A. Introduction

In Christianity Today, Wendy Murray Zoba says that one of the more effective evangelistic tools that Campus Crusade for Christ has developed is the Jesus film. She writes: “Several years ago in Peru, during the insurgence of the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), a Wycliffe couple was travelling to show the film in a village. Their vehicle was intercepted by the Senderos, and they feared for their lives (with just cause). Instead of killing them, however, the terrorists decided to seize their equipment, including the film projector. The husband boldly suggested that they might as well take the film reels too.

Some time later, a man contacted them to say that he had been among the Senderos who had robbed them. He told them they watched the film seven times (out of sheer boredom), and some had been converted through it. He came to apologize and to tell of his ministry in preaching and evangelism.”²⁴

B. Translation of Passage in NET

1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 1:17 For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, “the righteous by faith will live.”

C. Full Exegetical Outline

Idea: The reason Paul is not ashamed of the gospel is because it reveals the very righteousness of God and as such is able to save those who trust in it alone.

I. The reason Paul is not ashamed of the gospel is because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, including the Jew first, then the Gentile (1:16).

A. Paul is not ashamed of the gospel (1:16a).

B. The gospel is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes (1:16b).

C. The gospel is for the Jew first, then for the Gentile (1:16c).

II. The reason the gospel is God’s saving power to everyone who believes is because it reveals the righteousness of God—a righteousness which is by faith alone, a fact which is confirmed in the OT (1:17)

A. The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith (1:17a).

B. It is written in the OT that the righteous by faith will live (1:17b).

D. Simple Point Outline

I. The Gospel: God’s Power to Save Everyone (16)

A. The Gospel is God’s Power to Save (16a)

B. The Gospel Saves Everyone Who Believes (16b)

II. The Gospel: The Revelation of God’s Righteousness and the Response of Faith (17)

A. The Gospel: The Revelation of God’s Righteousness (17a)

B. The Gospel: The Only Response—Faith (17b)

E. Exposition Proper

In 1:16-17 Paul tells us why he is unashamed of the gospel and eager to preach it, not only in Rome (1:15), but everywhere he goes. The reason is that the gospel is the power of God to save everyone who believes; it is the very revelation of the righteousness of God!

1:16 Paul says that he is not ashamed of the gospel for it is God’s power to save the person who believes, whether Jew or Gentile (though the Jew had special privilege in the outworking of God’s plan).

The term for (γάρ, gar) draws verse 16 and verse 15 together, the latter giving an explanation for Paul’s desires mentioned in the former. The fact that Paul is convinced that the gospel is the power of God for salvation and is, therefore, not ashamed of it, naturally leads to his desire to preach God’s truth in Rome. The stress in the “for” is not so much on the fact that the gospel is for everyone (including the Romans), as true as that might be, but rather on its efficacy in saving those who believe.

But why does Paul say that he is not ashamed (οὐ ἐπαισχύνομαι, ou...epaischunomai) of the gospel? In the next clause he says that it is because it is the power of God for salvation. But this does not tell us precisely why he is not ashamed, only that he has no need to be, for whatever reason, since the gospel is the expression of God’s power. Therefore, since it is somewhat unclear, some have contended that the “shame” concerns the nature of the gospel itself. After all, to the outsider the gospel sounds like nothing more than the death of a Jewish carpenter, who himself was part of a small, somewhat insignificant, nation under Roman dominion. In light of Paul’s visit to the capital city, a so-called gospel that included these facts might have seemed insignificant, i.e., something to be “ashamed of” (cf. Mark 8:38; 2 Tim 1:8). 

While this explanation may form part of the answer, it seems that another related solution presents itself in the book and better fits the second explanatory clause in 1:16. In 6:1, 15, the apostle is warding off the possible conclusion that the gospel leads to antinomianism, i.e., the perception that “belief in the gospel of God’s grace leads to a life of fleshly indulgence.” In other words, “if you believe a gospel that is apparently antithetical to the law, and doesn’t demand continuous works of the law, you will of necessity become lawless.” This lawlessness, of course, would be something to be ashamed of. But, here in the opening of the letter, Paul wants to make it clear that his gospel is able to deliver the believer from sin; it is nothing less than the power of God and for that reason he is not ashamed. This explanation seems more likely in light of the explanatory clause. Let’s turn there now.

The second use of the term for (γάρ, gar) indicates that Paul is not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of the one who believes. Power (δύναμις, dunamis) and salvation (σωτηρία, sōtēria) were terms common in Hellenistic religion, though Paul’s background here is probably to be found in the OT (cf. 1:2-4). Such a rich OT background includes God’s power and deliverance evident throughout his dealings with Israel and now in the gospel, the message concerning the foolishness of the cross (1 Cor 1:18). “Salvation” includes both the negative aspect of being forgiven for all sin and delivered from the penalty of sin, but it also includes in it the positive idea of personal relationship with God, i.e., the restoration of a relationship previously ruined through sin (Rom 5:10-11). According to Paul, it is only the message of the cross that affects the power of God and restores the relationship between sinner and Lord.

But this power leading to a restored relationship with God is not operative in everyone, but only in everyone who believes (πάντι τ῅ πιστεύοντι, panti tō pisteuonti). As Paul will make abundantly clear throughout the letter to the Romans, salvation is by faith alone (cf. Romans 3:21-31; 4:1-25). And since all men are sinners (3:9-20), and the gospel deals with the issue of sin and alienation from God (5:1-11), all men are freely offered the gospel irrespective of nationality, religion, sex, education, etc. Those who trust in the gospel of God concerning his son will experience the power of God for salvation. Thus the offer is universal, but participation is limited to those who trust.

1:17 The word for (γάρ, gar) takes us back to the preceding idea in v. 16 about the gospel being the power of God for salvation. How is that so? Paul knows that the gospel saves because it reveals the righteousness of God (δικαιοσύνη θεου`, dikaiosunē theou). We may understand the expression “righteousness of God” in a broad sense referring both to God’s saving activity (the incarnation/cross/exaltation/Spirit) and the resultant status of those who have been saved; they are now in a right relationship with him. The stress, however, falls on the latter idea here and on the former in Romans 3:21-26. It is not simply a reference to God’s character, though all that he does in saving men and women flows from his righteous character.

The expression from faith to faith (ἐκ πίστεως εἰς πίστιν, ek pisteōs eis pistin) has been variously interpreted throughout the history of the church: (1) from the faith of OT saints to the faith of NT saints; (2) from an immature faith to a more mature faith; (3) from a Law-oriented faith to a gospel-oriented faith; (4) from the faith of the preacher to the faith of the hearers; (5) from present faith to a future, deeper faith; 6) from God’s faithfulness to man’s faith, etc. All these have some truth in them, but fail to deal adequately with the connection of this statement with the following quotation from Habakkuk. In the OT, the point of Habakkuk’s comment is that it is only by sheer faith that one can ever comprehend the seemingly difficult things God does and this is probably the sense here in Romans 1:17. There is a parallel in 2 Cor 2:16. There Paul says, in reference to non-Christian responses to both the gospel and his ministry that he is to some the smell of “death unto death.” His comment is intended to be rhetorical where “death unto death” means sheer death. Thus we may say that, by the phrase from faith to faith, Paul is simply arguing that it is by faith and faith alone that one receives this righteous status and understands God’s work of saving sinners.

Paul argues that his doctrine of “the righteousness of God by faith,” is anticipated in the Old Testament just as (καθὼς, kathōs) the quotation from Habakkuk 2:4 argues. There are several complexities involved in understanding the precise meaning of Paul’s citation of Hab 2:4 (and we cannot go into them here), but its immediate function is to substantiate the claim that the gospel is appropriated only by faith. It is enough to say that by faith is probably to be taken with the righteous rather than will live as we have translated it. (But cf. the Greek OT and the Hebrew text which take by faith with will live).

Thus the point Paul is making is that the person who is righteous by faith, will live. Paul uses this text in a way somewhat different than it is understood in the OT and the reader is urged to compare the two. Nonetheless, the meaning of the text in Hab 2:4 and that in Rom 1:17, are, in the end, not that disparate. The point in both cases is that sheer faith is the key to grasping God’s work in any situation, i.e., whether his work involves a ruthless invading army or Christ’s atoning work on the cross!

To conclude, we may also point out that many scholars have also suggested that the citation of Habakkuk stands as a title or outline for the book. Some have said that the expression “the righteous by faith” would then refer to the ideas in 1:18-4:25, and “will live” to those in 5:1-8:39. Though it is difficult to say for certain, and beyond the scope of this commentary, a close study of the text tends to confirm this thesis or something very similar.

F. Homiletical Idea and Outline

Idea: Do not be ashamed of the Gospel…

I. Because it is the power of God to save any person who trusts (1:16).

A. The Gospel concerning Christ is the power of God.

B. Every Person who trusts in him will be saved.

II. Because it reveals the righteousness of God—a righteousness by faith alone (1:17).

A. The Gospel of God reveals the righteousness of God.

B. The Gospel of God is received by faith alone.

G. Contribution of the Passage to Systematic Theology

The text has several interpretive difficulties in it with differing viewpoints among the commentators. This does not mean that we cannot use it in developing our systematic theology, only that we must do so with some caution.

The passage contributes to our bibliology for it expresses ideas about God’s definitive revelation in Christ and the preaching of the gospel. It also involves the use of an OT text which is connected to our bibliology and our hermeneutics.²⁵ We will want to ask how Paul is using the Habakkuk text, what it means, and how his hermeneutical decisions should impact our own interpretive methods.

The passage contributes to our soteriology in at least two ways. First, if included in the idea of “the righteousness of God” is the new status the sinner enters into, then we have here the concept of positional truth, that is, truth about my new “standing” before God (e.g., “to be declared [not made] righteous,” as in Romans 5:1-2). Second, if “from faith to faith” means “by sheer faith” or “faith alone”—and I think it does—then we have here a positive statement about the necessity for a complete and pure trust in Christ and a negative statement (by inference) about placing any trust in our own good works—religious or otherwise—for salvation (cf. Rom 3:21-16; Eph 2:8-9). Of course, this theme of “faith vs. works” for salvation and Christian growth runs throughout the epistle, but is dealt with explicitly in texts such as 4:1-25.

H. Contribution of the Passage to Discipleship and Church Mission

We must keep the response to the gospel centered on genuine faith and we must never forget that it is the gospel of God that is powerful to save, not our evangelistic methods nor our abilities to package the gospel in ways a non-believer can understand (as important as these things are, cf. 1 Cor 9:19-23). God can make fools of us in the twinkling of an eye if we start to rely on anything other than him in the preaching of the gospel.

---

²⁴ Wendy Murray Zoba, “Bill Bright’s Wonderful Plan for the World,” Christianity Today, no. 14 (July 1997), 24; as cited in Larson, Choice Contemporary Stories and Illustrations, 103.

²⁵ “Bibliology” concerns the study of the Bible, including such topics as “revelation,” “inspiration,” “inerrancy,” and “canonicity,” among others. Hermeneutics is often described as the art and science of interpretation. Thus, it is important to discern the use of an OT citation such as Habakkuk 2:4 in Romans 1:17 because it may help us in two areas: (1) to understand how the testaments relate to each other (i.e., promise –fulfillment, continuity-discontinuity, etc.); and (2) how we should interpret the Bible. This last point is related to the first, but involves complicated discussions that space will not allow for here.  

March 6, 2016

I recently got an email from a woman who had read one of my sermons online. She asked for my counsel regarding a friend who is a part of “a very anointed church where the rich word of God is preached and the rich presence of God descends and the Lord is adding numbers and the church is growing in glory and fame.” But she went on to say that the pastor there “has a weakness,” where he engages in immoral relationships with the inner circle of women disciples.

He invited her friend to be in that circle and then made advances toward her, which she resisted. She excused herself from this team and broke off all contact with this pastor. But her friend was wondering whether it was scriptural to cut off all contact with him, since, in her words, “He is a very, very anointed man whom God is using mightily.” She added that her friend is planning to continue in the same church, as there are not many churches in that part of the world (which, I learned, is India).

I replied that in spite of outward appearances, this man is not in any way anointed by the Holy Spirit. Rather, he is like the false teachers described in 2 Peter 2 and in Jude. I told her that her friend should leave that church immediately and take as many of her friends with her as she can.

