In His Asking Is His Promise of Grace - New Morning Mercies

My "Gospel Posse" is a group of men that gathers for spiritual conversation every two weeks or so.  We've been reading a daily devotional called New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp.  (CLICK HERE for the Amazon link.  You really do want this book.)  When we gather one of us simply asks, "So what did you underline in the past two weeks?"  The conversation unfolds from there.  If one of us gets distracted, another of us simply asks, "So what did you underline in the past two weeks?  Anyone else?" and we're back on track.

I used bits of the September 27 reading to close this Sunday's sermon, so I've included that below.  And I'll point to these statements on Monday when we gather again.  

Oh, and we have breakfast because it's hard for a posse to ride through the day on an empty stomach, but it's other men sharing the Gospel of God's Grace with me in this way that gets me out of bed in the dark of a Monday morning.  I can make eggs myself.

“And About That Statue in the Dream . . . .” – Daniel 2:27-45

Our plan was to preach the events of Daniel 2 this Sunday at Harderwyk.  That includes 49 verses, all related to a single event, so I knew I’d want to focus clearly on the central point of the passage and what the Spirit would have for us there.  I planned to communicate the dream and it’s interpretation, vss 27-45 pretty succinctly so I could give adequate focus to the larger message of the narrative.

Then I did a quick google search for a graphic representation of the statue.  Yikes!  Friends, I don’t recommend you do that on this one.  Let me explain why.

It’s crazy out there!  Most of the graphics went well past what the text said and began to connect different materials in the statue to different historical empires that would follow.  The Persians, the Greeks, the Romans.  The Roman Catholic Church.  Great Britain.  The United States.  There were “prophetic interludes” to stretch the statue over centuries of human history. Where would it end?!?

I actually found one graphic that presented the statue, and the different materials of its construction (this is in the text, so I’m good thus far) and then began to connect each material to different known historical civilizations that followed (not uncommon, but stepping beyond what is written, so I’m starting to get a bit wary) and ends by pointing to the United States as the New Jerusalem (Honestly!  I had not every realized that there is a “U” and an “S” and an “A” together in the word “Jerusalem”!) and the Rock was a “Stone Mountain”  that made me think of the laser light attraction by that name outside of Atlanta, GA.  I’m not including the link to this graphic.

So be careful!  Daniel, with its dreams and visions, is one of those books that seems to gather wild speculation and secret meanings that invite one to a feeling of special knowledge and the prideful sense of spiritual superiority that follow along.  The Apostle Paul warns us saying, “avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.” (Titus 3:9, II Timothy 2:33, Colossians 2:4)

The dream and its interpretation are part of the story, and there are things to learn here, for example: 

• God has history under control.  He knows empires before they rise and fall because history is moving at His direction.
• Things are headed downhill.  The empires that follow will be increasing less valuable and stable.
• There is something important coming though - “the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands” - that is clearly a foreshadowing of Christ and the Gospel.

As we work our way through Daniel in the weeks ahead, we will deal more with dreams and visions and how best to understand what they mean for us.  Part of that is learning to discern and separate interpretative schemes and perspectives that actually obscure the Gospel.  We want to keep “the main thing as the main thing.”  And frankly, the “main thing” in the Bible is not about arming me with some secret knowledge that puffs me up (I Cor 8:1) with a sense of self-importance that obscures Jesus and His Gospel.

 Make sure to join us for worship, by livestream or by recording as Aaron, Kyle and I try to make that “main thing” compelling, alive and life-giving this Sunday. 

CLICK HERE for Harderwyk LiveStream page on our website.

Preaching Daniel at Harderwyk - Daniel 1 - Sunday, Sept 20

Our collaboration on Daniel has been really rich, so I'm taking an idea we have talked about for a while and will try and massage it into a workable form that we can sustain week by week.  I'm hoping to collect material from each Harderwyk preacher that was really interesting in our preparation, but that we either decided not to use or want to more clearly reference, and then put it into a weekly blog post.  Sort of like picking up pieces of a film from the cutting room floor.

Use the comment section to tell me what you think and guide our future development of these resources.

Preaching Daniel at Harderwyk: Resources

 This Sunday – September 13 – all three worshipping communities of Harderwyk Church will begin a series of eleven sermons through the Book of Daniel.  As Aaron and I prepare together, joined with a number of guest preachers as well, we have been excited and challenged by the timeliness of this book and the light it shines on the Gospel of God’s Grace for our own life and times.

As we start, this seemed like a good time to share with you three resources we will be preparing this series with.  These three books are a way we have three gifted pastors and scholars join us in our prayer, study and encounter with God in the text of Daniel – all in preparation for our gatherings on Sunday.  We’re glad to share these sources that have been part of our process.

How To Read Daniel by Tremper Longman III

Dr. Longman is Professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College specializing in Old Testament.  His 25 books have been translated into 17 languages.  He was one of the main translators of the New Living Translation and is a compelling writer – able to engage scholarly questions in a way that is understandable, thoughtful and applicable to the lives of everyday people.  If you would like a thoughtful, 200 page overview of Daniel, this book is both accessible and meaty.     CLICK HERE for Amazon

 

Daniel (Reformed Expository Commentary) by Iain M Duguid

Iain Duguid is a professor at Grove City College who has served as missionary in Liberia, a church planter and part of the translation team for the Holman Christian Standard Version of the Bible.  In his seminary classes, Dr. Duguid is eager to help students learn how to preach Christ from ancient Hebrew texts in ways that minister to the hearts of contemporary congregations.  This is a more traditional “passage-by-passage” commentary that enriches careful reading and study of Daniel itself, but is both accessible and worth any effort needed.  Where many cloud Daniel’s message with end-times speculation, Dr Duguid shines a bright light on Christ and His Gospel.  You will never see the Book of Daniel in the same way!     CLICK HERE for Amazon

 

Daniel and the Twelve Prophets for Everyone by John Goldingay

Professor of Old Testament at Fuller Seminary, John Goldingay is Old Testament editor of the “For Everyone” commentary series, of which NT Wright is New Testament editor.  This book – and the series – is intended to serve well for daily devotions, group or personal study and conversation with questions for reflection and 14 sections focused on Daniel.     CLICK HERE for Amazon

 

Through the course of this sermon series, I hope to post regularly with references, reflections and background material for our series in Daniel.  We will touch archaeology, end times and more.  This lets Aaron and I stay focused the text for the week in our sermons, while giving opportunity on the blog to provide more depth or background for issues that are secondary bot of importance as well.