Today we study from Daniel chapter nine, an incident in the life of Daniel, but it's not the noteworthy story of Daniel in the minds of many Christians. That would be Daniel and the lion's den. That's recorded in Daniel chapter six. The heading in your Bible for Daniel nine likely says something like Daniel's prayer or Daniel's confession. Our message this morning is about confession, and our theme verse this morning is taken from 1 John 1, 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Daniel urgently desired to restore his own worship and the worship among his people. But before restoration could occur, there first had to be a cleansing of the hearts of people. All kinds of sinful trash had built up in the lives of the people, which Jim read about this morning. Daniel knew it would be difficult or impossible for spiritual revival to occur unless the dirt was cleansed from the lives of people. The same is also true of you and me. We want the Holy Spirit to move within us. We want the power of the Spirit. We want the love of the Spirit. We want the joy and the peace of the Spirit. But if the Spirit finds inside of us a dump truck load of trash and garbage, He has very little space to work in our lives amongst the piles of trash. We need to remove the trace of lustful thoughts, the trace of a bitter, unforgiving spirit, the trace of gossip, the trace of lies, the trace of dishonest dealings, of self-pity, of self-importance, and the trace of all kinds of idols, such as money. before the Holy Spirit can have full reign in our hearts. This cleansing of the heart is at the same time extremely easy and very difficult. You can see in our theme verse how very easy it is to be cleansed. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It's so simple that there's no excuse for any Christian. to allow trash to build up in his or her life. But it's difficult in that it requires humility. Humility is a commodity that is rare these days and doesn't come easily to us. It also requires that we are willing to give up in our lives our favorite sins. If we're honest with ourselves, the reason that we have sinful trash in our lives is because we love the trash. The lustful man loves lustful thoughts and lustful images. The bitter woman loves to rehearse all the grievances against her. And when these sins are pampered in our lives, they end up becoming habitual. And then they end up enslaving us. And we eventually become, at best, ineffective Christians. Let's look at a definition of confession. Confession means agreeing with God that what we did was wrong. I put a separate definition for repentance because sometimes people consider them separately. So repentance is a heartfelt sorrow for sin followed by a sincere commitment to forsake it. You can see that according to these definitions, confession without repentance is really quite hollow because it's possible to acknowledge that my actions are wrong but still have no intent to change. For our study today, we need to realize that repentance is often assumed in the use of the word confession, and that is the case today. See, 1 John 1, 9 is not promising cleansing to, for example, a man who says, sure, it's wrong what I did, what of it? What business of the viewers would I do? Confession in First John includes an acknowledgement of sin, a sorrow over sin, and a sincere desire to change. Okay, let's move on then to Daniel. The person making this confession was a believer. Daniel was a believer and had been for a long time. No one should imagine that confession and repentance are for the unsaved. Now, many years before, Daniel and his three friends had refused to eat the king's food, that's the subject of the picture that you see. Daniel had read the mysterious handwriting on the wall and he had survived the lion's den, if the events in Daniel six through nine are chronological anyway. Now Daniel was a faithful believer, had been for a long time, but he understood the need for confession. Well, who was Daniel? He was a Jewish captive in the city of Babylon, 600 years before Christ. Mentioned in the reading that Jim took from Jeremiah 25, King Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem and captured the city and took from Jerusalem some of the most promising young men and took them away to Babylon. That included Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The destruction of Jerusalem had been ordained, or at least allowed by God, because the Israelites had become wicked and idolatrous. Daniel had watched the overthrow of Jerusalem. It was a horrifying scene. And immediately after the destruction of Jerusalem, he was dragged away to this unknown land with an unknown language. In the face of false religion in the land of Babylon, Daniel continued to worship the true God, and Daniel began to pine for his homeland and for his lost people. The Babylonians had left in Jerusalem a selection of older and sickly and weak people, those who would not make good slaves or servants. Among those left in Jerusalem was Jeremiah. King Nebuchadnezzar had showed Jeremiah a certain amount of mercy. And Jeremiah wrote the letter that Jim read, and this was sent to the exiles in Babylon, in which Jeremiah prophesied that Jerusalem would be restored after 70 years. All right, at this point, I want to read from Daniel chapter nine. We're gonna start in verse one, Daniel nine, verse one. In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus by descent Amid, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the numbers of years that according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely 70 years. Then I turned my face to the Lord God seeking him by prayer and