But sadly, that same story could be told in just about every country where the church is found, including the United States. We regularly see scandals in the news involving well-known pastors and church leaders. In his recent book, Strange Fire [Thomas Nelson, 2013], John MacArthur documents numerous moral scandals involving various Pentecostal and Charismatic leaders. One such was Lonnie Frisbee, who was instrumental in the early development of both Calvary Chapel and the Vineyard. It finally became public that he had been a practicing homosexual, a fact that had been well-known to his friends and fellow charismatic ministers. He died of AIDS in 1993 (ibid., pp. 60-61, 287, note 8).

Back in 1988, Leadership Journal [Winter, 1988, pp. 12-13, 24] reported that almost one fourth of pastors admitted to doing something “sexually inappropriate” with someone other than their spouse since entering the ministry. Twelve percent specified that the inappropriate behavior was adultery. Twenty percent of pastors said that they looked at sexually oriented media at least monthly (before the Internet existed!). Among readers of Christianity Today (an evangelical magazine), 23 percent of those who are not pastors admitted to having committed adultery.

Since then, moral values in our culture have not improved. Recently, The Barna Group found that 56 percent of people under age 25 think that not recycling is wrong, but only 32 percent think that viewing porn is wrong! The same survey found that nearly half of young people actively seek out porn monthly or more often. In the church, 21 percent of youth pastors and 14 percent of pastors admit they currently struggle with using porn. In light of the 1988 survey that found 20 percent of pastors look at porn at least every month, I suspect that the more recent lower numbers are way underreported.

In addition to sexual sins, the sin of greed is a huge problem in the church. The so-called “prosperity gospel” is thriving not only in America, but all over the world. MacArthur (ibid., pp. 58-59) cites a source that over 90 percent of Pentecostals and Charismatics in Nigeria, South Africa, India, and the Philippines believe that “God will grant material prosperity to all believers who have enough faith.” MacArthur rightly states (p. 59),

The prosperity gospel is more morally reprehensible than a Las Vegas casino because it masquerades as religion and comes in the name of Christ. But like the casinos, it attracts its victims with glitzy showmanship and the allure of instant riches. After devouring their last cent, like a spiritual slot machine, it sends them home worse off than when they came.

In view of the immoral, greedy world that we live in, to which many professing Christians have succumbed, Paul’s words in our text dealing with sex, greed, and Christians become quite relevant:

As Christians we must radically separate ourselves from all sexual immorality and greed.

Paul begins this chapter with the sublime theme that we must seek and set our minds on the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, where our life is now hidden with Christ in God. But now he abruptly moves into the seamy subjects of sex and greed! He joins the two subjects with “therefore,” showing that there is a close connection between these two seemingly disjointed themes. He’s saying that the fact of our new identity with the risen Lord Jesus Christ is the basis for a godly life of separation from all sexual immorality and greed. In other words, we need to be in actual practice what God says we are in spiritual truth. If we are in fact raised up with Christ in heaven, we need live like it on earth.

We will look at Paul’s command; the subject of his command; the consequences if his command is disobeyed; and, the hope behind his command.

1. The command: Radical separation from sin.

Usually I like the New American Standard Bible. But here the translators varied from their normal literal approach and took an interpretive approach, relegating the literal translation to the margin. Paul is not saying, “Consider your body dead to sin” (as he does in Rom. 6:11), but rather, “Put to death your members on earth.” The parallel text is not Romans 6:11, but rather Romans 8:13, “If you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

But what does Paul mean when he says, “Put to death the members which are on earth”? He is using the term, “members which are on earth” as a figure of speech (metonymy, “the use of one thing for another with which it is associated”) to refer to sins which stem from our old nature, but are associated with our bodies. In American English we have a saying, “Don’t give me any of your lip!” We’re using “lip” as a metonymy to represent the words which come forth from our lips. So when Paul says, “Put to death your members on earth,” he means, “Kill all sexual sins and all your greed, which come from your flesh.” Note three things:

A. This is radical terminology!

Paul easily could have said, “Control your sexual impulses.” But instead, he uses shocking, radical language: “Kill your bodily parts when it comes to sexual immorality and greed!” John Owen put it (The Works of John Owen: Temptation and Sin [Banner of Truth], 6:9), “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” Curtis Vaughan (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. by Frank Gaebelein [Zondervan], 11:211) says:

The verb ... is very strong. It suggests that we are not simply to suppress or control evil acts and attitudes. We are to wipe them out, completely exterminate the old way of life. “Slay utterly” may express its force. The form of the verb ... makes clear that the action is to be undertaken decisively, with a sense of urgency. Both the meaning of the verb and the force of the tense suggest a vigorous, painful act of personal determination.

I’ve heard Bible teachers say that we already died with Christ, so we don’t need to put ourselves to death. We just need to consider ourselves dead to sin (Rom. 6:11). While that’s one side of the truth, it’s not the entire picture. Paul here is using this radical terminology to say, “Lay hold of your sinful nature, wrestle it down, and nail it to the cross! Nothing short of a violent death will do.” And as often as that old nature squirms off the cross and resurrects itself, nail it back again!

The Lord Jesus used similar radical terminology in the context of talking about the sin of mental lust, which He equated with adultery (Matt. 5:29-30):

If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

Did Jesus and Paul mean for us to take this literally? No, because cutting off parts of your body doesn’t solve the problem. You could cut out both eyes, but as long as you have a functioning brain, you would still have a problem with lust. Rather, they meant:

B. Get radical in dealing with your sin.

Jesus taught that all sin begins on the thought level (Mark 7:20-23). No guy ever cheated on his wife without first thinking about it. If he had judged it when the temptation popped into his mind, it wouldn’t have gone any further. By tearing out my eye and cutting off my hand, Jesus meant that I must take radical action to kill my sin on the thought level.

Let’s be honest: It’s easy to play games here. You can look godly outwardly, but be entertaining lustful thoughts that no one else knows about. But that’s like tolerating cracks beneath the surface in a dam. Nobody sees those cracks, but sooner or later, the dam will burst and cause a lot of damage. Remember, nobody ever falls into the sin of sexual immorality without thinking about it for some time beforehand.

So putting to death my earthly members with regard to immorality means forsaking and confessing any lustful thoughts the moment they occur. I must immediately separate myself from those thoughts and acknowledge them to God as sin. It means guarding what I look at in magazines. I sometimes tear pages out of magazines because I want to read the rest of the magazine, but I don’t want to keep being tempted by pictures of seductive women. I would not subscribe to Sports Illustrated because of their yearly swimsuit issue, or if I really wanted to subscribe, I’d have my wife intercept that issue and shred it before I could look at it.

For the same reason, I don’t watch movies rated R for explicit sex or nudity. I don’t have time, but if I did I wouldn’t watch many of the shows now on evening TV. I see the ads for those shows while I watch the evening news as I work out, and seeing the short ads tells me, “Don’t watch those shows!” The sad fact is, I can remember sensual scenes from movies years later, but I can’t remember Bible verses that I worked on last week! So I need to get radical in dealing with my sin. Also,

C. This is radical action that I myself must take.

Paul doesn’t say, “Let go and let God deliver you.” He doesn’t even say, “Pray for deliverance from this sin.” He says, “Put it to death!” It’s a command, directed to each Christian. As I stated earlier, the command is based on the truth about our identity in Christ (Col. 3:1-4). Because of who we are in Christ, we are to take this action. And, we are to do it by the Holy Spirit’s power, relying on Him. But then we must take whatever action is necessary, however radical it may be, to kill our sin. As Paul commands (1 Cor. 6:18), “Flee immorality!” It’s a war that you don’t win by standing and fighting; you win by running in the opposite direction! Even though it cost him his job and landed him in prison, Joseph had the right strategy when he left his coat in the hands of Potiphar’s seductive wife and ran away (Gen. 39:12).

God puts the responsibility for active obedience in sexual purity on me. It’s not an impossible command to obey, or God wouldn’t tell me to do it. It’s not opposed to God’s grace, because His grace instructs us “to deny ungodliness and worldly desires” (Titus 2:11-12). So the command is that I must take whatever radical action is needed to kill my sinful sexual impulses and greed.

2. The subject of the command: All sexual immorality and greed.

Paul lists four sexual sins plus greed, which underlies all sexual sins, but is much broader, since it includes the desire for material possessions also (I plan to focus on it next week). “Immorality” translates the Greek word “porneia,” a broad term for any sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage. This includes sex between unmarried partners, adultery, homosexuality, child molestation, and bestiality. Since all those sins begin in the mind, we must avoid any sort of media that tempts us toward those sins.

“Impurity” is similar to “porneia,” but it also includes impurity of thought as well as deed. It reminds us that sexual sin defiles us. If you’ll excuse a gross illustration, you can’t raise a family without, at times, needing to put your hand into a dirty toilet. We used cloth diapers that needed to be rinsed out. Or, sometimes, one of the kids would drop something into a toilet that already needed to be flushed. When you stick your hand into a dirty toilet, it is defiled. You wouldn’t think of then going about the day without washing it thoroughly with soap and hot water. In the same way, sexual sin defiles us and demands God’s immediate cleansing.

The third and fourth words, “passion,” and “evil desire,” are similar. They both focus on the strong inner emotional lure of sexual sin. Paul elsewhere described such feelings as “burning” (1 Cor. 7:9). These words show that these feelings are not easy to deal with—they are powerful and you’re not usually in a calm, rational state of mind when they burn within! But, if you don’t control them, they will enslave and consume you.

The final word in Paul’s list is “greed,” which he equates with idolatry. Other references mention greed in the same context as sexual sin (Rom. 1:24-32, esp. vs. 29; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Eph. 5:3), because greed is the desire for more so that I can fulfill myself without regard for God or for others. It’s idolatry because I am putting myself in the place of God. All sexual immorality has greed as its motive, because it’s based on personal gratification, not on permanent love and commitment to the other person’s good.

The only reason that the so-called “prosperity” preachers have become so popular worldwide is that neither they nor those who follow them have killed their greed. If we had the biblical view that greed is as serious a sin as sexual immorality, would we even tolerate as Christian some clown who waves his diamond rings at us and boasts of his expensive cars and homes and claims that prosperity is our divine right? Have you ever heard of an American Christian being disciplined by the church because of greed? Kent Hughes (Colossians and Philemon [Crossway], p. 97) cites a proverb that is sadly, often true: “If a man is drunk with wine, we kick him out of the church; if he is drunk with money, we make him a deacon!” Yet Paul says that greed is equal to idolatry. We must put our greed to death!

Paul goes on to show the seriousness of these sins by showing where they lead:

3. The consequence if the command is disregarded: God’s wrath.

Colossians 3:6: “For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience” (some manuscripts lack the last phrase, “upon the sons of disobedience,” which a copyist may have added from the parallel Eph. 5:6). It means that those characterized by these sins will face God’s wrath.

We don’t like to focus on God’s wrath in our day. We’d rather focus on His love. But the Bible is full of references to God’s wrath and His judgment on sin. Jesus spoke frequently about hell and judgment, including the verses we looked at earlier about plucking out your eye and cutting off your hand as better alternatives than hell. He called it a place of outer darkness, of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 25:30), a place of torment and agony (Luke 16:23-24), where “their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). You cannot say that you follow Jesus and yet reject His teaching about hell.

The Bible often connects God’s judgment with sexual sin and greed. God judged Sodom because of sexual immorality and greed (Gen. 19; Ezek. 16:49). Paul wrote (1 Cor. 6:9-10), “Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” Hebrews 13:4 warns, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” Revelation 18 shows Babylon reveling in sexual immorality and greed just before God’s judgment falls.

Those verses should scare you! If they don’t, you may have a warped view of God’s grace. Fear of God’s judgment is a legitimate motivator. It ought to make us think twice before we go with the flow of our sensual, materialistic culture. God’s wrath means that He stands in fierce, settled opposition to such sin. The fact that He hasn’t judged it yet and that evildoers seem to be having a great time doesn’t mean that His judgment is not coming. God gives us such strong warnings because He loves us and doesn’t want us to come to such an awful end. But the warning is clear: those whose lives are characterized by sexual immorality and greed are not God’s people. They stand in danger of His awful wrath! “Do not be deceived” (1 Cor. 6:9)!

