Rick Warren - When You Stand for God, He Stands for You Part 2

When you stand up for God when it's the right

thing to do, even when it's unpopular. Standing for God

builds my faith and character. Standing for God builds my

faith and character. Character. That's who you are. Reputations what

you want people to think you are. Character is what

you really are. What's what you are in the dark.

Character and faith are like muscles, and the only way

you build a muscle is by stressing it. That's why

you have to That's the power of weightlifting. When you

lift weights, you're straining your muscle. You're stretching your muscle.

You're stressing your muscle. The only way your muscle grows

is when it is stressed, strained, and stretched. You're not

building any muscle sitting at home, you know, eating bond

bonds and watching you know, watching how much does that

dress cost?

It's my favorite show. I don't know about yours.

But you're not develop any muscle, any spiritual muscle, emotional, relational,

or physical muscle sitting there.

When you play it safe, your life gets weaker and

weaker and weaker.

You get punier and punier in your emotions, in your relationships,

in your faith, in your character. When you're not straining, stressing,

and stretching your faith, stretching your character. So when you

make a stand for God to go, I'm scared to

death to do this. You know what what it's called.

When you're scared to death to do something and you

do it anyway, that's called courage. If you're not afraid,

you're not courageous. Only people who are afraid are courageous.

If you're not afraid, you're not courage. You don't need

any courage. Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage

is doing the right thing in spite of your fear.

That's what makes a courageous woman. That's what makes a

courageous man. You do the thing you fear in spite

of the and that's called courage. And when you stand

for God, it builds your faith and your character and

their courage. Two Timothy one six one eight. You must

never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord with

the strength that God gives you, that's your character. Okay,

that's your faith. With the strength God gives you. Be

ready to suffer if necessary, to share the good news. Question,

what are you willing to do in order to be

true to your faith? Are you willing to be put down?

Are you willing to have somebody look at you funny?

Are you willing to be gossiped about? What are you willing?

How much character do you really have? The fact is

we have a lot of cowardly Christians. We have a

lot of wimpy Christians who they can't even handle anybody

possibly looking at them sideways. What are you willing to do?

Many times throughout history Christians went before lions, or went

to the cross, or or martyred. You know this year?

Did you know this year millions of Christians were martyred

around the world. It's so common, it's not even in

the news all the time.

But they're martyred for their faith. Still happens.

Yes, millions of people in all kinds of different countries

are martyred for their faith.

It builds your character.

Number three, The third benefit of when you stand strong

for God is it gives God a chance to do

a miracle. It gives God a chance to do a miracle.

I know a lot of Christians who've never seen ever

in their life, a legitimate miracle, and the reason why

is because they have played it safe their entire life.

They've never taken any risks. They've never done anything that

had slightly any bit of unsafety to it. And don't

be afraid to go out on a limb. That's where

the fruit is. Don't be afraid to rock the boat.

If Jesus Christ is your captain. If you play this safe,

you don't dive in the deep in. You spend your

entire life at Baby Beach, playing around in the shallows,

kicking around the sand and the shallows, and you never

dive into the deep end. You're not going to need

any miracles. If you don't tackle any big problem in

your life, you don't know that God can solve them.

If you've never even admitted you had a problem, God

shows up when you reached.

The end of your rope.

If you never do anything that can't be explained away

by your own power, then you've never really trusted God.

Most people go through life defining their life by what

they think they can do.

You are capable of so much more. Really, if there's.

Anything I can do as your friend, your pastor who

loves you, your coach, is to help you see that

you are capable of so much more than you realize.

It's just your fears are holding you back.

When you step out in faith, you know you got

to get out of the boat to walk on water.

When you step out on faith, it gives God a chance.

To do a miracle. I have had so many miracles in.

My life because I'm constantly painting myself into a corner

and saying, God, how are we going to get out

of this one. I often put myself in a situation

literally where I'm forced to trust God where I go.

There's no way this is going to happen. I'm so

far out here on a limb. I'm so far out

here in a limb, in physically, emotionally, financially, that this

is bound to fail unless God bails us out. And

when you trust God like that, the miracles start happening

in your life. Daniel had miracles because he wasn't afraid

to take risks like let's throw open the windows, and

I'm just go ahead and pray in public, in front

of everybody, in spite of the fact that this is

now a capital offense. It's worthy of death, and the

law cannot be rescinded, So we'll just throw open Who

threw open the windows?

He did?

He did now because Daniel took this risk in faith,

and he said, you know what, if I go down,

I'm going to go down talking about God. He said,

I'm not going to back off. I'm not going to

back down. I'm not going to back away. I'm not

going to back slide. I'm going to go for it.

