Having Faith to Trust God During Hard Times in Life
IT TAKES COURAGE, IT TAKES COURAGE, MY FRIEND, TO STAND ALONE. BUT MORE AND MORE AND MORE YOU’RE GOING TO FIND THAT IS NECESSARY TO LEARN TO STAND ALONE IN THE DAY AND THE AGE IN WHICH WE LIVE. AND IF IT IS NECESSARY NOW IN YOUR OFFICE, IN YOUR SCHOOL, ON YOUR TEAM, IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
IF IT IS NECESSARY NOW AS THE DAYS GET DARKER, HOW MUCH MORE NECESSARY WILL IT BE FOR YOUR CHILDREN? [MUSIC] BE FINDING THE BOOK OF DANIEL AND, UH, BE FINDING THE THIRD CHAPTER OF THAT BOOK OF DANIEL. WHILE YOU’RE FINDING IT, LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT AN ANCIENT CHRISTIAN. THIS MAN’S NAME WAS ATHANASIUS. AND ATHANASIUS WAS A BOLD, STRONG CHRISTIAN AND HE WOULD TAKE STANDS AND OTHER PEOPLE WOULD SAY HE IS ARROGANT OR HE IS STUBBORN OR HE IS NARROW MINDED. THE EMPEROR’S NAME WAS THEODOSIUS.
AND THEODOSIUS SAID TO ATHANASIUS, “ATHANASIUS, THE WHOLE WORLD IS AGAINST YOU.” ATHANASIUS SAID TO THEODOSIUS, “THEN, ATHANASIUS IS AGAINST THE WHOLE WORLD.” HEH, HEH, IT TAKES COURAGE, IT TAKES COURAGE, MY FRIEND, TO STAND ALONE. BUT MORE AND MORE AND MORE YOU’RE GOING TO FIND THAT IS NECESSARY TO LEARN TO STAND ALONE IN THE DAY AND THE AGE IN WHICH WE LIVE.
AND IF IT IS NECESSARY NOW IN YOUR OFFICE, IN YOUR SCHOOL, ON YOUR TEAM, IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD. IF IT IS NECESSARY NOW AS THE DAYS GET DARKER, HOW MUCH MORE NECESSARY WILL IT BE FOR YOUR CHILDREN? SO I WANT YOU TO LEARN TO STAND ALONE AND I WANT YOU TO TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO STAND ALONE. NOT OUT OF STUBBORNNESS, NOT OUT OF ARROGANCE, NOT OUT OF NARROW-MINDEDNESS, BUT TO STAND UP FOR JESUS AND TO STAND ON THE PRINCIPLES OF GOD’S WORD AND TO STAND FOR THOSE THINGS THAT ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS AND JUST AND THE THINGS THAT WILL LAST THROUGHOUT TIME AND ETERNITY. NOW LET ME READ TO YOU SOME SCRIPTURE HERE, DANIEL CHAPTER 3 VERSE 1, “NEBUCHADNEZZAR,
THE KING MADE AN IMAGE OF GOLD, WHOSE HEIGHT WAS THREESCORE CUBITS, AND BREADTH SIX CUBITS: HE SET IT UP IN THE PLAIN OF DURA, IN THE PROVINCE OF BABYLON. THEN NEBUCHADNEZZAR THE KING,” UH, “SENT TO GATHER TOGETHER THE PRINCES, THE GOVERNORS, AND THE CAPTAINS, THE JUDGES, THE TREASURERS, THE COUNSELORS, THE SHERIFFS, AND ALL THE RULERS OF THE PROVINCES, TO COME TO THE DEDICATION OF THE IMAGE WHICH NEBUCHADNEZZAR THE KING HAD SET UP.