But, thankfully, because our text does so, I can end on a note of hope:

4. The hope behind the command: God can deliver those enslaved to lust and greed.

Colossians 3:7: “and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.” “Walked” and “living in them” show that these were not occasional sins, but rather the former way of life for many of these new believers. But the good news is, “walked” and “living” are past tense. As Paul wrote after warning the Corinthians about many sexual sins (including homosexuality) and greed (1 Cor. 6:11), “Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

No matter how enslaved to sexual immorality, greed, or any other sin you may be, there is hope if you will come to the cross of Jesus Christ. God’s wrath and love met at the cross. Jesus bore the wrath of God’s judgment on the cross so that God could freely pour out His love on those who put their trust in Christ’s shed blood. As Paul testified (1 Tim. 1:15), “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.” No sinner is beyond the reach of God’s grace through the cross! Believe in Jesus and you can be assured of God’s complete forgiveness!

Conclusion

Alexander Maclaren, a 19th century British preacher, illustrated our text by describing a man who was working at a machine and got his fingers caught between the rollers. The machine begins to suck in his hand and in another minute his arm and then his whole body will be flattened to a shapeless, bloody mass. The man grabs an axe lying nearby and with his other arm, hacks off his own hand at the wrist. It’s not easy or pleasant, but it’s the only alternative to a horrible death. (Cited by Vaughan, p. 211.)

It’s a gruesome picture, but it illustrates the truth that we can’t play around with a little bit of sexual sin or greed. If you’re already involved in these sins or even if you’re just secretly entertaining them in your mind, God is telling you what you must do: Cut it off, put it to death, radically separate yourself from it—before it sucks you in to destruction! Do it in light of your new identity in Christ. Do it in the power of the Holy Spirit. But, do it!

Application Questions

1. Should Christians fear God’s wrath? Do we take it seriously enough?
2. Since we can’t isolate ourselves, how much should we allow ourselves and our children to be exposed to the sexual immorality which permeates our culture?
3. How could you practically help a professing Christian enslaved to sexual immorality?
4. What are some ways we overlook or even encourage greed? How can we fight it?

Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2016, All Rights Reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

Introduction

A friend and neighbor called recently to say she had suffered a stroke in one eye. When I went to see her, she asked me to have a cup of coffee. As she poured from the coffee pot, we both noticed the coffee was missing the cup. The stroke had taken my friend’s vision from one eye, seriously affecting her perception.

God gave us the sight of two eyes so that we might have depth perception. When one eye is lost, depth perception is greatly diminished. In photography, this is called “depth of field.” When under certain conditions, an object is photographed with the background out of focus and fuzzy, we say it has no “depth of field.” Under different conditions, a picture may be taken with a clear, sharp background and with good “depth of field.”

Men who live independently of God, go about their lives one-eyed, able to only see what is immediately before them. They have no “depth of field.” It is easy to understand the “now generation;” they cannot see beyond the present. Prophecy puts present-day living in the context of future certainties. Prophecy is God’s way of giving the Christian “depth of field.”

In the ninth chapter of Daniel, Daniel concludes that the 70-year period of Israel’s captivity is virtually over, and that return of Jews to their own land is imminent. With this hope, Daniel begins to pray for himself and his people. His prayer of confession and petition is answered, but certainly not in a way Daniel would have expected. God sent Gabriel, His angel, to give Daniel understanding and insight into the vision he had received, enabling him to see the near future in perspective. God wanted Daniel to understand the relationship between Israel’s soon return to the land and the rebuilding of the temple—in the light of God’s promise to restore His people and establish His kingdom on the earth. God wanted Daniel to know that Israel’s imminent return to the land was not the coming of the kingdom of God.

Chapter 9 is a truly rich portion of Scripture. Daniel’s prayer is a model worthy of our study, our meditation, and our imitation. Gabriel’s appearance and announcement provides Daniel and his reader with an increasing level of understanding of the vision God had previously revealed. Verses 24-27 begin to spell out future events in detail rather than with vague, mysterious symbols. While all may not agree on the meaning of these verses, all Christians would agree they provide very specific information concerning the last times. For the first time in Daniel’s prophecy, the suffering and death of Messiah is introduced.

These inspired words of prophecy speak of the days to come. They also speak of the coming Messiah, through whom God will provide the forgiveness of sins and bring to earth the kingdom of God. They speak of the hope which lies ahead for every believer. They speak of those future certainties which put present events in perspective.

The Structure of the Text

Three major divisions comprise this ninth chapter of Daniel: the introduction in verses 1-3; Daniel’s prayer in verses 4-19; and the appearance and announcement of Gabriel in verses 20-27. The chapter may be outlined as follows:

(1) The setting Verses 1-3

(2) Daniel’s prayer Verses 4-19

• Daniel’s prayer of confession Verses 4-15
• Daniel’s prayer of petition Verses 16-19

(3) Gabriel’s arrival and announcement Verses 20-27

• Gabriel’s arrival Verses 20-23
• Gabriel’s announcement Verses 24-27

The Setting
(9:1-3)

1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. 3 So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

Daniel tells us the events of this chapter occur during the “first year of Darius.” This is a significant time indicator. It means that Belshazzar has already died, the Babylonian empire has ended, and the Medo-Persian empire has now taken its place (see chapter 5). Daniel’s words inform us that the events of Daniel 9 must have taken place at least 12 years after he received his second vision in chapter 8. It also means the events of this chapter occur at a time very near that described in Daniel 6, as Daniel was rising to power and prominence and as his peers were arranging to bring about Daniel’s evening in the den of lions.

Could it be that the intrigue of Daniel’s peers in chapter 6, which abused the law to prohibit the practice of Daniel’s faith and led to his persecution, was but a foretaste of the things revealed to Daniel concerning the last days in chapter 9? Could it also be that Daniel’s prayers toward Jerusalem three times a day in chapter 6, which he would not cease to pray, were like his prayer in chapter 9?

Daniel was very conscious of the time because of the prophetic implications. When God created the nation Israel and brought them out of Egypt, He gave them His law and made a covenant with them. He promised to bless His people if they kept His covenant and curse them if they rejected and disobeyed. A part of the curse was the threat of captivity in a foreign land. A part of His promise was Israel’s restoration, if they repented and once again kept His covenant:

27 ‘Yet if in spite of this, you do not obey Me, but act with hostility against Me, 28 then I will act with wrathful hostility against you; and I, even I, will punish you seven times for your sins.… 32 ‘And I will make the land desolate so that your enemies who settle in it shall be appalled over it. 33 ‘You, however, I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become waste. 34 ‘Then the land will enjoy its sabbaths all the days of the desolation, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. 35 ‘All the days of {its} desolation it will observe the rest which it did not observe on your sabbaths, while you were living on it … 38 ‘But you will perish among the nations, and your enemies’ land will consume you. 39 ‘So those of you who may be left will rot away because of their iniquity in the lands of your enemies; and also because of the iniquities of their forefathers they will rot away with them. 40 ‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me— 41 I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies— or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land. 43 ‘For the land shall be abandoned by them, and shall make up for its sabbaths while it is made desolate without them. They, meanwhile, shall be making amends for their iniquity, because they rejected My ordinances and their soul abhorred My statutes. 44 ‘Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so abhor them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. 45 ‘But I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the Lord’” (Leviticus 26:27-28, 32-35, 38-45; cf. also Deuteronomy 28:63-66; 30:1-10; 31:16-18).

Understanding the covenant God made with Israel, and God’s warning that the Israelites would disobey and be taken captive by foreign nations, Solomon anticipated a time when the Jewish captives would turn toward Jerusalem in prayer, expressing the very same kind of prayer recorded in Daniel 9:

46 “When they sin against Thee (for there is no man who does not sin) and Thou art angry with them and dost deliver them to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near; 47 if they take thought in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent and make supplication to Thee in the land of those who have taken them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly’; 48 if they return to Thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and pray to Thee toward their land which Thou hast given to their fathers, the city which Thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for Thy name; 49 then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven Thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause, 50 and forgive Thy people who have sinned against Thee and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against Thee, and make them objects of compassion before those who have taken them captive, that they may have compassion on them 51 (for they are Thy people and Thine inheritance which Thou hast brought forth from Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace), 52 that Thine eyes may be open to the supplication of Thy servant and to the supplication of Thy people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to Thee. 53 “For Thou hast separated them from all the peoples of the earth as Thine inheritance, as Thou didst speak through Moses Thy servant, when Thou didst bring our fathers forth from Egypt, O Lord God” (1 Kings 8:46-53).

The inspired historical account of 2 Chronicles describes the very events God had prophetically foretold:

15 And the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent {word} to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; 16 but they {continually} mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy. 17 Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave {them} all into his hand. 18 And all the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his officers, he brought {them} all to Babylon. 19 Then they burned the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem and burned all its fortified buildings with fire, and destroyed all its valuable articles. 20 And those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath until seventy years were complete. 22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia— in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah— the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also {put it} in writing, saying, 23 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!’” (2 Chronicles 36:15-23).

Specifically, we are informed in the first verses of chapter 9 that Daniel’s prayer in our text was the result of an observation Daniel had made concerning one of Jeremiah’s prophecies. Jeremiah had warned the Jews for years that God’s judgment was coming in the form of the Babylonian captivity. When it came, the false prophets tried to assure the people it would not be for long. Jeremiah warned that the length of Judah’s captivity would be 70 years. After the 70 years of captivity ended, two things would happen: first, the Babylonians would be punished for their severity toward the Jews, and second, the Jews would return to Israel where they would rebuild the temple.

1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, 3 “From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened. 4 “And the Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets again and again, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear, 5 saying, ‘Turn now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and dwell on the land which the Lord has given to you and your forefathers forever and ever; 6 and do not go after other gods to serve them and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will do you no harm.’ 7 “Yet you have not listened to Me,” declares the Lord, “in order that you might provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. 8 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, 9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them a horror, and a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 ‘Moreover, I will take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 ‘And this whole land shall be a desolation and a horror, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 ‘Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation. 13 ‘And I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. 14 ‘(For many nations and great kings shall make slaves of them, even them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands)’” (Jeremiah 25:1-14; see also 29:1-14; Zechariah 1:12-17).

Until now, Daniel could not pray the prayer of chapter 9, for God had commanded the Jews not to pray for Israel (see Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14; 14:11). God had warned the Jews judgment was coming, a warning they ignored. Now, Babylonian captivity was inevitable, irreversible, and non-negotiable. Thus, the Jews were not to pray for Israel but for their captors (Jeremiah 29:7).

But here in chapter 9 in the first year of Darius, the period of divine judgment had ended. Babylon had been judged, and the time for the return of the Jews was drawing near. Now Daniel could pray for his people. He commits himself to pray faithfully, devoting himself to the task.

Is this not amazing? At the very time Daniel devotes himself to this high spiritual calling of prayer, supplication, and fasting on behalf of his people, he also makes significant advancement in his secular ministry of civil service:

1 It seemed good to Darius to appoint 120 satraps over the kingdom, that they should be in charge of the whole kingdom, 2 and over them three commissioners (of whom Daniel was one), that these satraps might be accountable to them, and that the king might not suffer loss. 3 Then this Daniel began distinguishing himself among the commissioners and satraps because he possessed an extraordinary spirit, and the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom (Dan. 6:1-3).

Imagine! Daniel did not set aside his devotion to his job, even though he devoted himself to prayer for his people. Intense prayer for the return and restoration of his people did not require a lack of faithfulness to his job and to the king. With the hope of Israel’s return to their land so bright, we might have expected Daniel to resign his job or at least lag in diligence. He did neither, but remained faithful to his employer and faithful to his God. By remaining faithful to his employer, Daniel remained faithful to His God.

Verses 1-3 have set the scene. With the death of Belshazzar came the end of the Babylonian empire. The rise of Darius to power commenced the Medo-Persian empire. Daniel realizes that the time of Israel’s chastening has ended, and the time for the Jews’ return to the land of Israel is imminent. So he begins to pray for the restoration of the nation Israel. His prayer, recorded in verses 4-19, may be typical of the prayers he faithfully offered up three times a day.

