andidentify their sin.
What's hard is when I have tolook at myself and realize man,
god, I don't have this righteither.
I still get angry about thingsI shouldn't get angry about.
I still allow things into mylife that I shouldn't.
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There's things that I strugglewith that I wish that I didn't.
As a nation as a whole, we haveto deal with the sins of our
nation and I know I know thismight hit the wrong way and it's
not my intention.
But when we look at our countryas a whole and we talk about
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things like racism and sexismand the divide in political
parties and the oppression ofthe poor and not taking care of
those who God has called us totake care of, not taking care of
the widows and the oppressionof the poor and not taking care
of those who God has called usto take care of, not taking care
of the widows and the orphanswhen we look collectively as a
nation, we have to realize thatpart of that is our fault,
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whether we committed itintentionally or whether it's a
sin of omission.
The Bible talks about this thatthere are things that we don't
do that we know we should do,and when we don't do them, we
allow them to continue.
Collectively, we have toacknowledge as a whole that we
have failed to live up to theway God wants us to live and
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listen.
I realize that the focus tendsto be well, everyone outside
these walls is sin and they'rebroken and they did this.
But Daniel doesn't do this, hesays God, we have failed you,
god, we have failed to live upto what you've called us to do
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and because of that, thispunishment that we're in is just
.
I think true repentance comesfrom humility, being able to
admit that something's not right, being able to look at the
world around us and understandthat there's a problem.
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Sin is the problem.
Our enemy has never been eachother.
It's always been Satan.
It's always been his lies andhis deceptions.
It's always been his divisionand it's always been the sin
that he brought into the world.
Sin has distorted everythingand because of that sin we're
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broken.
Humility acknowledges thatbrokenness.
Humility acknowledges thatthere's something wrong, but
hope.
Hope realizes there's somethingwrong, but hope.
Hope realizes there's someonewho saved us.
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Hope realizes that God ismerciful and he's gracious and
that he's coming to the world tofix the problem.
Sin is a human problem.
Romans 3.23 says, for all havesinned and fall short of the
glory of God.
Ephesians 2.1 says you weredead in your trespasses and sin.
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Sin is part of the humancondition because of the
decision that was made thousandsof years ago.
Sin is part of the problem whenyou go all the way back to the
garden.
Even back then they messed itup, and so when daniel is asking
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for forgiveness, he's asking togo home.
So they continue the sacrifices.
The angel gabriel says one whois coming, who will sacrifice
for all.
Hebrews 4.15 says he was temptedin every way, just as we are,
yet he was without sin.
He's talking about Jesus.
Jesus sets the standard ofperfection.
He lived in a sinful, brokenworld and didn't commit a single
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one.
Jesus would become the ultimatesacrifice.
2 Corinthians 5.21,.
It says God made him, who hadno sin, to be sin for us, so
that in him we might become therighteousness of God.
Isaiah 53, verses 5 and 6, hewas pierced for our
transgressions.
The Lord has laid on him theiniquity of us all.
Everything Jesus took upon himwas because of us.
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You and I killed him.
We can say the Jews did it, butreally he died because of you
and me.
Daniel was in the mess they'rein because of the sin of their
people, and the only one who cansave them is God.
You and I are in the mess thatwe're in because of our sin, and
the only one who can save us isJesus.
That's it.
That's what the world needs.
(32:28):
It doesn't need another church.
It doesn't need another coolpastor.
It doesn't need anotherwonderful worship team.
The world needs Jesus becauseJesus is the only one who can
save.
That's it.
Because Jesus is the only onewho can save.
That's it.
Romans 4.25 said he wasdelivered over to death for our
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sins and was raised to life forour justification.
The final sacrifice had beenmade.
Daniel didn't get to see this,but you and I know this.
Jesus came, he died, he dealtwith sin, he was raised to life
(33:17):
and because of that he justifiedus.
1 John 1.9 says that we confessour sins.
He is faithful and just toforgive us.
John 8.9 says that we confessour sins.
He is faithful and just toforgive us.
John 8.36 says if the Son setsyou free, you will be free.
Indeed, that's what the worldneeds.
(33:38):
It needs more Jesus, always.
I think that's why my prayershave shifted throughout my life,
because I realize that the onlyway that we build God's kingdom
is by bringing people to Jesus.
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That's eternal, that'simportant.
The book of Revelation is scary.
If you've ever read it, it'sactually quite confusing.
The dreams that Daniel had werea little overwhelming.
But don't get distracted.
(34:20):
Don't try to figure out whenthe end's coming.
It's not a math problem.
It can't be figured out.
Jesus says that, by the way,himself that even the Son of man
, while he was here on earth,had no time.
So no offense.
But if God didn't tell Jesus,he didn't tell that person on
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TikTok who stepped on their backporch and had a revelation.
There's no revelation.
The end is coming.
That's inevitable.
But what matters is who do youknow when the end comes?
Because you can build yourkingdom, we can even build our
(35:05):
church and still miss Jesus.
