A Dangerous Faith

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A true and true believer of God, the Holy Spirit. The entire Bible is the story of adventuring and expanding and developing and growing and the exercise of faith. I mean whether you're talking about Abraham who was called by God to leave the whole life having fled for his own skin out of Egypt.

He's now living on the backside of the desert and he's made a new life out there. And one day just an ordinary day like every other day in Moses' life as he was taking care of the sheep there was a bush that burned and continued to burn. And then he realized that God was in that bush and the Great I Am spoke to him and called him to go back and cry out to Pharaoh, let my people go. And Moses argued at first. He made excuses.

He's saying, look I'm going to I stammer, I stutter, I don't talk very well since somebody else. But God ultimately said, didn't I make your tongue Moses? Didn't I make you? Go and tell Pharaoh to let my people go. And so Moses left the comfort zone of the desert and went back on a great adventure for God. His songs became psalms. He was enjoying life in the pasture until one day on a trip to visit his brothers at the battlefield he heard a giant, the giant of Gath Goliath crying out in defiance of the Lord God and he said, is there not a cause? And David left the comfort zone and was willing to risk his life with a few stones and a slingshot in order to win a great victory for the kingdom of God. Or what about Esther? Esther who was willing to give up her life for the sake of her people, her own identity to identify with the people of God and knowing that she was taking a huge risk at the chance of death she said, if I perish, I perish.

But I think you get the point. I could go on and on throughout the pages of Scripture talking about people who took faith risk, who practiced a dangerous faith. And of course what has happened in the Scripture has happened also in history. I enjoy reading history and the anecdotes and the experiences of those in history who made a difference, who changed the world.

Because you see the Gospel not only changes hearts but it changes history. Sir Edmund Hillary was not always Sir Edmund Hillary, the great explorer. But he is known as the man who first conquered the tallest mountain peak on the earth, Mount Everest. 15 or 20 people had died trying to scale this magnificent mountain. And yet Edmund Hillary determined along with a few others to scale that great mountain, to get to the top of the world literally, the top of the world. And there were a number of failed efforts. In the midst of those failed efforts it was said that Edmund Hillary one day shook his fist at that mountain and shouted, we will conquer you, because we can grow and you cannot. Back in the 1950's an African-American lady by the name of Rosa Parks minding her own business sitting in a bus one day was told to move to the back of the bus. And Rosa Park refused to move.

And her act of defiance and civil disobedience ignited a cultural revolution in America that helped to end segregation. Willing to take a risk, willing to step out of bounds. Too many of us are playing it safe, enjoying a comfortable life, our security, our stability, our safety. What I want to challenge you to do in this message today from Acts chapter 15 is to live a dangerous faith. In verse 26 of Acts chapter 15 there is a commendation regarding two men who gave their lives and risked everything for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As a matter of fact as these men are commended to us we learn how to live this dangerous life. Acts chapter 15 says Paul and Barnabas, two men who risked their lives for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. Risking their lives for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. I call Paul and Barnabas God's gamblers because they gambled their very lives. And the word there, risk, has the idea of gambling all on the Gospel. Betting on the advancing of the kingdom of God by giving their very lives. Now in the economic world we talk about risk and reward. And that's really the two points, the two prongs upon which I'm going to build this message today. The risk and the reward of a dangerous faith. First the risk. When you read that little phrase there, men who gave their lives for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, two ideas emerge.

One is the idea, the word risk there means the handing over of something. It's the same word used in the New Testament when Judas handed over Jesus to the Roman authorities. And so in that sense it is an act of surrender. It is the handing over of life to the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course as followers of our Savior when we say we are going to become followers of Jesus that means that we surrender to the Lordship of Jesus in our lives. We surrender our lives to Him. We hand our lives. We say, Lord I am Yours. My body, my soul, my spirit, my life it is Yours. But not only is there the idea of the handing over of life and the surrender but that same word risk has the idea of surrender and sacrifice for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I like the way the paraphrased message gives it. Men that have looked death in the face time and again for the sake of our Master Jesus Christ. This report of Paul and Barnabas is given by the church at the end of the first missionary journey of these two men as the Gospel is advancing around the world. As they were moving beyond the safety and the security of their own lives and moving into the world for the Gospel. And that's what you know about the Apostle Paul of course. I'm certain that every time he saw a ship leaving port he wanted to be on it taking the Gospel of Jesus somewhere.