I'm going to stand up for Christ at my work.

Do you do that?

You stand up for Christ in the workplace, in the

on the work site, you stand up for Christ on

the website, you ever talk about God on the website.

When you do that, it opens the.

Door to miracles. Now here's what happened.

When Daniel was picked up and thrown into the pit

of the lions because he had broken this law. The

news guild comes back to the king and the king

is distraught.

You can read this later.

Because the king loved Daniel, like I said, He'd made

him the third most powerful ruler in his kingdom, and

he said, I'm going to put him over the whole kingdom.

And now he says, because of my stupid ego, I

signed a dumb law, and the guy I loved more

than anybody else in this kingdom is going to die

because of my ego. I let them convince me, those

lackeys to make a law that says everybody should pray.

To me for thirty days. How ludicrous is that?

And the Bible tells us that King Darius, after when

he heard that Daniel had been thrown into the lions,

didn't he couldn't eat, or sleep or do anything else.

Said he stayed up all night. He was worried. His

stomach was in a knot. He said he wouldn't eat.

They brought him food. He was fasting. He couldn't sleep

because he was so worried for Daniel. And it said

he had no entertainment, so he didn't watch a TV

that night, and he's so nervous. And the next morning

he wakes up and going, you know, I know Daniel

trust is God. He's not my God. He's Daniel's God.

And I've seen that God do miracles for this guy.

I wonder if he helped him out. And here where

we pick up the story Daniel six verse nineteen. It

says here at the first light of dawn, the king

got up and hurried to the pit filled with lions,

and when he got there, he called to Daniel in

an anguished voice. This is his friend, Daniel, servant of

the Living God. It's not my God, but he's your God,

servant of the Living God. Has your God, whom you

serve continually been able to rescue you from the lions?

It's a pretty good question, particularly for an unbeliever. Okay,

the God you claim to worship, did he did he

bail you out?

Did he save you? Did he rescue you?

And Daniel answered, oh, King, oh King, My God sent

his angel and he shut the mouths of the lions.

And they have not hurt me at all because God

knew I've done nothing against him or you, o King,

i'n't been disloyal to you.

I've been loyal to you.

And the King was overjoyed, and he gave orders to

lift Daniel out of the pit. Have you ever been

lifted out of a pit? God wants to do that

for you this weekend. And when Daniel was lifted out,

there was not a single scratch on his body because

he had trusted God. Has God ever rescued you out

of a pit? Maybe you've played it so safe you've

never actually been put in a pit because of your faith.

But if you ever get put in a pit and

you get put in advice, you get put in a

difficult situation. What do you do? You praise God? You

thank God in advance. You just trust God. He gives

God a chance to do a miracle. There's a fourth benefit,

number four. When you stand firm, when you stand strong

for God publicly at work, it encourages other believers to

stand up. Did you know the courage is contagious. When

you are contagious, it causes other people to get contagious.

And when you stand strong for God, it causes other

people to stand strong for Did you ever see Brave Heart.

They're all willy nilly, wimpy, you know, scared of the

English guys. And then one guy goes freedom and then

he goes, yeah, freedom and they go running into battle

with picks and axes and stuff like that. What Because

courage is contagious, and when you show courage, you may

just be surprised. How many people come out of the

woodwork and out of the shadows at your work, at

your job site, waiting for somebody to be a leader.

Does somebody have enough courage and character and confidence in God?

Go whatever?

I'm just gonna say, you know what I think this

is right, and I think this is what godlets do,

and here's what we should do, and other people will

follow that, Paul says in Philippians, Chapter one, verse fourteen.

Because of what I've been through, and he'd been through

a lot, many of the Christians here have gained confidence

and they have become more bold in telling others about Christ.

If you'll just be bold a little bit, it'll bring

boldness out of other people around you, because courage is contagious.

I know many of you use the Daily Hope Devotionals

as part of your regular Bible study, and so I

want to share some exciting news. We've put three hundred

and sixty five of the best devotionals into a brand

new book that we're calling the Daily Hope Devotional, Purpose, Peace,

and Promise for every Day. This devotional book is designed

with clear, practical biblical teaching to help you make knowing

God your number one priority. I believe it will help

you stay focused on God throughout the day as he

provides you with real purpose, lasting peace, and his unfailing promises.

Imagine starting every day like that. This book is a

great way to share the hope you have in Jesus

with your friends. Co workers and relatives. I hope you'll

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Be sure and request your copy. When you partner with

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hurting world.

A fifth benefit of when you stand for God even

when you're scared to death at work, or in your neighborhood,

or on the golf course or wherever. It is a

powerful example to unbelievers. It is a powerful example to unbelievers.