Daniel’s Prayer of Confession
(9:4-15)

4 And I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, and rebelled, even turning aside from Thy commandments and ordinances. 6 “Moreover, we have not listened to Thy servants the prophets, who spoke in Thy name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and all the people of the land. 7 “Righteousness belongs to Thee, O Lord, but to us open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which Thou hast driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against Thee. 8 “Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against Thee. 9 “To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; 10 nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets. 11 “Indeed all Israel has transgressed Thy law and turned aside, not obeying Thy voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him. 12 “Thus He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem. 13 “As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Thy truth. 14 “Therefore, the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice. 15 “And now, O Lord our God, who hast brought Thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and hast made a name for Thyself, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have been wicked (emphasis mine).

While a fuller exposition of the riches of this text is not possible here, we shall seek to highlight the main features of this portion of Daniel’s prayer.

(1) These verses are the expression of Daniel’s repentance and confession of sin, for himself and for his fellow-Jews. Daniel minimizes neither his sin nor the sin of his fellow-Jews. He uses a wide variety of expressions to describe sin in its various manifestations. In verse 5, Daniel says they have “sinned,” “committed iniquity,” “acted wickedly,” “rebelled,” and “turned aside from God’s commandments and ordinances.” In verse 6, he adds that “we have not listened … to the prophets.” In verse 7, Daniel refers to Israel’s “unfaithful deeds.” Israel’s bondage in Babylon is the consequence of her sin. Daniel’s confession mirrors the words of 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 (see above).

(2) The Word of God, as spoken by the prophets and recorded in the Holy Scriptures, is the standard by which Daniel’s sins, and those of his fellow-Israelites, are identified. Just as many terms were employed to describe Israel’s sins, many different terms are used in reference to divine revelation. God gave Israel His “commandments” (verse 4), His “commandments and ordinances” (verse 5), He spoke through the “prophets” (verse 6), “His teachings” (verse 10), His “Law” (verse 11), and the “Law of Moses” (verses 11, 13). God’s revelation was His “truth” (verse 13).

(3) Daniel understands Israel’s Babylonian captivity as the curse which has come upon the Jews because they broke God’s covenant made with them at Mount Sinai (verse 11).

(4) Israel’s sins are seen in contrast to the character of God. Daniel’s consciousness of his own sins, and those of his fellow-Israelites, was the result of his deep sense of the majesty of God as seen by His divine attributes. Consider his prayer: God is “great and awesome,” who “keeps His covenant and lovingkindness” (verse 4). God is not just “righteous in all He has done” (verse 14); “righteousness,” “compassion,” and “forgiveness” “belong to Him” (verses 7, 9). It is one thing to be righteous, forgiving, and compassionate; it is quite another to own these qualities. Owning them means they can only be obtained from God. These qualities are under His control.

(5) Daniel’s confession of sin is precisely what is required of Israel in order to be forgiven and restored.

40 “‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me— 41 I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies— or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land’” (Leviticus 26:40-42; see also 1 Kings 8:46-48).

Daniel’s Prayer of Petition
(9:16-19)

16 “O Lord, in accordance with all Thy righteous acts, let now Thine anger and Thy wrath turn away from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people have become a reproach to all those around us. 17 “So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Thy servant and to his supplications, and for Thy sake, O Lord, let Thy face shine on Thy desolate sanctuary. 18 “O my God, incline Thine ear and hear! Open Thine eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Thy name; for we are not presenting our supplications before Thee on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Thy great compassion. 19 “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Thine own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Thy city and Thy people are called by Thy name.”

Beginning at verse 16, a change is evident in Daniel’s prayer. Consider the following observations which summarize this change and its implications.

(1) Daniel’s prayer in verses 16-19 moves from the confession of verses 4-15 to petition. In the earlier verses of Daniel’s prayer, Daniel asked for nothing. He acknowledged his sins and those of his people. He was agreeing with God’s Word and the righteousness of the judgment He had brought upon the Jews through the instrument of the nation of Babylon.

(2) Daniel’s request is according to God’s promises in Scripture. Daniel understood that the 70 years of captivity prophesied by Jeremiah had been fulfilled and that now Israel could be restored. Just as Daniel’s confession fulfilled the Old Testament requirements for restoration, so did Daniel’s petition. He asked for that which God had promised through the Law and the Prophets.¹⁰¹

(3) Daniel’s petition is God-centered. At least 19 times, reference is made to God, while man is referenced approximately 11 times. Somehow, whether in confession or in petition, we always seem to find a way to make our prayers man-centered. In confession, we focus on our sins, while Daniel focuses on God’s righteousness. In petition, we focus on our needs, while Daniel focuses on God’s purposes and His glory.

(4) Daniel’s petitions are made in accordance with God’s character. Daniel has already acknowledged that God acted consistently with His character when He disciplined Israel by giving them over to the Babylonians. Now, Daniel appeals to God to act in accordance with His mercy and compassion, and His love for His people and His chosen place.

(5) Daniel’s request is for God to act in His own best interest and glory. An alarming tendency exists in Christian circles (often in contemporary Christian music) of thinking of God as being “there for me.” The fact is we are “here for Him.” He is using all creation, all mankind, for His glory. This includes both the salvation of His elect and the condemnation of the rest. Daniel’s petition is not for God to act in the way that best “meets man’s needs” (as perceived by man), but rather for God to act in His own best interest. When we act in our own best interest, it is almost always at the expense of others. But when God acts in His own best interest, it is always for the good of His own (see Romans 8:28). Daniel therefore petitions God to act for His sake (verses 17, 19). I wonder how radical would be the change in our prayer life if we petitioned God as Daniel has done.

(6) Daniel’s request is for grace, mercy, and compassion. Daniel realizes that Israel’s return, restoration, and future blessings are contingent upon God’s forgiveness. In this prayer, as it must have been in all of Daniel’s prayers and should be in all our prayers, sinful men cannot ask for anything but grace and mercy. Daniel’s petition is not on the basis of any merit of their own that he beseeches God to answer (verse 18). Some today would think this particular situation surely justifies a “name it and claim it” approach to God’s promises. Daniel did not think so. He did not claim anything. He pleaded for mercy, as any sinner should and must do.

(7) Daniel’s request is for more than what God is going to accomplish in the Jewish Babylonian captives’ return to their land. In the Old Testament Law and in the prophets, God promised to establish His eternal kingdom, a kingdom in which men would be perfectly restored, and in which righteousness would dwell. The promise of Israel’s return to the land of Canaan and the assurance that the temple would be rebuilt must have raised Daniel’s hopes that the end of this 70 year period of divine judgment meant the soon coming of the kingdom of God to the earth. This was not to be the case, and the appearance and announcement of Gabriel was meant to make this clear.

The Appearance of Gabriel
(9:20-23)

20 Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21 while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. 22 And he gave me instruction and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. 23 “At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.”

Gabriel’s appearance interrupted Daniel who was still praying. With this fact and in the angel’s own words, Gabriel’s appearance and announcement was in answer to Daniel’s prayers. There is a clear link between Daniel’s prayer and Gabriel’s prophetic announcement.

More than this, I believe there is a very clear connection between the arrival and announcement of Gabriel in chapter 9 and the vision Daniel received in chapter 8, even though it happened 12 or more years earlier. Gabriel appears by name in both chapters (8 and 9) and here only.¹⁰² The focus of both chapters 8 and 9 is on Israel, the last days, the opposition of the “little horn,” and the “suffering of the saints.”

When Daniel received his vision of the “ram” and the “goat” in chapter 8, he could not understand it. Gabriel was instructed to explain the vision to Daniel, but even after he had done so, the vision was still a mystery to him. The closing words of chapter 8 underscore this:

Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days. Then I got up again and carried on the king’s business; but I was astounded at the vision, and there was none to explain it (Daniel 8:27).

When Gabriel appears in chapter 9, it is a number of years later. Gabriel’s first appearance came rather early in the reign of Belshazzar. Gabriel’s second appearance to Daniel came after the death of Belshazzar (see chapter 5) and in the first year of the reign of Darius. Gabriel’s first appearance to Daniel came in the actual vision with Gabriel standing near to Daniel. During his second appearance, Gabriel did not come as a part of any vision. He informed Daniel that he had been instructed to come to give him “insight with understanding” (9:22), so that he could “gain understanding of the vision” (9:23).

What vision? What vision was Gabriel’s appearance and announcement going to help Daniel to understand? No new vision is given to Daniel in chapter 9. Therefore, the vision Gabriel came to further explain and clarify was the vision of chapter 8. Daniel told us he did not understand it after Gabriel’s first explanation (8:27). Now we are told that Gabriel has come to give Daniel insight to understand it. It is therefore now necessary for Daniel to understand the vision which eluded him for 12 years; Gabriel appears a second time to give a more complete explanation of its meaning.

The Announcement of Gabriel
(9:24-27)

24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. 25 “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27 “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

Years earlier, when Daniel experienced the vision of the ram and the goat (chapter 8), the meaning of this prophecy remained a mystery, even though Gabriel had given Daniel an explanation. Now, in light of the end of the 70 years of captivity, the overthrow of the Babylonian empire, and the soon return of the Jews to Israel, the meaning of this vision became more important. We are told three times in chapter 8, that the vision pertains to the end times (8:17, 19, 26). The return of the captive Jews to their own land was not a part of the events of the end times. The return and restoration of Israel was not the commencement of the kingdom of God. And so Gabriel’s announcement to Daniel focuses on the vision of chapter 8 to show that the events in the near future were not to be viewed as the beginning of the end.

Daniel’s attention was fixed on the period of 70 years which came to an end with the overthrow of the Babylonian empire. Gabriel speaks not of these 70 years but of 70 weeks.¹⁰³ Would Daniel and others think it was but a 70 year wait for the promised kingdom? It was 70 times 7. If 490 years must pass before some of the promises pertaining to the kingdom were fulfilled, then no one should confuse Israel’s soon return to their land to be the commencement of the kingdom.

The timing of the kingdom needed clarification, but also the nature of the kingdom, especially the prerequisites for it, needed further explanation. The kingdom of God would indeed commence, but not with the return to the land of Israel, nor with the building of the temple. It would not even begin with the repentance of the nation Israel. Before the kingdom of God could come to the earth, there must be a solution to the great human dilemma of sin.

In verse 24, Gabriel informed Daniel that 70 weeks had been decreed “to finish the transgression,” “to make an end of sin,” “to make atonement for iniquity,” and “to bring in everlasting righteousness.” In his prayer, recorded in verses 4-19, Daniel confessed his sins and those of his people. But confession did not remove these sins nor produce the righteousness required for men to live in the presence of a holy God. Gabriel let Daniel know that after the passing of 490 years, the spiritual foundation for the kingdom of God would be laid. This foundation was the removal of sin and the provision of everlasting righteousness.

Verses 25-27 introduce the two main players and the major events which bring about the end of sin, of human kingdoms, and bring in everlasting righteousness and the kingdom of God. The imminent issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem would be a milestone in Jewish history. It would not commence the kingdom of God, but it would begin the count down for the commencement of that kingdom. After 483 years (62 weeks plus 7 weeks), the city of Jerusalem and the temple would be rebuilt, not with ease but in times of distress. At this time, the promised Messiah will be “cut off” and apparently left with nothing. All hope of His becoming the King appears to be shattered with His being “cut off.”

Another prince will arise, the counterpart of the Messiah. While the Messiah-Prince is “cut off” and His ascent to the throne of the kingdom seems thwarted, the other “prince” appears to prevail and to possess the earth and its peoples. The holy city and the sanctuary (the temple) will be destroyed by followers of this “prince.” The holy place seems to come to an end much like that of the Messiah. Like a flood, the destruction and desolation of the city and the temple come upon it. There is a time of war, and desolation is inevitable.

The “prince” then makes a firm covenant with the masses for “a week” (or 7 years). This covenant seems to put men at ease and give them a false sense of confidence and security. In the middle of this time period, however, the “prince” breaks his covenant, putting a stop to the regular sacrifices and offerings. This prince comes “on the wing of abominations” and makes everything he comes into contact with desolate. He will bring about destruction. This destruction comes about by divine permission because it is a part of the divine plan.

In the fewest words possible, Daniel speaks of the sudden destruction of this evil prince. It is a destruction that has been divinely decreed. It is a complete destruction. The “one who makes desolate” is suddenly destroyed.

