DANIEL 9 - 70 Weeks of Mercy & Forgiveness | Pastor Daniel Gouveia

[Music] so [Music] [Music] you [Music] so [Music] so [Music] do [Music] do so so [Music] so [Music] so so [Music] so [Music] i know what you're all thinking who needs an orchestra when you have norma montes at the piano right praise the lord welcome back norma we're happy to have you here of course we would also like to have the orchestra and you but pastor octavian has invited the orchestra to go to bakersfield as you probably have in mind still very fresh in your memory our orchestra has prepared a wonderful wonderful spring uh concert and pastor octavian and elena well alina was here and pastor octavian watched it and he said that's so beautiful i want them to play it at my church so i invited them that is why the orchestra is not here today but we were blessed to have norma she sang at our savage school here at the sanctuary to get a sing for us to at our worship service on our worship service so welcome to church it is good to be in the house of the lord amen i want to thank you all for coming to church even in these times where you know some people still don't feel very comfortable to come and to interact with each other we can't hug we can't shake hands sometimes it happens by accident right but we are trying to keep social distance still we're all tired of this virus but we're doing our best to worship the lord i want to praise god that we can meet in person and today we have some prayer requests i pray that the lord may protect all our members who are traveling to and from bakersfield and that lord the lord may bless the program at bakersfield hillcrest church greatly we are also praying for some people who are requesting prayer or others who we know that are in need of prayer jeanette lewis i was able to talk to her this week as you know jeannette is the daughter of david lewis david many times comes to church i don't know if he's here today but he many times comes he is a chaplain at the va hospital and david and carla they have been going through a lot seeing their daughter struggling with cancer but this week i was able to talk to janette and she was more encouraged although she's still going through chemotherapy she had enthusiasm and strength in her voice and i praise the lord for that we were able to pray and she says i'm feeling very good pastor way better than i was even though i'm still going through chemotherapy um and she appreciates our prayers um the isa family we continue to pray for them we miss them we want to see them and hug them we can't hug anybody right now but the govea family please pray for my family we need your prayers the cervantes family we continue praying for sylvia cervantes especially what a fighter and we keep praying that the lord may give her strength and courage to keep fighting and we also pray for amy butler the canalian family deborah holland we thank god that he's here today with us but i know a little bit of the pain she has to go through so pray for her please also pray for linda matlock she is requesting our prayers let's pray for her she's going through a lot let's pray for her and sustain her alfred montez as you know he's been suffering a lot for many years as well with health health issues especially with his foot let's pray for him let us pray for ellen xl julie teske's mother she is really not in the good place right now in terms of her health um please pray for her and for julie and all the family i'm sure there's more prayer requests but i know that the lord will lead your hearts in my heart to pray and intercede one for another as you know there's a prayer line that was started by our prayer coordinator mary melton so some of you not a lot but some of you and a good group and some are very consistent have been praying on weekdays at seven a.m you have the number and the access code on our website if not just uh talk to mary melton or pam or daniella our communications department they'll be able to give you the information i cannot be there all the days of the week but on fridays since my son is not going to school in person on fridays i am there normally yesterday i offered the devotional we just read some bible texts and some quotes by ellen white for five minutes and then we spend about half an hour praying and it has been a blessing for me and it has been a blessing for people who are participating so if you are interested please join uh sabbats at um 8 00 am there's also our prayer ministry also is organizing an online meeting so let us pray i believe that the lord is calling us to revival to reformation and a revival of true godliness among us can only happen in answer to sincere earnest prayer amen so let us pray yes thank you all of those that can kneel for dealing with me our father in heaven blessed and hallowed be your name you are holy and we as sinful human beings have the audacity to approach your throne of grace through the blood of jesus christ in his name we come before you we know we have an advocate with the father who never committed any sin but offered his life as a sacrifice for our sins we thank you that in him we have amazing wonderful promises through these promises we are partakers of the divine nature in him you we have forgiveness for our many sins in him we have restoration reconciliation with you in him we have the promise of the holy spirit that writes your law of love in the tablets of our hearts in him we have eternal life and we come today to worship you together with those who are here in the sanctuary and with those who are joining us online and we pray even for those who are in other churches around the world whom we love and those whom one day we will love for we are told that there is a multitude that will be saved that no one can number saved by the blood of the lamb lord we want to be a part of those who will dress that white linen given by the righteousness of christ we want to be those who follow the lamb wherever he goes even here on earth so that we may follow him one day in heaven in the new earth and throughout the galaxies in the universe sharing with others the wonderful love of christ i pray that in his name you may bless fresno central seventh-day adventist church that you may pour out your holy spirit upon each member and those whom you wish to reach through us i pray that jesus christ may be glorified in our lives and in our congregation i pray lord that there where there is sickness by your grace you may bring healing according to your will and in your time people are sick some some people are sick but some people are going through heartache some people feel depressed some of our members are going to lost through loss they are suffering much in their heart in their emotions lord i pray that the holy spirit may give them the embrace of your presence you are the god of all mercy and