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Series B – Third Wednesday of Advent – Wednesday, December 17, 2014 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:27	Our first reading this evening is from the Prophet Daniel chapter 6 verses 1
0:33	through 27 and it reads it pleased Darius to set over the
0:39	kingdom 120 say traps to be throughout the whole Kingdom and over them three
0:44	High officials to whom Daniel was one to whom these satraps should give an account so that the king might suffer no
0:52	loss then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and say traps because an
0:58	excellent Spirit was in him and the King planned to set him over the whole Kingdom then the high officials in the
1:05	say traps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom but they could find no
1:11	ground for complaint or any fault because he was faithful and no error or
1:16	foul or fault was found in him then these men said we shall not find any
1:22	ground for complaint against Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God
1:27	then these high officials and say traps came by agreement to the king and said to him O King Darius live forever all
1:36	the high officials of the kingdom and prefects and say traps and counselors and governors are agreed that the king
1:41	should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction that whoever makes petition to any God or man for 30 days
1:49	except To You O King shall be cast into the Den of Lions now O King established
1:55	the injunction and signed the document so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the medes and the Persians
2:01	which cannot be revoked therefore King Darius signed the document and an
2:06	injunction when Daniel knew that the document had been signed he went to his house where
2:13	he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem he got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and
2:20	gave thanks before his God as he had done previously then these men came by
2:25	agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God then
2:30	they came near and said before the king concerning the injunction O King did you not sign an injunction that anyone who
2:37	makes petition to any God or man within 30 days except To You O King shall be
2:43	cast into the Den of Lions the king answered and said the thing stands fast according to the law of the medes and
2:50	the Persians which cannot be revoked then they answered and said before the
2:55	King Daniel who is one of the Exiles from Judah pays no attention to you O King or the injunction that you have
3:01	signed but makes his petition three times a day then the King when he heard these words
3:06	was much distress and his mind was to deliver Daniel and he labored
3:12	till son the son went down to rescue him then these men came by an agreement of the king and said to the king no O King
3:19	that it is a law of the medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed
3:27	then the king commanded and Daniel was brought and cast into the Den of Lions
3:32	the king declared to Daniel may your God whom you serve continually deliver you
3:37	and a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den and the King sealed it with his own Signet and with the Signet
3:43	of his Lords that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel then the king went to his Palace and spent the night
3:49	fasting no diversions were brought to him and sleep fled from him then at Daybreak the king arose and went
3:57	in haste to The Den of Lions and he came near to the den where Daniel was he cried out in a tone of Anguish the king
4:04	declared to Daniel o Daniel servant of the Living God has your God whom you serve continually been able to deliver
4:10	you from the Lions then Daniel said to the king O King live forever my God sent his Angel and shut
4:18	the Lion’s mouths and they have not harmed me because I was found blameless before him and also before you O King I
4:26	have done no harm then the King was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den So
4:33	Daniel was taken up out of the den and no kind of harm was found on him because he had trusted in his God
4:39	and the King commanded and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the Den of Lions
4:45	they their children their wives and before they reached the bottom of the den the Lions overpowered them and broke
4:50	all their bones in pieces then King Darius wrote to all the peoples Nations and languages that dwell
4:57	in all of the Earth by the way this was written to you
5:02	peace be multiplied to you I make a decree that in all my Royal Dominion people are to tremble and fear before
5:09	the god of Daniel for he is the Living God enduring forever his kingdom shall
5:15	never be destroyed and his Dominion shall be to the end he delivers and rescues he works signs and wonders in
5:22	Heaven and Earth he who has saved Daniel from the power of the Lions
5:28	this is our first reading our second reading is from Acts chapter 8 verses
5:33	26-35 and it reads now an angel of the Lord said to Philip rise and go toward the South to the road
5:41	that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza this is a desert place and he rose and he went and there was an Ethiopian a
5:48	eunuch a court official of Candace Queen of the Ethiopians who was in charge of all of her treasure he had come to
5:55	Jerusalem to worship and was returning seated in his Chariot and he was reading the prophet Isaiah and the spirit said
6:01	to Philip go over and join this Chariot so Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked do
6:09	you understand what you were reading and he said well how can I unless someone guides me and he invited Philip to come
6:16	up and sit with him now the passage of scripture that he was reading was this like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
6:22	and like a lamb before its shearers is silent so he opens not his mouth in his
6:28	humiliation Justice was denied him who can describe his generation for his life
6:33	was taken from the earth and the eunuch said to Philip about whom I ask you does the prophet say this about himself or
6:40	about someone else then Philip opened his mouth and beginning with this scripture he told him the good news
