A Better Hope

Well, please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to the book of Daniel.

The book of Daniel. If you're just joining us for the first time or the first time in a while,

we are nine or ten weeks now into our series through the book of Daniel.

And what we tend to do is work our way through books of the Bible.

And so this morning we have come to Daniel chapter 9 and verses 20 through 27.

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

And here's my disclaimer, is this is one of the most difficult, one of the most mysterious,

one of the most debated, at times one of the most divisive passages of Scripture.

And you get to enjoy me struggling through it this morning.

But what I pray is that we would be encouraged by the truths that we hear from God's Word this morning.

If you didn't bring a Bible, that's okay. We have a few Bibles there in front of you.

And I don't know who planned this as we go through these 77s in Daniel chapter 9,

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

but this can be found, our passage can be found on page 700 of those few Bibles there in front of you this morning.

But let's turn there now, Daniel 9, 20 through 27.

And when you found it, let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word.

While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel,

and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for the holy hill of my God,

while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first,

came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.

He made me to understand speaking with me, saying,

O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding.

At the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out,

and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved.

Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision.

Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city,

to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin,

and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness,

to seal both vision and profit, and to anoint a most holy place.

Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem,

to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks.

Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time.

And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing.

And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.

Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war.

Desolations are decreed.

And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week,

and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering.

And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate

until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.

This is God's holy word.

Let's pray once more.

Father, this is a difficult text, and we pray, Lord, I pray for wisdom.

We pray for understanding.

And if nothing else this morning, may Christ and the gospel be clear.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

What is your hope?

A few years ago, Amanda and I planned to take the boys to their first theme park.

And we had been to a few different fairs and kind of pop-up carnival-type rides before,

but we had never before spent an entire day at a theme park.

And so we planned it all out.

We bought the tickets.

We'd even shown the boys some YouTube videos of rides that they could ride when they got there.

And when we finally got there and got inside the park,

I asked one of them, well, how many, excuse me, what ride would you like to ride first?

And one of them looked up at me, I'll never forget, and he asked me, well, how many can we do?

And it was a fair question because all that they had reference for before that moment

was a ride or two here and there, cheap parents who don't want to buy too many fair and carnival rides for them to enjoy.

They had no point of reference for a full day at the theme park

getting to do whatever in the world they wanted to do.

And so I'll never forget that conversation,

that dawning realization on his face when he looked up and I got to explain to them,

no, no, no, no, no.

You have full access all day long to ride as much as you want,

whatever you want to do.

In that moment, they had their hopes expanded.

They were being brought to an even greater experience of joy and delight

than what they had previously thought was possible.

We're here in our passage this morning in a similar way.

I believe that this is what God is doing for Daniel.

Daniel, you remember from last week and the week before,

he has been praying and hoping and anticipating this return from exile into the promised land.

Seventy years was the time that was almost up.

Jeremiah had prophesied seventy years.

The return was getting closer.

And so we saw last week that Daniel prayed and he confessed

and he sought the mercy of God to bring the people back to the land.

And here in verses 20 and 23, God answers.

Gabriel comes again to assure Daniel of God's love for him,

to give him insight and understanding.

And then what he shows Daniel is that, yes, 70 years is almost up.

Everything that you're waiting for is about to happen,

but that's not your ultimate hope.

I have something even better in store for you.

This passage is an expansion of Daniel's hope.

So my prayer for us as we look into this difficult text this morning

is that we would fix our hope on the promises made to Daniel here in these verses.

So we'll take a look here at Daniel 9, verses 20 through 27.

Daniel 9:20–27

And we're going to see this in three parts this morning.

I try to make it easy for you to follow along.

Three parts this morning.

If you're taking notes, this will be our outline.

We're going to see the promise in verse 24.

What is it that's being promised here?

What is that better hope?

We're going to see the process in verse 25.

How is it going to happen?

And then we're going to see the price in verses 26 and 27.

What is it going to cost?

First, what is the promise?

Look there to verse 24 with me.

Verse 24 serves as sort of the summary for the whole message.

This is the main point.

Gabriel says,

70 weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city.

70 weeks, the word literally there in the original is 77s.

77s.

We'll get there to that in just a minute.

But again, you remember Daniel's hope was in these 70 years.

Right?

A return from exile.

And God answers this prayer by expanding that hope.