You can go to church everysingle day of your life, until
the very end of your life, andstill you can.
Still you can have religion andstill miss Jesus.
What matters is, in the end,who are we serving?
Who have we given our life to?
(35:27):
The sacrifice has been made,the way has been opened, grace
has been extended.
Transformation comes because ofJesus.
If you have given your life toJesus, you are no longer your
own person.
(35:48):
You live for a bigger purpose.
And if you haven't, grace isthere.
Sin keeps us from God, but Jesusbrings us home God, but Jesus
brings us home.
The church, the world you and Ilive in is still in exile.
(36:11):
Sin has shattered what was oncewhole, leaving behind pain and
justice, confusion and loss.
Like Daniel, you and I live inthe middle of a mess and, like
Daniel, we're called not toescape it but to stand faithful
in it.
Daniel saw the devastation ofsin, but he never lost sight of
(36:34):
the faithfulness of God and,even though he didn't know how
the story would fully end, youand I do.
We Nate.
We know the name of the one whorescues us.
We know the one who steppedinto exile to bring us home.
His name is Jesus and he's theanswer the world is waiting for.
(36:57):
So what do we do with thisknowledge?
We can get caught up in how theworld's going to end, trying to
predict.
We can get caught up in blamingother people for their
brokenness and their sin.
We can get caught up in playingchurch but never actually
(37:22):
living for the one who it's madefor.
So you and I should live withthe end in mind.
Your life comes to an end.
Everyone dies.
Which kingdom are you building?
You and I, not only as a churchbut as a nation, have to take
(37:43):
responsibility for the sins thathave broken us.
We have sinned, we have broughtthis upon ourselves, we have
been part of the devastation,whether we like it or not.
And only through humble prayerand repentance can we find grace
.
Daniel models that you and Ihave the responsibility to point
(38:08):
people to hope.
Listen, we don't exist so wecan walk around telling everyone
else they're sinners.
We exist so we can walk aroundtelling everyone there's a way
to be saved from that sin.
That's our focus, that's whatwe have to do.
But we still have to call sinsin.
You can't ignore that.
But you and I should want totalk to people about sin in
(38:33):
their lives and our lives,because we have found redemption
.
And then you and I are calledto surrender everything, not
just on Sunday morning, but yourhabits, your life, your job,
your pride, all of it, everypart of your life is called to
be surrendered to the One who issovereign.
So when you say things likeyour will be done, you're
(39:00):
willing to do that, no matterwhat it takes.
You're willing to do that nomatter what it takes.
Daniel looked at the nation ofIsrael, acknowledged their sin
and said God, we deserve this.
You and I deserve death.
(39:22):
The Romans 3.23 says thateveryone's sin.
The consequence of that is thesame.
But in our brokenness, in ourrepentance, we come to God and
say God, show us the grace andmercy that defines you, and we
(39:43):
pray for the country that youcontinue to show us grace and
mercy as we draw people back toyou.
God, we pray for our familiesand our friends.
We see those around us as anopportunity to bring people to
hope, because that's what theyneed.
God, we're broken, but yousaved us, and God, we want to be
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part of that.
If you ever ask me what thevision is for this church, it's
actually really simple and it'snot.
Listen, I want this place to befull, but not because I want a
ton of people to sit here.
(40:28):
I don't want to be able to lookat us and say, oh man, look how
many people attend church onSunday morning, because Jesus
did wonderful things with 12people, and sometimes there's
only 12 people that I want to dostuff with.
But I'm not looking to fillthis place so I can say, oh,
look at what we did.
I want this place to be fullbecause I want that many people
and more to know Jesus Not onlyjust know Jesus, but to actually
(40:51):
be transformed by Jesus.
Do you understand that?
There's a difference?
It's one thing to know him,it's another, to let your life
be changed by him.
I want to see.
I want to see.
I want to see God use thischurch to change this whole area
(41:11):
, to deliver us out of poverty,to deliver us out of addiction,
to deliver us out of brokenness,to deliver us out of broken
marriages, out of brokenrelationships.
I want the world to know Jesus.
That's our purpose, that's it.
Nothing else matters.
(41:33):
If we do it here, if we do iton that property, if God calls
us to go outside on Sundaymornings, in the middle of the
road, wherever he takes us, I'mnot worried about where we are,
I'm worried about what we'redoing with it.
Are we a church that reallybelieves that God is gracious
(41:55):
and merciful and that the worldneeds Him?
When we say things like God,your kingdom come, your will be
done, are we ready for that?
The world is broken.
You and I are broken.
(42:19):
The only way to fix that is tohumble ourselves, to repent of
our sins and to seek grace andmercy from the King of Kings.
Daniel didn't have Jesus.
We do, no matter what comesnext.
(42:44):
The only thing I hope that Iever hear of this place is that
people found Jesus here.
That's great, god.
We thank you so much.
So the book of Daniel is a case study in personal
character.