6:46	about Jesus in the name of Jesus
6:52	so like I mentioned today is the third Wednesday in Advent and it also happens to be December 17th which is the day
6:59	that the church historically has remembered the Old Testament Prophet Daniel now it is because of the church’s
7:05	historic tradition that I chose to preach on Daniel 6 and the all too familiar kind of Sunday school story of
7:12	Daniel and the lions den but in keeping with the sermons that I have been delivering during this mid-week at
7:17	during our midweek Advent Services I will be showing you how to find Jesus in this story and as you were about to find
7:24	out Jesus is hiding in the story in plain sight but before we look at our
7:30	text from Daniel let’s first revisit our text from the book of Acts and pay close attention to what Philip does with the
7:35	question that’s posed to him by the Ethiopian eunuch now here’s our text again now an angel of the Lord said to
7:42	Philip rise go toward the South to the road that goes toward down toward Jerusalem to Gaza this is a desert place
7:48	and he rose and he went and there was an Ethiopian a eunuch a court official of Candace Queen of the Ethiopians who was
7:55	in charge of all of her treasure now quick note you think circumcision is rough
8:02	yeah working for a royal official who happens to be a female in these days if you were a man involves something a lot
8:10	more than circumcision now this is kind of important in this sense because the Mosaic Covenant in Deuteronomy chapter
8:16	23 verse 1 makes it very clear the people who are eunuchs cannot be part of
8:21	the Lord’s assembly they have to stay outside in the court of the Gentiles they cannot be brought in to full
8:28	membership in Israel here’s what it says no one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter
8:35	the Assembly of the Lord so the fact that God literally sends
8:41	Philip to go and preach the gospel to this man is a huge deal one that cannot
8:48	be underestimated or overestimated as to its importance it’s ginormous because
8:53	basically this is a man who cannot by the Mosaic Covenant have full rights you
9:00	know worship rights within Israel and God himself sends Philip to go and
9:05	preach the gospel to him showing that those who have been on the outside by the law are now being brought in through
9:12	the Forgiveness of sins one by Christ on the cross so this Ethiopian eunuch he had come to Jerusalem to worship and was
9:19	returning seated in his Chariot and he was reading the prophet Isaiah and the spirits the holy spirit said to Philip
9:25	go over and join his Chariot so Philip ran to him heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked how do you understand
9:31	what you are reading or do you understand what you’re reading he said well how can I unless someone guides me
9:37	it’s kind of an important thing the faith is passed on from people who know sound Doctrine to those they teach sound
9:44	Doctrine and those men rise up and God makes them teachers to teach sound Doctrine the faith once delivered to the
9:49	Saints so talking about the importance of hearing God’s word rightly taught and
9:54	it’s rather fascinating here if you understand uh Orthodox Judaism of today this is not a
10:01	text that they like this size this passage from Isaiah they don’t like it at all in fact they’ve re-
10:09	kind of cast it so that the suffering servant there in Isaiah 53 is not the
10:15	Messiah instead it’s the people of Israel themselves or the Jews because of the suffering that they have experienced
10:20	via the Holocaust and things like that so they’ve retooled it in order to get Jesus out of it
10:26	so how can I how can I understand unless someone guides me so he invited Philip to come up and sit with him now the
10:32	passage of scripture he was reading was this like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before it
10:37	cheers the silence so he opens not his mouth and his humiliation Justice was denied him who can describe his
10:43	generation for his life is taken from the Earth so the eunuch asks about whom I ask does
10:51	this Prophet say this about himself or someone else then Philip opened his
10:56	mouth and beginning with this scripture he told him the good news about Jesus
11:02	now what we’ve been doing midweek here in Advent is I’ve been walking you through and believe me when I tell you
11:07	tip of the iceberg you can’t do this in four weeks you can’t hit it all but we’ve been looking at all of these
11:14	passages in the Old Testament in preparation for the arrival of the Messiah during the season of Advent that
11:20	look at Christ and in all of these Old Testament passages and this is a
11:25	startling passage it actually begins in Isaiah 52 verse 13 and then continues
11:31	for 12 verses in Isaiah let me give you some highlights here’s what it says Isaiah 52 13 behold my servant shall act
11:38	wisely he shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted as many were astonished at you his appearance was so
11:45	marred beyond human semblance in his form beyond that of the children of mankind so shall he sprinkle many
11:51	nations Kings shall shut their mouths because of him for that which has not been told them they see and that which
11:58	they have not heard they understand who has believed what he heard from us hooked into whom has the arm of the Lord
12:04	been revealed for he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground he had no form or Majesty
12:10	that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him he was despised and rejected by Men A
12:17	Man of Sorrows acquainted with grief as one from whom Med hid their faces he was despised and we esteemed him not surely
12:24	he has borne our griefs carried our sorrows yet we esteemed him stricken Smitten by God and Afflicted but he was
12:31	pierced for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities and upon him was the chastisement that brought us
12:38	peace and with his wounds we are healed all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and
12:45	the lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all this passage is so clearly talking about Christ’s crucifixion and