consolation i pray that you may comfort us so that we may comfort others and father where there is sin i pray that you may bring us to true repentance and confession and that we may surrender entirely to jesus christ and love him because he first loved us and that we may live on this earth out of love for you and for fallen humanity in the name of jesus amen [Music] amen today we have a special treat for our kids i imagine the grown-ups will like that tree too we have pastor gail norton here with us today now you may know him as the new principal of faa and that is true he is the new principal at faa we want to thank god that not only pastor gail he is here today but also our mena is here today his wife and we are so happy with his ministry at faa but i never forget that he is an ordained pastor of the seventh-day adventist church and i am blessed to have yet another pastor i see pastor bohr here today um i have pastor jensen in our congregation um i know there's oh there is pastor gary jensen today i and debbie yes um and pastor boer and aurora and there's other pastors around that are close and i feel safe and happy pastor dale lehman visits us often in yolanda but yet another pastor a pastor with a little bit more hair than i have and some white hair so these are wonderful men of god that are a blessing to me so after his story he's going to tell the children's story so those who are home please invite your children to the screen to the computer and after the children's story norma montes will have a special song god bless you all i'll make a swap i'll give you some of my hair if i can have some of your height all right it's good to be here this morning happy sabbath to all of you just to let you know you have a wonderful school you have great teachers and outstanding students i want to thank you for your support your prayers your finances and above all your children keep them coming the doorbell rang i got it i said as i jumped up from my book and i ran to the door i opened it and there was my friend from third grade tommy holding two wooden guns gail can you go explore the ravine behind the school with me right now well let me see if i can mom mom can i go with tommy we want to go exploring can i please sure but be back for supper with that i ran out the front door slamming it behind me and down the road we went down we took right up the main road about a half mile up to the grade school as we arrived at the grade school we both noticed that off to the right in a field there were a group of junior high and high school kids playing football in the field and right in the middle of the field was this big mud puddle now obviously i'm not talking about fresno and so i said to tommy hey should we go watch the boys play football they're playing tackle um and so we said sure he said sure and we went across the road and stood there watching the boys play football my brother who's four years older than i was in the group playing and it looked like fun um and we were just about ready to leave when i heard one of the boys said hey little norton you want to play we need another player do you want to play me yeah you oh sure whatever what little grade school kid wouldn't want to play with the high school kids oh yeah so i handed my wooden gun to tommy and i ran out there on the field all right norton's little norton's in the back there and so the other team went across the mud puddle almost and and they kicked off and lo and behold the ball bounced to me the very first time i scooped it up and i started to run and the wedge formed in front of me and they were plowing through the other kids and then there was this monster oh he had to be all five ten okay and he broke through the line and rather than just tackling me he scooped me up and rather than just throwing me to the ground he tossed me ball and all into the mud puddle how humiliating and then when i came out spitting and sputtering they were all laughing at me oh the high school boys all the junior high boys including my brother i was mad i threw the ball down and i went stomping off towards tommy and he handed me the gun at the same time simultaneously came kenny on his 10-speed bicycle and he was laughing at me and i took that little wooden gun and i turned around and i just hauled it in the air now he was about as far as the gentleman in the red coat from me okay and i just threw it and slow motion and it went through his front spokes of his front tire and caught and it came around and slammed into the forks it pitched his bike straight up and he went flying whoa because we were all stunned and silent there was the groan oh kenny rolled over holding his arm i think i broke my arm and with that i was gone i was running running across the street running across behind the grade school down into the ravine i went with tommy wait gail wait gail i was waiting for no one there i stayed oh i don't want to go home but i knew mommy said i needed to be home by supper finally i knew by the setting the sun that supper was soon tommy i gotta go home i hope i see you again so i trudged home out of the ravine past the grade school down the road into the lane to the house i opened that door that i had not long ago slammed behind me and i walked in and there were my parents sitting on the couch with my brother standing behind them i looked at my brother and he kind of grinned what brothers do i looked at mom and dad they were not happy dad said come here gail and i came he said i understand that you threw a little wooden gun and it went through the front tires of kenny's bike causing him to fall and yes he broke his arm he had to go to the hospital and get pins in his arm he's now home under medications not feeling too good so here's what we have first we have to pay for that i'm not paying for it you are but dad dad i i don't i i have a way you see we have this big plot of ground out there called a garden and you will be shoveling it all up preparing it for the spring garden but that huh okay and now you will turn around go out the door up the road to kenny's house and apologize oh dad can i just call please nope so with that i turned around went out the door down the lane up the road you see kenny lived right by the field i turned past the field into kenny's house i rang the doorbell trembling the door opened and there was mrs kenny his mother she didn't look too happy i said can i see kenny you may he's in his bedroom and i remember walking through the living room into kenny's room and there he laid propped up with a cast going all the way up to his shoulder and i looked at him and he looked at me and i said oh kenny i'm so sorry and with that he said gail you were angry embarrassed shamed frustrated i'm sorry for laughing at you i got what i deserve to but ouch oh kenny and with that i cried and laid my head down on his chest and cried