Daniel is someone who hasreally found himself in a place
that is not his own doing, and Ithink that that's important to
mention, because Daniel didn'tdo anything necessarily to put
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himself in exile.
Now Jerusalem did Israel messedup the Old Testament.
I love the Old Testament and ifyou ever want to understand how
patient God is, just read theOld Testament, because if it was
me, I would have wiped thisentire people out a long time
ago and just started fresh.
He actually did that Back inNoah's day.
(00:48):
He kind of wiped the earthclean and started over, but with
Israel he still kind ofprotected this remnant.
And again, if I was God, Iwould have just been like nope,
we're done, but Israel continuesto find themselves worshiping
other gods and they keep losingsight of the God who has been
(01:08):
for them this entire time.
And listen, it's so easy to getdistracted.
I mean, I have three boys and Ican tell you like their level
of distractiveness is amazing,like my oldest ever.
Like I would ask him.
I'm like listen, buddy, pick upthis dish and take it to the
(01:30):
kitchen.
He's like okay, he picks up thedish, he goes to his room and
plays with some Legos, then hechases the brothers around the
house, then he has to go to thebathroom and then he finally
gets to the kitchen and I'm likeI don't know what to do with
this.
Like it's so easy to getdistracted, right?
And so Daniel, the book ofDaniel, it's easy to get
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distracted, so we're going toactually be in Daniel 9, but
we're going to kind of cliffnote Daniel 7 and 8.
Now, daniel 7 and 8 are twodreams that Daniel has.
Daniel, in these dreams, findshimself distracted.
So Daniel, chapter 7,.
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Daniel has a prophetic dream offour great beasts rising from
the sea each different Lionswith eagle's wings this is often
interpreted as Babylon.
The bear, raised on one side,which is most likely the
Medo-Persia kingdom that'scoming.
A leopard with four wings andfour heads, likely Greece under
(02:34):
Alexander the Great, which wouldlater be divided.
And then a terrifying beast.
So in this dream he has all ofthese images of a terrifying
beast with iron teeth and tenhorns, with a little horn rising
up, often linked to Rome and inthe future it's an Antichrist
type figure.
The Ancient of Days, which isGod, takes his throne, judges
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the beast and destroys them.
The Son of man comes with theclouds and receives everlasting
dominion in a kingdom that willnot be destroyed.
So Daniel has these dreams andthey disturb him, right?
But again, we've been talkingabout the sovereignty of God
throughout the book of Daniel,and Daniel 7 reemphasizes this
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that although kingdoms will comeat the end, god remains in
control.
Daniel chapter 8.
Daniel has another set of dreams.
He sees a ram with two horns,one higher, charging west, north
and south, again talking aboutthe Medo-Persia empire that
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would be coming, a goat with aprominent horn.
This represents Greece and thehorn represents Alexander the
Great.
So you realize he's having thesame dream but different visions
.
So the goat's large horn isbroken and is replaced by four
smaller horns a division ofAlexander's empire.
This actually happenshistorically, which is pretty
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cool.
After the fall of Alexander theGreat, four generals take over
his kingdom historically and itbecomes an entire mess.
So from one of the four horns alittle horn arises.
This is traditionally linked toAntiochus.
The fourth of Epiphanes said hewas a king who desecrated the
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Jewish temple of Epiphanes, thathe was a king who desecrated
the Jewish temple.
So again we see these imageriesand it's two chapters, right,
and it's important that we don'tget too distracted by this
because, when we look towardsthe future, daniel and the book
of Revelation are connected toeach other and there's a lot of
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people historically who havetried to interpret the book of
Revelation.
I think it was 2014.
On my birthday in 2014, theworld was supposed to end.
Some guy in Florida hadpredicted God had given him a
vision the world was going toend, and he put billboards
(05:06):
everywhere.
I don't know if you rememberthis, but there was like
billboards all over the place.
I was mad because I was like,that's my birthday.
Like God, why would you end theworld on my birthday?
Right?
And so this guy spent a ton ofmoney, a ton of resources
convincing people the world wasgoing to end.
He distracted people.
(05:28):
Clearly, the world didn't end.
So again, daniel 7, daniel 8, ittalks primarily.
The dream is focusing onkingdoms that are going to
affect the future of Israel.
Talk about the Romans and theGreeks and the Persian alliance,
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and then you had Babylon.
But it does look towards thefuture and it connects itself
with Revelation.
But again, don't get distracted.
The point of these dreams andthe point of Revelation is that
God wins you and I can get stuckon what the imagery is, who the
Antichrist is.
When I was in my 20s it wasOprah, which I thought was
(06:13):
interesting because I never metthe woman, but I didn't really
think she was the Antichrist.
But what do I know?
I'm sure there were people whenyou were younger that were
hailed as the Antichrist.
But again, the focus is on thefact that God is sovereign, that
no matter what comes of thisworld, what comes, what kingdoms
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come, that all kingdoms willfall.