Now let me give you three examples of this, a

New Testament one, and then a couple of Old Testament ones.

But first we see it in the life of Peter

and John, followers of Jesus, and they're hauled in before

the council, and the council in Jerusalem had said, we

strictly warned you that you were.

To never mention the name of Jesus.

And Peter and John go, huh, wait a minute, this

is the guy who was raised from the dead. We're

not afraid of you. You can't tell us not to

do that. We're going to talk about Jesus. We know

he's the son of God, we know he's in savior

of the world. We've seen him do miracles. We're not

afraid of you. And verse thirteen it says when the

council saw the boldness of Peter and John their courage,

they were amazed since they knew that these were just

ordinary men. But they'd been with Jesus. That's why they

were courageous. When you get with Jesus, you're going to

be bold the more time you spend with him. Remember,

this is why Daniel was not afraid. Three times a day,

He's having a conversation with God every day of his

life for eighty two years. Well, no, wonder, he's not afraid.

He'd been with Jesus. Here's another example. We actually see

this in King Darius's life. You know that the result

of this story, another king becomes a believer. King Darius,

a pagan king, comes to faith in God. This is

the second guy that where Daniel has led his boss

to faith. Wouldn't it be great if you could lead

your boss to faith? Wouldn't that be great? Could leave

your employer, the owner of your company, the owner of

your corporation to faith in Christ?

What's it going to say? Boldness? This is all it takes. Boldness.

And because Daniel was bold, another king first nabucon Ezer

the Babylonian king, now Darius, the mead Meto Persian king.

He comes to Christ, he comes to God. Here, here's

what it says. Look up here on the screen, verse

twenty five Daniel six. So then after he saw the

miracle in Daniel's life, then King Darius sent this proclamation

to every nation and race and language on earth. This is,

by the way, it's about five point thirty eight BC.

That's when this is happening. We know this because we

know when the Means and Persians took over the Babylonian empire.

He sent this decree to everybody. I decree that the

God of Daniel is to be honored and worshiped in

every part of my kingdom, for he is the living God.

Oh he just stepped across the line there, Okay, he

no longer a pagan. He is the living God, not

some dead idol, the one who endures forever, and his

kingdom will outlast all human kingdoms. And then notice what

he says. He is a god who rescues and saves.

That guy's just been saved. Have you been rescued and

saved by God? And he says he does miracles just

as he rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.

So Daniel continue to be successful during the reign of

King Darius and then in the following the reign of

Cyrus the Persian. The guy just can do nothing wrong.

He just keeps getting promoted and promoted and promoted. His

whole life is just an incredible success story. Why because

he passes every test with courage, and when the chips

are down, he goes let them fall. I'm going to

open the windows. I'm going to stand for God. And

if I go down for God, so be it. But

I'm going to stand for God. And that kind of

there is almost nothing that God won't do for a

person who has that kind of faith in him, almost nothing.

You would be amazed at what God would do in

your life if you would just walk out in faith,

if you would begin to be bold like Daniel and go,

I'm going to stand for God. I'm going to stand

up for God. I'm going to speak up for God.

I'm going to stick up for God. I'm not gonna

worry about what other people think.

I'm going to be.

Polite, but I'm going to be courageous. And so it's

a powerful example to unbelievers not only in your generation,

but did you know that the decisions you make if

you stand for God now, it could influence your kids,

and your grandkids and their kids and on and on

into future generations. In fact, it can even influence unbelievers

in future generations the story of your faith. Wouldn't that

be cool? You say, We'll give me an example. How

about Christmas. In about a month and a half, we're

gonna celebrate the Christmas season, and everybody puts up these

major scenes, and every major scene there's marrying Joseph and

the baby, and the cows and the sheep and the

shepherds and.

The who who the wise men?

Okay, let's look at that verse here on the screen,

Matthew Chapter two, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, wise

men from the east, you mean, you know where they're

coming from, the Babylonian Persian Empire. They're coming from Iran,

in Iraq, That's where the wise men came from. Jesus

was born in bethlaem Wise men from the east came

to Jerusalem, asking where is the one who's been born

King of the Jews. We saw his star from the east,

and we have come to worship him.

What gives here?

Babylonians and Persians are not known for being Jews, and

yet they know the prophecies about the Messiah. How in

the world did the wise men show up at Christmas?

Because of Daniel.

Daniel is the reason the wise men showed up a

christ Eighteen generations later. His impact is still playing out

in those kingdoms. This is the guy who, for eighty

five years lives his faith in a pagan world, and

you're gonna have to live your faith in a pagan world.

