Will You Stand Strong for God Publicly? — Part 3

Welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. I'm so glad you're here. Today we're going to continue our series called Unshakeable. Rick is taking us through the Book of Daniel. And that's so we'll be equipped to handle whatever curveball life throws at us, even the most difficult trials. Let's join Rick right now for a very important message. It's the final part called will you stand strong for God publicly?

Number three. Standing for God gives God an opportunity to do a miracle. The truth is, most people have never seen an absolute, true miracle in their life. And the reason why is because they never put themselves out on a limb. Never be afraid to go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is. Never be afraid to rock the boat. If Christ is your captain, you'll never see miracles until you step out and you walk on the water. You gotta jump out of the boat to walk on water. When you stand for God at work, at school, with a neighbor, with a skeptic, every time you do that, it gives God an opportunity to do a miracle. Now, if you live a life of safety, you play it safe. Nothing ventured, nothing came. You will never see any miracles in your life. I've seen a lot of miracles in my life. Cause I've done enormously outrageous things. I will often paint myself into a corner and then say, God, how are we gonna get out of this? You put yourself in a position where you trust God so much that, God, I am absolutely bound to fail unless you bail me out. I'm so far out there right now, God, there's no way, God, this is gonna happen unless you bail me out. God, you never know that God can solve your problems if you never have any problems. You never know that God can do a miracle in your life. If you never risk anything, if you never have any effort to say, okay, God, I'm willing to do what's unpopular and in this case, what was illegal, because I know what you said to do. Now, of course, Daniel saw a miracle because he gave God that opportunity. He went home, threw the doors open. I'm just keep praying like I've always been praying. I'm not going to hide it. I'm not going to wimp out. I'm not going to fake it. I'm just going to do it right in the open. I'm going to bow my head at lunch in front of everybody else, and I'm going to pray. I don't care what they think. And allows God to do a miracle. Now, here's what happens. Verse 19:23, it says this. At first light of dawn, the king got up, See, they caught Daniel and they throw him into the pit, okay? So he's thrown into the pit. And the Bible says, I don't have time to go into this. That when Darius heard that Daniel was the guy who had broken this law, he was heartbroken. In fact, you can go back and read this chapter. Cause he loved Daniel, this Darius, the king. In fact, he goes, you know, this is the guy I was gonna put in charge of the entire kingdom. And now because of my stupid ego, I signed a dumb because of some political wonks who got me to sign it. And now my favorite guy in the entire kingdom is gonna be eaten by lions. And if you go read the passage, it says he couldn't sleep that night. It said he couldn't eat. He fasted. It said he took no entertainment, so he didn't watch t. And so this guy, his stomach's churning because he knows that Daniel is a true believer. And although he's not one, he knows he's seen Daniel work and seen Daniel have miracles in his life. And when he hears Daniel's thrown into the lion's den, into the pit, he just can't sleep. He stays up all night, doesn't eat, doesn't entertainment, he's nervous. And so the next morning, at the light of first dawn, here's where the story picks up. At the light of first dawn, the king got up and hurried to the pit filled with lions. And when he got there, he called out to Daniel in an anguished voice, daniel, Daniel, servant of the living God. Has your God whom you serve continually, not him. Has your God whom you serve continually been able to rescue you from the lions? Legitimate question. He's worried about it. And this is what it says. Go on, next verse. Daniel answered, O 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. The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the pit. Are you still in the pit? Have you been lifted out? The king was overjoyed, gave orders to lift Daniel out of the pit. And when Daniel was lifted out, there was not a single scratch on his body because he had trusted God. That's friends called miracle. There are a lot of very famous paintings. Michelangelo, Raphael, and so many other great painters have painted Daniel in the lion's den because of this historic moment. And it says he Came out without a scratch on his body. Has God ever rescued you out of a pit? Well, first you gotta take a risk to end up in a pit. Now, maybe you're in a pit of your own making, but you praise God in that pit. He