So that's Daniel 7 and 8.
That's all we're going.
We're not going any furtherthan that.
Just know he had some crazydreams, some really interesting
imagery, but God is establishingat the end that he's sovereign,
that no kingdom will overthrowhim.
So then we get to Daniel,chapter 9.
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Daniel, chapter 9, verses 1through 19, is more more of a
confession by daniel.
So, starting in verse 1, itsays in the first year of darius
, son of xerxes, a mead bydescent who's made ruler over
the babylonian kingdom, in thefirst year of his reign, I,
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daniel, understood from thescriptures, according to the
word of the lord given toJeremiah, the prophet, that the
desolation of Jerusalem wouldlast 70 years.
So I turned to the Lord, godand pleaded with him in prayer
and petition and fasting, and insackcloth and ashes.
And keep in mind that at thispoint Daniel had been in exile
(07:41):
roughly a little more than 60years.
So for him the end is coming.
So he starts in verse 4.
He says I prayed to the Lord,my God, and confessed Lord, the
great and awesome God, who keepshis covenant of love with those
who love him and keep hiscommandments.
We have sinned and done wrong.
We have been wicked and haverebelled.
(08:03):
We have turned away from yourcommands and your wrong.
We have been wicked and haverebelled.
We have turned away from yourcommands and your laws.
We have not listened to yourservants, the prophets who spoke
in your name, to our kings, ourprinces, our ancestors and to
all the people of the land.
I said Lord, you are righteous,but this day we are covered with
shame.
The people of Judah and theinhabitants of Jerusalem and all
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Israel, both near and far, andall the countries where you have
scattered us because of ourunfaithfulness to you.
We and our kings, our princesand our ancestors are covered
with shame because we havesinned against you.
The Lord, our God, is mercifuland forgiving, even though we
have rebelled against him.
We have not obeyed the Lord,our God, or kept the laws he
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gave us through his servants,the prophets.
All Israel had transgressedtheir law and turned away,
refusing to obey you.
Therefore, the curses and swornjudgments written in the law of
Moses, the servant of God, havebeen poured out on us because
we have sinned against you.
You have fulfilled the wordsspoken against us and against
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our rulers by bringing on usgreat disaster.
I know the whole heaven.
Nothing has ever been done likewhat has been done to Jerusalem
, just as it is written in thelaw of Moses.
All this disaster has come onus.
We have not sought the favor ofthe Lord, our God, by turning
from our sins and givingattention to your truth.
The Lord did not hesitate tobring the disaster on us.
(09:29):
The Lord, our God, is righteousin everything he does, yet we
have not obeyed him.
So Daniel starts thisconversation by addressing the
sins of the nation, starts thisconversation by addressing the
sins of the nation, and it'sinteresting because he's not
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blaming Israel.
He's taking ownership andsaying God, we have sinned
against you, we are in this mess, we are in exile, literally
because we have failed to liveup to your standards Again.
Daniel was a case study of aman who's seeking to follow God,
(10:15):
but it's also a case study ofwhat happens to a nation when
they fail to follow God.
Israel is in exile.
They failed to repent of theirsins and their ways.
All of this has been brought onthem because of their
disobedience.
Daniel doesn't blame them, heowns it.
(10:38):
This man who has lived arighteous life throughout his
time in exile, who has had greatfaith, who has prayed regularly
, he owns the fact that he,being part of this nation, is
(10:59):
also responsible for where theyare.
So, then, he continues in verse15, says Now, lord, our God,
who brought your people out ofEgypt, calls back to the Exodus
With a mighty hand, and who madefor yourself a name and adores
to this day.
We have sinned, we have donewrong.
Lord, in keeping with all yourrighteous acts, turn away your
(11:20):
anger and your wrath fromJerusalem, your city, your holy
hill.
Our sins and the iniquities ofour ancestors have made
Jerusalem and your people anobject of scorn to all those
around us.
Now, our God, hear the prayersand petitions of your servant.
For your sake, lord, look withfavor on your desolate sanctuary
(11:40):
.
Give ear, our God, and hear,open your eyes and see the
desolation of the city thatbears your name.
We do not make requests of youbecause we are righteous, but
because of your great mercy.
Lord, listen, lord, forgive,lord, hear and act.
For your sake, my God, do notdelay, because your city and
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your people bear your name.
Daniel is calling out to God andhe's saying God, hear our
prayer, show us your grace andyour mercy, not because we
deserve it, god, but becausethat's who you are, god.
(12:24):
Don't forget us, don't forgetall that we've done.
We know we've messed up, but,god, we're your namesake, we're
your children.
Come hear us, god.
You know there's somethingabout coming to God in prayer,
(12:50):
in the state of brokenness.
You know, so many times in mylife I think about my prayer
time and I think about thethings that I pray for.
When I was younger, my prayerswere, needless to say, they were
(13:12):
selfish.
I'd always pray for a betterjob.