oh kenny he said it's okay gail i'll heal you're forgiven see at school with that i dashed home forgiven forgiven forgiven [Music] lord jesus every fall wash me and i shall be wash me wider than snow lord jesus thou seest i patiently wait to those now wash me and i shall be whiter than wider than snow yes wider than snow now wash me and i shall be [Music] wash me and i shall be wider than whiter than thank you thank you sister norma montes and thank you pastor gail praise the lord god is good wash me and i shall be whiter than snow i was not supposed to preach today but at last minute our speaker canceled so i'm going to continue with our study in the book of daniel and today we are going to look at daniel chapter 9. i've entitled my sermon today 70 weeks of mercy and forgiveness 70 weeks of mercy and forgiveness let us pray our father in heaven please lord may your holy spirit speak to our hearts through your word and may jesus be lifted up may our hearts be open to what the holy spirit wishes to communicate to us today and we may we go home closer to you and decided to do what you want us to do that's what i pray in the name of jesus amen so daniel chapter 9 is one of the most amazing chapters in the bible i believe it talks about forgiveness in a very powerful way when i read daniel chapter 9 i like to remember the words of ephesians chapter 4 verses 30 through 32 and hopefully throughout the message you will make that connection ephesians chapter 4 verses 30 through 32 do not grieve the holy spirit of god by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption let all bitterness wrath and anger clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice and be kind to one another tenderhearted forgiving one another even as god in christ forgave you is forgiveness important in the bible what do you say is forgiveness important in the story of salvation what do you say well it was important when gail went out of the room of his friend right he could feel that burden was lifted off his shoulders he was forgiven forgiveness is the heart of the gospel it is so that he could forgive us from our sins that god gave his son amen now daniel speaks about a judgment in heaven does it not daniel chapter 7 we see the books being open right the court being seated we see the thrones plural the thrones of god and his son being put in a special place and in daniel chapter this is daniel chapter 7 in daniel chapter 8 we are told about this great prophecy 2 300 evenings and mornings prophetic days and in prophecy one day equals one one year right that's what the bible teaches so we have this amazing prophecy of 2 300 years at the end of which the sanctuary would be purified and we do believe that these two visions are connected daniel was seeing the heavenly judgment taking place in daniel chapter 7. in daniel chapter 8 gabriel explains that that process would start after 2 300 evenings and mornings daniel chapter 9 gives us the start of that prophecy that would end with the start of the purification cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary we talked about that last week now this prophecy that we find now in daniel chapter 9 is related to that prophecy that great prophecy of 2 300 years but it is a shorter prophecy that was cut off from that big period of 2 300 evenings and mornings prophetic days and why do i think and believe that it is related to forgiveness why well let me start by telling you some well by reading with you something that is written in the book of genesis let's go to genesis chapter 4 verse 23 and 24. genesis chapter 4 verse 23 and 24. remember that that when we get to genesis chapter 4 as you start reading the bible genesis 1 have the creation story genesis 2 the creation story with some other details genesis 3 the fall of humanity genesis 4 you have two this two lines of descendants coming from adam and genesis 4 specifically focuses on the descendants of cain right genesis 5 we'll start with the descendants of seth but genesis chapter 4 tells us about the descendants of cain who slew his brother abel now one descendant became polygamous he had two wives he's the first man in the bible that is set to take two wives which is not the plan of god and he becomes violent okay now look how he expresses the immorality in violence because violence is immorality when we think about immorality we normally think about sexual immorality but everything that is immoral and it is against the law of god that is against the moral law of god is immorality violence is not morality is immorality look at this it says then lamech said to his wives ada and zilla hear my voice wives of lamech listen to my speech for i have killed a man for wounding me even a young man for hurting me if cain shall be avenged sevenfold then lamech 77-fold now this number is interesting jesus is going to use a similar expression to speak about the spirit that is in opposition to this spirit the spirit of lamech was a spirit of violence a spirit of retaliation a spirit of revenge that's what he had in his heart that is the spirit of satan that is never the spirit of god god does not have a spirit of revenge in his heart god does not have violence in his heart that abides in the heart of lucifer one day peter came to jesus and said lord so how many times can my brother sin against me and i have to forgive up to seven you know seven was already the jews back that day the rabbis would say you can forgive three times and then you know so when when is it good to retaliate lord right that's his question matthew chapter 18 verses 21 and 22 peter came to him and said lord how often shall my brother sin against me and i forgive him up to seven times what is he saying he's saying when am i allowed to do something to the person that is doing something to me up to seven times come on tell me i mean you're all forgiveness and love so seven times should be good for you right jesus said to him i do not say to you up to seven times but up to 70 times seven what does this mean but i believe that jesus was responding to the spirit of retaliation with the spirit of forgiveness and jesus would not say things by chance you know he thought let me say 70 times 7 so that will convince him that he has to forgive all the time no no jesus did not say things by chance this number 70 times 7 is found in daniel chapter nine let's go there daniel chapter nine daniel chapter nine the spirit of forgiveness is revealed in daniel chapter nine in an amazing prophecy that centers in the cross of christ in the death of jesus for the sins of humanity and also yes for the sins of his people the sins of the people of israel and the sins of those who today are the spiritual israel daniel chapter nine we start with verse one in the first year of darius the son of ahasuerus of the lineage of the meets who was made king over the realm of the chaldeans in the first year of his reign i daniel understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the lord through jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of jerusalem there you have the name 70 again the number 70. 