Rick Warren - Daring To Believe—Part One

Hello, everybody, This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope.

If you're joining us for the first time or you've

been listening every day for ten years, we just want

to say welcome, We love you, and we pray for

you every day. So we're continuing with this series called

Daring Faith the Key to Miracles. And in this series

you're learning how to have a bold, unshakable faith that

gives you courage to impact the world around you. And

if you're like me, you'd really like to be more

bold and have more courage to share your faith in Christ.

Now let's hear what Rick has to say today in

part one of a message called Daring to Believe.

The Bible records the first Easter morning this way in

John chapter twenty. Let me read it to you. Early

Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went

to the tomb to visit the tomb where Jesus had

been buried, and she found a huge stone had been

rolled away from the entrance. So she ran and she

found Peter and John, two of Jesus' disciples. She said,

they have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb,

and I don't know where they've put him. See, in

this time, nobody expected the resurrection, even the disciples, even

though Jesus had predicted it, told nobody expected it. They

thought somebody had stolen the body. So then Peter and

John ran to the tomb to see for themselves. And

John got to the tomb. First he saw the linen

burial cloth lying there folded. Now, this is kind of strange.

If you're a grave robber, you're not going to take

a dead body, unwrap it, fold up the roll, and

sit the wrapping right there, and then take a dead

naked body. That would be kind of weird. So why

would they have the burial clothes sitting right there folded?

It says? Then Peter arrived and went inside, and he

also noticed the linen wrapping lying there with the cloth

that had covered Jesus' head. Now, when John saw this evidence,

he believed. For up until this point, the disciples still

had not understood the scriptures that said Jesus would rise

from the dead. Do you dare to believe? That's the

most important question you'll ever be asked, because your determined

eternal destiny will be based on the answer. Will you

dare to believe? Here at Saddleback Church. We're in a series.

This is week three that we're calling Daring Faith, Pikeita

Miracles and really what I want to do is just

two simple things this weekend. Answer two questions. First, what

are the benefits of believing in Jesus Christ? What are

the benefits to you for believing in Jesus Christ? And

then second, I want to answer the question what does

it actually mean to believe in Jesus? And then I

want to end with the personal testimony about believing in

your darkest days. Now let's begin for benefits. Write these down.

I could give you fifty benefits of what you benefit

from if you believe in Christ, but let me just

give you four. These four will cover the major areas.

Number one first benefit of believing in Jesus Christ. Everything

I've ever done wrong is forgiven. Everything I've ever done

wrong is forgiven because of what Jesus Christ did on

the cross and dying for your sins and mind. God

forgives you freely, completely, instantly and repeatedly. Even if there

were no such thing as a heaven, and of course

there is, but even if there were no heaven, it

would be worth believing in Jesus just to get a

clear conscience, because having talked to thousands of people, I

know that most people are carrying secret guilt, secret regret,

and secret shame. And you can be completely forgiven of that.

Here's what the Bible says, Acts Chapter ten. All who

believe in Jesus will be forgiven of their sins through

Jesus's Romans three says this, we're made right with God

in God's sight when we trust Jesus Christ to take

away our sins, and we can all be saved in

this same way, no matter who we are or what

we've done. I love that last part. Doesn't matter who

you are, doesn't matter what you've done, who you've done

it with, how long you did it, or where you

did it, You can be saved. You can be forgiven.

Everything is forgiven when I trust in Jesus Christ. Number two,

I learn God's purpose for my life. That's the second

big benefit. I learn the purpose of my life, God's purpose. Now,

if you don't know your purpose, and most people don't

know the purpose of their life, you end up drifting

through life. You get bounced around. Life controls you rather

than you controlling life. Now there's only one way you're

going to learn the purpose of your life. You got

to talk to your creator. You can't tell yourself what

your purpose is because you didn't invent you. Sometimes people say,

if you want to know your purpose, then well I

did that. That didn't work. You can't tell you what

your purpose is because you didn't create you. Only the

Creator can tell you what purpose you were created for.

And you will never never, never, never, never, never never

know the purpose of your life until you believe in

Jesus Christ, because he is your creator. The Bible says this, everything,

absolutely everything got started in Christ and finds its purpose

in him. Today, so many people are confused about their

identity and their purpose. I don't know who I am

and I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing

with my life because you're looking in the wrong places.

The Bible says this, it is in Christ that we

find out who we are and what we're living for.

Who we are, that's identity, what we're living for, that's

our purpose. It is in Christ we find that out

part of the overall purpose He's working out in everything

and everyone. Number three third benefit believing Christ. I get

God's strength for daily living I get God's strength for

daily living. Now, I used to think this wasn't a

big deal, but I've realized that this is the number

one problem most people have today. Most people, the number

one problem isn't worry or fair or guilt or boredom

or bitterness. Their number one problem is weariness. I talk

to people all the time just say I'm just so

tired all the time. I can't get it all done.

