Rick Warren - Handling Opposition To Your Faith—Part Two

Hello, and welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope with Rick Warren.

We are so glad you're here with us. Today.

We're going to continue our series called the Keys to

a Blessed Life. And when these messages, Rick walks through

Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and shows us how to

live a truly hopeful and purpose filled life. And now

here's part two of handling opposition to your faith.

So these are the three things I need to remember

whenever harassment comes in my life. It can make me

more like Jesus. It can deepen my faith, and I'm

going to be rewarded for it in eternity, forever and

ever and ever. Now, there are six things you need

to do. You need to do. Before we look at

those six things, I want us to look at a

short video clip of some of the kind of harassment

that's going on around the world right now. Watch this

on the screen.

I'm from us family the days in the year two

thousand dreams. My father called me and he gave me two.

Options, either to leave Jesus or to leave the family.

My belief in Jesus is much stronger than any other

relation that I have got. That's why I quit everything

and kept Jesus.

The Muslim radical shouted, demanding heavy punishment, as heavy as possible.

They came every day. After my father was told of

my imprisonment, he said, I am proud of my daughter

for the suffering she experienced for Christ. This is a

great thing that God is doing in your life. So

don't expect to get out of prison to soon. Just

finish what the Lord has a sign.

You to do.

Just keep on preaching the gospel.

In a letter dated January tenth, nineteen ninety four, my

father wrote, I praised the Lord that in the midst

of the heavy attack on the fast growing Church of

Jesus Christ, the Lord has given the joy of the

privilege of suffering for his name to all members of

the church.

Please don't worry about me. I'm quite ready for anything.

Nine days after this letter that was written by Heiki

was martyred.

Two months ago, one of my father's neighbors gave me

a call and told me that your sister had just died.

I went to the funeral, but my whole family came

against me. They kicked me and they beat me, and

I had two broken ribs.

This is truly a time of suffering because I got

separated from my family. My children need their mother beside

them because they are still small, and I missed them

terribly too. But God's grace is sufficient. All social time

is past your high. He was so humble, Master, and

he had peace in his heart.

When I see him in heaven, I'm going.

To say, thank you. You are the one who caused

me to love Jesus.

Jo Brown. At his funeral, they gave us a booklet

with Brother Hike's biography.

And this verse was written in the first page. I

read it there and I will never forget it.

The persecution and the suffering we went through, really it

is nothing compared to the glory of God. I came

to understand the beauty of the unity of the Body

of Christ, and how when one part suffers, all the

parts suffer. So in the future I want to do

the same thing for other Christians who are suffering.

For Christ he should move out to.

My sister is gone now, But what gives me more

comfort about her is that before she died, she made

her decision to follow Jesus Christ, and she died serving

him first of all.

When Brother hug was with us, his words were with us.

He ministered to us each day for the orbishop. But

even in his death, God did such great things.

I don't know whom.

I want him to know this. I want him to

see that his blood was not useless. After they killed you,

many like me came to Christ. And now I am

ready to die for Jesus.

You trusting.

I'll say it again. I'll say it again. Christianity is

not for weaklings, for whimps, for the faint of heart.

It takes courageous men, it takes courageous women to follow Jesus. Now,

these people are suffering in so many areas. We will

never suffer as Americans. But what is it costing you

to follow Christ? What is the cost to you? As

I said, you're never going to but it's unlikely. You're

never going to have to deal with violent oppression. But

you deal with silent repression every single day in this culture.

As America becomes more and more anti Christian and more

and more secularized. Now, the Bible says what are we

supposed to do? And it tells us six things you

might write these days. Here's what you do when you

handle opposition for your faith. Number One, don't be surprised.

Don't be surprised. You should not expect the world to

support your decision to follow Jesus. Why would you expect

them to think that's, oh, that's a real popular thing

to do. One Peter four to twelve says this, dear friends,

don't be surprised. Don't be shocked when you go through

painful trials that are like walking through fire, as though

something unusual is happening to you. Jesus had told us.

He said, in the world, you're going to have tribulation.

It's going to happen. So don't be surprised. Number two,

don't be afraid. So don't be afraid. Now, how do

I get rid of the fear of opposition? How do

I get rid of the fear of disapproval? How do

I get afraid? How do I get rid of that

fear of being reject You need to be filled with

God's love. The more you realize how much God loves you,

The Bible says there's no fear in love. Perfect love

casts out all fear. You focus on God's love for you. You see,

healthy people aren't afraid of rejection. Healthy people aren't afraid

of disapproval. Healthy people don't need everybody's approval. Healthy people

know their love by God. The Bible says in One

Peter three sixteen thirteen to sixteen, if you suffer for

doing what is right, you know, at work or at

home and your family wherever, God will reward you for it.