please for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession saying, Oh Lord, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments. We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants, the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us, open shame. as at this day to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, and all the lands to which you have driven them because of the treachery that they have committed against you. To us, O Lord, belongs open shame. To our kings, to our princes, to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord, our God, belong mercy and forgiveness. For we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants, the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. and the curse and the oath that are written in the law of Moses, the servant of God have been poured out on us because we have sinned against him. He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven, there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us yet, We have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. Therefore, the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us. For the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name for yourself, as at this day we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city, Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. Now therefore, oh our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy and for your own sake, oh Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. Oh my God, incline your ear and hear, open your eyes and see our desolations in the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. Oh Lord, hear. Oh Lord, forgive. Oh Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not for your own sake. Oh my God, because your city and your people are called by your name. You can see that the confession was a matter of urgency for Daniel. I turn my face to the Lord God seeking him by prayer and please for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. Fasting is the willing abstinence, in this case from food for a period of time. And the purpose of fasting is to turn attention away from earthly matters so that matters of God can be focused on. More specifically, the sackcloth and ashes were an outward demonstration of the inward heart condition, the heart condition that Daniel was demonstrating was an attitude of mourning, sorrow for sin, for humility. He grieved over the spiritual condition, his own spiritual condition and the spiritual condition of his people. So Daniel sought the Lord, we're told, by prayer and pleas, that second word, pleas indicating increased intensity, almost a beseeching and begging the Lord for mercy. All right, why was Daniel in such fervent prayer at this time? Well, in Jeremiah's writings, which Jim read, it was predicted that Jerusalem would be in ruins for 70 years as the judgment of God against the rebellious people. Many years had passed now. Most of the 70 years were past and Daniel longed to see Jerusalem restored. Now, if you look at verse 19, you will see two words explaining why Daniel was in urgent prayer. Oh Lord, hear. Oh Lord, forgive. Oh Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not. For your own sake, oh my God, because your city and your people are called by your name. Can you identify the two key words? Delay not. Daniel knows that the appointed time for restoration is at hand, but he also knows the spiritual condition of the people. Back in Jerusalem, The people in general, they had not been in revival. They had not returned to the Lord. There remained much spiritual apathy. There remained a great deal of idolatry. Daniel, now living in Babylon with others, brought to Babylon, also knew the condition of the people there. Aside from Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were faithful, many of those people had simply adopted the worship of the Babylonian gods. So Daniel was concerned that God would delay the restoration of Jerusalem because of the condition of people's hearts. Could God really restore the city of Jerusalem and restore the temple when the people's hearts were filled with the trash of idols and the trash of wicked lifestyles? It was the poor spiritual condition of the people, himself included, that drove Daniel to fervent prayer at this time so that God would not delay the promised restoration of Jerusalem. Now, the confession was both corporate and individual. To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. All Israel was at fault, including Daniel. That's why Daniel used the inclusive pronouns, we and us. But Daniel also used personal pronouns as in verse 17. Now, therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy. The difference between individual and corporate confession is not as significant as you might imagine. Any group of people is nothing more than individuals combined together. This church is a corporate body, but it consists entirely of individuals. A culture, a culture and moral decline is declining morally because the individuals in that culture are in moral and spiritual decline. The way to stop moral decline in a church or in a culture is for enough individuals to fervently follow Jesus. The reason Jerusalem was judged through Nebuchadnezzar was because a critical mass of people were backslidden. Now, during the glory days of Israel, there had always been some evil men. You remember the story of Achan in the glory days of Israel, when Israel was moving into the promised land. Achan disobeyed God by stealing forbidden items, silver, gold, and a Canaanite garment. Achan was judged along with his family, but the whole nation of Israel was not