70 years in the desolations of jerusalem then i set my face toward the lord god to make requests by prayer and supplications with fasting sackcloth and ashes wow why was daniel suffering so much why prayer and fasting we know that daniel was a man of prayer that's okay but why fasting why sackcloth sackoff back then was the way to express mourning like somebody would today sometimes they would dress all in black because they lost someone that they love why was he expressing such warning why is was he so distressed well if you read daniel chapter 8 you find that prophecy of the 2300 evenings and mornings and the sanctuary would be purified daniel knew in prophecy prophetic days equals a year god told the people of israel when the spies went for 40 days to spy out the land just read numbers chapter 14. they were unbelieving 10 of them right and the people followed the ones that were unbelievers so god said you will wander in the wilderness one day for each year that you spied the the the land so 40 years in the wilderness right and you have the the prophecy in ezekiel 2. but anyways one day for one year for each for each day so daniel was like god has promised that we would be in captivity for 70 years but how can he show me that the sanctuary will only be purified after 2 300 years could it be that we failed to repent could it be that we failed to pray could it be that we are still in our sins and god is going to prolong the years of captivity these things could be going through the the mind in the heart of daniel because look he he read in jeremiah chapter 25 for instance he was reading the prophecies of jeremiah you know if you want to have a connection with god a relationship with god it cannot only be today i woke up and i think god wants me to dress yellow and to go to that person and say this and this and this so i go no you wake up and you read the word of god so he can tell you what he really wants for your life not out of your mind or thoughts or feelings but out of the word amen so daniel studied prophecy he could not understand the visions that god was given him actually if you read daniel chapter 8 at the end verse 26 and 27 it's very clear that gabriel says the vision of the 2 300 evenings and more mornings is true but it is sealed but it's true and daniel could not understand you read daniel 8 27 he could not understand he probably even shared with others no one could understand that prophecy they couldn't understand but he read the prophecies of jeremiah he read what he could understand and he prayed over it and he did what god was telling him to do that he could clearly understand look at jeremiah 25 11 and 12 and this whole land that's a prophecy shall be a desolation in an astonishment and these nations shall serve the king of babylon 70 years they have the number 70 again then it will come to pass when 70 years are completed now that i will punish the king of babylon and that nation the land of the chaldeans for their iniquity says the lord and i will make it a perpetual desolation daniel knew that the seventy years were about to finish how could it be that god was saying 2 300 evenings and mornings 2 300 years for him the sanctuary was the sanctuary in jerusalem so how could it be now verse now jeremiah 29 verses 10 through 14 and here you have it here you have it these these promises that we like to quote so much put yourself in the shoes of daniel and read them in the time of daniel as if you were daniel and see how these prophecies were so meaningful for daniel for thus says the lord this is jeremiah 29 verse 10 through 14 for thus says the lord after seventy years are completed at babylon i will visit you and perform my good word toward you and cause you to return to this place for i know the thoughts that i think toward you says the lord god was saying the people of israel will be taken into captivity to babylon they will stay there for 70 years but then i will bring you back look at this verse 12 then you will call upon me and go and pray to me and i will listen to you verse 13 and you will seek me and find me when you search for me with what with all your heart i will be found for by you says the lord and i will bring you back from your captivity i will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where i have driven you says the lord and i will bring you to the place from which i caused you to be carried away captive why was daniel praying so hard why was daniel fasting why was daniel in mourning why was he wearing sackcloth he was responding get this underline this in your mind he was responding to the call of god through his prophet to revival through prayer believe me you will see this coming again okay he respond daniel responded to the call that the prophet of god wrote jeremiah the call to revival the call to repentance the call to prayer the call to seek god with all their hearts that's what they should be doing in the land of captivity are we doing that today as we see babylon rising as we see the end times coming are we praying you know i like a quote by ellen white that you can find in reviewing harold march 24 1891 the glory of the church of god is in the piety of its members you want a strong church we need members with strong piety for there it for there is the hiding of christ's power the influence of the sincere children of god maybe este esteemed as of little worth you know jesus was also not esteemed but it will be felt throughout time and rightly revealed in the day of reward those who sincerely seek god and pray and humble themselves and repent of their sins and live a life according to what they believe to be everything that comes out of the word of the mouth of god those are the power of the church they may be not maybe they are not seen maybe they are not esteemed but those are the power and the glory of the church you want to see the work of god moving forward pray like never before daniel did what he could he did not know if others were praying but he he prayed he humbled himself and he started praying a prayer that had three elements we normally say that there are four elements to prayer right what are those elements we can worship god right adoration we worship him we tell him how wonderful he is holy holy holy that's what the angels sing we can do that we can tell him how merciful and kind and wonderful he is we are worshiping him confession right we confess our sins to god we recognize to god that we have done this and this is not good we have this in this tendency that is not good we wrestle with god in prayer so that he can change our hearts and