Not just what God can do in 70 years, but in 77s.

Let's look at what God promises.

God makes six glorious promises here and what he will do in these 77s.

Listen to this.

Listen to this.

God says,

I will finish transgression.

All evil, all sin, all rebellion will cease.

All the transgression that got you here into exile in the first place will be gone.

Done with.

No more.

I will put an end to sin.

All sin will be totally wiped away from my people for good.

As far as east is from the west.

So far will I remove your sin from you.

Sin will be totally done.

All the effects of sin will be totally peeled back.

Can you imagine that?

I will atone for iniquity.

I'm not only ending your sin.

I'm going to pay for it.

Full atonement.

Which means full reconciliation with God.

Full appeasement of God's wrath against sin.

And I will do all of this.

But not only this.

Guess what?

I will bring in everlasting righteousness.

So they're not just cleaned up for a moment until they leave and then they go sin again the next hour.

Everlasting forever.

Everlasting forever.

They're covered in this forever righteousness that cannot be removed.

Cannot be stained.

Cannot be lost.

Cannot be tainted.

This cycle of sin and judgment.

Sin and judgment.

Sin and judgment.

Will be done.

You will be righteous forever.

I will seal up both vision and profit.

Why?

Because everything they've looked forward to will be fulfilled.

They're no longer needed.

Lastly, I will anoint a most holy place.

Literally, a most holy one.

In other words, not a place, but a person will be anointed.

Well, who is that?

It's the Messiah.

Messiah.

The Messiah.

The anointed one.

You cannot read this promise.

This list of six glorious promises as a Christian and miss what's being held out here for us.

Can you?

This is the work of Christ.

These are the promises of the new covenant in his blood.

This is what the gospel of Jesus Christ has purchased for all of his people.

God is laying out a plan of a much greater, much more glorious hope than a simple return from exile.

This is the hope of the gospel.

You know, if you've been with us for some time and you wonder why in the world we talk about the gospel so much.

And why in the world we make such a big deal about the gospel.

What makes the gospel such good news?

Well, here it is.

The gospel is the good news that all of these promises that God made to Daniel are available to you can be had right now through faith in the Messiah.

Do you want to have your sins forgiven?

Put your faith in Christ.

Do you want everlasting righteousness that can't be messed up?

Put your faith in Christ.

You receive perfect righteousness.

His perfect righteousness.

You want to be sure and certain that your sins are no longer counted against you, but they are paid in full?

Come to Christ.

That's the gospel.

These promises that God is making here are available to you now through faith in Christ.

You cannot dream up a better hope than this.

Christ, the anointed one, has come and has fulfilled every word that the prophets have spoken about him.

And all of these promises, all of them, are available to you right now by the grace of God to be received by faith.

That is a glorious hope, church.

And here, God holds this out for Daniel as if to say,

I love you, I hear your heart, I will answer your prayers, I will fulfill my word.

Yes, I will bring you back to the promised land.

But Daniel, that is not even a fraction of what I have planned for you.

You want to go back to the promised land, that's fine.

But Daniel, I'm promising you a new Eden.

A better Eden that you can't ruin with your sin.

You want to come out of your exile, that's good.

But don't forget, your true exile didn't begin in 597.

It began all the way back in Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

You want freedom from your slavery?

Well, guess what, Daniel?

Your true slavery isn't slavery to the Babylonians.

It's slavery to sin.

And your ultimate hope is not the promised land.

It's the promised Messiah.

These promises, no sin, no judgment, no transgression, no more separation between God and man, everlasting righteousness.

These are the promises of the new covenant.

And again, this is where context is so helpful for us.

Because you remember, last week, Treg drew this out for us.

Daniel has been reading his Bible and he's been reflecting on two passages in particular, in Jeremiah and in Deuteronomy.

You remember this from last week?

He had read about the 70 years in Jeremiah 25.

But it's as if God says,

Keep on reading to the better promises of Jeremiah 31.

I will put my law within them.

I will write it on their hearts.

I will be their God.

They shall be my people.

No longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying,

Know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.

For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.

He had read about the blessings and the curses of the covenant in Deuteronomy chapter 29.

Deuteronomy 29 · chapter mention

But it's as if God says,

Keep on reading to the better hope of Deuteronomy chapter 30,

Deuteronomy 30 · chapter mention

where it says,

The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring,

so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

that you may live.