says, God came to my rescue, and so he gave God an opportunity to do a miracle. And the king's overjoyed. So standing for God's a victory over fear. It builds my faith and character. It gives God an opportunity to do a miracle. Number four, it encourages other believers to stand up. When you stand up for God at work or on the field playing a game or anywhere else, it encourages other believers. They see your courage. You know how courage is contagious. You ever see Braveheart? I mean, when he's brave, everybody else is brave. You got a cowardly leader, everybody else is a coward, Everybody else wants to wimp out. Courage is contagious. When you step out for God, you go, I'm in. I'll do this. I'll speak up for God at work. You know what? Other people start coming out of the shadows. Paul says this in Philippians 1:14. Because of what I've been through, many Christians here have gained confidence and they've become more bold in telling others about Christ. You, your boldness will encourage other people to be bold. That's a benefit, Number five. Not only is it an encouragement to other believers when you stand up for God, number five, it's a powerful example to unbelievers. In fact, I honestly think it may be this. And how you handle pain may be your two greatest witnesses, your two greatest testimonies, your two greatest examples to your unbelieving friends, neighbors, relatives, coworkers. How you handle pain and how you handle rejection, I think may be your two most greatest witnesses. It's a powerful example to believers when you say, sorry, I can't do this, my conscience will not allow me to do this. I will not violate my conscience. I cannot do. Everybody's doing it, but I can't. And I won't because my God says, don't do it. It's a powerful example to unbelievers. Let me just give you three real quick here. These verses, we see it in the lives of Peter and John. Acts 4:13. It says, when the council there in Jerusalem saw the boldness of Peter and John, they were amazed at their boldness, their courage, since they knew they're just ordinary men, but they had been. You know where you get your courage? Being with Jesus. You stand strong when you kneel. Often the More time you spend with Jesus, the stronger you're gonna be. You stand strong when you kneel. Often they were ordinary men. Peter and John were not some kind of intellectual towering giants or super talented superstars. They're fishermen. They're just normal people. And. And the enemy looks at him and goes, you guys are incredibly bold for just being ordinary guys. It's obvious you've been with Jesus. I can't think of a finer thing to be said about you that it worked. People go, she's just a normal person. He's just a normal person. I don't know where they get that boldness. I certainly wouldn't have that kind of boldness. They've obviously been with Jesus. The more time you spend with Jesus, the more courage you're gonna have. Here's an example. In Darius, and actually because of this incident, this pagan king becomes a believer. It's the second guy that Daniel has led to faith in God. Daniel, chapter 6, verse 25, here on the screen, it says, so after he saw all of this happen, it says, then King Darius sent this proclamation to every nation, race, language on earth. 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. Can you believe in unbeliever's right in this? He's. He stepped across the line. He is the living God, the one who endures forever. His kingdom will outlast all human kingdoms. Whoa. Because Daniel was afraid? No, because Daniel was confident. Daniel was secure. Daniel was fearless. Daniel was willing to go to the pit. And he said, he's the one who endures forever. His kingdom will outlast all the others. And here's what the rest of that verse says. He is a God who rescues and saves. He's still doing that today, rescuing people and saving people. And he does miracles. Just as he rescued Daniel from the power of the lion. So Daniel continued to be successful during the reign of King Darius and then in the following reign of Cyrus the Persian. The guy just keeps going. Why? Because he stands firm, stands strong. He will not wimp out. And as a result, a king comes to God. Wouldn't you like that to happen in your life? That your boss came to Christ because you stood strong? What an amazing story. Let me give you one more example. The Bible says in Matthew 2, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, wise men followed from the east. Do you know where that is? It's the Babylonian Persian empire. The wise men came from Iraq and Iran, from Babylon and Persia, 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 have come to worship him. Now leave that up there for a minute. Let me just give you a couple questions about this. How in the world do a bunch of pagan wise men, they're not Jews. How in the world do they know the prophecy