Conclusion

What Gabriel has to say in these few verses is not really new. It is but a further explanation of the vision Daniel received in chapter 8. Both Daniel 8 and Daniel 9:24-27 speak of the same events related to the last days, the end.

Gabriel is the interpreter in chapters 8 and 9. In both chapters, events concerning the end time are described—the same events. The little horn of chapter 8 is the “prince” of chapter 9, who concentrates his attention on the “beautiful land” of Israel (8:9) and who opposes and destroys some of the “host of heaven” (8:10) and the “holy people” (8:24; 9:24). He is the one who opposes even the Messiah, the Prince of princes, and by means of whom the Messiah is “cut off” (8:25; 9:25-26). He is also the one who “removes the regular sacrifice” (8:12), who puts a stop to “sacrifice and grain offering” (9:27). In the end, he is “broken without human agency” (8:25), as this one who makes desolate is suddenly and completely destroyed (9:27).¹⁰⁴

The end times and the coming of God’s eternal kingdom were not imminent for Daniel or his fellow-Israelites. Certain necessary events had to precede the coming of the kingdom, and these things were not to take place for many years. Sin had to be atoned for and put away. Righteousness had to be provided for those who would enter into God’s kingdom. This was to happen many years in the future through the substitutionary death of the Messiah, who would bear our sins on the cross of Calvary. In order for the Messiah to die, He would have to be opposed and even appear to have lost the struggle. Only after this preparatory work could God’s kingdom come to the earth for His people.

In addition to this, God’s purpose of bringing the good news of salvation to the Gentiles would have to be fulfilled. During the past 2,000 years, the gospel has been proclaimed, and many Gentiles have come to faith in Jesus as the Savior. Soon, when those Gentiles whom God has chosen have been saved, the times of the Gentiles will end, and the events of the last days will commence, leading up to the defeat of God’s foes and the establishment of His eternal kingdom.

Are you ready for the King to come to the earth? Will you stand in the day of judgment? If you have trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior, your Messiah, then you will not fear His coming; you will welcome Him as King. Because Jesus has already paid the penalty for sin and provided the righteousness God requires, all who are in Him by faith do not dread but look forward to His return.

Daniel’s prayer provides a marvelous model for all who would repent and turn to God for salvation. His prayer begins with a recognition of the perfections and holiness of God and a recognition of our own sinfulness. It recognizes God is just in punishing us for our sins. It comes to God not on the basis of our own deeds or righteousness, but on the basis of His character and His covenant. He is merciful and compassionate, so we may come to Him for mercy and grace. He is also the One who has instituted a new covenant through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. All who come to Him for mercy, grace, and salvation through Christ He will not turn away or cast out. There is no other way to come to God and enter into His kingdom. Even the godly man Daniel knew this to be the way.

Just as our Lord suffered in order to enter into His glory, we are called to suffer for His sake before we enter into the glory of His kingdom. There will be persecution and opposition and difficult days ahead. We should not only expect these times, but we should stand firm and endure them. One of the reasons the last days are recorded in Scripture is to let the saints know what to expect so that we might look to Him for the ability to endure. May God give us the grace we need to be faithful in the difficult days ahead.

Chapter 9:
Questions and Answers

(1) What is the structure of Daniel 9? Where does the emphasis of the chapter fall?

Verses 1-3 give us the setting for the events of the chapter; verses 4-19 record the prayer of Daniel; verses 20-27 are an account of Gabriel’s arrival and his announcement of things to come.

The emphasis of this chapter falls on Daniel’s prayer (16 verses), while a lesser emphasis is on the prophecy Daniel received (4 verses).

We should recognize that while more attention is given to Daniel’s prayer, the prophecy of verses 24-27 is one of the key Old Testament messianic prophecies. In these four verses, very specific details are given covering the period from Daniel’s day until the day of the Lord.

(2) What is the setting for Daniel 9?

The events of Daniel 9 take place in the “first year of Darius” (verse 1). From chapter 5, we know that the end of the Babylonian kingdom has come to an end with the death of Belshazzar, and that Darius is the first king of the Medo-Persian empire. From chapter 6, we know that Daniel was looked on with favor by Darius and that he was on his way to the top of the administration with this king. We would also assume that Daniel’s prayer in chapter 9 is typical of the kind of prayer he would not cease making toward Jerusalem, which resulted in his being cast into the den of lions.

(3) What is the basis for Daniel’s prayer in chapter 9?

Daniel’s prayer is occasioned by two major factors: (1) the prophecy of Jeremiah that the Jews would be held captive in Babylon for 70 years, and (2) Daniel’s awareness that this time of judgment had come to a close. While God had forbidden prayer for Israel’s blessing during the time of her judgment (see Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14; 14:11), now that her time of judgment was over, Daniel could pray for the return, restoration, and blessing of his people.

The Old Testament Scriptures also provided Daniel with instruction concerning the content of his prayer. The Law of Moses foretold Israel’s disobedience and her foreign bondage. God also promised to restore His people if they repented of their sins and returned to Him in faith and obedience (See Leviticus 26:27-28, 32-35, 38-45; Deuteronomy 28:63-66; 30:1-10; 31:16-18). Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the temple also spoke of Israel’s future repentance and prayer from the place of their captivity, as they prayed toward Jerusalem and the temple (1 Kings 8:46-53). Jeremiah indicated that when the 70 years of divine judgment was completed, He would punish Babylon and restore His people (Jeremiah 25:1-14). It was on the basis of this and other Old Testament revelation that Daniel prayed.

(4) What are the major elements of Daniel’s prayer in chapter 9?

Daniel’s prayer falls into two major categories: confession (verses 4-15) and petition (verses 16-19). The prayer of confession focused on the character of God, contrasting it with the sinfulness of Daniel and the nation Israel. The prayer of petition is again rooted in the character of God—His grace, mercy, compassion, and faithfulness to His covenant—and in spite of the sinfulness of the Israelites. Daniel made it clear that his petition was not based upon any merit on the part of the Jews. He beseeches God to act in His own best interest.

(5) What relationship is there between the prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 and previous visions and prophecies in Daniel?

I understand the prophecies in Daniel (and the rest of the Scriptures) to be revealed progressively. This means that as one proceeds through the prophecies of Daniel, each adds to what had been revealed by the previous prophecies. Nebuchadnezzar’s vision in Daniel 2 broadly describes the four major Gentile kingdoms up to the coming of Messiah (the stone), who destroys earthly kingdoms and establishes the eternal kingdom of God. Daniel’s vision of the four beasts in chapter 7 is a revelation concerning the same four kingdoms as symbolized by the four portions of the statue in chapter 2. The emphasis in this chapter falls more on the final Gentile kingdom and the eternal kingdom which follows. The vision in chapter 8 dwells on the second and third kingdoms of the previous visions. The “horns” of chapters 7 and 8 begin an emphasis on a king with great power with satanic characteristics, who opposes God, the Messiah, the people of God, and the holy place. He will apparently succeed for a time, but will suddenly be destroyed before the coming of Christ and the establishment of the eternal kingdom.

I understand the revelation of Daniel 9:24-27 to be a further explanation and clarification of the vision in chapter 8. Even after Gabriel explained the vision to Daniel, he did not understand its meaning (8:27). A number of years later, Gabriel returned in response to Daniel’s prayer to make the meaning of this vision clear to him. Since Gabriel told Daniel he had been sent to help him gain understanding of “the vision” (9:23) and there is no vision described in chapter 9, I understand the “vision” to be that of chapter 8. Daniel 9:24-27 therefore gives further insight into the “little horn” of chapter 8, who opposes (and even appears to defeat) the Messiah. These verses also give some very specific prophecies concerning the time and circumstances of the Messiah’s first coming.

(6) In the context of Daniel’s life and the history of the Jews, what message did this prophecy have for the Jews of Daniel’s day?

The appearance and announcement of Gabriel, recorded in chapter 9, came in the “first year of Darius” (verse 1). The end of the Chaldean or Babylonian empire has come, and the time for the return of the Jews to Jerusalem is imminent. To prevent any misconceptions that this return is the commencement of God’s eternal kingdom, God gives this revelation to Daniel through Gabriel, indicating that the “new” Jerusalem will not be the final “New Jerusalem” and that the temple to be rebuilt will also be destroyed. The message, in short, is that the Jews should not see the promised kingdom as imminent, and that not only much time but much suffering will precede it.

(7) How does prophecy help to change our perspective?

We are to live in the present in the light of God’s promises for the future (see Hebrews 11). Present circumstances often appear to contradict the promises of God concerning the future. While the release of the Jews from their captivity was a joyous occasion, it was not the commencement of the kingdom of God. And while the 70 years of suffering in Babylon was coming to an end, there was still much suffering ahead for the people of God. Present prosperity and ease is not a promise there will be no more suffering, just as present suffering does not negate the future promised blessings of God. Prophecy helps us to view the present in light of the future, which God has planned and promised and which will surely come to pass. Our understanding of the future helps us to see the present, passing things of life in the light of that which is eternal, that which we see now in the light of what God says about the future.

(Footnote 4) Overlapping of Chapters 8 and 9:

 

Daniel 8	Daniel 9
The “little horn” (8:12-14, 22- 25)	The “prince who is to come” (v. 26)
Gabriel is the interpreter (v. 16)	Gabriel explains the vision (v. 21)
Concerns events of the end time(vv. 7,19,26)	Events bring matters to conclusion (v. 24)
Opposes the “Prince of princes”	Messiah the Prince will be cut off (vv. 25-26)
Removes regular sacrifice (v. 12)	Stops sacrifice and grain offering (v. 27) “People of prince” destroy Jerusalem and the sanctuary (v. 26)
Destroys many (vv. 24, 25)	Destruction, abominations, desolation (v. 27)
Horn broken without human agency (v. 25)	Complete destruction poured out on him (v. 27)

 

---

101 See, for example, Deuteronomy 30:1-10 and 1 Kings 8:46-53.

102 Daniel makes a point of telling us in chapter 9 that this Gabriel who appeared to Daniel in chapter 9 was the very same person who appeared to him in chapter 8 (see 9:21).

103 Literally, the expression is “seventy sevens.” Bible students differ as to the exact meaning of this expression, but many understand it to refer to 70 periods of 7 years, or 490 years, which some have shown exactly corresponds to the time when our Lord presented Himself as Messiah to the nation Israel in His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

104 The overlapping of chapters 8 and 9 is summarized in a chart at the end of this lesson.

Edition de l’hiver 2016

Auteur: Dr. Roger Pascoe, Président de:

The Institute for Biblical Preaching

(L’Institut pour la Prédication Biblique)

Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

“Renforcer les capacités de l’Eglise dans La Prédication Biblique et le Leadership”

1ère Partie: La Puissance Pour La Predication, Point 3

“La Puissance du Saint Esprit”

Le célèbre prédicateur puritain, John Owen disait dans ses écrits: «Le péché du mépris (de la personne du Saint-Esprit) et du rejet de son œuvre actuellement, est de la même nature que l’idolâtrie des anciens, et le rejet de la personne du Fils par les Juifs.»¹ Dr. Olford, lui, déclarait: «Si le péché de l’Ancien Testament était le rejet de Dieu le Père, et le péché des temps du Nouveau Testament, le rejet de Dieu le Fils, alors le péché de notre temps est le rejet de Dieu le Saint-Esprit.»²

Il y a deux manières par lesquelles le Saint-Esprit est rejeté à notre époque (surtout quand il s’agit de mettre l’accent sur le Saint-Esprit dans certains cercles). A un bout de la gamme, le Saint-Esprit est rejeté par le péché de l’évasion – certains prédicateurs ne feront même pas mention du Saint-Esprit. A l’autre bout de la gamme, le Saint-Esprit est rejeté par le péché de l’extrémisme – c’est-à-dire des ministères superficiels, des manipulations subtiles et des manifestations absurdes qui ne cadrent pas avec les Saint Ecritures, et qui ne sont pas pour la gloire de Dieu.