These are the promises of the gospel.

And God says,

Daniel, look there.

Put your hope there.

That is your ultimate hope.

But how will it happen?

What's the process?

This is our second point this morning.

Look with me to verse 25.

We'll see the process.

You know,

A reasonable question for Daniel might have been,

When?

When?

And Gabriel,

amazingly,

he answers that question,

doesn't he?

Except he doesn't say,

Next Thursday at 12 o'clock.

What does he say?

He says,

Seventy sevens.

Seventy sevens.

What in the world are we talking about here?

Seventy sevens.

Well,

we're not told what these sevens are.

In our translation,

the ESV,

it says 70 weeks.

But again,

what it literally says there is 77s.

We are not told if these are sevens of years,

or months,

or days,

or weeks,

or if they're more theologically oriented

than chronologically oriented.

It is really not clear.

All I know is I don't talk this way.

And when somebody asks me what time our service starts,

I don't measure in sevens.

I don't say 10 sevens, 11 sevens.

It's just not how we speak.

But clearly,

what we could say is,

is these 77s,

whatever they are,

they're divided into three blocks of time.

Seven,

62,

and one.

Verse 25,

it says literally,

it says,

from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem

until the coming of Messiah Prince,

there will be seven sevens and 62 sevens.

The first seven,

it seems to be exactly what Daniel was praying for.

A word was going to be sent forth to rebuild Jerusalem.

This is good news for Daniel.

This is what he's been hoping in.

And we see,

again,

as we look back in the pages of history,

if we look back to 2 Chronicles chapter 36,

2 Chronicles 36 · chapter mention

that's exactly what happened.

Cyrus makes a decree in 539,

538 B.C.

to go,

again,

begin this rebuilding effort in Jerusalem.

Now,

I believe that Cyrus' decree is both the end of Jeremiah's 70 years

and the beginning of Daniel's 77s.

And again,

this would be a huge relief for Daniel,

wouldn't it?

The city and the temple

and with it,

everything that he had hoped for and longed for

was about to be rebuilt,

even though,

of course,

he says it would be in a troubled time.

And we see that story told for us

in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

But again,

that's not where the story ends,

is it?

The Bible doesn't end with the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

The city and the temple will be rebuilt

and it will remain for 62 more sevens.

But,

that temple

and that city

aren't the end of the story.

They aren't the point of the story.

What's the point?

All of this is leading us forwards,

pointing us forwards

to what will happen

after those 62.

What's going to happen?

The Messiah will come.

The Messiah will come.

God is orienting Daniel

towards the coming of this promised Messiah.

And what will he do when he comes?

He will purchase

all of these glorious covenant promises

in verse 24.

For all of his people.

69 sevens

until the coming of the anointed Messiah.

And that is the point.

So God says,

look there.

Pay attention here.

Look to these promises.

This is where your attention needs to be.

Seven sevens

to get you back to the land.

Then 62 more sevens

until Messiah.

That's where your focus

needs to be.

Like a kid on the way

to a theme park

on a road trip.

He ought to be asking,

well,

are we there yet?

Are we there yet?

Are we there yet?

When will Messiah come?

How long are 69 sevens?

And here,

here we have to decide

whether we understand these

chronologically

or theologically.

In other words,

are all these sevens

meant to tell Daniel

when he's coming exactly

or what he's accomplishing exactly.

And cards on the table,

okay,

I believe that it is

the latter.

Some,

who I love

and respect,

take this to mean

years.

And they understand

these sevens

to be expressing

a precise time

in years.

And so,

seven sevens

is 49 years

and 62 sevens

is 434 years

and altogether,

70 sevens

is 490 calendar years.

But there's

several reasons

why I don't think

that that's the best way

to understand this.

For one,

again,

there's nothing

in the text

to make me think

we have to understand

it that way.

Seven sevens

is what it says.

It doesn't say

seven sevens of years.

On top of that,

there really aren't

any great calculations

that get us

from a proclamation

to build Jerusalem

and then to the Messiah

in 483 years,

although some get close

but not exact

and you do have to do

some gymnastics

to get there.

But the biggest problem

for me

is what in the world

do you do

with that last seven?

Because you and I both know

it's been a little bit more

than seven years

since Jesus walked

the earth,

hasn't it?

