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Nov 22, 2020

Walk On

Walk On

Passage: Daniel

Speaker: Patrick Lafferty

Series: Of Kings and Kingdoms - Daniel

Keywords: hope, judgment, suffering, obedience, perseverance

Daniel is given a message with eyes on both a nearer and more distant historical horizon. Jesus knows that message well, and sees it coming to pass in and through His own life. But ancient as those two historical data points are, the message has something for us all.

11.22.20 GMR Online Service from Grace Mills River on Vimeo.

Order of Worship

CALL TO WORSHIP: Colossians 3:15-17
NT READING: Luke 1:68-79
MESSAGE TITLE: Walk on
CENTRAL TEXT: Daniel 11-12 (in summary)
RESPONSE: Apostles Creed
BENEDICTION: Revelation 22:13,20-21

Readings & Scripture

CALL TO WORSHIP: Colossians 3:15-17
LEADER: 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

ALL: 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

NT READING: Luke 1:68-79
LEADER: 68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people 69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, 70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, 71 that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; 72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, 73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us 74 that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

CENTRAL TEXT: Daniel 11-12 (in summary)
Chapter 12
1 At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” 5 Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others stood, one on this bank of the stream and one on that bank of the stream. 6 And someone said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream, “How long shall it be till the end of these wonders?” 7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream; he raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished. 8 I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, “O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” 9 He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. 11 And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days. 12 Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days. 13 But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.”

RESPONSE: Apostles Creed
ALL: I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and buried.

He descended to the dead. The third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit. The holy Church. The communion of saints.
The forgiveness of sins. The resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

BENEDICTION: Revelation 22:13,20-21
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES:

  • Exodus 32:32-33
  • Isaiah 4:3
  • Jeremiah 23:1-6
  • Matthew 24:9-13, 15-16, 21-22
  • Matthew 25:31-46
  • Mark 13:14-19
  • Luke 1:68-79
  • Luke 23:33-34
  • John 5:28-29
  • John 6:39
  • John 14:2-3
  • John 16:33
  • Acts 24:14-15
  • 1 Corinthians 15:20-34
  • 1 Corinthians 15:35-58
  • Colossians 1:11-20
  • Hebrews 1:14
  • Revelation 20:13-14

ILLUSTRATIONS:

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. Why does history seem like it’s on nothing but a random trajectory? What reasons do you have to believe that trajectory is not random?
  2. If it’s true that the “lot”--the destiny--of those who trust God will face unimaginable struggle, how would that promise influence the way we think about any present struggle? How would it influence the way we think about an absence of acute struggle?
  3. What are you lamenting these days? That is, what is that complaint you make to God but which you do not let become a pretext for bitterness toward God? Would you be willing to share that with us--in written or spoken word? (Email )
  4. How would a belief in a final resurrection--if that belief reached more deeply into you--change the things you are worried about, or angry about, or even aspiring to today?
  5. What is faithfulness to God? What does it look like in simplest terms? What might faithfulness look like for you tomorrow?
  6. What ideas from Daniel have stuck with you? Why those? 

QUOTES:

 

  • It’s our lot in life. We were made to suffer. - C3P0
  • That loss determines my identity; not all of my identity, but much of it. It belongs within my story. I struggle indeed to go beyond merely owning my grief toward owning it redemptively. -Nicolas Wolterstorff
  • . . .history does not only move toward the end, it also moves along the end. History moves on the border of chaos like a track is winding along a cliff.  . . .At one particular time. . . history will turn over the edge. . .  -G.C. Berkouwer
  • Psalm 17: “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.
  • Job 26: And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,  
  • Isaiah 19: Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.    You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!  For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.
  • I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. John 11:12-13
  • So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44
  • Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
                “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
        55     “O death, where is your victory?
                O death, where is your sting?”  
    1 Corinthians 15:52-55
  • And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
  • You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been
    A place that has to be believed to be seen
    You could have flown away
    A singing bird in an open cage
    Who will only fly, only fly for freedom

    Walk on, walk on
    What you've got they can't deny it
    Can't sell it, or buy it
    Walk on, walk on
    Stay safe tonight. . . .
    And I know it aches
    And your heart it breaks
    And you can only take so much
    Walk on
    walk on
    “Walk on,” U2
  • Grant, Almighty God, since thou proposest to us no other end than that of constant warfare during our whole life, and [subject] us to many cares until we arrive at the goal of this temporary race-course: Grant, I pray thee, that we may never grow fatigued. May we ever be armed and equipped for battle, and whatever the trials by which thou dost prove us, may we never be found deficient. May we always aspire towards heaven with upright souls, and strive with all our endeavors to attain that blessed rest which is laid up for us in heaven, in Jesus Christ our Lord. — Amen. John Calvin

BOOKS / DOCS

SERMONS / TALKS: 

“Faithfulness in exile,” a sermon on the last chapters of Daniel by Tim Mackie of The Bible Project