I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. I

don't have enough energy to get everything done that I

need to do. And the reason why you're tired all

the time is you have a power shortage. And the

reason you have a power shortage is you're not plugged

into God's power. You're trying to live your life on

your power alone. Now, there's no way you can fulfill

your purpose in life without being plugged into God's power.

A toaster unplugged is worthless. A blender unplugged is worthless.

A vacuum cleaner it has no purpose. It's just a

bunch of metal. If it's not plugged into the power source,

your life cannot possibly be all God intends for it

to be. Until you're plugged into God's power. The Bible

says this in Isaiah chapter forty, God gives power to

those who are tired and worn out, and he offers

strength to the weak. And in Ephesians chapter one, the

Bible says this, I pray that you will begin to

understand how incredibly great his power is. Whose power Jesus

power to help those who believe him. That's the key.

Belief unlocks God's power in your life. It is the

same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead. Oh ho,

wait a minute, time out. Are you telling me that

the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, that

split history into AD and BC is available to me

on a personal basis date every day. That's exactly what

I'm saying. That the same power that raised Jesus Christ

from the dead. The Bible says, it's available to you

if you believe he said. Well, what do I need

power for? Oh? You need it in more ways than

your real life. You need it. You need God's power

to change things in your life you can't change on

your own power. The truth is, if you were honest,

there's some things about you you don't like about you.

There's some things about your personality. There's some things about

your past, there's some things about how you handle life

you don't like and you've tried to change, but you can't,

so you won't. And really, maybe you do will power

for a while and it works for a while, and

then you give up and you quit. You need a

power greater than yourself to make changes. You need God's

power in your life. And when you mess up and

you screw up and you make a big failure in

your life, you need God's power to start over. And

when you're ready to give up and throw in the towel,

you need God's power to keep going. And sometimes when

you have things, God gives you the power to say

no to things that you know, these aren't good for me.

They're messing up my life, the destructive on my relationships.

God gives you the power to say no, the power

to start over, the power to begin again, the power

to keep going, the power to change. Paul says it

like this, I have the strength to face all conditions

by the power that Christ gives me. Now, this is

not positive men latitude. This is not self help psychology.

This is not pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.

Every day and every way, I'm getting better and better. No,

this is supernatural power. I have the power to face

all conditions by the power that Christ gives me that strength.

What are the all conditions? The power to handle loneliness

when you're lonely, the power to handle pressure when you're

under tension, the power to handle stress, the power to

handle guilt and fear and boredom and bitterness and rejection.

The power to handle the financial crisis, the power to

handle a physical health crisis, the power to handle a

relational crisis. Where does that power come from. It comes

from God when you believe in Jesus Christ. So I

get all of my sins. Everything I've ever done wrong

is forgiven. I get my past forgiven. I get a

purpose for living, and I get a power for living.

Then there's a fourth one. This is a cherry on top.

I am guaranteed eternal life. Hello, now we're talking. Even

if none of these other things were available, I am

given eternal life because of jesus resurrection. When I believe

in him. You see Jesus bringing himself back to life

changed everything. When Jesus came back to life, it literally

split history into AD and BC. It's the most important event.

In fact, your birthday is dated by day, month, and

year in relationship to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Every

time you write a date, you were using jesus resurrection

as a reference point. Because as God came to earth

in human form, split history into ADY and BC. Nothing

is bigger. And the resurrection proved three things. First, it

proved that Jesus was exactly who he claimed to be.

Jesus repeatedly said I am God. I am God, come

in human form to die for your sins. Now a

lot of people say, oh, well, I don't believe Jesus

was God. I believe he was a great teacher. He

couldn't be a great teacher. That's the one thing he

possibly could not be, because a good great teacher would

not claim to be God. He's either who he says

he is, or he's the biggest liar in history. He's

a con man, or he's a lunatic like the guy

who thinks he's Napoleon or a fried Egg. A good

teacher is not an option. For instance, if I were

to stand up here today and I said, Hi, my

name's Rick Warren. I'm a good teacher, you might say, Okay,

I can buy that Rick's a good teacher. I might

even be able to get away to say, Hi, I'm

Rick Arrant, I'm a prophet of God. I'm not sure

about that one, but maybe, okay, maybe. But if I

stood up here and it said Hi, I'm Rick and

I'm God, would that change our relationship? Yeah, because all

of a sudden you're forced to make a decision. He's

either who he says he is, or he's trying to

con me, or he's nuts. There's no other alternative, and

you have to decide. Was Jesus nuts, was he totally insane?