So don't be afraid and don't worry. Instead, worship Christ

as Lord of your life. And if you are asked

about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it

and circle the word worry and the word worship. Those

are the two alternatives you have when you feel put down,

when you feel pressured to be quiet about your faith

in Christ. Christ. You can either worry or you can worship.

You can panic or you can pray. You can focus

on the problem and the pressure and the persecution, or

you can focus on God. He says, turn your attention

away from the pressure you feel and turn it toward God.

That's what worship is, focusing on God. The Bible tells

us in the Bible that when Stephen, who was the

first martyr, was stoned to death, it said he looked

up into Heaven. He worshiped instead of worried. As they

were throwing all those rocks at him that killed him.

So don't be surprised, And he says, don't be afraid.

Worship instead of worry. Number three, he says, don't be ashamed.

Don't be ashamed. You should never be embarrassed for standing

for the truth. Never be embarrassed for doing what's right.

One Peter four sixteen says, it's no shame. You shouldn't

be ashamed. It's no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Instead,

thank God for the privilege of being called by his name. Question,

is an insult gonna kill you? No is a put

down gonna kill you. No is somebody calling you a

name or labeling you something because you've made a stand

for Christ and for what the Bible says. No is

somebody some troll on the internet who's trying to bait

you and get you in an argument. Is that gonna

hurt you? No, it's not. It's not gonna kill you.

So he says, don't be ashamed, don't be afraid, don't

be surprised. Now, I want you to write this sentence down,

and if you get this, it will liberate your life.

I don't need other people's approval to be happy If

you learn this, If this is all you get in

today's message, it'll change your life because otherwise you are

living your life for what other people think rather than

what go God made you to be. And you can't

be who God made you to be if you're worried

about pleasing other people. I don't need others' approval to

be happy. That person you've been trying to get their

approval for so many years, like maybe it's a parent,

They may have even died. If you haven't got it

by now, I tell you this, you're not going to

get it. But the good news is you don't need it.

You don't need anybody's approval in order to be happy.

You're as happy as you choose to be, and you

focus on God rather than the people who disapprove. If

I spent my life worrying about all the people who

disapprove of me, I'd be in bed with deep, deep depression.

But that's not what life's all about. I focus on God,

and I focus on what he wants, not what other

people think. Because I don't need and you don't need

anybody's approval in order to be happy. Happiness is a

choice now. The Bible says this in one Peter five,

verse nine. Take a firm stand, Take a firm stand

against Satan, and be strong in your faith. Remember that

your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are

going through the same kind of suffering you are. So

what's you saying there? He's saying, well, I don't need

to be ashamed. First place, you're in good company. This

has happened for two thousand years, and there are people

who are suffering right now for being a believer in Christ.

You're in good company. If you want to go read

Hebrews eleven, which is God's Hall of fame. And in

God's Hall of fame, he says, they were beaten, they

were tortured, they were imprisoned, they were pushed down, they

were ridiculed, they were maligned, they were laughed at, and

on and on and on. I don't know how Satine

clear than this. Don't let don't ever let anybody laugh

you out of following Christ. Don't ever let anybody laugh

you out of living for Christ. One Peter three seventeen.

Remember it's better to suffer for doing God's will than

to suffer for doing evil. And here's the point, No

matter what you do in life, somebody's gonna not like it.

There is nothing that you can do that everybody is

going to like. Does that veral I agree with that.

You can't make everybody like you. So there's nothing you

can do that can make everybody like you. So you

may as well do the things that God likes rather

than the things that other people like, because they aren't

going to matter an eternity. If you're gonna suffer, if

you're gonna have people who oppose you, if you're gonna

have people's disapproval, you may as well have the disapproval

for doing the right thing rather than the wrong thing.

That's just logic. Because somebody is going to disagree with

you no matter what you do. You can't avoid disapproval.

Now we come to the fourth step, and here this

is important. Recognize the source of the opposition, and it's Satan,

not other people. It's not coworkers, it's not some other

political party, it's not some other nation, it's not some

other religion, it's not some competitor. It's not some person

who just doesn't like you. The real source of the

pressure you feel to cave in to not have integrity,

the pressure you feel to be quiet and then not

stand up for what you know is the right thing.

That pressure is not coming from other people, It's really

coming from Satan. In Revelation chapter twelve, verse ten, Satan

is called quote the accuser of the Christians. That's his job.