Nous devons nous assurer que nous maintenons un équilibre biblique concernant le Saint-Esprit. Il est impossible pour tout prédicateur d’être efficace, fécond ou équilibré dans son ministère sans reconnaître et donner place à la souveraineté, la conduite, l’éclairage et l’inspiration du Saint-Esprit. Seul le Saint-Esprit peut transformer toute votre préparation (étude du texte, le plan de votre message, etc.) en un message de la part de Dieu, et qui est accompagné de la puissance de Dieu. Vous pouvez correctement diviser la parole de vérité; vous pouvez correctement étudier et analyser le texte (le sujet, la structure et la substance d’un texte) et vous pouvez prêcher ce que vous avez préparé logiquement et de manière irréprochable, mais seul le Saint-Esprit peut donner à votre message le pouvoir d’apporter une transformation spirituelle dans la vie d’une personne.

Ceci est parfois appelé «l’onction» du Saint-Esprit ou «l’extrême onction» de l’Esprit, ou «l’inspiration» de l’Esprit. Nous avons besoin du Saint-Esprit pour nous conduire dans l’étude intellectuelle du texte en préparation pour la prédication. Nous devons aussi rechercher la bénédiction et la puissance du Saint-Esprit afin d’utiliser le message pour accomplir son œuvre.

Donc, qu’est-ce qu’une prédication avec onction? Que signifie prêcher avec «onction?» Comment un prédicateur obtient-il cette inspiration de l’Esprit?

Premièrement, regardons la définition du terme lui-même. Par le terme «onction», nous faisons ici référence à cette inspiration spéciale du Saint-Esprit sur le prédicateur. Il ne s’agit pas de l’inspiration générale du Saint-Esprit qui nous permet de vivre la vie chrétienne. Il s’agit de l’accès du prédicateur à une puissance spéciale pour la prédication à travers le Saint-Esprit, de telle sorte que ce que nous prêchons a des conséquences surnaturelles. Comme le dit Or, de même que Dr. Lloyd-Jones: «c’est une puissance donnée par Dieu… qui l’élève (ce que nous prêchons) au-dessus des efforts et des tentatives de l’homme, à une position à laquelle le prédicateur est utilisé par le Saint-Esprit et devient le canal à travers lequel l’Esprit œuvre.»³ E.M. Bounds l’exprime de la manière suivante: «L’Onction divine soutient et féconde la vérité révélée avec toute l’énergie de Dieu. L’Onction c’est simplement présenter Dieu dans sa propre parole et à son propre prédicateur»⁴

A présent, regardons quelques références bibliques clés. Luc 4:18-19: 18 «L’Esprit du Seigneur est sur moi, parce qu’il m’a oint pour annoncer une bonne nouvelle aux pauvres; il m’a envoyé pour guérir ceux qui ont le cœur brisé, 19 pour proclamer aux captifs la délivrance, et aux aveugles le recouvrement de la vue, pour renvoyer libres les opprimés, pour publier une année de grâce du Seigneur.» Ici, Jésus se trouve dans la Synagogue, lisant Es. 61:1-2. Qu’est-ce que Jésus veut dire par l’Esprit de Dieu m’a oint?

Il n’y avait ici aucune preuve d’un changement physique particulier en lui, pas de changement dans sa manière de parler, encore moins une espèce de pratique spirituelle. Cela a eu l’air d’être une lecture normale des Saintes Ecritures. La seule différence avec toute autre lecture des Saintes Ecritures dans la Synagogue résidait dans la caractérisation de ce passage comme une prophétie de son ministère, et l’affirmation que cette prophétie a été accomplie ce jour-là.

De la manière dont Luc a organisé son récit, il apparait que cet événement (Lc. 4: 18-19) est directement lié au récit de la naissance (Lc. 1: 35) et à celui du baptême (Lc. 3: 21-22), qui, tous les trois sont conçus pour mettre l’accent sur le fait que Jésus est le Fils oint de Dieu – celui qui a été envoyé par Dieu, celui qui a été mis à part par Dieu, celui qui a reçu plein pouvoir de la part de Dieu pour proclamer (et en fait, pour inaugurer) son royaume.⁵

Ceci semble être alors la nature de l’onction de Jésus ici – à savoir l’affirmation de Jésus comme celui que Dieu a spécialement mis à part pour la tâche de prêcher la bonne nouvelle, et spécialement inspiré et investit pour son ministère. Ce qui est le plus frappant ici c’est que le Seigneur Jésus lui-même a reçu une onction spéciale de la part du Saint-Esprit pour remplir sa mission terrestre.

Luc 24:49: «... mais vous, restez dans la ville jusqu’à ce que vous soyez revêtus de la puissance d’en haut.» Actes 1:8: «Mais vous recevrez une puissance, le Saint-Esprit survenant sur vous, et vous serez mes témoins à Jérusalem, dans toute la Judée, dans la Samarie et jusqu’aux extrémités de la terre.» Ici, les disciples qui ont suivi le Seigneur Durant trois ans (ils l’ont entendu prêcher, ils ont écouté ses enseignements et absorbé ses commandements, ils ont été témoins de ses miracles, ils ont assisté à sa mort et à son ensevelissement et l’ont vu après résurrection) reçoivent la promesse maintenant qu’ils seront investis de la puissance du Saint-Esprit, et cela a eu lieu bien sûr à la pentecôte comme le relate Actes 2:4: «Et ils furent tous remplis du Saint-Esprit, et se mirent à parler en d’autres langues, selon que l’Esprit leur donnait de s’exprimer.»

Vous ne penseriez pas que des hommes comme ces derniers auraient besoin d’une puissance particulière pour leur ministère. Il n’avait pas besoin d’une connaissance supplémentaire ou d’une conviction de la vérité concernant Jésus. Ce dont ils avaient besoin c’était la puissance et la capacité de poursuivre leur ministère (le prolongement du ministère de Jésus), maintenant que Jésus était parti. Et c’est ce de quoi ils ont été investi dans Actes 2 – une puissance spéciale de la part du Saint-Esprit, pour particulièrement permettre à leur témoignage et à leur œuvre d’avoir un effet surnaturel.

L’effet de cette onction spéciale est incroyable. Pierre qui avait précédemment renié le Seigneur en jurant et en le maudissant est maintenant capable de prêcher avec hardiesse et autorité de sorte 3000 personnes se convertissent en un seul jour.

Actes 4:7-8: «Ils firent placer au milieu d’eux Pierre et Jean, et leur demandèrent: Par quel pouvoir, ou au nom de qui avez-vous fait cela? Alors Pierre, rempli du Saint-Esprit, leur dit: Chefs du peuple et anciens d’Israël…» Manifestement Pierre était «rempli du Saint-Esprit» à la Pentecôte. Alors, pourquoi avait-il besoin d’être rempli de nouveau? C’est parce que plénitude de l’Esprit est un processus répété par lequel l’Esprit recouvre de puissance le serviteur de Dieu afin d’accomplir un ministère spécifique. Une fois de plus il a reçu un approvisionnement frais de l’Esprit de Dieu qui l’a rempli pour la tâche particulière en cours ici dans ce chapitre – à savoir son procès pour avoir guéri un boiteux au chapitre 3. Il y a beaucoup d’autres références pour les mêmes phénomènes dans le livre des Actes (par exemples Actes 4:31; 6:3, 5; 7:55; 9:17; 11:24; 13:9, 52), mais celles-ci suffiront pour notre étude.

1 Cor. 2:1-5: 1 «Pour moi, frère, lorsque je suis allé chez vous, ce n’est pas avec une supériorité de langage ou de sagesse que je suis allé vous annoncer le témoignage de Dieu. 2 Car je n’ai pas eu la pensée de savoir parmi vous autre chose que Jésus-Christ, et Jésus-Christ crucifié. 3 Moi-même j’étais auprès de vous dans un état de faiblesse, de crainte et de grand tremblement; 4 et ma parole et ma prédication ne reposaient pas sur les discours persuasifs de la sagesse, mais sur une démonstration d’Esprit et de puissance, 5 afin que votre foi soit fondée non sur la sagesse des hommes, mais sur la puissance de Dieu.»

Ceci est le témoignage personnel de Paul sur sa manière de prêcher et d’enseigner qui nous révèle qu’une prédication spirituellement puissante n’est pas accompagnée de preuves extérieures et de pratiques subjectives intérieures d’une sorte de pouvoir mystique. En effet, ni le contenu du message de Paul, ni sa manière de prêcher étaient destinés, du moins à l’échelle humaine, à être des manifestations de pouvoir.

En fait, le message de Paul (à savoir Christ, et Christ crucifié) était, selon ses propres mots, «insensé» et sa méthode était marquée par la faiblesse, la crainte, le tremblement et l’absence remarquable de mots persuasifs de la sagesse humaine. Quoique ses propres ressources et capacités fussent faibles, son discours et sa prédication était cependant accompagnés de la démonstration de la puissance de l’Esprit; résultat, leur foi n’était pas dans la sagesse des hommes, mais dans la puissance de Dieu.

Donc, à quoi fait-il référence ici? Paul soutient que ni sa manière (ce n’est pas avec une supériorité de langage ou de sagesse, pas avec une présence ou un art oratoire persuasif), ni son message (Christ, et Christ crucifié) ne les convaincraient quant à la vérité de l’Evangile, mais que seul le Saint-Esprit pouvait le faire, et il le fit. Si son message et sa manière était destines à les persuader d’avoir confiance en lui, il aurait alors sans doute délivré un message différent (basé sur la sagesse humaine) et dans une façon différente (charismatique, éloquent, confiant, intimidant, visuellement et oralement puissant). Il n’existe de preuve dans aucun des récits bibliques de la prédication de Paul et de son comportement qui révèle qu’il aie déjà expérimenté des sentiments subjectifs (comme certains prédicateurs le prétendent) ou que sa prédication soit accompagnée de puissances ou de manifestations mystiques en lui. La seule fois qu’il fait référence à une expérience de «hors de son corps» c’est dans 2 Co. 12, où il relate sa vision du troisième ciel – difficilement applicable à la prédication et aux prédicateurs aujourd’hui.

Au contraire, la puissance de la prédication de Paul était manifeste non pas par ses émotions ou ses pratiques, mais par la puissance du Saint-Esprit dans la vie des destinataires, de sorte que ceux-ci étaient transformés – leur foi n’était pas fondée sur la sagesse des hommes, mais sur la puissance de Dieu; et alors que Pierre prêchait, ils dirent: «Que faut-il que je fasse pour être sauvé?» Dans le cas des Thessaloniciens, par exemple, ils sont passés d’adeptes et adorateurs d’idoles, à de serviteurs du Dieu vivant et vrais et à l’attente de son Fils qui viendra du ciel (1 Th. 1:9-10). Ce fut là la manifestation de l’onction de l’Esprit dans la prédication de Paul au milieu d’eux, non pas une sorte de pratique subjective ou de phénomène mystique de sa part.

Aussi dans le cas des Corinthiens, la preuve de la puissance du témoignage de l’apôtre au milieu d’eux était que leurs vies sont devenues des lettres écrites de Christ, servies certes par Paul, mais écrites par l’Esprit du Dieu vivant sur leurs cœurs (2 Cor. 3:3). En d’autres termes, ce fut un changement de vie radicale qui témoignait de l’œuvre transformatrice de l’Esprit en eux à travers la prédication ointe de Paul. Pour Paul, manifestement, l’œuvre pratique de l’onction de l’Esprit dans son ministère était précisément que ses ressources et ses capacités étaient faibles, mais l’Esprit était puissant afin que «votre foi soit fondée, non sur la sagesse des hommes, mais sur la puissance de Dieu.»

Ceci est soutenu plus loin par 2 Cor. 4:7: «Nous portons ce trésor dans des vases de terre, afin que cette grande puissance soit attribuée à Dieu, et non pas à nous.» Et aussi 2 Cor. 12:9: «Et il m’a dit ma grâce te suffit, car ma puissance s’accomplit dans la faiblesse. Je me glorifierai donc bien plus volontiers de mes faiblesses, afin que la puissance de Christ repose sur moi.»