12:51	what it accomplished and why Jesus was suffering that many people oftentimes refer to this passage as The Fifth
12:58	Gospel that’s how clear this is and so you get the idea here when we look into the Old Testament we’re looking for
13:04	Jesus he’s all over the place so with this knowledge with this knowledge now
13:09	let’s look back at Daniel chapter 6 and and what I’m going to do if you kind of think of it this way you know those of
13:16	you who have little girls who have long hair and you braid their hair you know I’m going to braid this story with a few
13:22	gospel texts and you’ll begin to see what’s going on here and it’s kind of actually really amazing so we’ll begin
13:30	Daniel chapter 6 verse one it pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 126 traps
13:36	to be throughout the whole Kingdom and over them three High officials of whom Daniel was one to whom these satrap
13:42	should give an account so the king might suffer no loss nothing like bureaucracy
13:47	ah you just gotta praise God for it right Kingdom of the left necessary because of the Fall so then this Daniel
13:54	became distinguished above all the other high officials and say traps because an excellent Spirit was in him and the King
14:00	planned to set him over the whole Kingdom then the high officials and the say traps sought to find a ground for a
14:06	complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom but they could find no ground for a complaint or any fault
14:11	because he was faithful and no error fault was found in him now it’s kind of odd to have a human being like all of us
14:19	he was a sinner like all of us being described in so blameless ways you know
14:25	what I’m saying but see that’s kind of the point because if you’ve ever if
14:31	you’ve ever been exposed to that teaching you know those those teaching series you need to dare to be a Daniel
14:37	yeah I’ve got a problem with this error errorless and faultless thing you know you know I’m full of faults and and as
14:43	the older I get my brain doesn’t work the same way you know it if if anything
14:48	you know if I were Daniel my opponents would be able to get me out of office just for pure inability to think
14:56	straight at times but here he’s being described as having no error and no
15:01	fault kind of an interesting way to talk about a sinful human being so then these men said we shall not find any ground for
15:08	complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of
15:13	his God now let me flip channels real quick here so if I had if we were at the television being a man I like to have
15:19	the remote let me flip the Channel watch this then those who had seized Jesus led him
15:25	to Caiaphas the high priest were the scribes and the elders had gathered and Peter was following him at a distance as
15:31	far as the courtyard of the high priest and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end now the chief priest and
15:38	the whole Council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death but they found none
15:44	though many false Witnesses came forward let me hit the button again we’re back
15:49	to Daniel back to the Daniel Channel so these high officials and say traps came by agreement to the king and said
15:56	to him oh King Darius may you live forever all the high officials of the Kingdom the prefects of the satraps and
16:01	the councilors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction that
16:06	whoever makes petition to any God or man for 30 days except To You O King shall
16:12	be cast into the Den of Lions certain death indeed right now O King
16:17	established the injunction signed the document so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the medes and
16:22	the Persians which cannot be revoked therefore King Darius signed the document in the injunction notice here
16:28	who’s in the driver’s seat is it the king demanding okay it’s this plot these people who
16:37	can’t stand this Daniel guy right the Spotless errorless who has a good spirit
16:43	and yeah I gotta get rid of this guy so how does Daniel respond
16:50	when Daniel knew the document had been signed he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber opened
16:55	toward Jerusalem he got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he had
17:02	done previously quick aside throughout Old Testament and Christian history and
17:09	New Testament history the time for believers to pray is not
17:14	morning devotions or in the evening it’s three times a day remember when the Holy Spirit fell at
17:20	Pentecost what were the disciples doing they were praying what time was it nine in the morning
17:27	what time is he praying doesn’t say does it it just says he
17:32	prays three times a day he prays at nine in the morning he prays at noon and he prays at three in the afternoon
17:39	those who historically have been the three times we pray now if you were to look at your Sunday bulletin and are in
17:45	God’s word segment we have three Psalm readings every day a psalm for the morning psalm for the afternoon psalm
17:53	for the evening that’s the idea is that you know we are to be in prayer not just
18:01	once a day kind of thing prayer is a lifestyle it’s part of the Rhythm of Life
18:06	and these are good examples for us to follow and then Christians historically
18:11	have done this so just a little note about piety there so when these men came
18:17	by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his god notice that he has to obey God not Darius
18:26	they came near and said before the king concerning the injunction O King did you not sign an injunction that anyone who
18:32	makes this petition to any God or man within 30 days except for you O King shall be cast into the Den of Lions the
18:39	king answered and said well the thing stands fast according to the law of the medes and the Persians which cannot be revoked so then they answered and said
18:45	before the King Daniel who is one of the Exiles from Judah he pays no attention to you O King or the injunction that
18:51	you’ve signed but makes his petition three times a day the daggers are out the spread the Trap
18:58	is sprung and the King when he heard these words was much distressed and set his mind to
19:04	deliver Daniel let me flip the channel again over to Luke 23.
