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FordocheChataignier
09/05/9309/06/09
09/15/96
01/18/98
03/05/00
SERMON TEXT: DANIEL 9:2023
AUTHOR: DR. JERRY VINES
Three Suggestions:
If YOU Want to Live for Jesus
All the Days of Your Life:
Give Attention to:
1. How You Commence Your Life
2. How YouContinue of Your Life
3. How You Conclude Your Life
Let’s look at Daniel 9:23
The Lord is fixing to give Daniel
one of the greatest prophecies
that was ever given to a man.
23.At the beginning
of thy supplications
the commandment came forth,
and I am come to show thee;
for thou art greatly beloved:
therefore understand the matter,
and consider the vision.
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The apostle Paul groups together
three rather interesting
New Testament characters
who have very different life styles:
First:
One of those men
was a young man named John Mark.
You remember that JOHN MARK
DID NOT START OFF VERY WELL.
He had a kind of a rocky beginning
in his Christian life.
He went home
He did not follow Paul and the others on their missionary journey.
But when you come to
the last letter
of Paulto young Timothy
something has taken place
John Mark has recovered himself.
So you see,
John Mark is one of those
who didn't start off too well,
but praise God, he finished well.
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You may have failed along the way.
You may not be everything
the Lord wants you to be . . .
but I want to encourage you !
If you will determine in your heart
to live for Jesus,
regardless of
what you may have done
or
the failures that may be in your past
you can live for Jesus
beginning today
all of the rest of your life.
The SECOND PERSON
is a man named (DEE muhs).
(DEE muhs) is the story of a tragedy,
because (DEE muhs)
evidently started quite well.
He was one of the companions
of the apostle Paul.
But at the end,
he said about (DEE muhs):
(DEE muhs) has forsaken me,
having loved this present world.
In (DEE muhs) is the story
of many of God's children.
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Maybe as a young person
they started off living for the Lord.
They were involved in the youth group.
They were involved in choir.
They were serving the Lord
in the early years of their lives.
But somewhere along the way
they let the world,
and the flesh,
and the Devil
get hold of them
and their life is a tragedy
because they started well
but they didn't finish well.
I do not want to be a (DEE muhs).
I want to live for Jesus
all of the days of my life.
The THIRD PERSON
that the apostle Paul mentions
is Dr. Luke.
Paul said about him:
Only Luke is with me.
Now from all of the evidence
Luke was a man who started well
and also finished well.
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You see, that's the kind of Christian
I want to be.
I WANT TO START WELL,
I want to live for Jesus,
and I WANT TO END WELL.
THAT'S THE KIND OF MAN
DANIEL WAS.
Now, if you want to live for Jesus
all of the days of your life
there are three suggestions
I've got to make to you.
1. NUMBER ONE,
give attention to
how you commence your life.
Be very sure that:
you commence,
you begin,
your life in a correct manner.
Daniel comes upon the scene
and he is in captivity.
Daniel as a young man
was involved in the revival
that swept through God's people
under the godly, young, boy-king Jo-si-ah
and the preaching of Jeremiah.
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Preacher, what do you have to know
to get saved?
All you really have to understand is:
1. to know that you are a sinner,
and that you need to be saved,
2. to know that Jesus died on the cross
in order for you to be saved,
3. to know that if you'll ask Him
to forgive you of your sins
and come into your heart
you can be saved.
I'm glad I gave my life to Christ
as a nine-year old boy.
It was on a Sunday morning
kind of like this.
I was sitting on
the second row in the building.
I can't tell you a thing
our pastor had to say that night.
So, just like we're going to do
in a little while,
the invitation hymn was given.
I stepped out from the second row,
I walked down that aisle,
I gave my hand to my preacher
and my heart to my Jesus,
and I've been saved ever since.
Young people,
you will never regret
giving your life
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
So somewhere
Daniel committed his life to the Lord
That's how he began,
That's how he commenced living
for the Lord Jesus.
And you see,
it did something in his life.
It gave this young man Daniel
the ability
to take his stand for Jesus
as a young man.
We encourage our young people
to stand for the Lord
while they are young.
To take their stand for Jesus in school,
To take their stand in their peer group.
When others are drinking
encourage them to say "no" to drink.
When others are using drugs
encourage them to say "no" to drugs.
When others are having pre-marital sex
encourage them to say “no”
"I'll wait for the one
God has in mind for me."
Daniel did what we have to do.
He gave attention
to how his life was to be commenced.
2. NUMBER TWO
If you want to live for Jesus
all the rest of your life
you must also pay attention to:
How youCONTINUEyour life.
There's a little statement
made about Daniel
at the end of the first chapter
that is very revealing.
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The statement says:
And Daniel CONTINUED.
I think the primary reference there
is to the fact that Daniel
continued to serve
in a place of responsibility
in the kingdoms of his captivity.
It took a lot of courage
for him to do that.
There had to be conviction to do that.
Daniel was willing to have conviction
and do what God wanted him to do.
There are decisions
that come along the way
as you live for the Lord
and those decisions will determine
whether or not you live for Jesus.
A faith that falters before the finish
had a fatal flaw from the first. Amen.
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Sometimes we run into people and ask,
Do you know the Lord?
Oh yeah, I know the Lord.
Are you living for the Lord now?
No, I'm not living for the Lord now.
If you've really been born again
and Jesus Christ is in your heart
You can't get out here in the world
and sin and enjoy it.
III. NUMBER THREE:
Give attention to
how you CONCLUDE your life.
Because you see,
the more you live for the Lord
and the closer you live to the Lord,
the stronger you get in the Lord.
It's a glorious thing
to come to the end of the road
and be getting stronger and stronger
for the Lord Jesus Christ.
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STORY:
At the end of the day
when you had worked an old mule hard, plowed hard,
you'd get toward the end of those rows and that old mule would get to where he could hardly put one foot
in front of the other.
But when it was time
to close things down for the day
and you'd turn that old mule
toward the barn;
that mule that had hardly been able
to get to the end of the rows
would begin to pick up the gait
just a little bit and before it was over that old mule
was trotting toward the barn.
Do you know why?
Because he knew
that he was going home.
Let me tell you something, folks.
God's people
are going home one of these days.
And the closer you get to the gate,
I believe the more on fire for Jesus
you ought to get.
#1. Start well ...
begin early with Jesus.
#2. Continue with Jesus in your life.
#3. Conclude your Life with Jesus.