Living by Your Convictions — Part 3

SPEAKER 01 : 0:02

Hey everyone, we’re so glad you’re here. Welcome to Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope. Well today, Rick’s gonna bring his series Leaving a Lasting Legacy to a close. This series gives you the tools you need to pass down your faith to the next generation. And now here’s the final part of a message called Living by Your Convictions.

SPEAKER 02 : 0:23

Now let me tell you this. Even when you give love out, you will still be opposed. Look at what Jesus said. John 15, when the world hates you, remember that it hated me before it hated you. The world would love you if you belong to it, but you don’t. See, Jesus was perfect love and they still killed him. So why aren’t we discouraged? Look at this verse, Psalm 76, 10. Human opposition only enhances your glory. Even God gets glory in this. Why? When we respond in love to enemy, when we respond in love to hatred, in love to criticism, God gets glory. It’s a test. And Jesus just says our job is to keep on loving like Jesus. Keep on loving like Jesus did, loving like Jesus did, loving like Jesus, no matter what people say or do, we’re gonna love like Jesus did. I wish, I wish I could take you with me on these trips that I do around the world where we’re preparing the peace plan in different countries. When I go into each of these countries, I meet with the major business leaders of the country, I meet with the major religious leaders of the country, and I meet with the major governmental leaders, usually the president, to explain to them the peace plan, to get permission to do the peace plan in those countries. And I wish you could look into the eyes and see what happens when people give love where they’re expecting antagonism. It just melts hearts, friends. It melts hearts. Now here’s the fourth conviction that I base my life on, and it’s this, the whole world needs Jesus. The whole world needs Jesus. And Jesus said this very clearly over and over, but in Matthew 28, we have the great commission. And he says there, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you. Always, to the very end of the age. Now this is an extremely important verse. It has five truths in it I don’t want you to miss. First, notice it says our assignment. What is our assignment? It is go. He says go. Now notice, this is not a suggestion. This is not the Great Suggestion. This is the Great Commission. It’s not optional. If you claim to be a child of God, if you’re in God’s family, God says to you, go. Go. I expect you to go, that’s the assignment. Now what’s the task? Go and make disciples. Well, what’s a disciple? Well, let me give you a modern synonym for disciple. Living a purpose-driven life. Purpose-driven life, as you know, talks about five things. Knowing and loving God. growing to spiritual maturity, serving God with my shape through ministry, sharing God and the good news, and worshiping God with all my heart. That’s called being a disciple. The purpose-driven life is just a new word for being a disciple. It just means doing the five things God put you here on this planet to do. Our assignment is go, our task is make disciples. What’s our authority? Not some government, not the CIA, it’s Jesus. Jesus said all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me. And what’s our responsibility? Go and make disciples of some nations. Now what’s it say? What? All, all nations. Does that include Syria? Yes. Does that include North Korea? Yes. Does that include Iran? Yes. There is no off limits nation. I’m sorry, I report to a higher authority. His name is Jesus Christ. And I’m not a politician, I’m a pastor. And if Iran opens a door, I’m going. I’m just telling you, as your pastor, there is no place I won’t go. I’d go into hell if I could bring people out with me. There is no place I would not go. You know, Billy Graham, 30 years ago, went to the Soviet Union when Brezhnev was still the premier and communism had its death grip on the Soviet Union. And he went in and he treated the leaders of communist Russia with respect. And he was kind to them and he was polite. And he actually showed love to them. And when he came out, he was ruthlessly criticized. by both the left and the right as being a pawn, being used. One well-known critic said of Billy Graham, you have set the church back 50 years. Billy Graham, I remember, bowed his head and he said, well, I’m so ashamed. I was trying to set it back 2000. There’s no place I’m afraid to go if God is with me. Now what’s the implication for you? If the whole world needs Jesus, here’s the implication. I must share the good news. I must share it and to keep it a secret would be criminal. If you knew the cure for Alzheimer’s and you didn’t share it, that’d be criminal. If you knew the cure for AIDS or for autism or for cancer and you didn’t pass it on, they should put you in jail for criminal negligence. But we have something better than that. We know the cure for the human heart. We know the cure for the deepest needs of mankind. They need a savior. They need forgiveness. They need their past forgiven, a purpose for living, and a home in heaven. And we cannot hold it back. We have to share it. Jesus said in John 3, 17, I did not come to condemn the world. I came to save it. I want to be like Jesus. I want you to be like Jesus. I didn’t come to condemn this world. I came to save it. I wish more Christians would stop judging the world and criticizing the world and start saving it. You’re either gonna do one or the other. Stop judging the world and being so critical and just get busy sharing the good news. The Bible says this, 2 Corinthians 5. As Christ’s love compels us, Christ’s love compels us Because we are convinced that one died for all. And he died for all. So that those who live should no longer live for themselves. but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Friends, when you get saved, I mean really saved, when you’re really saved, you can know it two ways. Your priorities change and your perspective change. If that didn’t happen, you should doubt whether you’re saved or not. It changes your priorities and your perspective. First, your priorities change. You no longer live for yourself. I’m not living for myself anymore. I’m living for Jesus Christ. And then your perspective changes. We no longer regard people the way we used to. We regard no one from a worldly point of view. How does the world look at people? It treats them as objects. Politicians look at people and see votes. Business leaders look at people and see consumers and customers. Men look at women and see sex objects. It treats people as things. When you are genuinely saved, it changes the way you see people. We don’t see people as statistics. We don’t see them as numbers. We don’t see them as things or objects. We don’t see people as adversaries or enemies. We don’t see them as consumers or customers. We see them as priceless souls that Jesus shed his precious blood for. And they’re worthwhile and they’re valuable of infinite value. So much that Jesus said this is how valuable they are. And I don’t care if it’s a coke smoking crack junkie in the alley. They are valuable to God. And we must look at people not as objects but with a broken heart. We stop using people and we start loving people. Now what’s the opposition? Because there is opposition to you sharing your faith. There are people trying to make it illegal for you to share your faith at work. There are people trying to make it illegal to share your faith at school and in the grocery store and everywhere else. What’s the opposition? Well the answer is Satan. He’s the opposition. Satan and his evil forces. And the Bible says this, look on the screen. For we’re not fighting against human beings. but against wicked forces, spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers and the authorities and the cosmic powers of this dark age. So put on God’s armor now so you will be able to resist the enemy’s attacks. He says, I want you to be able to understand you’re not fighting against critics and pundits, you’re fighting against Satan. Ladies and gentlemen, we are in a battle for the lives of billions of people and the eternal destinies of billions of people. And if you think you were coming to a picnic, you’re sorely