His life was spent carrying that message at personal risk and sacrifice because he had surrendered his life to Christ. And so the idea of risk is strong and powerful in the Christian faith. As a matter of fact Jesus said unless you are willing to take up your cross that's a risk to take up the cross and follow after me.

You cannot be my disciple. And so risk taking is cross bearing. It is saying Lord I will follow you. And Jesus is the ultimate risk taker, redeemer because He gave His life. He left Heaven and the glory and the beauty and the security and the strength of Heaven and He came to Earth. And when they cried out Jesus come down off of the cross save yourself. He refused to save Himself because He died on the cross for us. It's so human for us to give up when we face difficulty, when we face danger, when we are dealing with cost and sacrifice and price.

It is so easy and it's so human to give up. But it is so divine like Jesus to stay strong even in the risk of failure. It's a dangerous faith. You say well okay I get the point you're making Pastor. We are to risk and sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel. But what exactly does that mean? How do you take risk for Jesus' sake in our generation?

It can be in a number of ways. It can simply mean praying a bold prayer. Asking God to do something so wonderful, so powerful, so glorious in your life that you know it's a risky prayer.

You know unless God comes through and answers that prayer it's never going to happen. You ever pray like that? We often pray safe prayers don't we? Lord bless the world.

Lord save the country. Lord those kinds of prayers we don't know whether God answers them or not. But why don't you take a risk and start boldly praying dangerous, daring prayer? Take a risk and walk across the street in your own neighborhood and get to know your neighbor.

Not talking about maybe just the weather or sports or whatever your yard. But for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ building a friendship and a relationship with the people who live nearest to you with the prospect of sharing your faith and the love of Jesus Christ with your neighbor. That's taking a risk.

Take a risk by taking a stand in a politically correct generation for the sanctity of life. To risk your reputation in being called a fool and fanatic for the sake of righteousness, for the sake of truth. Or take a risk and volunteer in a ministry that moves you out of your comfort zone, that requires more than just showing up at church every now and then, that requires some risk taking on your part, some surrender and sacrifice. What about taking the risk of sacrificing your time and sacrificing your resources and your money for the cause of Christ? Students, what about taking a risk to risk your popularity and your standing among your friends?

By saying no. When it seems that so many of your friends, some of your church friends even, are saying yes. Saying no to drugs and no to alcohol and no to immorality. That's a risk that you would obey God and trust God rather than listening to the voices of this culture. I could talk again and again of risks that we could take, but the fact is this is time for churches to take risks. This is not a time for weak pulpits and comfortable Christians. Dante said the hottest place in hell is reserved for those who in time of crisis preserved their neutrality. May we never seek security preserving our neutrality at the expense of the Lord Jesus Christ. It would be to face eternity, to face God knowing that we didn't stay strong in the battle.

That we didn't stand up for the gospel and for truth. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, A Dangerous Faith. When you set aside daily time to connect with God, he'll give you the ability to live a godly life and fulfill his plans for you in the coming year. We'd like to help you walk even more closely with the Lord in the year ahead by sending you Pastor Graham's 180 day devotional, Moments in the Word. It's our way to thank you for your gift today to help proclaim the gospel to more people around the world through PowerPoint. So call now to get your copy of Moments in the Word when you give. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131.

Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Now let's get back to today's message, A Dangerous Faith. The gospel not only changes hearts, but the gospel changes history. And wherever the gospel has been applied, history has been changed. And we can change history if we will proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But if we don't do it, we will lose. I was reading recently a book regarding Billy Graham. It was called The Preacher and the Presidents. It is a description of the relationship Billy Graham, the great evangelist has had with the presidents. One of the most interesting sections of this book describes his relationship with President Reagan and their involvement together in bringing down communism in the Soviet Union and ending the Cold War and the impact that Billy Graham and the Christian faith had on that. Billy Graham was invited to go and preach in the Soviet Union. And he was advised not to do it. Our own government and the State Department was encouraging him not to go and conservative Christians even were saying you shouldn't go and that's a compromise and so on. But Billy Graham prayed about it.