judged. Why? Why was the whole nation of Israel judged when Babylon came, Nebuchadnezzar came and ransacked Jerusalem, but not all of the nation of Israel was judged when Achan sinned. The answer lies in this matter of critical mass. During Achan's time, a critical mass of individuals obeyed and worshiped God. When Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem, a critical mass of people worshiped idols, and there were only a few faithful worshipers. Now, about the culture you live in, what do you observe about the spiritual condition of the church in America? Prior to COVID, Statistics indicated that 153 churches closed their doors every week. And that 23,000 people left church never to return again. Last Sunday, 23,000 physically and mentally capable people attended church, but this Sunday they are not in church and never will be again in the United States. The only way to stem that flow is when revival starts with individuals who confess sins and begin to walk with Jesus day by day. But someone might think, well, yeah, but what can I do? Just one person among so many. Well, What difference can you make in your family? If you live with one other person, your individual revival changes the critical mass in your family by 50%. If you live in a family of six, your personal revival changes the critical mass in your family by 17%. In a church like ours, every person who fervently follows the Lord changes the critical mass by maybe 3%. These people who fervently follow the Lord begin to have an effect on others around them through their prayers, through their behavior, through their testimony. Before long, the church body begins to build itself up in holiness and in love and in service. Never doubt what one person can do. We would never belittle the difference that one man Daniel made in his culture The Lord, who worked mightily in Daniel, has lost none of his power since Daniel 9 was written. The content of the confession. Daniel in his confession acknowledged the sins of the people. He was seeking cleansing. He was seeking forgiveness. But Daniel didn't throw all the wrongdoings in one big generic category. It seems to me There were different categories of wrongdoings listed here in order of rising severity. These are not listed in your notes. The first type of offense is called by the name sin. The meaning of this word really is to miss the mark or to fall short. A similar concept is aired in Romans 3 23 for all have sin and fall short of the glory of God. Sin is the is the failure to measure up to the standards God has. Ever since the Garden of Eden, people have failed to live up to the standards God had created humanity for. Sin is a failure not of what we have done, but it's a failure of who we are. Sin is a constant state of failing to attain to the potential we are created with. Falling short of the mark in this sense then occurs kind of involuntarily, it's just the nature of fallen mankind. Next, we have neglect, which we see in verses five and six. Turning aside from your commandments and rules, we've not listened to your servants, the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. Now, this neglect begins to show a level of Volition, a level of choice on the people's part. The prophets were speaking, but the people said, yeah, but I'm not really interested. The Old Testament scripture was there for anyone to read, but the people said, yeah, but I don't want to read it. They neglected God and they treated him nonchalantly. The third level of offense we will call rebellion. Verse five, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. And 11, all Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. That word transgress is to step across a boundary that God has laid down. The sins in this category include all the sins of commission that are forbidden in the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt not worship grave images. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not bear false witness. The children of Israel transgressed all these and many more boundaries God had set. Adultery was rampant, along with other kinds of sexual perversion. Idolatry was throughout the land. Dishonesty and bribery were used against the poor and the widows. Land was stolen, property was stolen, divorce was rampant. Many corrupt activities were practiced throughout the land of Israel. In fact, the chosen people, the Jews, became more wicked than the Canaanites. We read in 2 Chronicles 33.9, Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel. So children grew up in this corrupt environment. They learned the idolatrous ways of their parents. They became adulterers like their parents. They worshiped the idols of Baal and Molech like their parents until Each generation became more wicked than the previous one. And in the end, the chosen people were guilty of sacrificing their children to Canaanite idols. Now the next step on the downward spiral was treachery. Verse seven, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. Treachery is defined as a betrayal of trust by deceit. A betrayal of trust by deceit. Treachery is possible only when there is a relationship developed where there are expectations of moral integrity in marriage, for example. There's a relationship and there are expectations of moral integrity. Treachery happens, for example, when a man is confronted about his sin of lustfulness within marriage. He repents, he repents. He pledges to honor his marriage vows. Then a month later, it comes to light that ever since the man repented and pledged to honor his marriage vows, he's been clandestinely carrying on an affair. That's what it feels like. when someone is treacherous