Going on almost

2,000 years now,

in fact.

Here's where

in the name

of literal interpretation,

my friends,

who again,

I respect and love,

they say,

well,

there must be

a gap

between the 69th

and the 70th seven

and that's a gap

that's lasted

for almost 2,000 years now

and it's a gap

that as hard

as I look,

I just,

it's nowhere to be found

in this passage.

So all of this

leads me to think

that there is

theological weight

to these 70-7s.

So what is it?

Well,

we hear,

we hear seven

and almost automatically,

immediately,

our mind should think

of perfection

and completion

and Sabbath rest,

right?

But there's one more

place in particular

that I want us to look

and if you turn there,

it's fine,

you can turn there,

you can write it down

to flip there later

but I want you to turn

to the book of Leviticus

and this is why

you don't skip Leviticus

in your annual reading plan.

I know that's the widow maker

of our annual Bible reading plans

but really,

there's some good stuff.

Leviticus chapter 25

Leviticus 25 · chapter mention

and I'm just going to focus here

on verses 8 through 12.

Leviticus 25,

8 through 12.

This chapter

is about the jubilee year

in Israel.

Once they were

to enter the promised land,

they were told to count,

listen to this,

seven weeks of years.

Seven times seven years.

So that the time

of the seven weeks of years

shall give you 49 years

and then

you shall sound

the loud trumpet

on the tenth day

of the seventh month.

On the day of atonement

you shall sound

the trumpet

throughout all your land

and you shall consecrate

that fiftieth year

and proclaim liberty

throughout the land

to all its inhabitants.

It shall be a jubilee

for you

when each of you

shall return

to his property

and each of you

shall return

to his clan.

That fiftieth year

shall be a jubilee

for you.

In it you shall neither

sow nor reap

what grows of itself

nor gather the grapes

from the undressed vines

for it is a jubilee.

It shall be holy to you.

You may eat

the produce

of the field.

Now think about this

with me.

That would be

a glorious celebration,

wouldn't it?

49 years

of anticipation

and then the trumpet

sounds.

The slaves

are freed.

The land

is renewed.

The curse

is peeled back.

Daniel

is looking

at 77s.

These 77s

are 10 times

that great jubilee

celebration.

10 being a number

of perfect completion.

In other words,

what God

has planned

with these 77s

is the ultimate

jubilee.

The ultimate

Sabbath rest.

The ultimate

deliverance

from exile

when the Messiah

comes in

to bring in

all the promises

of the new covenant.

In other words,

church,

we are in

the final seven.

The Messiah

has come,

has inaugurated

the kingdom of God.

We belong to it

in Christ

and so now

we await

its final

consummation

at the sound

of the final

trumpet blast.

The jubilee

of jubilees

at the return

of Christ.

There's

much more

to be said there

than we have time

to say it.

Let's move on.

How

will these promises

be secured?

How will these promises

be secured?

What will it

cost?

Let's look there

to verses

26 and 27

and here we see

the price

that will be paid

to secure

this covenant.

Gabriel says

within this

final seven

which again

began

with the arrival

of Christ

he says

two key events

will happen.

Two key events

will happen.

Look there with me

to verses 26

and 27

and it's my

understanding

that these two

verses

they run

parallel

to each other.

This is key

for our understanding

this passage.

This will really

help us

get what's happening.

It's not

A, B, C, D

it's A, B, A, B

okay?

It's not

1, 2, 3, 4

it's 1, 2

generally

and then 1, 2

a little bit more

specifically.

This is classic

Hebrew parallelism.

Verse 26

is a little bit

more general

verse 27

is a little bit

more specific

but they are

speaking about

the same

thing.

So let's look

two key events

what are they?

They are the death

of the Messiah

and the end

of the temple.

The death

of the Messiah

and the end

of the temple.

So let me read

them again

look there with me

to verse 26.

He says

after the 62 weeks

an anointed one

shall be cut off

and shall have

nothing.

Death of the Messiah

and the people

of the prince

who is to come

shall destroy

the city

and the sanctuary

its end

shall come

with a flood

and to the end

there shall be war.

Desolations

are decreed

end of the temple.

That's the general

picture.

Get more specific

verse 27

and he shall

make a strong

covenant

with many

for one week

and for half

of the week

he shall put

an end

to sacrifice

an offering

death

of the Messiah

and on the

wing of abominations

shall come one

who makes desolate

until the decreed

end is poured

out on the

desolator

end of

the temple.