our characters so there is also supplication or requests we ask for many things when we pray right most people when they pray this is the longest part of their prayers they ask and ask and ask and ask and then there's a fourth element which is thanksgiving you thank god for specific blessings that he is pouring out upon you we know that daniel used to say thanksgiving in his prayers right daniel chapter 6 verse 10 he did not only ask things of god but he would offer thanksgiving but in this prayer he is sad he is not thanking god for anything he does worship god he does present requests and supplication at the end but the main portion of his prayer the the main thing that he's saying to god is that the people has sinned it is a prayer of confession now the main thing of this prayer when you read it's very clear is that daniel a man that god himself in the prophet ezekiel you can read those words that god himself uses an as an example of integrity this man daniel starts praying and instead of saying god forgive this wicked people they're so miserable they're always doing wrong he starts saying we have sinned right look at daniel chapter 9 verse 4 now and i prayed to the lord my god and made confession and said o lord great and awesome god who keeps his covenant and mercy with those who love him and with those who keep his commandments or he's worshipping god he's talking about the covenant of god that today we today know it as the faith of jesus right and the commandments of god we have sinned and committed iniquity we have done wickedly and rebelled even by the parting from your precepts and your judgments neither have we heeded your servants the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings and our princes to our fathers and to all the people of the land oh lord righteousness belongs to you but to us shame of face at it as it is this day to the man of judah to the inhabitants of jerusalem and all israel those near and those far off and all the countries to which you have driven them because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against you oh lord to us belongs shame of faith to our kings our princes and our fathers because we have sinned against you to the lord our god belong what mercy and what forgiveness though who who has rebelled against him we have rebelled against him now let me tell you a little bit not everything let me tell you a little bit you know this okay let me just refresh your memory a little bit of what israel had done after god delivered them from egypt after god gave them the promised land after god made wonderful miracles not only opening the red sea they would see the visible presence of god in the cloud during the day and in the pillar of fire during the night they would see amazing they saw amazing things from the hands of god and they started worshiping worshipping other gods they started worshiping idols like god said don't do that he were they were doing that they started lying it's one of the greatest things you can find when the prophets were talking to israel they were lying to one another they started committing adultery it was very clear that god did not want that because the seventh commandment of his moral law says thou shalt not commit adultery they start committing adultery but more than that they started having these pagan temples where male and female prostitutes were there and people would go to get would go there to worship those gods by having sexual relationships with those male and female prostitutes but not only that they started burning their children in the fire to those deities how is daniel praying when he intercedes for the people of israel is he saying forgive those miserable people that did things that are so wrong no no no no he's identifying himself although he never did any any of that daniel never did any of that yes he was a sinful man like you and me but he never did what they did but as he was praying he was identifying himself with the people and this spirit of humility and confession pleases god oh yes let me let's read a little bit more not not i'm not going to read the whole prayer i invite you to read the whole prayer but look how he was being gumble look at verse 13. as it is written in the law of moses all this disaster has come upon us yet we have not made our prayer before the lord our god he was praying he was a man of prayer he had already seen god answering his prayers amazingly but he would not even use his prayers that were so great and awesome to us today we see them like that he did not see them like that he would not even use his life of prayer on anything good that he was doing to boast in the presence of god we have not made our prayer before the lord our god that we might turn from our iniquities and understand your truth look at verse 17. now therefore and he continues confessing and saying we we verse 17 now therefore our god hear the prayer of your servant and his supplications and for the lord's sake cause your face to shine on your sanctuary which is desolate oh my god incline your ear and here open your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by your name for we do not present our supplications before you because of our righteous deeds but because of your great mercies oh lord hear oh lord forgive oh lord listen and act do not delay for your own sake my god for your city and your people are called by your name now as daniel prays as he confesses his sin as he humbles himself in the presence of god as he comes closer to god one main concern is in the mind and heart of daniel it's not even him or his people is the glory of god your city your people are called by your name if you do not act your name is at stake when you pray what is your main concern oh god help me in the education of my children that's a great concern by the way i pray for that every day for my child i don't have children i have a child although i have some spiritual children let us put it that way i pray oh lord bless fresno central seventh-day adventist church i would be lying if i would say that i don't want this church to be the best church in town i do although i sometimes god impresses me and i start praying for other pastors in other churches too they're they're not less important than i am right and those churches are not less important than our church right we pray so much because we want things to go well in our lives and we should and god wants to bless us but our main concern should be the glory of god right if we are in love with him if we want to worship him if we want to love him with all our hearts we should be worried about his glory it's not about us it's about you lord now while i was speaking verse 20 praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people israel and presenting my supplication before the lord my god for the holy mountain of my god yes