Ces textes démystifient toute notion selon laquelle l’onction du Saint-Esprit à un lien avec des preuves externes de puissance humaine ou de pratique émotionnelle externe. Paul soutient longuement ici que la puissance de Dieu est manifestée dans la prédication, précisément parce que les vases par lesquels Dieu se plait à proclamer son message ne sont rien d’autres que des vases bon marché, fissurés, des vases d’argile, qui ironiquement présentent le magnifique et puissant trésor qu’ils contiennent. En d’autres mots, Paul déclare énergiquement que la prédication ointe n’est pas criarde, verbeuse, arrogante, sûre de soi, autoritaire ou linguistiquement impressionnante. Elle est non plus tiède, ni confuse, ni avec des pratiques hors de son corps, ou toute autre phénomène de ce genre sur le prédicateur. C’est plutôt tout le contraire.

La prédication avec onction c’est des agents humains en qui Dieu a déversé la lumière de son Evangile sur la face de Jésus-Christ et qui, dans leurs expériences quotidiennes de faiblesse, de souffrance, d’afflictions, donne la certitude aux auditeurs quant à la source divine et la vérité du message. C’est cela la prédication ointe.

Paul ne fait allusion à aucune sorte de sensation de forte progression sur l’exercice de la prédication par le prédicateur, ou aucune sorte de discours intensifiée, etc.…, mais plutôt le contraire. «Ma puissance» déclare Dieu à Paul le prédicateur, «s’accomplit dans la faiblesse.» Paul fut encouragé par ses faiblesse, ses infirmités, ses reproches, ses besoins, ses persécutions, ses afflictions, pour la cause de Christ, précisément pour que la puissance de Dieu repose sur lui.

Nous avions étudiés Ephésiens 5:18 dans une des éditons précédentes de cette revue. Vous pouvez encore relire ce texte dans le contexte de notre étude concernant la puissance du Saint-Esprit en nous.

Regardons brièvement deux autres textes qui traitent de ce même sujet. Col. 1:28-29, «C’est lui que nous annonçons, exhortant tout homme, et instruisant tout homme en toute sagesse, afin de présenter à Dieu tout homme, devenu parfait en Christ. C’est à quoi je travaille, en combattant avec sa force qui agit puissamment en moi.» Bien que Paul «combattait» aussi dur comme il le pouvait pour l’accomplissement de son ministère, ce qui a rendu ce combat efficace était «sa force qui agit puissamment en lui.» Et c’est cela l’onction du Saint-Esprit.

1 Th. 1:5, «Notre Evangile ne vous a pas été prêché en parole seulement, mais avec puissance, avec l’Esprit-Saint, et avec une pleine persuasion; car vous n’ignorez pas que nous nous sommes montrés ainsi parmi vous, et à cause de vous.» La puissance que Paul décrit ici est encore celle que le Saint-Esprit a forgée en eux. Il ne s’agit pas d’une sorte de puissance propre à lui, qu’elle soit spirituelle ou physique. Avant tout, c’était la Parole qu’ils ont reçue par le Saint-Esprit, qui a transformé leur pensée et leur comportement. La plus grande assurance provenait bien sûr de l’exemplarité des apôtres. «Car vous n’ignorez pas nous nous sommes montrés ainsi parmi vous, et pour vous.» Evidemment, le mode de vie des apôtres était d’une telle consistance qu’il n’affirmait pas simplement la vérité de ce qu’ils disaient, mais rendait les Thessaloniciens des «imitateurs de Paul et ceux du Seigneurs.» (1 Th. 1:6).

Le changement était tellement radical dans leurs vies que toute personne dans la région savait ce qui s’était produit en eux. Ils étaient devenus des témoins efficace de l’Evangile de vérité envers ceux qu’ils rencontraient; ce fut là le témoignage extérieur de leur conversion, «en abandonnant les idoles pour servir le Dieu vivant et vrai» (1 Th. 1:9). C’est là la preuve et le résultat d’une prédication sous l’onction du Saint-Esprit.

Dans l’édition prochaine de cette revue des pasteurs, nous tirerons une conclusion sur ce qu’est l’onction de l’Esprit, et ce qu’elle n’est pas.

2ème Partie: Preparation Pour La Predication

“Identification de la structure du texte: Point 1, Sujets et Compléments”

L’identification du sujet et de son complément est un pas crucial dans le processus de préparation de la prédication. Comme nous l’avons vu dans des éditions précédentes de cette revue, le processus de préparation du message (ou sermon) - que je présente dans ses grandes lignes - implique: (1) l’étude du texte, (2) la compréhension du texte, et maintenant (3) identification de la structure du texte. Toute cette préparation conduira finalement à sortir un aperçu du message à partir du texte.

Toute idée complète (unité synthétique) doit y avoir un sujet et un complément. Le complément exprime quelque chose sur le sujet – Ex. l’action accomplit par le sujet ou l’attribut du sujet.

Par l’exemple, vous ne direz jamais simplement, «l’oiseau» – c’est le sujet, mais ce n’est pas une idée complète. Vous devez ajoutez quelque chose concernant l’oiseau, c’est-à-dire un complément d’objet. Qu’est-ce que vous voulez dire au sujet de l’oiseau? Vous pouvez dire par exemple: «Regardez l’oiseau.» Ou bien, «L’oiseau est beau.» Ou bien, «L’oiseau vole comme un aigle.» Vous allez non plus dire: «est beau», ou «vole». Ces compléments ont besoin d’un sujet. Qu’est-ce qui est beau? «L’oiseau est beau.» Qu’est-ce qui vole? «L’oiseau vole.» Comment l’oiseau vole? “L’oiseau vole comme un aigle.”

Donc, le sujet et le complément (parfois appelé prédicat) sont les deux  principaux composants structuraux d’une phrase simple, qui, lorsque exprimés ensembles forme une idée complète. Sans l’un ou l’autre, vous ne pouvez pas communiquer une des idées que vos interlocuteurs comprendront correctement.

De ce fait, chaque passage biblique a un sujet (aussi appelé le «thème dominant») et un complément (aussi appelé «les pensées intégrantes»). Le sujet / thème dominant est ce de quoi parle l’auteur. Après avoir étudié le texte, vous devez décider quel est le sujet / l’enseignement du texte? Quel est la vérité première du passage. Il s’agit de ce que vous allez prêcher. Le thème dominant / sujet du texte doit être le thème / sujet de votre message. Nous aborderons le sujet sur comment identifier le thème plus tard. C’est suffisant ici de dire que notre approche herméneutique générale de la question de préparation du message inclut l’identification du thème du texte car ceci constitue la base de ce que vous allez prêcher. C’est l’une des premières choses à faire quand vous préparez une prédication.

En outre, non seulement chaque passage a un sujet, mais chaque sujet a des compléments / pensées intégrantes. Le complément c’est ce que l’auteur dit à propos du sujet.

L’ensemble de votre message doit concerner le sujet du passage, et les compléments constituent les points que votre message va évoquer à propos de ce sujet. En identifiant le sujet et les compléments, vous identifiez (1) le sujet de votre message (ce de quoi vous allez parler), et (2) ce que vous allez dire à propos de ce sujet. C’est la structure de base du texte.

1ère Etape . Identifier Le «Sujet» Theologique Du Texte ⁶             

Ne prêcher jamais un message sans comprendre ce de quoi le passage parle, en particulier le sujet théologique. De ce fait, nous devons vraiment comprendre le sujet théologique du passage. La structure du passage et son courant de pensée ne peuvent pas êtres correctement développés ou exactement déterminés sans que vous ne cerniez le sujet, c’est-à-dire ce sur quoi l’auteur écrit. Connaitre le sujet dont traite le passage est le point de départ de tout message. Vous ne pouvez pas prêcher sur un passage si vous ne connaissez pas ce sur quoi l’auteur écrit. Non plus vous ne pouvez pas correctement et avec exactitude déterminer la structure du passage et son courant d’idée sans que vous ne cerniez le sujet.

Pour déterminer le sujet, posez-vous la question suivante: «Sur quoi (ou à propos de quoi) l’auteur écrit?» – pas «l’événement» ou «l’histoire raconté», mais le sujet théologique qui se cache derrière l’événement ou l’histoire raconté. Parfois, le sujet théologique est le même ou proche de la structure du texte. – surtout dans les épitres où les auteurs écrivent dans une théologie classique. Mais dans les passages narratifs, nous devons regarder derrière l’histoire racontée pour comprendre la théologie que nous prêcherons à partir de cette histoire. En répondant à la question «sur quoi l’auteur écrit» (le thème dominant), assurez-vous de ne pas rendre le sujet trop large – par exemple, ne dites pas «L’amour». Qu’est-ce que l’auteur dit à propos de l’amour. Essayez toujours de limiter le sujet par ce que l’auteur dit de manière spécifique et non de manière générale.

Par exemple, dans Psaume 1, le sujet au sens large est «l’homme qui craint Dieu et le méchant.» nous pouvons limiter cette définition en disant que c’est un contraste établi entre ces deux types de personne. Donc vous pouvez définir le sujet comme le contraste entre l’homme pieux et le méchant.

Un autre exemple pourrait être Ph. 2:1-11. Le sujet au sens large est «l’unité.» Nous pouvons limiter cette définition au sens large en disant que c’est «dépendre d’une attitude à l’image de Christ.» Par conséquent nous pourrons définir le sujet comme suit: «une attitude à l’image de Christ qui produit l’unité»

Comment obtenir ce thème dominant / sujet? Un moyen c’est de chercher dans le texte une déclaration qui exprime le sujet. Par exemple, 1 Ti. 4:6-16 «veille sur toi-même et sur ton enseignement» (16). La première partie est développée dans les versets 6 à 10, et la seconde partie dans les versets 11 à 15. Dans Ga. 6:1-10, Paul déclare que son sujet c’est “faire du bien aux saints” quand il dit: “pratiquons le bien envers tous, et surtout envers les frères en la foi» (10).

Un moyen pour identifier le sujet c’est de chercher un thème général, ou chercher un mot récurrent.

Puisqu’une idée a besoin des deux éléments, c’est-à-dire le sujet et le complément, la prochaine étape consistera à identifier les compléments.

2ème Etape: Identifier Les «Complements» Theologiques Du Texte

Le sujet ne peut pas exister seul. Il a besoin d’un ou de plusieurs compléments. Alors que l’auteur développe son passage, il dira différentes choses à propos du sujet sur lequel il écrit (les compléments). Le sujet et son complément forment une idée complète. Les compléments sont ce que nous appellerons les «points» qui divisent le passage en parties de message. Habituellement, l’auteur développe 2 à 3 points sur le sujet.

Chaque point dans le message évoquera quelque chose de différent sur le même sujet. Par chaque point lié au même sujet, le passage constitue une unité de pensée – c’est-à-dire qu’il est cohérent dans son unité. Et par chaque point évoquant quelque chose de différent, sur le même sujet, le passage a un mouvement, c’est-à-dire une progression, un courant de pensée.

Le sujet est donc ce de quoi parle le passage, et le complément est ce que l’auteur dit du sujet. Ainsi, une fois que vous avez découvert le sujet en vous posant la question «sur quel ou à quel sujet l’auteur écrit?», posez-vous maintenant la question à savoir «qu’est-ce que l’auteur dit sur le sujet sur lequel il écrit ?» la réponse à cette question produit les compléments.

Un moyen pour identifier le complément c’est de retourner le sujet en une question en se demandant: «Qu’est-ce que?» «Quand?» «Pourquoi?» (Réponse: «parce que» ou «afin que»), «comment?» (Réponse: «par»…), «Ou?» «Qui?» Ceci vous aide à déterminer les compléments.

Donc, quand nous prêchons le passage, nous prêchons sur un sujet et nous évoquons plusieurs points (compléments) à propos de ce sujet, tous ces points étant liés au même sujets. Ces points (compléments) sortent de vos recherches sur le texte (lecture, étude approfondie), également de vos analyses grammaticales et structurelles du texte.

3ème Etape: Exprimer En Bloc L’idee Du Texte

Après avoir identifié le sujet et ses compléments, vous devez être capable d’exprimer en une phrase l’idée complète du texte (c’est-à-dire ce de quoi parle le texte dans son ensemble).

Exemples De Sujet, Complements, Et Idee Du Texte

• Psaume 1:1-2

Sujet: L’homme béni de Dieu (ou l’homme pieux)

Question: Qui / Quel genre d’homme est béni de Dieu?