Or was he the biggest con man and he conned

two point three billion people. If that's true, we should

all close up shop and go home. There's no reason

for Christmas, no reason for Easter, no reason for Church

because he's deluded most of the world and deluded people

throughout history, or he is who he claimed to be. Now,

throughout history, thousands of people have claimed to be God.

This is nothing new. Lots of people in history have

claimed to be God. But only one person said I'm

going to prove it, and that's Jesus. And he said,

here's what I'm going to do to prove that I

am who I say aim. I'm going to let my

enemies kill me, and I'm going to be buried in

a tomb for three days. Then I'm going to raise

myself back to life. And that's exactly what he did.

And when he came back to life, he didn't just

show up and appear to a few believers. He stayed

on earth for another forty days, walked around Jerusalem for

forty more days. All kinds of people saw him. One time,

he had a party with five hundred people. It's kind

of hard to fool five hundred people. Can you imagine

being the Roman centurions who nailed Jesus to the cross,

and the next week you're walking down the street in

Jerusalem and there he is, and he go, he's back.

That'd be kind of weird to see the guy that

you just killed walking down the streets. And that's why

so many in Jerusalem instantly became believers. It was in

a matter of years one hundred thousand people were followers

of Christ because everybody had seen him. The resurrection of

Jesus Christ is one of the most well attested events

in history. It would stand up in any court of law.

In fact, it has many many times throughout many centuries.

It proved Jesus was who he was, he is the

son of God. But more than that, it proved that

Jesus keeps his promises. And Jesus that I'm gonna let

him kill me and I'll come back to life. Now

did he keep that? Yes, Well, if he kept that one,

then I can trust the other promises in this book,

the ones that talk to me about my life, because

I know he keeps his promises. And the third thing

it tells me is that it proves that there is

life after death. If Jesus Christ hadn't resurrected, you have

no hope of the future, you have no hope of eternity.

You would have no knowledge of heaven or anything else.

Because Jesus Christ was the one who proved there's life

after death. If he hadn't resurrected again, it's all just

a big let's all go home, Let's go to the beach.

I'm buying. I'll get some hot dogs or something. Now,

let me show you what Jesus said. John eleven five

and twenty six. Jesus said, I am the one who

raises the dead and gives life again. Now, Buddha didn't

say this, Muhammad didn't say this. Karl Marx didn't say that.

Nobody else has ever said this, because nobody else has

ever raised themselves back up to life, because they're not God.

This is what puts Jesus in a unique position as

the son of God. I am the one who raises

the dead. And here's what he says. Because of that,

anyone who believes in me, even though he dies, shall

live again. He has given eternal life for believing in me.

Circle that eternal life. Give an eternal life for believing

in me, and shall never perish. Now, if Jesus Christ

has not written at Easter, this verse would be a joke.

It's just not true. You have no hope. When you're dead.

You're dead. It's over. That's it. But Jesus said, because

of that, I give eternal life to those who believe

in me. The most famous verse in the Bible talks

about this. John three point sixteen. You've seen this verse

held up on placards at football games for thirty years.

God so loved the world that he gave his only

begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish

but have everlasting life. Now again, I could give you

fifty benefits of believing Christ. I just gave you four

everything you've ever done wrong forgiven. You get a purpose

for living, you get a home in heaven, and you

get power for living here on earth. Question, where else

are you going to get that? Nowhere? Who else can

give that to you? No one. If you don't get

it from Jesus, you don't get it because He's the

only one who can give you those four things. Now,

these are amazing benefits you can't get anywhere else. And

the qualification I must believe. The Bible said, this is

what God wants you to do. He wants you to

believe in the one that he sent. So what does

it mean to believe in Jesus? A lot of people

think they believe, but really don't. A lot of people

are going to miss heaven by eighteen inches because they

got it up here in the head, but not here

in the heart. They have a head knowledge about God,

but they don't have a heart commitment to God, and

so they're going to miss heaven because they don't understand

the full meaning of the word believe. I was on

a plane flight one time. I think I was going

to China. Now sitting next to guy, and the guy

asked me, so, what kind of work do you do?

And when somebody asked me that on a planet, I

always say I'm an author, because if I say I'm

a pastor, then they think, oh, he's going to try

to convert me, and they clam up. They don't want

to talk for the rest of the flight. So I

always just say author. And so then he goes, so,

what's the name of your book? I said, well, one

of them's called The Purpose Driven Life. He goes, I

know who you are, and I said, he said, as

soon as he knew who I was. He goes, I'm

going to heaven. I said, great, see you there. And

I said great. I said, let me ask him, how

do you know you're going to heaven. How do you know?