First event

after 62

weeks

God says

this Messiah

prince

will be

cut off

and have

nothing.

This is

shocking

language.

The Messiah

will be

cut off

and have

nothing.

The language

here is

describing

a brutal

death.

This is the

death of a

lawbreaker.

This is death

penalty language

but interestingly

enough it's

the same

language

that's used

to make

or to

cut

a covenant.

In other

words

all of these

promises

of verse 24

forgiveness

of sin

everlasting

righteousness

these covenant

blessings

are given

freely

to God's

people

but they

cost

something

infinitely

precious.

They are

secured

by the

cutting

off

the

death

of the

Messiah

to

come.

The

Messiah

is the

one

who

shall

make

a

strong

covenant

with

many

by

his

death.

Just as

Isaiah

prophesied

in Isaiah

Isaiah 53:8

53

verse 8

what does

he say?

He was

cut

off

out of

the

land

of the

living

stricken

for the

transgression

of my

people.

His death

wasn't

a

defeat

for the

Messiah

was it?

Far from

it.

It's

through

this

death

that

he

secures

or makes

certain

or makes

strong

a covenant

for many.

Isaiah

53

again

verse 11

out of

the anguish

of his

soul

he shall

see

and be

satisfied

by his

knowledge

shall he

the

righteous

one

my

servant

make

the

many

to be

accounted

righteous

and he

shall bear

their

iniquities.

God

has

been

promising

Daniel

this

new

covenant

and he

reminds

Daniel

this is

your

hope

but how

will it

be

accomplished?

At

great

cost.

What does

Jesus

himself

say as

he

pours

the wine

into the

cup

and passes

it from

disciple

to disciple

to disciple

what does

he say?