19:10	verses one through five the whole company of them arose and brought Jesus before Pilate and they began to accuse
19:16	him saying we found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar and saying that he
19:23	himself is Christ a king and pilate asked him are you the king of the Jews and he answered him you have said so
19:30	then pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds I find no guilt in this man but they were urgent saying he stirs
19:37	up the people teaching throughout all Judea From Galilee even to this place let me change the channel back to Daniel
19:43	again so Darius labored until the sun went down to rescue Daniel
19:49	then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king know O King that it is a law of the medes and the
19:55	Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed let me flip the channel back to Luke
20:00	pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people and said to them you brought me this man
20:05	as one who was misleading the people and after examining him before you behold I did not find this man guilty of any of
20:11	your charges against him neither did Herod for he sent him back to us look nothing deserving death has been done by
20:18	him I will therefore punish and release him but they all cried out together away with this man
20:26	see how the two work together here’s the story of Jesus’s trial
20:33	his being found guilty him being killed dying and his resurrection writ large
20:41	and type and Shadow in the in the life the very life of Daniel back to the Daniel Channel
20:48	so King Darius commanded and Daniel was brought and cast into the Den of Lions
20:54	the king declared to Daniel may your God whom you serve continually deliver you Matthew 27 and when they had mocked him
21:02	they stripped Jesus of the robe and put on his own clothes now from the sixth hour there was Darkness over the land
21:08	until the ninth hour and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying
21:15	that is my God my God why have you forsaken me and some of the bystanders hearing it
21:22	said this man is calling Elijah and one of them at once ran and took a sponge and filled it with sour wine and put it
21:28	on a reed to give it to him to drink but the other said wait let us see whether Elijah will come and save him and then
21:35	Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit
21:41	back to Daniel a stone was brought and laid on the
21:46	mouth of the den and the King sealed it with his own Signet and with the Signet
21:53	of his Lords that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel
21:58	back to Matthew the next day that is after the day of preparation the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered
22:04	before Pilate and said sir we remember how that imposter said that while he was still alive after three days I will rise
22:10	therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell
22:17	the people he’s risen from the dead and the last fraud will be worse from the first pilate said to them you have a
22:23	guard of soldiers go make it as secure as you can so they went and made the tomb secure by sealing it
22:29	by sealing the stone and setting a guard do you think it’s an accident that the
22:36	Book of Daniel talks about how the den has a stone rolled in front of it and a
22:41	seal put on it I mean you can’t make this stuff up so then the king back to Daniel King
22:49	Darius went to his Palace he spent the night fasting no diversions were brought to him and sleep fled from him
22:56	then at break of day The King arose and went in haste to The Den of Lions as he
23:01	came near to the den where Daniel was he cried out in a tone of Anguish the king declared to Daniel oh Daniel’s servant
23:07	of the Living God has your God whom you serve continually been able to deliver you from the Lions
23:13	then Daniel said to the king O King live forever my God sent his Angel and shut
23:18	the lion’s mouth and they have not harmed me because I was found blameless before him and also before you O King I
23:26	have done no harm Jesus he was blameless
23:33	he was blameless there was no fault found in him death had no right to him
23:39	this is all type and Shadow so the king
23:44	okay so Danny was taken up out of the den no kind of harm was found on him because he had trusted in his God the
23:50	king commanded him those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the Den of Lions they
23:57	their children and their wives and before they reached the bottom of the den the Lions overpowered them and broke
24:02	all their bones to pieces kind of a hint at the Fate of those who put Christ to death so then
24:10	King Darius wrote to all the peoples the Nations and languages that dwell in all of the Earth