against you. The Lord experienced the sins of Israel as treachery. It was a breach of faith. In many cases, the people continued a pretense of worship. They came to the temple every Sabbath. They offered their sacrifices, but it was deceit. It was treachery. This is what the Lord said about worship that is a facade. Isaiah 1 verse 13, bring no more vain offerings. Incense is an abomination to me. Your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hates. They have become a burden to me. I am weary of burying them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood. The Lord didn't want sacrifices. He didn't want their ritual worship. He told the people then what they must do. Again, Isaiah 1 verse 16, wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes and cease to do evil. Learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause. The Lord never accepts feigned worship. He doesn't want sham worship. The Lord experiences fake worship as burdensome. Now the final stage in the descent of sinfulness is hardened conscience. Verse 13, as it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us, yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God. turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. All the discipline of the Lord up to and including people being dragged out of Jerusalem and taking into captivity did not result in repentance. The people were hardened in their sinful lifestyle and seemingly no amount of catastrophe could shock them into introspection. Nothing caused them to look into the mirror and say, why are these calamities happening? Do I need to get right with God? It is dangerous to be disciplined, but refuse to learn from that discipline. Proverbs 29.1. He who is often reproved yet stiffens his neck will suddenly be broken beyond healing. because there comes a time to an end of the Lord's discipline and the beginning of the Lord's judgment. When the judgment of the Lord begins, the opportunity for correction is over. Now, as Daniel considered his sins and the sins of his people, he was concerned that the Lord would find the people in such spiritual bankruptcy that he would not be able to restore the city of Jerusalem. I read now verse 14, therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity that has and has brought it upon us for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done and we have not obeyed his voice. Daniel is aware that the Lord continued to keep calamity at his hand. because the people still had not confessed their sins or mended their ways. And that is why Daniel made such humble confessions of penitence, such as in verse seven. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us, open shame. Or verses 11 and 12. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and the oath that are written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out upon us because we have sinned against him. And Daniel acknowledged that the Lord was righteous to bring calamity against Jerusalem. What happened in Jerusalem was exactly what God had warned the people about. He had warned them exactly what would happen if the people turned away from the Lord. Now, in Daniel's confession, there were several requests that he made of the Lord. I've identified three. The first is in verse 16. Oh Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city, Jerusalem, The first request is the removal of wrath. In our culture, even in church culture, we have often sanitized God. We've decided what attributes of God are acceptable and which are not acceptable. It is acceptable for God to be loving, but it's not much acceptable for him to be wrathful. Therefore, you don't hear much about the wrath of God. We don't hear too many sermons, even on the cleansing of the temple by Jesus when he made a whip and drove the animals and the merchants out of the temple. Why? It sounds too much like Jesus was angry. Daniel understood the reality of the wrath of God. He had seen the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. He knew God's anger was nothing to be trifled with. If you believe the wrath of God was only in the Old Testament and that God's wrath is no longer a matter of concern, go read the book of Revelation. We will never understand how holy God is without acknowledging his anger and his wrath. We can never understand the full beauty of the gospel either until we understand the holiness of God and the greatness of the offense he takes against sin and evil. If a person believes there's little to be saved from, they have a low estimation of the gospel, the good news of salvation. Now the second request of Daniel is seen in verse 17. Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. So his second request was that the temple be restored to its former glory and regular worship established there. Again, the third request is in verse 19. O Lord, hear, O Lord, forgive. Ultimately, Daniel sought forgiveness from the Lord. If the Lord, Daniel knew, if the Lord forgave the people, Daniel knew the Lord would restore Jerusalem according to the promise given Jeremiah the prophet. Remember, according to our theme verse, forgiveness is always at our fingertips. When we confess our sins, we have his forgiveness. Now Daniel, in his prayer confession, Was very penitent and very humble, but he did have confidence that the Lord would answer him. Found a couple reasons why Daniel had confidence that the Lord would answer first in verse 17. Now, therefore, oh our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy and for your own sake. Oh Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. First of all, Daniel knew that for the Lord to restore Jerusalem would