of the Messiah? How in the world do they know that the king of the Jews is to be born and their star is a sign? How in the world would they even know that? These guys are pagan magi, they're like astrologers. They're from Iraq and Iran. They're Babylonians and they're Persians. Why did the wise men show up at Jesus birth? Because of Daniel. Because 18 generations earlier, a guy stood for God in a pagan culture. And he prayed in the open and he spoke about God in the open and even led two of the emperors to faith in God. And both those emperors proclaimed, God's, Daniel's God is the real God. And so for his 80, ended up being 85 years, his writings, his faith, his testimony was known throughout Babylon and throughout Persia, Iraq and Iran. And 18 generations later, guys are showing up at Jesus birth. That's why the wise men were at Christmas, because of Daniel. That is the long term impact of standing for Christ. It's not only a model for your children and your grandchildren and great grandchildren and future generations could talk about how you stood up in a culture that was going pagan, but you stood up, you had the guts and the character to say, hmm, I'll get on my knees and stand strong. And generations later, not just Christians, not just believers, pagans knew that the Messiah was gonna be born. And they show up when they see the star because of this guy. That is the power of a sole single person who will say, I will not bend. I will stand firm for God. All right, there's one more. I just want you to remember these six benefits, okay? Go home, put them on your refrigerator. Here's the sixth one. Standing strong for God will be rewarded in eternity. Standing strong for God will be rewarded in eternity. Jesus promised it. And those rewards are gonna last forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. Your fear is gonna last about 10 seconds or maybe at the most, a few minutes when you have that encounter. But when you do the right thing, the fear subsides. But the rewards go on for trillions and trillions and trillions of years. Jesus said this in the Sermon on the mount. Matthew 5. Consider yourself blessed. If people put you down or throw you out, or speak lies about you because of me. Notice he doesn't say people put you down and throw you out because you're an idiot. Or because you're rude and impulsive and you're mean and you're obnoxious. A lot of Christians are obnoxious. That's not because of Jesus, that's just cause you're obnoxious. Okay? So don't blame all the people who don't like you. I can't blame all the people who don't like me on Jesus, cause I've got plenty to dislike about me. But he says, consider yourself blessed. If people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you because of me. If that happens, be happy knowing that you will be rewarded greatly. Circle the word greatly. You will be rewarded greatly, greatly in heaven. And remember that you're in good company. They did the same thing to all my witnesses before you. All the prophets, all the spokesmen, all the godly people. For thousands of years, Since Daniel, for 2,500 years, people have been getting put down for being a Christian, for being a follower of Christ, for being standing firm on moral or ethical or truth issues. You'll be rewarded. Now never forget these six benefits. Cause they'll help you stand strong. Now I wanna kinda wrap it up and ask you this question. Are you gonna end well? Are you gonna end strong in your life? Most people, even Christians, do not end their life strong. This is a guy who starts his life strong as a teenager. He becomes strong in his 20s and 30s. He stays strong in his 40s and 50s and 60s. And now he's ending strong at 82 years old. He's not even finished yet. Because he passes this test, God gives him the greatest blessing. And the rest of the book, we're not gonna even cover that part. Are the prophecies about how the world is gonna end. God told this guy, the only guy, how the world was gonna end. And scholars, Bible scholars, have studied it ever since. And Daniel made his greatest contribution in life at 85 years of age. I know people who start checking out at 55. Well, let somebody else do the service at church. We've served long enough. Well, let somebody else do the giving. We've given to five building programs. Well, we're just gonna coast. Do you realize that God might have planned your greatest impact at 85? And for many of you, that's a long way off. Still, as I said, the word retirement is not in the Bible. I want you to start strong. I want you to get strong. I want you to stay strong and I want you to end strong. His most important contribution was at 85 years of age, what kept him strong. Kneeling daily to stand strong. Conversation with God three times a day, every day for 85 years is gonna make you strong.

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