Before I was married, I wouldalways pray for my wife, but I
would pray that she looked acertain way.
Listen, I'm just being honest.
I would pray for things and Ithought, if I was really
(13:33):
specific, and I would oftentimespray for God to bless my things
.
God, I know I'm in thisrelationship.
That's bad for me.
This person doesn't even knowyou, but God bless this
relationship.
God, I know that I have no ideahow to budget my money, but
make sure that there's money inmy bank account every day when I
need it.
I know that I need food, butinstead I bought a PlayStation 4
(13:54):
.
God bless me.
My prayers were arrogant, butthe older I got, the more I walk
through life, the closer I getto God, the more I realize that
most of my prayer is simple,that most of my prayer is simple
.
A lot of my prayers nowadays areGod, help me.
God, allow me to be the fatherthat you want me to be.
(14:18):
God, allow me to be transformedinto the pastor that you need
me to be.
God, allow this church to betransformed into the church that
you need it to be.
God, allow the conversations tobe in my life, in my life to be
filled with conversations ofyou.
God, help me lead other peopleto you.
God bless my marriage so thatit honors you.
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God, raise my kids up so that,no matter where they go, they
are young men who follow you.
God bless me with riches so Ican give more away, your prayer
changes and Daniel comes to Godin this repentance, saying God,
(15:05):
not because we deserve it, butbecause we need it.
God, forgive us, show us grace,show us grace, show us mercy.
Prayer is the most powerfultool we have as believers, but
it's often the last one we go to.
I know why it's because a lotof times you and I forget our
(15:30):
place.
You know, those two dreamsDaniel had were kind of crazy,
but they reminded him that Godis ultimately in charge.
So our future, where we'reheaded, the things that are
coming next in our life, eventhough we do have a part in it,
ultimately God is the one who'sin control of it.
So, as NT Wright offers apowerful metaphor to describe
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this partnership betweenbelievers and God, he compares
it to a stonemason working on asection of great cathedral.
This craftsman is not building acathedral of their own design.
Rather, they're faithfullyexecuting the plans of someone
else, focusing intently on theirsmall part.
They aren't creating aminiature cathedral for
(16:20):
themselves, and Wright explainsthis.
He says they are not themselvesbuilding the cathedral, but
they are building for thecathedral, and when the
cathedral is complete, theirwork will be enhanced, ennobled,
which will mean much more thanit could have meant, as they
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were chiseling it and shaping itdown in the stonemason's yard.
And so he talks about this.
The kind of relationship wehave with God is you and I are
building the kingdom of GodAgain.
My prayers in my 20s wereselfish because all I could
think about was my world, mycathedral.
(17:02):
But here we see that Daniel issaying God, forgive us, show us
mercy for your namesake, showthe people around us just who
you are, not because we deserveit, but because you do.
(17:23):
You deserve people who arefollowing after you.
You deserve people who arefollowing after you.
You deserve people who areliving for you.
You deserve to be built thatyour kingdom will last forever.
God hear us, god answer us.
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I often Let your kingdom come,your will be done.
It's probably one of the mostpopular prayers that people
repeat, but I wonder if wereally mean that your kingdom
come, your will be done, or dowe have an asterisk next to it.
(18:12):
That your kingdom come, yourwill be done, or do we have an
asterisk next to it?
Your will be done unless youcall me to give more of my time,
my money, my resources.
Your kingdom come unless youcall me to be a missionary in a
country that I want to go toyour kingdom.
Come, unless you call me to bea missionary in a country that I
(18:32):
want to go to your kingdom.
Come, your will be done.
Unless I can't buy that new carthat I just bought.
Unless I have to talk to myneighbor who I don't like
because he can't agree how tocut the grass correctly.
Unless I have to share my faithwith my mother-in-law to my
neighbor, who I don't likebecause he can't agree how to
(18:54):
cut the grass correctly.
Unless I have to share my faithwith my mother-in-law or
father-in-law I don't know howfather-in-laws work.
We say that your kingdom come,your will be done.
And listen, there's no, unlessthat's it.
When Jesus prays this prayer inMatthew 5,.
(19:14):
He says your kingdom come, yourwill be done on earth as it is
in heaven.
And Daniel is saying to Godbecause of who you are, show us
mercy.
Your kingdom is eternal.
Your kingdom is the only oneworth building.
(19:38):
I think oftentimes in thechurch today, we want to have
God and we want to have us.
We want to have our kingdom aslong as it's next to God's
kingdom, and sometimes weelevate it.
But what if we became a peoplewho really meant when we said
God, whatever you need us to do,whatever transformation needs
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to happen, god allow that totake place.
Place in my life.
You know, in the very beginning,before he even gets to this
prayer of redemption, danielacknowledges the sin of their
life.
Sin has distorted everything.
(20:26):
You go back to Adam and Eve inthe garden.
Their sin was they wanted to belike God.
That's what they were temptedwith.
Right, eat of this fruit andyou'll be like God.