while i was speaking in prayer the man gabriel angel gabriel whom i had seen in the vision at the beginning being caused to fly swiftly reach me about the time of the evening offering oh this is an important detail verse 22 and he informed me and talked with me and said oh daniel i have now come to give you skill to understand do you think god wants us to understand the prophecies of the bible yes or no yes yes you should read and study daniel in revelation i have come to give you skill to understand at the beginning of your supplications the command went out huh at the beginning when he started the prayer the command went out and i have come to tell you for you are greatly beloved therefore consider the matter and understand the vision this prophet reading the words of prophet jeremiah listens to the call of god to prayer he starts praying he wants to understand the prophecies of the bible he confesses his sins he humbles himself in the presence of god he identifies with the people and he hears a message from heaven an angel comes in response to his prayer touches him at the hour of the evening offering the hour when a lamb should be sacrificed the temple wasn't ruined the temple should be sacrificed in jerusalem when when a lamb was pointing to the lamb of god that takes away the sin of the world that hour pointing to the cross at that hour this angel comes with a message of love and forgiveness and mercy you are greatly beloved you are greatly beloved understand the vision i want you to understand when we pray god answers our prayers he sends angels to answer our prayers amen but the way he answers is for his glory and for the glory of jesus christ and him crucified verse 24 70 weeks oh you have the number 70 again now how many days are in a week seven right so 70 times what 70 times seven you have the same number that jesus talked to peter about right i don't say you should forgive seven times but seventy times 7 right 70 weeks are determined this word in the hebrew is shatak the primitive root means cut off they're cut off from something right 70 weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city to finish the transgression to make an end of sins to make reconciliation for iniquity to bring in everlasting righteousness to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy hmm now it's very interesting it says 70 weeks our cutoff are determined for your people in your holy city daniel was worried he thought that god was mad at the people and they would still have to be in babylon for 200 2 300 years but that was not the case the vision that god had revealed to him about the purification of the sanctuary as we saw last week was about the purification of the heavenly sanctuary the earthly sanctuary was just a shadow of that great heavenly sanctuary right so god is saying if those 2 300 years there's 490 years 70 times 7 490 right 70 weeks of years in prophecy one day equals one year 70 weeks of years are specifically for your city and your people of course something this prophecy had to do with something an event that would be meaningful to all humanity that's why you read to bring in everlasting righteousness to seal up vision and prophecy to anoint the most holy so of course it had to do with more just than the people of israel but the people of israel as the people of the covenant as the people of god as the people through whom the messiah should come we studied that this morning right the covenant that god made with abraham through him all the families of the earth would be blessed the people through whom the messiah would come that people was given a prophecy of mercy and forgiveness after they had worshipped other gods after they had gone into captivity for living lives that were completely against god god would bring them from captivity and god would still give them 490 years of mercy so that they would finally accept to follow god's will and embrace god's messiah verse 25 know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build jerusalem until messiah the prince there shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks the street shall be built again and the wall even in troublesome times now how much is seven times seven 49 right 49 years is about the time that the city of jerusalem took to be rebuilt seven weeks and 62 weeks in total 69 weeks the first 69 weeks okay and what would happen after seven weeks and 62 weeks the messiah the prince what does messiah mean in hebrew what does it mean christos in greek the anointed one right when was jesus anointed at his baptism right look at look come come with me to matthew chapter 3 okay matthew chapter 3. now of course when we talk about the decree and just you've heard this many times most of you there's somebody here today that is listening to this for the first time there were three decrees in the book of ezra you read about three decrees one by cyrus when he allowed the people of israel to go back to jerusalem and rebuilt the temple that prophecy that edict that decree had to do especially with the temple and having the sacrifices going again in the temple cyrus had a decree king darius had another decree you read ezra chapter six there's a decree that king darius gives reinforcing the decree of cyrus because the jews were facing opposition in the rebuilding of jerusalem and then there's a decree by king artaxerxes and that decree in chapter 7 actually allows ezra to go back to jerusalem to go to jerusalem and to institute judges magistrates that would teach the laws of the jews the laws of god the laws of the bible of the old testament of course the laws that they should follow in the nation making jerusalem as the administrative center of the nation again so that decree was given in the fall of 457 bc now if you make the math the first 69 weeks 69 times 7 is 483 the first 483 years of the 490 over 70 weeks the first 69 weeks will end exactly in year 27 a d in our calendar which is fall of the year which is the year of the baptism of jesus right but look how it happened look at matthew 3 what do we have in matthew 3 what is happening in matthew 3 there was a prophet calling the people to what repentance revival confession right somebody hears the call then jesus verse 13 matthew 3 13 jesus came from galilee to john at the jordan to be what baptized by him now you read that people were baptized confessing their sins did jesus had any sin to confess no so look at what happened john tries to prevent him saying i need to be baptized by you and you are coming to me but jesus answered and said to him permit it to be so for now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness was jesus identifying himself with the sinners that should be baptized was he giving us an example was he answering a call to repentance in prayer and a call to coming to come back to god was he responding to