His number one job is to put you down. I

follow me on this. Satan hates God, obviously, and so

he hates anything God has created. And what he hates

most of all are God's children. And so Satan hates you.

He doesn't just hate God. Satan hates you. You know

you've heard that phrase. God loves you and has a

good plan for your life. Well, Satan hates you and

has a bad plan for your life, and so he

hates you. Now follow me on this. Satan wants to

hurt God, but he can't. He can't hurt God. But

he does have access to you, and he can't hurt you.

And the quickest way to hurt a parent is to

hurt his kids. The quickest way to hurt a mom's

heart hurt her children. Quickest way to hurt a dad

has hurt his children. And so Satan can't get it God.

So what does he wanted to do. He wants to

get at you, he wants to hurt you, and there

is an unseen spiritual battle going all around you. And

this pressure to make your life miserable and to make

you cave in and to keep you from doing the

right thing. It's not coming from other people. Really, you

got to look beyond that. They're just pawns, they're just tools.

They're just weapons, and a lot of times they don't

even know most of the time, and I even know

they're being used. But the real issue is this spiritual warfare.

Ephesian six twelve says this. We're not fighting against human beings,

which is why you don't win this in the ballot box.

We're not fighting against human beings, but against wicked spiritual

forces in the heavenly realm. Now let me explain this.

You need to understand that Satan knows it's stupid to

attack Jesus Christ directly. Why because he was the only

perfect person who ever lived. How do you attack Jesus,

I mean, the savior who taught love and grace and

peace and joy and forgive other people and died gave

his life for others. How do you attack Jesus so

he knows. Rather than attacking Jesus directly, he wants to

attack those who follow him. And today he uses the media,

and he uses music, and he uses comedies, and he's

doing anything he can to ridicule those who follow Jesus.

And they say, hey, they're out of date, they're on

the wrong side of history. They don't know what they're

talking about. No on and their fuddy dead is their bigots,

and on and on and on. Here's what the Bible

says you should do, two Timothy, to stay away from

stupid and senseless arguments. I would add, especially on the Internet,

these only lead to trouble. God's servants must never quarrel.

Star that circle, it put a line on it, fifteen

exclamation points. God's servants must never quarrel. I didn't say

that God did. It's right there in the Bible. And

so you should not get into heated arguments. God's servants

should never quarrel. That's what the Bible says. Instead, when

you're under a press, when you're in opposition, when people

are harassing you for being a Christian, when they look

at you strange for what you believe, Instead be kind

to everyone, including the opposition. And be patient with the

opposition and be humble when you correct people who oppose you.

They've been trapped by the devil and he makes them

obey him. But God may help them escape. Now what's

he saying here, He's saying those people they're just pawns.

And see, if you don't have the Holy Spirit in

your life, you're not God's power in your life. You

have no defense against Satan. He could just whipsaw you

this way. Now, he can master your moods, he can

lead you into depression, he can do all kinds. He

can make you angry. You have no defense against Satan.

Until you've got God's spirit inside you. You're not strong. Sorry,

you're just not. And so these people, they're just being

used as tools. And what you need to do is

recognize a source and treat the opposition the way Jesus did.

How did Jesus treat those who opposed him? Even on

the cross, he's saying, Father, forgive them. They don't know

what they're doing. They don't know what they're doing. That's

what it means to be christ Like. They don't know

what they're doing. These people who attack me, they don't

know what they're doing. The people who attack you, they

don't know what they're doing. The people who put down

Jesus in Church and Christian they don't know what they're doing. Father,

forgive them. Now. Think about this. Jesus was lied to,

lied about constantly. If you go make a list of

all things they lied about Jesus in the Bible. They

said he's a revolutionary here to overthrow Rome and take

Pilot's place. Wrong. But they use that to get him

to the cross. They said, they said he he's got

a demon.

Wrong.

At one point, they said he's a drunk and a glutton.

Wrong.

They said, you know, he's the devil incarnate. Wrong. And

how did Jesus respond to all those lies that were

told about him? Look at the next verse Firs. Peter two.

When they hurled their insults at him, Jesus did not retaliate.

When he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted

himself to God, who judges justly. Look at this verse

on the screen. I love this. In the message, it

says this. They called him every name in the book,

and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content

to let God set things right. This leads us to

the fifth thing you need to do when you're under attack,

refuse to retaliate.

Such a great message by Rick today and every day.

I sure hope you were just as encouraged as I was.

And now here's Rick with an important message.

Hi, everybody, thanks so much for listening today. You know,

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