Compléments:

1. L’homme qui (négativement) ne…

a) … marche pas selon le conseil des méchants

b) … s’arrête pas sur la voie des pécheurs

c) … s’assied pas en compagnie des moqueurs

2. L’homme qui (positivement) …

a) … trouve son plaisir dans la loi de l’Eternel

b) … la médite jour et nuit

Idée du texte: L’homme qui est béni de Dieu se sépare du monde et se consacre à la parole de Dieu

• Jacques 1:5-8 (De Robinson, page 67-68)

Sujet: pas simplement la «sagesse» ou «comment obtenir la sagesse», mais «comment obtenir la sagesse au milieu des épreuves»

Question: Comment obtient-on la sagesse au milieu des épreuves?

Complément: La demander à Dieu avec foi.

Idée du texte: La sagesse dans les épreuves s’obtient en la demandant à Dieu par la foi.

3ème Partie: Leadership De Piete

1 Thessaloniciens 2:7-12 nous fait le portrait du leadership biblique. C’est un portrait de paternité et de masculinité biblique comme Dieu le désire, spécifiquement quand il s’agit du leadership de l’église.

Thessalonique est une ville que Paul a visitée avec Silas et Timothée lors de son deuxième voyage missionnaire (Actes 17:1-9). Paul y a prêché dans la synagogue et des Juifs, de même que beaucoup de Grecques furent sauvés; et de ce fait l’Eglise naquit dans cette ville.

Paul a eu beaucoup de souvenirs agréables de ses jours passés là-bas avec cette jeune église pleine de vie, dont la foi, l’espérance, l’amour et la persévérance était manifestes malgré la persécution à cause de leur foi. Je pense que nous voyons dans cette lettre qu’en tant que leur père spirituel, Paul était fier de ces jeunes chrétiens, et sa relation parentale avec eux est non moins manifeste dans ces versets.

Le point central de ce passage est qu’un bon leader chrétien est doux et un vrai père spirituel. Paul lui-même présente les traits d’un bon père-leader dans ses relations avec ces chrétiens de Thessalonique

Premièrement, notons qu’UN BON LEADER CHRETIEN DONNE DE TENDRES SOINS (7-9). «De même qu’une nourrice prend un tendre soin de ses enfants» (7). Remarquons cette première métaphore que Paul emploie pour décrire le leader chrétien. Premièrement, c’est une métaphore qui établit un contraste entre la tendresse maternelle au verset 7, et l’autorité apostolique de Paul au verset 6. Deuxièmement, c’est une métaphore qui rompt avec l’image de «patron» impassible, inflexible, partisan d’une discipline stricte qu’incarne le leader du 21ème siècle. La première image de cette métaphore est que….

1. Les bons leaders spirituels nourrissent leurs enfants spirituels avec douceur

Ils ne produisent pas simplement des enfants, ils en prennent soin. Leur soin est marqué par la douceur, «de même qu’une nourrice prend un tendre soin de ses enfants» Une nourrice c’est l’incarnation de soins tendres, de l’affection et de la protection. Littéralement, elle “tient au chaud son enfant” en le berçant, en le serrant dans ses bras contre son corps. Une nourrice est source de nourriture – elle transmet sa propre vie à l’enfant. Son corps transforme la nourriture qu’elle consomme en lait maternel pour son enfant, ce qui ne peut être fait par nulle autre personne. Elle tient l’enfant près de son cœur, où un lien d’unité prend place. Elle assure la sécurité, le confort, la chaleur et la protection.

De bons leaders chrétiens nourrissent leurs enfants spirituels avec douceur. Ils s’occupent d’eux comme une nourrice, leur fournissant de la nourriture physique, émotionnelle et spirituelle. Physiquement, ils fournissent les aliments de base – la chaleur, une bonne nourriture, la sécurité. Emotionnellement, ils soutiennent et encouragent leurs enfants, leur donnant de la confiance pour faire face aux défis de la vie. Spirituellement, ils enseignaient la parole à leurs enfants, afin qu’ils croissent dans le Seigneur (1 Pet. 2:1-3), se rappelant que les enfants ont besoin du lait avant la viande, et en prenant soin de ne pas mal nourrir leurs enfants.

Ce n’est pas facile d’être une «nourrice». Ecoutez Moise qui s’adresse aux Israelites à propos d’un tel rôle: «Est-ce moi qui ai conçu ce peuple? Est-ce moi qui l’ai enfanté, pour que tu me dises: porte-le sur ton sein, comme le nourricier porte un enfant jusqu’au pays que tu as juré à ses pères de lui donner». Où prendrais-je de la viande pour donner à tous ce peuple? Car ils pleurent auprès de moi, en disant: Donne-nous de la viande à manger! Je ne puis pas, à moi seul, porter tout ce peuple, car il est trop pesant pour moi. Plutôt que de me traiter ainsi, tues-moi, je te prie si j’ai trouvé grâce à tes yeux, et que je ne voie pas mon malheur. (No.11:12-15). Ceci explique combien pesant et frustrant peuvent être les responsabilités du leadership parental parfois. Mais ces fardeaux et frustrations sont vaincus par la seconde caractéristique de la métaphore. Non seulement les bons leaders spirituels nourrissent leurs enfants avec douceur, mais…

2. Les bon leaders spirituels aiment profondément leurs enfants spirituels (8-9)

Ils les aiment si profondément qu’ils les désirent avec affection – «… dans notre vive affection pour vous» (8a). Ce terme est unique dans le Nouveau Testament. Il signifie se sentir rapprocher de quelque chose ou de quelqu’un». C’est un terme d’une forte intensité, un terme d’affection – à la fois masculin et tendre. C’est l’image de l’amour profond d’un père pour ses enfants. C’est son union avec ses enfants dont il se sent proche avec affection. A cause de son amour profond pour eux, il a une vive affection pour eux – il ne peut pas supporter la séparation d’avec eux. Il désire entendre leurs rires et de recevoir leurs baisers, et aussi leur donner du réconfort et de l’affection.

La tendresse d’un père peut baisser avec le temps. Alors que les enfants grandissent, ils deviennent moins dépendants, croissent plus et n’ont pas besoin d’être retenus comme c’était le cas auparavant. Plus tard ils sont plus grands en taille que nous. Mais cela ne diminue pas leur besoin d’être en contact avec nous, leur besoin d’amour, de réconfort, d’encouragement. De même, les leaders spirituels doivent continuellement manifester de la tendresse et de la compassion envers leurs enfants spirituels. La tendance parfois c’est les critiques acerbes et les jugements – partisan de la discipline rigide au lieu de l’attitude de la «nourrice».

Il n’était jamais venu à l’esprit du fils prodigue que son père ne le laisserait pas renter à la maison, malgré toutes les insultes et les blessures qu’il a infligées à son père. C’est pourquoi il a dit: «je me lèverai, j’irai vers mon père.» (Lu. 15:18-19). Mais il s’attendait à la colère et à la punition de son père, d’où sa proposition, «traite-mois comme l’un de tes ouvriers.» Mais aucune punition ne lui a été infligée. Au contraire, «comme il était encore loin, son père le vit et fut ému de compassion, il courut se jeter à son cou et l’embrassa.» (20). C’est là une affection profonde – sans hésitation, sans aucun interrogatoire, sans mise en sursis, mais seulement la compassion.

Ne pensez-vous pas que les enfants spirituels que Dieu nous a donné pour que nous puissions en prendre en soin ont besoin d’être traités avec compassion? Comment y arriver correctement? C’est en affirmant leur appartenance à Dieu et en appréciant ce qu’ils font.

Les bons pères spirituels aiment donc leurs enfants spirituels si profondément qu’ils ont une vive affection pour eux. Et ils les aiment si profondément qu’ils s’offrent en sacrifice – «… non seulement vous donner l’Evangile de Dieu, mais encore notre propre vie, tant vous nous étiez devenus chers.» (8b). Paul les a aimé si profondément qu’en plus de leur donner l’Evangile du salut, il s’est donné lui-même à eux. Il était prêt à mourir pour eux s’il le fallait. Il n’était pas tiède dans son ministère parmi eux. Il était intensément engagé à les servir. Il s’est donné en sacrifice pour eux parce qu’ils lui étaient «chers.»

Ce n’était pas assez de pourvoir simplement à leur besoin au plan physique. Ce n’était même pas assez de leur enseigner simplement les vérités spirituelles, aussi important que cela soit. La vérité de l’Evangile est nécessaire, mais nous devons aussi leur transmettre nos vies, leurs donner des parts de nos vies, les servir avec sacrifice – afin que nos vies deviennent des parties des leurs; et afin qu’ils puissent continuer ce que nous leur léguons.

Comment transmettrons-nous nos vies à nos enfants spirituels? Nous leur transmettrons nos vies en influençant leurs pensées et leurs valeurs, en leur démontrant comment prendre une bonne décision, en se présentant comme modèle de soutien de ce qui est juste, en leur enseignant comment gérer les finances de manière responsable, en leur accordant notre de temps, notre attention et affection, en reconnaissant nos torts et en demandant des excuses, en nous investissant en eux. Nous leur transmettons nos vie en vivant l’Evangile à travers nos pratiques quotidiennes, en étant transparents devant eux afin qu’ils puissent voir nos faiblesses aussi bien que nos force, nos peurs aussi bien que notre courage, nos espoirs aussi bien que nos déceptions.

Les bons pères spirituels aiment leurs enfants spirituels si profondément qu’ils ont une vive affection pour eux; ils se sacrifient pour eux et les aiment profondément; ils œuvrent, pour leurs enfants avec diligence – «vous vous rappelez, frères, notre travail et notre peine: nuit et jour à l’œuvre, pour n’être à la charge d’aucun de vous, nous vous avons prêché l’Evangile de Dieu.»

Servir ses enfants spirituels implique «travail et peine» pour l’apôtre Paul. Les églises macédoniennes étaient très pauvres, aussi Paul a travaillé pour n’être à la charge de personne. Travail et peine signifie lassitude privations et durs labeurs, surtout dans le cas de Paul lorsqu’il lui fallait confectionner des tentes et prêcher l’Evangile en même temps. Les leaders spirituels doivent faire preuve de diligence dans leur œuvre, surtout quand c’est facile de relâcher au moment où personne ne vous suit. Les leaders spirituels ont le devoir d’œuvrer à la satisfaction des besoins spirituels de leurs assemblées – pour leur montrer la voie du salut, pour leur montrer l’exemple dans le christianisme. C’est un dur labeur.

La diligence dans ces choses illustre une éthique de travail par laquelle vous enseignez votre assemblée au travail, à la responsabilité, au dévouement, à la consécration à la fierté par rapport à un travail bien fait, à la loyauté. Accorder un soutien émotionnel, social et spiritual est une tâche difficile. Etre un père spiritual leader nécessite une diligence énorme. Et ceux-là qui peuvent faire l’équilibre entre leurs vies de travail et familiales et leurs vies d’église sont à honorer.

Dans l’édition prochaine de cette revue, nous poursuivrons notre étude de ce passage et un sujet sur «Le portrait biblique d’un bon leader spirituel».

4ème Partie: Plan De Predication

Pour la version audio de ces message en Anglais, cliquez sur ces liens:   Link 1 - Jn. 6:22-34; Link 2 - Jn. 6:34-40

Titre: Jésus, le Pain de Vie (6:22-40)

Point 1: Ce que les hommes veulent est temporel (26-34)

1. Les gens veulent de la nourriture périssable (26-27)

2. Les gens veulent accomplir des œuvres religieuses (28-34)

Point 2: Ce que Jésus offre est éternel (34-40)

1. Jésus offre la vie éternelle (35-36)

2. Jésus offre la sécurité éternelle (37-40)

a) La sécurité éternelle c’est par le don de Dieu (37)

b) La sécurité éternelle c’est par la volonté de Dieu (38-40)

---

¹ Cité dans Anointed Expository Preaching, de Stephen Olford, page 29

², Dans Anointed de Olford, pages 29-30.

³ Dans Preaching and Preachers de Martin Lloyd-Jones, page 305.

⁴ Under the Dew of Heaven de E.M. Bounds; Preaching Pure and Simple de Stuart Olyott, page 158

⁵Luke (Baker) de Darrel L. Bock, page 407.

⁶ Cette procédure est tirée de Biblical Preaching de Haddon Robinson page 39-41.