Even If Faith: Standing Firm in Adversity

1. "This morning, I wanna talk to you about the kind of faith required to be a citizen of heaven in a Babylonian culture. It is a great faith that is needed in this hour so that we would not conform to the culture around us. It's a bold faith. It's a tenacious faith. It's an overcoming faith. And it's a faith that does not have fear of the future." [37:39] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "You will find yourself in places and spaces where you have to choose. Am I going to succumb to the temperature of this culture, or am I going to rise up to a level of greater faith as a citizen of heaven in God's kingdom?" [40:17] (16 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "Standing firm in Babylon requires an even if faith in the middle of an only if culture. So culture would say serve God only if it serves you. Worship God as long as you're comfortable. Give God your best. Give him the first of your tithe. Give him what is costly to you. Only if you know that he's going to give it back to you. But even if faith says my God does not owe me anything. My Jesus died on the cross for me. My God is able. He is faithful. My experience does not dictate who God is. My God is who he says he is. He is the I am. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He was there before time and he will be there at the end of time. He is eternal. He is faithful. He is able to deliver me. But even if he does not, I will not bow. I will not conform to the current of the state around me. I will serve a higher way. I will worship only my God. That is even if faith." [44:42] (77 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "The voice of the Lord must be louder than the sound of culture. Verse five says, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, anyone play the zither? You do? Okay. Who lies? Liar. Liar on the camera. Zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments bow to the ground to worship King Neb's gold statue. Anyone who refuses to obey will be immediately thrown into a blazing furnace. So at the sound of the musical instruments, all the people, whatever they're raising, voice, or nation, or language, bowed to the ground and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Culture has a sound, and you're like, totally, I know. It's like my uncle arguing on Facebook. That's the sound of culture. It's annoying. It's loud. No. Not necessarily. There were many instruments used that day, and the enemy has many instruments to lure you into apathy and settling into the ground. The current of Babylon." [46:11] (64 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "The voice of the Lord called to Zacchaeus and said, get out of that tree. We're having dinner today. The voice of the Lord called to Gideon and said, get out of hiding. You are a mighty warrior. If you're feeling encouraged, if you're feeling uncomfortable, if you're feeling called out, it just might be the voice of the Lord. Psalm 29 says this of God's voice. The voice of the Lord is over the waters. The God of glory thunders. The Lord thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. The Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. The voice of the Lord shakes the desert. The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forest bare, and in his temple all cry glory. John 10 says, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." [48:14] (57 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "Even in the fire, Jesus is with me. Verse 23 says, so Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego securely tied. Fell into the roaring flames, then King Nebuchadnezzar leapt to his feet in amazement and asked his advisors, weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire? They replied, certainly your majesty. He said, look, I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed. And the fourth looks like a son of the gods. Neb is shook. Because scholars and all the smart people across the board will agree, this was not just a son of the gods. This was the son of God. This was Jesus in the fire physically with them." [51:55] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "He does not guarantee that you won't face a trial free life. He, in fact, he guarantees the opposite. He says, when you face trials of many kind, don't be shocked as if some strange things were happening to you. He says, expect it. But he promises this. I will be with you. I will be with you. In Matthew 28, before Jesus leaves the planet, he tells his disciples, this is the amplified version of this. I am with you always remaining with you perpetually, regardless of circumstance and on every occasion, even to the end of the age." [53:31] (39 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "When you feel the opposition, step on the gas church. When you feel the opposition, step on the gas. When you feel the tension, when you feel the current of the culture, I encourage you to step on the gas, lead harder, speak louder, give greater, step on the gas, wake earlier, stay up later, seek his face harder, read longer, worship louder, step on the gas. These are not times to bow down. Everyone older than me, smarter than me. I keep hearing them say, these are interesting times and I haven't been around a long enough to know what kind of times we're in, but I hear them and I go, okay, these must be a lot of interesting times. These are interesting times. It's not time to fall asleep and get lulled into the sounds of culture. It's time to step on the gas. It's time to live bolder. It's time to live with an even if faith that says, I will serve one God. I will attune my ear to the voice of the Lord and I will not bow even if he doesn't. I will worship him." [01:02:28] (77 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9. "We don't get out of here alive. When we see Jesus, we don't need to be polished and perfect and self-preserved with all our baggage of comfort on our back. Like thanks for an easy life, Lord. Have you read the words of Paul in the New Testament? He's like, I'm not going to bow. He's like, I die daily. I pour myself out as a drink offering. I consider all else as loss for the sake of knowing Jesus. To live is Christ and to die is gain. I am wasting away on the outside, but inside I am being renewed day by day by day. Church, let us be a tenacious people that say we might be singed. We might smell like smoke. We might be bruised and we might be battered, but we are going to see a glory like we have never seen before. It is going to be worth it. On the other side, we will press in. We will dig. We will pray. We will serve. We will give. We will worship. I will not bow. I will not bow to the culture around me." [01:04:11] (57 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10. "Every time the enemy lies to you and says, sit back, lie down, just forget about it. You tell him there is a coming glory and I am going to be a part of it. And I am going to do my part to usher it in the here and now I'm going to bring hope to my workplace. I am going to bring faith to my family. I will not settle to the current of the culture around me by ushering God's glory with my praise, with my sacrifice, with laying my comfort down at the altar. We get to be partakers of that. We get to be partakers of that glory here on earth that's happening in heaven." [01:00:20] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)