Text: Daniel 4:24-37
Superficially, this account is about a dream, a bad dream, that came true. But the real lesson in the story, is about how God saves sinners!
1. God is ‘Long-suffering’ with Sinners. 2 Peter 3:9
Let’s look back over what we have learned about Nebuchadnezzar and see how gracious God has been with this man over the years of his kingly rule. Think first of all of his fallen character:-
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In the Furnace of Obedience
Text: Daniel 3:19-30
I suppose one of the best known Bible stories must be Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, being cast into the fiery furnace. Let’s recap…
- Nebuchadnezzar’s Anger. 2:19-23
The king is angry. That’s an understatement, – he is out of his mind with rage. No-one defies Nebuchadnezzar. He’s the king, the man who hold life and death in his hands. See how the text demonstrates his fury and rage…
Read more…Great news!
Our catechism class is BACK! Yes. Our weekly look at the Heidelberg Catechism begins again on Tuesday 30th August, scheduled to go live every Tuesday at 1pm.
www.Semper-Reformata.com/Podcast
Throughout September we’ll be examining the last few phrases of the Apostles’ Creed, I believe in the Communion of Saints, the Forgiveness of Sins, the Resurrection of the Body and the Life Everlasting. Then. In October we shall be working our way through three easy lessons on the doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone.
Practical, systematic Christian Doctrine to help you understand what you believe and why you believe it.
Every Tuesday this Autumn, at 1pm on the Semper Reformata Podcast – the anti-dote to ‘easy-believeism!’
We Will Not Bow to Idols
Text: Daniel 3:1-18
We come to another account of faith under extreme trial:-
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Nebuchadnezzar’s Nightmare!
Text: Daniel 2:1-49
Babylon had an efficient education system, as we learned in our previous study, and the university there had produced some of the cleverest men in the whole world. So when Nebuchadnezzar had a bad dream, surely it shouldn’t be too much trouble for one of them to sort the matter out? Nebuchadnezzar called his council together. V2
1. The Cull of the Chaldeans. V5-13
Nebuchadnezzar is not a reasonable man. He asked the privy counsel to explain his dream, but he wouldn’t tell them what the dream was! The sages are stunned by this request, especially by the explicit threats that accompanied it. V5. And no matter how they tried to persuade him, the king wouldn’t tell them the dream, and they were unable to tell the despot what the dream was about. It’s stalemate. V10-11 An order went out, V13 Learning that you are about to be executed cannot be the most pleasant experience. Daniel went to see Nebuchadnezzar. He asked…
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The Daniel Diet!
Text: Daniel 1:1-21
Jerusalem had fallen. The implication was obvious to Nebuchadnezzar – my gods are more powerful than your God, for he has been defeated. But READ: Daniel 1:2 It was God himself who had handed over his own people to the Babylonians, and in this study we shall discover why.
1. Life in the University of Babylon. V3-7
Nebuchadnezzar would take the brightest and best of the youth of each captured nation, and he would reeducate them, and remove all traces of their upbringing, their religious and cultural education. They would be fully assimilated into the pagan culture and lifestyle of their captors. In that way, Nebuchadnezzar could control all the diverse national identities and ethnic cultures in his kingdom. Four young men were selected from among the Hebrews. READ V4. Let’s say that these boys were in their mid teens when they began their three year course. Let’s see how the course curriculum would be planned for them:-
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News and Prayer Update.
Good morning! It’s 8am on Monday morning the 25th July 2022 and this the weekly look at what’s happening, and a little bit of ethical commentary from a Christian standpoint. And a little bit of personal news first. I’m off on leave for a few weeks, so there’ll be no PrayerCast now until Monday 29th August, unless some major news breaks before that. And summer holidays are a good time to catch up with some reading, both light reading, and something a little more meaty. I have a copy of Samuel Rutherford’s “Lex Rec – The Law and the Prince” that I want to plough my way through over August. If you’re going on holiday, please do have some rest and recharge your batteries and prepare yourself for the Autumn when church activities start again.
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Who Then Can Stand?
Text: Revelation 7:1-8:1
Revelation 6 ends with this very important question, in V17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Revelation 7 is the answer to that very important question.
1. The Sealed are Secure.
Just as the earth is being destroyed, there is a huge development, four angels appear, and they are holding back the four winds. These are very graphic images. Another angel appears and he addresses these first angels, “V3 Here’s the answer to question, “Who is able to stand, – only those who are sealed by God! To be sealed is:-
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The Final Deconstruction of the Cosmos
This is a terrifying passage. It is meant to be. The people to whom John is conveying this heavenly vision are living in fear for their lives in the Roman Empire. They need to know that the day will surely come when the tables will be reversed, and all the wrongs that have been done on them will be put to rights, in God’s time. This horrific passage was to comfort persecuted believers.
1. The Sixth Seal. Revelation 6:12
We have reached the point where the sixth seal is opened by Jesus, the Lamb of God and the Lion of Judah, the one who holds all of history and the destiny of the entire universe in his hands, for only he is worthy to do so. It is the seal of the last judgment, on the last day. See v17 To understand this sixth seal, which is about the final destruction of the universe at the end of this age, as the wrath of God is poured out in judgement, we have to remember something of what we have already learned in passing about the Book of Revelation. For example…
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News and Prayer Update – “Billy Goats and Farm Gates...”
It’s 8am on Monday morning the 18th July 2022 and this the weekly look at what’s happening, and a little bit of ethical commentary from a Christian standpoint.
Listen to the PODCAST HERE
And first some good news. The ‘Online Safety Bill’ has been dropped from the House of Commons agenda. Apparently it was because the Labour Party had demanded a vote of no confidence in the government, which denied the bill the time for its first reading. Perhaps so. There was a lot of opposition to the bill, both inside and outside the house, with several MPs and non-governmental organisations flagging up the bill’s restrictions on free speech. Christians especially would have been targeted under the bill, (for example, even the public preaching of Romans chapter one or 1st Corinthians 6 could have been considered ‘harmful’ under the terms of the bill). It is quite possible that the withdrawal of the Online Safety Bill was a response to widespread opposition, and the Labour motion was a convenient excuse for its demise, with the additional benefit of shifting the blame across the chamber. Anyway, it’s gone – for now at least. And we mustn’t rest. This or similar legislation may be resurrected by a future administration.
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The Salty Scrivener 