They did, and the consequenceof that was eternal they lost.
I mean, they literally walkedin the garden with God, had
(20:50):
everything they ever needed nota single care in the world.
There wasn't even birth andchildbearing.
And then they ate of the appleand all of that came with it the
downfall of humanity.
I often wonder how thatconversation goes A week or two
after the fact and one of themstubs their toe is Adam like Eve
(21:13):
?
Look at what you did.
And then we all have to look atAdam and be like, yeah, you
were there too, buddy.
But I often wonder how oftendid they reflect back on what
they had?
Because, see, they were soconvinced that building
themselves up to being like Godwas better than being with God.
And they learned really quickthat doesn't work that way.
(21:39):
Daniel and the people of Israelhad learned that building the
kingdom of God is better thanbuilding their own kingdom,
because their own kingdom can besnatched away in the blink of
an eye.
But he acknowledges their sin,their brokenness.
He says, god, we have sinnedagainst you.
And then the consequences thatwe are going through, god, these
(22:02):
are just.
We deserve this, we deserve allof this.
But then he says, god, I'mappealing to you, in your mercy
and your grace and the fact thatyou're sovereign, you will
restore us.
God, that if we could just goback home, if we could just go
(22:27):
back to the temple and thesacrifices, god, if we could
just go back to the temple andthe sacrifices, god, if we could
just go back to bringing thatforgiveness back into our lives,
because, god, we've beenmissing it.
If you can just send us backGod, this time we'll do it right
(22:48):
.
If you know anything about theOld Testament, that's not true.
They continue to mess it up.
So Daniel 9, verses 20-27, sayswhy Daniel was speaking and
(23:10):
praying, confessing my sin andthe sin of my people, israel.
It says, while I was still inprayer, Gabriel, the man I had
seen in an earlier vision, cameto me in swift flight about the
time of the evening sacrifice.
Can you imagine that?
Praying?
And this angel shows up.
He instructed me and said to meDaniel, I have now come to you
(23:35):
to give you insight andunderstanding.
As soon as you began to pray,word went out which I have come
to tell you, for you are highlyesteemed.
Can you imagine being told byan angel that you're highly
esteemed?
I'm like, yeah, thanks, that'scool.
Therefore, consider the word andunderstand the vision.
It said 77 are decreed for yourpeople, in your holy city, to
finish transgression, to put anend to sin, to atone for
(23:58):
wickedness, to bring ineverlasting righteousness, to
seal up vision and prophecy andto anoint the most holy place.
It says no one understand this.
From the time the word goes outto restore and rebuild
Jerusalem.
Until the anointed one.
It's talking about Jesus.
It says until Jesus comes, theruler comes, there will be seven
(24:19):
, sevens and 62 sevens and itwill be rebuilt with streets and
a trench when times of trouble,and after the 62 sevens, the
anointed one will be put todeath and he will have nothing
the people of the ruler who willcome and destroy the city and
the sanctuary.
The end will come like a flood.
War will continue until the endand desolation had been decreed
(24:41):
.
He will confirm a covenant withmany for one seven.
In the middle of the seven, hewill put an end to the sacrifice
and offering and at the templehe will set up an abomination
that causes desolation until theend of his decree is poured out
on him Again.
Don't get distracted.
The angel is saying Jesus, theanointed one is coming, and the
(25:03):
anointed one will put to deathwith nothing.
And once this happens, therewill be one who comes after him
that will establish his ownkingdom and it'll be a failure.
It'll be against the God mosthigh, but he will reign in that
position until the final endcomes.
You know, daniel comes to thisand says God, if you could just
(25:29):
let us go and sacrifice for theforgiveness of our sins.
And the angel Gabriel sayslisten, you don't understand
that.
There's one coming who will besacrificed for all sins.
You're short-sighted.
You're looking to save yourself.
God's looking to save the world.
Because you're right, daniel,your sin is a problem.
(25:52):
The sins of your people are aproblem.
The sin in our life is aproblem?
The things that we do that arenot of God lying, deceit,
adultery, disobeying our parentslet's just walk through the Ten
Commandments.
All of these things that areconsidered sin have separated us
(26:15):
from God, and you and I have toacknowledge that Daniel, in all
of his righteousness and all ofhis faithfulness, could have
blamed Israel for their sin, buthe doesn't.
He says, have blamed Israel fortheir sin.
But he doesn't.
He says, god, it's our sin thathas caused this problem.
(26:37):
It's our brokenness that hasled us to this place.
We're a nation that's walkedaway from God.
(26:57):
God's not highly revered orfavored anymore.
If anything, he's mocked.
It's almost like under KingDarius.
People put up with us, they putup with us until a decree comes
, but all of that is because ofthe sin of all of us.
(27:25):
Listen, if I've learned onething in my life, it is really
easy to look at someone else andidentify their sin.
What's hard is when I have tolook at myself and realize man,
god, I don't have this righteither.
I still get angry about thingsI shouldn't get angry about.