misguided. The picnic comes later. It’s gonna happen in eternity. Now is the battle. I don’t know if you’ve noticed how many anti-Christian books are coming out in the recent days, but a lot of them. I collect them, and about five or six of them have come out just in the last month. And I don’t know if you noticed on the covers of magazines, for instance, last week, the cover of Newsweek was the cross wrapped in an American flag, and it said, the politics of Jesus. And that’s what Americans saw. But I happened to be overseas, and everywhere overseas, the cover looked like this. America’s God complex. As if, when is America going to get over its hang up with God? America’s God complex. And this week in Time Magazine, the cover is God versus science. Friends, we can’t sit on the sideline on a debate like that. We have to engage, but we will do it with gentleness and we will do it with respect. How do we respond to forces that don’t want us to share the good news? Well Jesus said this, he ended the Beatitudes by saying, blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. He says this, when you go to work and you get harassed for being a Christian, don’t hate, celebrate. When you go to school and you get put down for being a Christian, don’t hate, celebrate. When you go play on a ball team and somebody makes fun of you as being a Jesus believer or something, don’t hate, celebrate. Why? Great is your reward in heaven. Great is your reward in heaven. Have a little spine. Be a man, be a woman, and stand up for the convictions that you believe. The fact is, friends, these are the most exciting days to be alive ever in the history of the world. God is at work in the 21st century more than in any other century. Did you know that one out of every three people on the earth is a believer in Jesus Christ? 2.3 billion people claim to be a follower of Christ. Nothing as big as the church. It’s the biggest organization in the world. Nothing is bigger. Did you know that the largest churches in history are in existence now? By the way, none of them are in America. I’ve been in churches that are 100,000, 200,000, 300,000. I preached in a church with a half a million members. They’re all in Africa and Asia and South America. Did you know that in China every week about 80,000 people give their lives to Christ? 80,000 a week. We are on the verge of an enormous spiritual awakening. The Bible says this on the screen. All over the world, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing. Look at the next verse. The Bible says, look at the nations and watch. Be utterly amazed. For I’m going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if you were told. I so badly as your pastor want you to see this because it’s happening. More than that, I want you to be a part of it. Almost 30 years ago, I began praying that God would raise up an army that would help lead a movement to make a difference in and through and for and to the church for the global glory of God. And you are an answer to that prayer. And the reason you are here is God wanted you here because he sees in you what I see in you and you don’t see in yourself. You are a world changer. Me? Yeah, yeah, you, you. You wouldn’t be here if God didn’t intend for him to use you. Why did he put you at the vortex of a spiritual awakening? Because he intends to use you. Now I’m out of time, but I know that some of you can’t stand to have a sermon with blanks left empty. So let me just give you the fill-ins and you can fill this in and we’ll finish it some other day. Conviction number five, and this one I believe in the bottom of my heart, and we’ve seen it over and over, over 26 years. Everything is possible with God. Everything is possible with God. The Bible says Jesus looked in them and said, with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. My God can do anything. Jesus said this. He said, according to your faith, it will be done unto you. You know what that implication is? God’s waiting on you. God is waiting for you to trust him. God’s waiting on me. God wants to use you. He wants to bless you. He wants to do amazing things in your life. He wants you to be a world changer. You just need to stop saying, I can’t. Stop it. Just stop it. Stop saying, I can’t. I can’t make this marriage work. I can’t do what God wants me to do. I can’t, I can’t. That’s a lie. All things are possible to him who believes God. And God gets the most glory when we trust him for the impossible. The Bible says this, Ephesians 3.20 on the screen. With God’s power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we ask or imagine. And that’s why I keep pushing you. That’s why I keep stretching you as your pastor, saying, we can do this. Now we’re going to do this. Now we’re going to do this. Why? Because I see in you what God sees in you. Enormous potential. Far beyond what you’ve ever imagined. But God says, I want to use you according to your faith. It will be done unto you. What’s the opposition? You know what the opposition to your faith is? It’s not other people. It’s not critics. It’s not even the devil. Let me tell you what it is. It’s your own unbelief. You are the biggest problem in your own life. Why don’t you believe God more? It’s your choice. Why don’t you trust him more? Why is God using his church? Because God looked down and found a group of people who are willing to trust God for just a little bit more than other churches. And that’s our choice. It’s the choice of anybody. There are a lot of things you don’t have control over, but you do have a choice over how much you choose to believe God. And I have learned that every time I believe him, he fulfills his promise. Jesus said this, because of their unbelief, the Bible says, he could not do any miracles among them. You want miracles in your life? Start believing. Just start believing. Finally, the sixth conviction, history’s conclusion is inevitable. History’s conclusion is inevitable. I believe this with all my heart. It’s a fait accompli. It’s done. It’s finished. There’s no doubt. I’ve read the final chapter. The book tells us how it’s gonna end. We know the end of the story. One day God’s gonna wrap it all up here on earth and he’s gonna take his children who trusted him to heaven forever and ever. And the Bible says this in Matthew 24. The good news about God’s kingdom will be preached in all the world to every nation, that’s Greek ta ethne, to every people group, and then the end will come. It’s a certainty. Now this is the most important thing I’m gonna say to you because the critics always get this wrong. Friends, the peace plan and Saddleback, we are not trying to bring in the kingdom here on Earth. We are not. It’s not gonna happen. It’s not gonna happen on earth. We are not trying through the peace plan to bring the kingdom in on earth. We are trying to populate the kingdom of heaven. We wanna take all our friends and everybody else with us. We’re not trying to set up a kingdom here on earth. That is not our goal. Our goal is to get people into the kingdom of heaven where they’re gonna be for eternity. Now these six convictions are behind everything we do and everything I say and everything we do. And the Bible says one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. And we’re all gonna be united in front of God and it’s gonna separate sheeps and goats, those who trusted and those who didn’t. What we’ve been talking about is the glory of God. God gets glory when I love him with all my heart. God gets glory when I love you, other people in the family of God. God gets glory when I love my neighbor, the people I’m least likely to love. And when God gets glory when I love my enemies, and when I treat them with dignity and respect, even though they disrespect me. And God gets glory when I share the good news with everybody. And God gets glory when I trust him for problems in my life that cannot be solved. except through a miracle and God gets glory when I know and trust that the end is inevitable and God wins. Let’s bow our heads. Simple prayer today. Would you say dear Jesus Christ, I wanna be a part of what you’re doing in the world. I believe you brought me here to use me. I want to return to my first love, you. And I want to be your hands and feet in the 21st century. In your name I pray, amen.