He goes, because I believe in God, he said, Good

for you. I do too. I said, any other reason

why you think you might be going to heaven? He said,

because I believe in Jesus. I believe Jesus died on

the cross for the sins of the world. I said,

that's great. I said, would it surprise you if I

told you that believing there is a God and that

believing Jesus died on the cross is not enough to

get into heaven. He said, are you in me? I

said no, no. I said, let me ask you this.

Do you believe in the devil? He goes, oh, yeah.

Evil is obvious in the world. There's a lot of

bad evil. I believe in the devil. I said, do

you think the devil's going to be in heaven? He said, well,

of course not. I said, well, the devil believes in God,

and the devil who believes in Jesus. The devil knows

Jesus Christ as the son of God. That's why he

put him on the cross. He wanted to kill him.

He wanted to destroy the Messiah. I said, do you

think Satan's going to be in heaven? No? So obviously,

believing in God, believing in Jesus as the son of

God is not enough to get you to heaven, because

even the devil believes that. He goes where's that in

the Bible? I said, here's it, and I showed him

this verse James chapter two nineteen. Do you think it's

enough just to believe there's one God. Well, even the

demons believe that and tremble. But you're not going to

find them in heaven. Why because it's more than just

a head knowledge. You got to go back to what

the word believe actually means. And in the Greek in

which the Bible is written in Greek, was is the

word the belief, The word for belief is the word

pistuo comes from his faith. Pistuo means to believe, and

it actually means more than just knowing about something knowing

something happens. It means to trust in, to cling to,

to rely on, to adhere to, or to commit to

big difference. It's a heart commitment. We all know that

there's various levels of knowledge. For instance, there's real shallow knowledge.

For instance, you all know about the Kardashians, okay, but

you know now you don't really know them, but you

know about them. And we all know about celebrities. I

know about Tom Cruise. I don't know Tom Cruise personally,

but I know who he is. I believe he exists. Okay,

but I've never given my life to Tom Cruise. I

just believe he exists. And a lot of people believe

Jesus exists, they've never given their life to him. And

then then you have your neighbors, and you're neighbors, you

know a little bit more and you know a little

bit about their background. You may know where they work,

maybe where they came from. But you don't really know

your neighbors. But if you've been married and you know

your husband or your wife, you know them much more intimately.

I know my wife. Now she's still a mystery. Okay,

Now I'm not a mystery to her because she's deep

and I'm shallow. I mean, she knows everything about me.

I know very little about her, but I do know

that I love her. And when I say I believe

in k it means more than I know she exists.

That's far more than I know my wife exists. It

means I trust in her, I rely on her. I

have committed my life to her, and I know her

intimately in a way I don't know anybody else. Because

in two months I will have been married to her

for forty years. Now that's the that's a kind of

knowledge and intimacy. And when I say I believe in

my wife, it's more than I just believe she exists.

It's I trust in her. I'm committed to her, I

rely on her, and I love her with all my life.

That's the kind of meaning pistuo means in Scripture. It

means to trust in, cling to you, to rely on it,

here to you. So what I want to do right

now is explain to you five expressions of what it

means to really believe in Jesus. Because you may not

have really believed in him. You may have been in

church all your life, or maybe this is your first

time and you know about Jesus, but you've never really

trusted in him. So I take these five expressions of belief,

and I'm just for fun. I put him in the

crossting t r ust. What does it mean to trust

in Jesus? Christ? Write this down? The T means I

turn everything over to Jesus. T is I turn everything

over to Jesus. The good in my life, the bad

in my life, the ugly in my life, the secret

things in my life. I turn over my past, my present,

and my future. I give him rein in my finances,

in my relationships, in my sex life, in my health,

in every area. I turn everything over to Jesus.

What a great message from Pastor Rick today, There's something

I always take away from his message. Well, friends, I

want you to take just a second and think, is

there anybody I know that is graduating this year? Could

be a son or daughter, a grandchild, or maybe a

neighbor or a family friend. Well, as you celebrate this

important milestone and they begin the next phase of their journey,

they really need to know that God created them, loves them,

and has a plan for their lives. So Rick created

a special resource just for graduates called The Purpose Driven Life.

Selected Thoughts and Scripture for the Graduate. This is a

beautiful book that I've given to my own kids. It's

filled with inspirational scripture, biblical wisdom from Pastor Rick, and

some really beautiful imagery. It's a really unique hardcover giftbook

that they'll want to keep, and it provides an awesome

reminder of the great life that God has planned for

your graduate. I'm telling you it will inspire them to

seek His unique plan and purpose for their life. Please

don't miss this great opportunity to minister to the graduate

in your life.

Today.

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