I still allow things into mylife that I shouldn't.
(27:49):
There's things that I strugglewith that I wish that I didn't.
As a nation as a whole, we haveto deal with the sins of our
nation and I know I know thismight hit the wrong way and it's
not my intention.
But when we look at our countryas a whole and we talk about
(28:12):
things like racism and sexismand the divide in political
parties and the oppression ofthe poor and not taking care of
those who God has called us totake care of, not taking care of
the widows and the oppressionof the poor and not taking care
of those who God has called usto take care of, not taking care
of the widows and the orphanswhen we look collectively as a
nation, we have to realize thatpart of that is our fault,
(28:34):
whether we committed itintentionally or whether it's a
sin of omission.
The Bible talks about this thatthere are things that we don't
do that we know we should do,and when we don't do them, we
allow them to continue.
Collectively, we have toacknowledge as a whole that we
have failed to live up to theway God wants us to live and
(28:57):
listen.
I realize that the focus tendsto be well, everyone outside
these walls is sin and they'rebroken and they did this.
But Daniel doesn't do this, hesays God, we have failed you,
god, we have failed to live upto what you've called us to do
(29:21):
and because of that, thispunishment that we're in is just
.
I think true repentance comesfrom humility, being able to
admit that something's not right, being able to look at the
world around us and understandthat there's a problem.
(29:44):
Sin is the problem.
Our enemy has never been eachother.
It's always been Satan.
It's always been his lies andhis deceptions.
It's always been his divisionand it's always been the sin
that he brought into the world.
Sin has distorted everythingand because of that sin we're
(30:07):
broken.
Humility acknowledges thatbrokenness.
Humility acknowledges thatthere's something wrong, but
hope.
Hope realizes there's somethingwrong, but hope.
Hope realizes there's someonewho saved us.
(30:30):
Hope realizes that God ismerciful and he's gracious and
that he's coming to the world tofix the problem.
Sin is a human problem.
Romans 3.23 says, for all havesinned and fall short of the
glory of God.
Ephesians 2.1 says you weredead in your trespasses and sin.
(30:53):
Sin is part of the humancondition because of the
decision that was made thousandsof years ago.
Sin is part of the problem whenyou go all the way back to the
garden.
Even back then they messed itup, and so when daniel is asking
(31:16):
for forgiveness, he's asking togo home.
So they continue the sacrifices.
The angel gabriel says one whois coming, who will sacrifice
for all.
Hebrews 4.15 says he was temptedin every way, just as we are,
yet he was without sin.
He's talking about Jesus.
Jesus sets the standard ofperfection.
He lived in a sinful, brokenworld and didn't commit a single
(31:42):
one.
Jesus would become the ultimatesacrifice.
2 Corinthians 5.21,.
It says God made him, who hadno sin, to be sin for us, so
that in him we might become therighteousness of God.
Isaiah 53, verses 5 and 6, hewas pierced for our
transgressions.
The Lord has laid on him theiniquity of us all.
Everything Jesus took upon himwas because of us.
(32:05):
You and I killed him.
We can say the Jews did it, butreally he died because of you
and me.
Daniel was in the mess they'rein because of the sin of their
people, and the only one who cansave them is God.
You and I are in the mess thatwe're in because of our sin, and
the only one who can save us isJesus.
That's it.
That's what the world needs.
(32:28):
It doesn't need another church.
It doesn't need another coolpastor.
It doesn't need anotherwonderful worship team.
The world needs Jesus becauseJesus is the only one who can
save.
That's it.
Because Jesus is the only onewho can save.
That's it.
Romans 4.25 said he wasdelivered over to death for our
(32:50):
sins and was raised to life forour justification.
The final sacrifice had beenmade.
Daniel didn't get to see this,but you and I know this.
Jesus came, he died, he dealtwith sin, he was raised to life
(33:17):
and because of that he justifiedus.
1 John 1.9 says that we confessour sins.
He is faithful and just toforgive us.
John 8.9 says that we confessour sins.
He is faithful and just toforgive us.
John 8.36 says if the Son setsyou free, you will be free.
Indeed, that's what the worldneeds.
(33:38):
It needs more Jesus, always.
I think that's why my prayershave shifted throughout my life,
because I realize that the onlyway that we build God's kingdom
is by bringing people to Jesus.
(33:58):
That's eternal, that'simportant.
The book of Revelation is scary.
If you've ever read it, it'sactually quite confusing.
The dreams that Daniel had werea little overwhelming.
But don't get distracted.
(34:20):
Don't try to figure out whenthe end's coming.
It's not a math problem.
It can't be figured out.
Jesus says that, by the way,himself that even the Son of man
, while he was here on earth,had no time.
So no offense.
But if God didn't tell Jesus,he didn't tell that person on
(34:44):
TikTok who stepped on their backporch and had a revelation.
There's no revelation.
The end is coming.
That's inevitable.
But what matters is who do youknow when the end comes?