SPEAKER 01 : 19:36

Thanks so much for listening to Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope. You know, your prayers and financial support have a huge impact on millions of people here and around the world. So we really appreciate that. Thank you. And now here’s Rick with a letter from one of our listeners.

SPEAKER 02 : 19:52

Today, I want to share with you a very special testimony from one of our listeners named Markita. And thanks to Daily Hope and your support, she recently asked Jesus Christ to be the leader of her life. Here’s her story. Pastor Rick, I wanted to let you know that I have prayed the prayer of salvation that you included in the Deepening the Eyes of Faith message. I’ve been listening to your messages for years. In fact, my child wouldn’t even be here today if it weren’t for your words. You wrote, there may be accidental parents, but there are no accidental children. Well, I’ve given birth to a beautiful baby girl, and she’s the light of my life. In fact, it now hurts to remember a time that I was fighting to decide whether I was going to have her or not. But I repeated your words throughout my pregnancy. There are accidental parents, but there are no accidental children. And although I’m a single mom today with the support of my family, we’re thriving. I want to make sure that she grows up to find her purpose and to serve God. So thanks for renewing my faith in God. And as I still try to find and fulfill my purpose, please pray for me and my child. Wow. Markita, you are so right. God does have a plan and a purpose for every single baby. There are no accidental babies. So I want to take a moment right now and just pray for you in this broadcast. I pray for you and for your daughter. Lord, I’m asking you right now, to put your hand of protection, your hand of blessing, your hand of guidance on Markita and her daughter. And I’m praying for both of them to know your purpose, to feel your presence, to discover your power, to live in your plan for each of their lives in Jesus’ name.

SPEAKER 01 : 21:54

Amen. And thank you so much for your support. Be sure to join us next time as we look into God’s Word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope and your generous financial support.