that call that was given through a prophet of god oh yes he was right so when he had been baptized jesus came up immediately from the water and behold the heavens were opened to him and he saw the spirit of god descending like a dove in a line upon him and suddenly a voice came from heaven saying what did what did the voice say this is my beloved son in whom i am what well please for this the father loves me for i give my life to take it back again daniel identifies himself with his sinful people that has done things that he never did that prayer pleased god and he reveals a prophecy that will tell him exactly in humanity in us today the date of the baptism of christ the date of the death of christ and the date where the gospel would be preached to other nations it's pretty impressive and the baptism of the son of god is a moment where when christ not a sinful being like daniel but christ is identifying with the people that he came to save is identifying with sinful humanity he's hearing the call of john the baptist and he's being baptized and now comes a voice this is my beloved son daniel heard daniel you are greatly beloved but jesus heard something else this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased are you in christ today are you a true christian have you confessed your sins to him are you praying with all your heart is jesus your savior you can hear the words today this is my beloved son this is my beloved daughter in whom i am well pleased amen in him we can be accepted by god amen well the prophecy continues and says verse 26 after the 62 weeks now remember we follow the prophecy there were seven weeks then 62 weeks 69 in total so in the last week after the 62 weeks in the last week of the 70 weeks messiah shall be cut off the death of the messiah was prophesied but not for himself and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy this city and the sanctuary the end of it shall be with a flood it until the end of the war desolations are determined and he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week which week the last week of the 70 weeks last week during that one week he was confirming confirming the covenant with many with many yes even after his death for three years and a half after his death the gospel was being preached where before the stoning of stephen where was the gospel being preached right there in jerusalem to that people he will confirm a covenant with many for one week but in the middle of the week in the middle he shall sacrifice an end he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering how much is half of seven three and a half years jesus was baptized in the fall of 27 a.d the spring during the passover of 31 a.d he dies for our sins on the cross right exactly like the prophecy predicted why does it say in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering because when jesus died the true lamb of god what happened in the temple the veil of the temple separating the holy from the most holy place was torn in two god indicating that animal sacrifices were no longer necessary they all were pointing to sacrifice that now had been done by his son on the cross god offered the sacrifice for us god gave his son jesus shed his blood so we can have life so he can have forgiveness jesus died crying out father for give them for they know not what they do and what happens three and a half years later now this is very interesting because the the apostles a few days after jesus died well jesus was in the world for 40 days appearing to the apostles confirmed their faith they saw the resurrected christ ate with him at least twice they ate with him and they saw him they touched him they were excited they prayed for 10 days 50 days after the death of christ the holy spirit was poured out right and the church started preaching the apostles started preaching they had the gift of tongues where were they preaching jerusalem yes there were representatives of people jews that were living in other nations but it was especially especially those three and a half years especially in jerusalem for the jewish people and how does peter preach how does peter preach look at acts chapter 2. let's go to acts chapter two yeah i'll actually ask actually the last few passages that i want to read today are in the books of act are in the book of acts acts chapter 2 look how peter preaches filled with the holy spirit peter is preaching and in verse you can read acts chapter 2 in its entirety but when he comes to verse 36 he says this therefore let all the house of israel know assuredly that god has made this jesus whom you crucified both lord and christ god gives his son to die for our sins and who are the first people that he wants to hear the gospel the ones that killed his son do you know that in acts chapter 6 we read in verse 7 then the word of god spread and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in jerusalem and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith whoa yes the main leadership of the jews the main leaders rejected him we know that but many of the priests even many of the priests were accepting to repent for their sins against god and against god's messiah god's own son isn't this powerful then you come to acts chapter seven three and a half years later of the death of christ and resurrection of christ and you have stephen preaching this great last message of repentance to the people of israel to the leadership of the people of israel and he is preaching with all his heart and all of a sudden he feels that they are not accepting the message he gives them a strong rebuke and look we read acts chapter 7 verse 54 when they heard these things they were cut to the heart and they gnashed at him with their teeth but he being fooled of the holy spirit gazed into heaven and saw the glory of god and jesus standing at the right hand of god stephen has a vision of the heavenly sanctuary that had been anointed that had been inaugurated as jesus started to intercede for our sins he sees the glory of god jesus standing at the right hand of god and said look i see the heavens opened and the son of man standing at the right hand of god then they cried out with a loud voice stooped their ears and ran at him with one accord and they cast him out of the city and stoned him and the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named saul and they stoned stephen as he was calling on god and saying lord jesus receive my spirit then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice lord do not charge them with this sin and when he had said this he fell asleep stephen died proclaiming the same message that jesus proclaimed from the cross father forgive them they know not what they do don't take this sin of killing me into account the heart of forgiveness the heart of mercy god has that heart even for those