bring glory and honor to the Lord. He would be glorified in the restoration of Jerusalem. When the people looked and saw the temple being rebuilt and restored in Jerusalem, they would say, what a mighty God this Lord is. And they would honor the name of the Lord. The same thought is repeated in verse 19. Oh Lord, hear. Oh Lord, forgive. Oh Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not for your own sake, oh my God, because your city and your people are called by your name. The Lord's honor was at stake in Jerusalem because the Lord's name was associated with Jerusalem and with the temple. Daniel's second reason for confidence is found in verse 18. We do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. And when we come to the Lord in confession, it's never presenting a sales pitch to God. Oh, Lord, remember, I gave five extra percent on my tithe, and I, don't forget, I served on the budget committee, and I did witness to that coworker. Our hope is always in God's mercy. It's not in our worthiness. Ultimately, we have very little to offer God on the way of good works. I know that's not popular, but We really have very little to offer God on the way of good works. What can you give to God today that he can't already get from his angels? The only thing is that he wants our heart. He can't get that from his angels. Our heart is given to God when we come to him in humble recognition of our sin and in contrite requests for his merciful forgiveness. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. Oh God, you will not despise, but God will despise the proud. The Lord rejects the proud who come to him declaring their own righteousness. Anyone coming to God declaring their own righteousness belittles the work of Jesus, which he did on the cross of Calvary at such a great cost. Many religions are based on finding God through my own good works. God has determined that we find him through his mercy. The third hope Daniel had in his confession is in verse 23. We haven't read that yet, so let's read starting at verse 20 and reading through verse 23. 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 understand, speaking with me and saying, O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight in 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. The Lord's love is why we have hope that the Lord will hear us in our confession. Ultimately, God's love is the bedrock hope we all have. The love of God undergirds all the benefits we receive from him. It's the great hope which enables our salvation. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. The love of God sent Jesus to earth. The love of God, the love of Jesus was why he came. It is the love of God that moves him to forgive us and to cleanse us when we come to him in sincere confession. A message brought to Daniel by Gabriel was really a very beautiful message of unmerited favor. Daniel was on his knees in great distress because of all his shortcomings, distressed because of all the evil and the sins and the dirt that he observed in his life and in the life of his people. But Gabriel said, Daniel, you are greatly loved. Finally, today we come to the response that came to Daniel's confession. Daniel said that, while I was in the act of praying, I was still confessing my sins and the sins of the people. And I was still presenting pleas to the Lord when Gabriel came in swift flight as an answer to prayer. Daniel called him the man Gabriel, but that indicates that Gabriel had the appearance of a man, but really we have to understand this as the angel Gabriel coming to Daniel in swift flight from the heavenly realms. Verse 23, it's a very tender, beautiful verse. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy, a word went out and I have come to tell it to you. The prayer of Daniel was being answered from the very beginning of his confession, the very beginning of his plea. Because of God's mercy, he does not delay his answers. He won't delay you either when you confess because you are also greatly loved. The love of God that Daniel experience was not a special love for Daniel, not available to other people. God's nature is love. God didn't love Daniel because Daniel had special skills or a special attitude. God loves because love is integral to his character. He loved the world so much that he gave his son to provide eternal life, and after all, you are part of the world. But in order to experience God's love, you will need to confess your sins on a regular basis. Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear Isaiah 59 too. And 1 John 1, 9 tells us, how to remove that separation, that separation that we feel between God and ourselves. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And Daniel gave us a wonderful picture of what that confession looks like. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do come to you today, not in self-righteousness. We come to you as persons in very grave need of Jesus Christ and of forgiveness brought through him. We come in need of the power of the Holy Spirit. We come in need of your mercy. And we come, Father, bringing the promise that if we confess our sins, that you are just and that you will forgive us and that you will cleanse us. Father, I pray for this morning for anyone who in particular has a certain sin in their life that has been plaguing them. I pray, Father, that they would respond to your great love and bringing that sin to you in confession. and that they would experience your forgiveness, that they would experience your cleansing. I ask, Father, that you would be with us as we continue to worship this morning. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.