Because you can build yourkingdom, we can even build our
(35:05):
church and still miss Jesus.
You can go to church everysingle day of your life, until
the very end of your life, andstill you can.
Still you can have religion andstill miss Jesus.
What matters is, in the end,who are we serving?
Who have we given our life to?
(35:27):
The sacrifice has been made,the way has been opened, grace
has been extended.
Transformation comes because ofJesus.
If you have given your life toJesus, you are no longer your
own person.
(35:48):
You live for a bigger purpose.
And if you haven't, grace isthere.
Sin keeps us from God, but Jesusbrings us home God, but Jesus
brings us home.
The church, the world you and Ilive in is still in exile.
(36:11):
Sin has shattered what was oncewhole, leaving behind pain and
justice, confusion and loss.
Like Daniel, you and I live inthe middle of a mess and, like
Daniel, we're called not toescape it but to stand faithful
in it.
Daniel saw the devastation ofsin, but he never lost sight of
(36:34):
the faithfulness of God and,even though he didn't know how
the story would fully end, youand I do.
We Nate.
We know the name of the one whorescues us.
We know the one who steppedinto exile to bring us home.
His name is Jesus and he's theanswer the world is waiting for.
(36:57):
So what do we do with thisknowledge?
We can get caught up in how theworld's going to end, trying to
predict.
We can get caught up in blamingother people for their
brokenness and their sin.
We can get caught up in playingchurch but never actually
(37:22):
living for the one who it's madefor.
So you and I should live withthe end in mind.
Your life comes to an end.
Everyone dies.
Which kingdom are you building?
You and I, not only as a churchbut as a nation, have to take
(37:43):
responsibility for the sins thathave broken us.
We have sinned, we have broughtthis upon ourselves, we have
been part of the devastation,whether we like it or not.
And only through humble prayerand repentance can we find grace
.
Daniel models that you and Ihave the responsibility to point
(38:08):
people to hope.
Listen, we don't exist so wecan walk around telling everyone
else they're sinners.
We exist so we can walk aroundtelling everyone there's a way
to be saved from that sin.
That's our focus, that's whatwe have to do.
But we still have to call sinsin.
You can't ignore that.
But you and I should want totalk to people about sin in
(38:33):
their lives and our lives,because we have found redemption
.
And then you and I are calledto surrender everything, not
just on Sunday morning, but yourhabits, your life, your job,
your pride, all of it, everypart of your life is called to
be surrendered to the One who issovereign.
So when you say things likeyour will be done, you're
(39:00):
willing to do that, no matterwhat it takes.
You're willing to do that nomatter what it takes.
Daniel looked at the nation ofIsrael, acknowledged their sin
and said God, we deserve this.
You and I deserve death.
(39:22):
The Romans 3.23 says thateveryone's sin.
The consequence of that is thesame.
But in our brokenness, in ourrepentance, we come to God and
say God, show us the grace andmercy that defines you, and we
(39:43):
pray for the country that youcontinue to show us grace and
mercy as we draw people back toyou.
God, we pray for our familiesand our friends.
We see those around us as anopportunity to bring people to
hope, because that's what theyneed.
God, we're broken, but yousaved us, and God, we want to be
(40:08):
part of that.
If you ever ask me what thevision is for this church, it's
actually really simple and it'snot.
Listen, I want this place to befull, but not because I want a
ton of people to sit here.
(40:28):
I don't want to be able to lookat us and say, oh man, look how
many people attend church onSunday morning, because Jesus
did wonderful things with 12people, and sometimes there's
only 12 people that I want to dostuff with.
But I'm not looking to fillthis place so I can say, oh,
look at what we did.
I want this place to be fullbecause I want that many people
and more to know Jesus Not onlyjust know Jesus, but to actually
(40:51):
be transformed by Jesus.
Do you understand that?
There's a difference?
It's one thing to know him,it's another, to let your life
be changed by him.
I want to see.
I want to see.
I want to see God use thischurch to change this whole area
(41:11):
, to deliver us out of poverty,to deliver us out of addiction,
to deliver us out of brokenness,to deliver us out of broken
marriages, out of brokenrelationships.
I want the world to know Jesus.
That's our purpose, that's it.
Nothing else matters.
(41:33):
If we do it here, if we do iton that property, if God calls
us to go outside on Sundaymornings, in the middle of the
road, wherever he takes us, I'mnot worried about where we are,
I'm worried about what we'redoing with it.
Are we a church that reallybelieves that God is gracious
(41:55):
and merciful and that the worldneeds Him?
When we say things like God,your kingdom come, your will be
done, are we ready for that?
The world is broken.
You and I are broken.
(42:19):
The only way to fix that is tohumble ourselves, to repent of
our sins and to seek grace andmercy from the King of Kings.
Daniel didn't have Jesus.
We do, no matter what comesnext.
(42:44):
The only thing I hope that Iever hear of this place is that
people found Jesus here.
That's great, god.
We thank you so much.
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