who killed his son god wanted them to repent and for three and a half years god preaches the gospel you killed my son but i love you i want you to repent for three and a half years and they kill stephen as he is still sharing that heart of forgiveness and they start persecuting the church just read acts chapter 8 and the church starts to be persecuted so they have to run away and they take the gospel to the nations and christians today from every nations are the true spiritual israel of god how can you forgive someone who kills the person you love the most in the whole world you can ask that question to mary johnson from minneapolis 1993 february the 12th she gets the phone call at work the phone call that no mother wants to receive are you sure that your son is home i don't know we believe that his body is at the morgue please make sure if your son is home because this might be him she calls her sister her sister calls the police her sister calls her back honey should be true because the police is coming to talk to you she collapses a few days later she finds out that the police has taken into custody the 16 year old that shot her son at a party this young man 16 years of age hoshea israel that's his name he shot the son of mary johnson and as mary found out that he had been arrested she says that her heart was filled with hatred toward this young man she thought he's an animal he deserves to be in a cage forever she goes through a process in the court facing him seeing him from first degree murder he they lower it down to second-degree murder he's sentenced to 25 years of prison because mary johnson is a christian woman in her statement she says that she had forgiven him but she also wrote and i read her words that she said she had forgiven him now that's the problem in the church we say oh i've forgiven you i want you far away from me but i've forgiven you right now i'm not saying that when people do something really bad to you reconciliation and becoming best buddies is always possible sometimes it's not possible right because sometimes only one repents or sometimes there's things involved in a broken world then you can't become best buddies again but she recognized i said that i had forgiven him but my heart was filled with anger and for 12 years she carried that burden how would you not how would you not carry a burden of hatred towards the person that kills your son but one day she was reading a poem and she got she became convicted that god wanted her to start a ministry to help mothers who had lost their children and mothers who had children who killed other other people now she says how can i do this if i never faced and i have never really forgiven hoshea so she asked for permission to visit him in prison and first of all osha did not want he had a terrible time in prison he was a 16 year old with men that were way older than he was like her he was bitter they were both bitter for 12 years but she insisted he didn't want to see her she insisted and insisted and insisted to the point that he said yes and the day they saw each other for the first time today they call each other all the time the day they saw each other for the first time after 12 years she told him we don't know each other i think we need to talk and to get to know each other so we can lay a foundation and at the end the conversation went so well that at the end jose asked this hardened criminal that had killed someone he asked can i give you a hug and mary accepted hugged him actually she almost collapsed while she was hugging the killer of her son he had to hold her and she writes that when he left she felt something coming from her feet throughout her body and exiting her something that never came back again she had forgiven him truly christ says we need to forgive people from the heart are you really willing to forgive you may say but what they've done to me you don't know pastor is too much is it more than what your sins did to jesus christ on the cross god forgives you for what you have done to his son are you willing to forgive others now you may say oh pastor but they they never repented that's not your problem if you carry that weight of anger and resentment in your heart that is crushing you not them and if you have done something to crush others you need as a follower of christ to go and make reconciliation with your brother make peace with your brother and sister before coming in and presenting your offering amen do not grieve the holy spirit of god by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption let all bitterness wrath anger clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice and be kind to another tenderhearted forgiving one another even as god in christ forgave you are you hearing god speaking to your heart today is the holy spirit impressing upon you today a name of someone that has hurt you deeply and against whom you have strong feelings still or against whom you don't have even strong feelings because you despise that person and you don't even want to think about him or her have you forgiven truly in your heart have you asked god to give you that love of christ that says father forgive them for they don't know what they do even when they are piercing your hands and your heart have you heard the voice of the holy spirit today telling you that you have done something to hurt someone and you need to ask that person to forgive you if that is the case why are you waiting why wait for a longer period of time if that person is alive you go talk to that person today amen let us pray our forgiving and merciful father the bible says you delight in mercy you delight in forgiveness we cannot understand it lord because forgiveness hurts but it hurts much more not to forgive i've been a pastor in this church for long enough to know that there are some people some groups even of people who have some resentment or who have some unresolved issues i pray that through the name of jesus christ you may bring healing and forgiveness yes help us to be wise in all human relationships help us to put you first but yes lord help us also to do exactly what you tell us to do and to forgive from the heart those who have hurt us because jesus died to forgive us for our sins thank you for hearing our prayer thank you for blessing us lord if there is anything in me or in us that has hurt others and we need to seek forgiveness help us to do that because we want our prayers to be heard we want to have a clear conscience that we are truly true followers of the lamb and we want to be revived and prepared for the soon coming of jesus we pray in his name amen [Music] you

Channel: Fresno Central Seventh-day Adventist Church

Views: 322

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: LZyfgXTlpPo

Length: 98min 30sec (5910 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 11 2021