He lives his faith in a pagan world fearlessly, uncompromisingly, lovingly,

and he just succeeds and succeeds, and he prays in public,

and he talks about God in public, and he writes

down things, and he does prophecies, and he leads two

of the emperors, one Babylonian and one Persian, to Christ.

And so these wise men eighteen generations later, are very

familiar with Hebrew prophecies because Daniel had so impacted that kingdom.

That is the power of courage, that is the power

standing strong for God when everybody else in the kingdom

around you is going that's not right. This is right,

and they say what you believe is politically incorrect, and

what you believe is wrong, and what you believe.

Is out of date.

Daniel didn't care. It's not important to be on the

right side of history. It's important to be right. And

Daniel was right. And eighteen generations later, wise men from

the East, from these two empires come to worship Jesus.

That is the power of.

One man totally committed to God, not a whimp, not

a coward, a real man, a real woman. They'll see

the impact of his life today. Now there's one other benefit, Okay,

all of these things happen. That standing for God's a

victory over fear. It builds your faith in character, It's

an opportunity for God to do a miracle. It encourages

other believers to stand up. It's a witness. It's a

testimony to unbelievers. I believe your best example to non

Christians around you, your two best witnesses are probably A

how you handle pain and b how you handle something

that's unpopular. Do you have courage to stand up for

what you say? You claim to believe your courage in

opposition and your steadfastness in pain are your two best

witness testimony example to the world, and Daniel did this. Now,

the sixth thing that happens, the sixth benefit of every

time you stand strong for God is I will be

rewarded in eternity. Now, the fear you feel it's temporary.

It's going to last a few seconds or maybe a

few minutes. But the benefit is going to last for

trillions and trillions and trillions and trillions of years. Because

God is watching to see who trusts him. God is

watching who's willing to lay it on the line. God

is watching to see who is willing to stand up

for him. And Jesus said, if you stand up for me,

I'll stand up for you for my father in Heaven.

Here's what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount Matthew,

chapter five. Jesus says this, consider yourselves blessed. If people

put you down, or throw you out, or speak lies

about you because of me, Oh, let me start her

there circle. Because of me, he says, if you get

put down because you humbly spoke up for the truth,

you humbly shared my love you in total compassion, share

my plan and good news for the world. He said,

if you are put down, you're thrown out, you lose

your job, people lie about you. They you know, they

the trolls attack you on the internet because of me.

He says, If that happens, be happy, why knowing that

you will be rewarded greatly in heaven. Circle the word greatly.

You will be rewarded greatly in heaven. When you get

to heaven. I want you to have a lot of rewards.

I want you to be rewarded greatly because you had

the courage to stand up at work and say, you know,

I am a believer in Christ. I know not everybody

agrees with this, but die He's changed my life. And

I'm so grateful. And I don't serve him out of duty.

I serve him out of love. I'm just so grateful

my past has been forgiven. I got a purpose for living.

I got a home in heaven. What's the big deal

about that? Where else are you going to get that?

When you stand up? He says, you will be rewarded

greatly in heaven. And he says, by the way, when

all this putdowns come along, remember you're in good company.

Jesus said, because they did the same to all my witnesses.

Before you, but he said, don't worry about it. You're

going to be rewarded in heaven. Let me wrap it

up here. Daniel is eighty two years old when this happens,

and he's not even finished because he passed this test.

His greatest contribution to the world happens when he's eighty

five years old. At eighty five, he is given by

God the secrets of the mystery of history. And God

tells Daniel, not anybody else, how the world and history

are going to end. And that's the rest of the

Book of Daniel. We're not even going to cover all that.

Scholars have studied it for years and years and years.

It's brilliant and he reveals things that nobody could have

known any other way. And he's getting this at eighty

five years of age. Daniel started strong as a teenager.

He's starting strong for God, and then he became strong

in his twenties and thirties, and then he stayed strong

in his forties and fifties and sixties, and now at

eighty five, he's ending strong.

I want you to end strong.

I know many of you use the Daily Hope devotionals

as part of your regular Bible study, and so I

want to share some exciting news. We've put three hundred

and sixty five of the best devotionals into a brand

new book that we're calling the Daily Hope Devotional Purpose, Peace,

and Promise for every Day. This devotional book is designed

with clear, practical biblical teaching to help you make knowing

God your number one priority. I believe it will help

you stay focused on God throughout the day as He

provides you with real purpose, lasting peace, and his unfailing promises.

Imagine starting every day like that. This book is a

great way to share the hope you have in Jesus

with your friends, coworkers, and relatives. I hope you'll get

a copy for everyone you know.

Be sure and request your copy when you partner with

Daily Hope to take the word of God to a

hurting world.