24:17	and it’s important again I kind of pointed this out at the lectern and it’s important you see this there’s two
24:23	Epistles written in the in the Prophet Daniel two Epistles two little letters one is from Nebuchadnezzar himself
24:29	actually addressed to each and every one of us this little epistle in the in the Prophet Daniel is also written to us
24:37	because he says yeah he says this was King Darius wrote to all the peoples
24:43	Nations and languages that dwell on the earth we all qualified this was written to us peace be multiplied to you I make
24:52	a decree that in all of my Royal domain people are to tremble and fear before the god of Daniel for he is the Living
24:59	God enduring forever his kingdom shall never be destroyed and his Dominion
25:04	shall be to the end he delivers and rescues he works signs and wonders in
25:11	Heaven and Earth he who has saved Daniel from the power of lions and we can add a
25:16	PostScript he who raised Jesus from the grave
25:22	because that’s what this story really is about Daniel and the Lions then is not about you following some moral examples
25:28	so that you can dare to be a Daniel because the one who dared to be a Daniel was Jesus
25:34	and he did it perfectly and he did it for us and so we think now
25:40	of Isaiah 53 surely he has borne our griefs and he has carried our sorrows
25:46	yet he was pierced for our transgressions bruised for our iniquities
25:52	upon him was the punishment that brought us peace and so this
25:57	Advent season as we’re getting ready to bring Advent to a close let’s think on this for a second and
26:05	we’ll think on this by way of a prayer written by Johann Gerhart on his
26:11	meditations on Divine Mercy and this is him pondering what it is that Jesus did
26:17	for him and it reads Like a Prayer here’s what he said
26:22	O Holy God just judge I see your son hanging on the cross
26:30	streams of blood flowing freely I look at him and behold I become weak
26:37	with Terror those cruel nails are my sins with which I have pierced his hands and his feet
26:45	those horrible Thorns are my sins with which I have crowned his holy head the
26:51	head worshiped and honored by Angelic powers those sharply pointed lashes are my sins
26:58	with which I have scourged his faultless body the permanent Temple of divinity
27:06	the terrible Beast tore to pieces this heavenly Joseph and stained his robe
27:11	with blood and I a wretched sinner I am that terrible Beast because my sins rushed in
27:19	Mass against this your beloved Son if this your obedient son suffers in
27:26	anguish because of the sins of another what will be meted out to disobedient in
27:32	wayward children because of their sins truly the wounds of my soul must be great and deadly
27:38	if they can only be healed because your only begotten son is so wretchedly struck down
27:44	truly the disease of my soul must be great and deadly if it can only be cured
27:50	because the Heavenly physician life itself dies on a cross
27:56	I see the torment of my savior I hear his wretched wailings on the cross he is tormented because of me
28:04	he complains loudly that his father has forsaken him because of my sins if the
28:10	weight of another’s sins strikes down the all-powerful Son of God how unbearable will the wrath of God in his
28:17	inestimable fuhrer be against the unprofitable servant oh dry and unfruitful Woods sold to the
28:25	fires of eternal hell what will be your lot if this is what happens to the green wood Christ is the
28:33	Green Tree of Life Christ is a vigorous tree rooted in Divinity part and parcel
28:38	of humanity famed for his virtues possessing leaves of holy words and
28:43	yielding the fruit of Good Works he is the cedar of modesty in the vine of Peace the palm of patience and the olive
28:52	of Mercy but as the fire of divine wrath burned against this green wood the tree of life
28:58	because of the sins of others how much more will it completely consume The Sinner as a dry tree because of
29:05	unfruitful works how great and bloody the letters of my Sin appear when written on the body of
29:11	Christ how striking oh most righteous God
29:17	is your wrath against my iniquity how tightly I must have been held in captivity because so precious of Ransom
29:24	was given to release me how great the stains of my sin must have been because streams of blood from the
29:31	body of Christ flowed to wash them away almost righteous God
29:39	yet most kind father behold how unjustly your son suffered
29:44	for me forget how unworthily I your wretched servant have acted look to Christ’s deep
29:50	wounds and plunge my sins into the deepest depths of the Sea of your mercy
29:56	in the name of Jesus amen [Music]

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