This

is my

blood

of the

covenant

which is

poured

out

for

many

for

the

forgiveness

of

sins

in

order

to

secure

the

covenant

everlasting

righteousness

true

sabbath

rest

atonement

for

sins

God

himself

will

pay

the

price

and

the

son

of

God

will

be

cut

off

for

many

and

in

doing

so

look

what

happens

look

what

happens

the

Messiah

will

put

an

end

to

sacrifice

and

offering

can

you

imagine

Daniel

trying to

understand

all of

this

and

trying to

wrap his

mind

around

all of

this

Daniel

is a

faithful

Jew

he's

built

his

whole

life

around

this

sacrificial

system

this

system

of

law

and

sacrifice

his

whole

life

has

been

oriented

towards

the

temple

and

temple

worship

and

getting

back

to

the

land

he

couldn't

wait

to

get

back

to

the

land

and

get

back

to

the

temple

and

now

God

reminds

him

Daniel

there's

an

even

better

hope

than

that

ahead

of

you

the

fulfillment

of

the

temple

the

fulfillment

of

the

sacrifices

the

fulfillment

of

the

offerings

that's

coming

in

the

Messiah

Daniel

might

ask

well

what

does

that

mean

for

the

temple

what

does

that

mean

for

the

sacrifices

and here's

the answer

it means

they are

null

and void

the

death

of

Jesus

Christ

the

anointed

Messiah

is the

end

of

God

honoring

sacrifice

it is

the

end

of

God

honoring

temple

worship

why

because

the

ultimate

purpose

of the

temple

has been

fulfilled

the

ultimate

purpose

of this

whole

system

of

sacrifice

and

offering

was to

point

forward

towards

him

and now

that

he's

come

all of

these

shadows

and

pointers

can go

away

their

purpose

is

finished

he

has

offered

himself

as a

perfect

sacrifice

once

and for

all

we don't

need

any

more

sacrifice

praise

God

he

is

the

true

temple

we

don't

ever

need

to

have

another

temple

again

praise

God

in

fact

now

that

the

Messiah

has

come

any

idea

of

returning

going

back

returning

to

temple

worship

and

sacrifices

is an

idolatrous

abomination

in the

sight

of

God

there

is

a

new

covenant

to

enjoy

when

this

Messiah

was

cut

off

you

remember

what

happened

in

the

temple

the

curtain

of

the

temple

was

torn

in

two

which

means

now

you

and

I

and

anyone

else

Jew

or

Gentile

alike

are

welcomed

into

the

presence

of

God

by

the

blood

of

his

eternal

covenant

all

of

this

of

course

would

have

been

a

lot

for

Daniel

to

process

it's

a

lot

for

us

to

process

this

morning

but

to

sear

that

truth

into

Daniel's

mind

God

shows

him

a

second

event

this

temple

and

this

city

that

you

can't

wait

to

get

back

to

will

once

more

be

destroyed

and

as

we

look

back

in

the

pages

of

history

again

in

80

70

sure

enough

Titus

Vespasianus

and the

Romans

came

and

completely

destroyed

the

city

of

Jerusalem

demolished

the

sanctuary

and

it

wasn't

just

a

passing

invasion

like

it

was

with

Antiochus

no

not

one

stone

was

left

on

top

of

the

other

exactly

as

Jesus

had

told

his

disciples

in

Matthew

24

forgiveness

of

sins

full

atonement

everlasting

righteousness

church

what

did

it

cost

God

to

purchase

these

covenant

promises

for

you

it

cost

the

suffering

and

the

death

of

the

son

of

God

he

was

cut

off

so

that

everything

that

he

has

earned

might

be

given

to

his

people

purely

by

the

grace

of

God

through

faith

free

of

charge

but

think

about

this

what

did

it

cost

Daniel

and

his

people

it

cost

everything

that

they

based

their

identity

on

everything

that

they

held

sacred

everything

that

they

used

to

put

their

hope

in

they

had

to

let

that

old

hope

go

to

grab

a

hold

of

a

better

hope

what

will

it

cost

you

Christian

to

follow

Christ

it

will

cost

you

everything

else

you

might

base

your

identity

on

it

will

cost

you

everything

else

that

you

hold

sacred

apart

from

Christ

it

will

cost

you

everything

else

you

used

to

put

your

hope

in

that's

what

it

will

cost

I

wonder

what

that

is

for

you

I

don't

know

if

anybody

exemplified

this

lesson

more

than

the

apostle

Paul

he

was

the

ideal

Jew

he

had

it

all

going

he

had

reason

to

boast

in

the

flesh

it

was

Paul

but

what

does

he

say

in

the

book

of

Philippians

circumcised

on

the

eighth

day

of

the

people

of

Israel

of

the

tribe

of

Benjamin

a

Hebrew

of

Hebrews

as

to

the

law

of

Pharisee

as

to

zeal

a

persecutor

of

the

church

as

to

righteousness

under

the

law

blameless

but

when

he

came

to

know

the

Lord

what

happened

he

left

it

all

behind

to

grab

hold

of

a

better

hope

whatever

gain

I

had

I

counted

as

loss

for

the

sake

of

Christ

indeed

I

count

everything

as

loss

because

of the

surpassing

worth

of

knowing

Christ

Jesus

my

Lord

church

there is

no

greater

hope

than

Jesus

Christ

there is

no

greater

joy

than

knowing

him

there is

no

greater

freedom

than

knowing

that

your

sins

have

been

paid

in

full

and

that

you

have

received

by

the

grace

of

God

the

everlasting

righteousness

of

Christ

to

know

I

am

forgiven

he

has

come

he

has

died

in

my

place

and

not

only

this

he

has

risen

and

he

is

coming

again

to

usher

in

our

ultimate

hope

and

I

will

enjoy

him

forever

there is

no

greater

hope

than

the

hope

of

the

gospel

is

this

your

hope

is

this

your

hope

God

has

promised

this

God

has

purchased

this

for

you

at

great

cost

church

do

not

settle

for

anything

less

let's

pray

Lord

there is

no

greater

hope

than

the

hope

of

the

gospel

and

I

praise

you

we

praise

you

father

for

these

glorious

promises

that

you

have

made

no

more

sin

no

more

transgression

no

more

no

more

idolatry

in

our

heart

perfect

righteousness

full

atonement

for

our

sin

peace

with

God

through

the

blood

of

your

son

father

we

praise

you

for

this

if

there

are

any

here

joining

us

this

morning

who

don't

know

the

Lord

we

pray

you

would

change

that

right

now

and

draw

them

to

faith

in

Christ

and

father

for

this

place

with

our

hearts

filled

with

thankfulness

for

who

you

are

and

what

you

have

done

we

pray

in

Jesus

name

amen