He talked to President Reagan and Vice President Bush about it. And he determined that it was the right thing to go. And he ended up going because he said I thought it was worth the risk because my goal was to preach the gospel behind the Iron Curtain. My goal was to take the message of Christ into the Soviet Union and into the Eastern Bloc countries of that time.

And you know what happened? Billy Graham went in. He was accused of pandering to the Soviets and a lot of other things but ultimately that Iron Curtain came down and that wall fell. And it was all because men like Billy Graham were willing to take a risk for the sake of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said I believe it's worth the risk. Paul said I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ for it is the power of God into salvation to the Jew first and to everyone who believes.

He said I'm not ashamed because literally he was saying I am confident in the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to change hearts and to change history. So what about us? Are we willing to take these kinds of risks? Don't waste your opportunity. God is calling you to the adventure of your life. To the opportunity of your life. To live a dangerous uncomfortable faith. Now God may not be calling you to go across the world but I know He's calling all of us to go across the comfort zones and the security systems of our life for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. May God help us to do it. You are what you are today because of what you have done with your opportunities. We'll say that again.

You might want to write it down. You are what you are today because of what you've done with the opportunities you've been given in life. And may God help us to seize the opportunities and therefore to shape our lives. All risk is voluntary.

You may not be asked to die for your faith but I do know this, God expects us to die daily for selfish interests and purposes and ambitions in our lives for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that brings me to the second part of what I want to talk about and that is the reward. There is certainly risk but there is great reward. The slogan in the investment world goes like this, weigh the risk versus the reward. Weigh the risk versus the reward.

So let's take just a few moments to do that. Let's weigh the risk but let's look at the reward. Jesus said when you take a chance on me and my kingdom and you invest in the work of my kingdom you are laying up treasures in heaven. Now Barnabas is mentioned along with Paul as one of these risk takers in Acts 15 verse 26.

This wasn't the first time he took a risk. Earlier in the book of Acts when we first meet Barnabas he was a man who apparently was of some means who had some property and sold the property, took the proceeds of that property and gave it to the mission of Christ in his church. It was an act of obedience and sacrifice on his part and he became known as the son of encouragement.

He was such an encouragement to Peter and the apostles and to others, to that entire church and ultimately the encourager encouraged Paul himself and they traveled together as missionaries. You see sometimes we start by taking small risks that lead to greater risks and then the reward comes. Some of us need to take a small step and really a simple risk of tithing our incomes. The biblical principle of giving is to take what belongs to God and give it back to him starting with the first tenth. That's a tithe. And God actually says in the book of Malachi, don't rob me but risk on me. Take a chance.

Test me in this. That if you will bring your tithes and your offerings to me, see if I will not reward you, that I will not pour out a blessing upon you that you won't even be able to contain. Take a risk and expect the reward. I know to talk about tithing makes some people uncomfortable. And some of you even to hear the idea of tithing you think, man, it would be so risky for me to start tithing right now. Because I've got bills to pay, I have responsibilities. And so when I can see my way clear, when I can get the bills taken care of, when the salary increases just a little bit more, when we have a little bit more money, then I'll take a risk. When there's money in the bank, well, there's no risk in that. God says bring it to me in obedience and faith, take a risk and trust me in this, test me in this.

The fact is there are many people today who don't trust God with their money. Let me ask you, what sacrifices would you be willing to take and make if you knew you could change a heart? If you knew you could change the world? What would you do for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ if you knew that you couldn't fail? That if by faith you would follow Him? I'm not talking about being reckless, but I'm talking about taking risk to say, Lord, here's my life, I will do your will wherever, whatever, whenever.

And I promise you there's an incredible reward in doing that. He will hold you and even in the tough times back when I was pastor down in West Palm Beach, I got to know a Hollywood stuntman. He was a daredevil of sorts and he would jump out of anything. They were actually filming a movie in our area and were using our church facilities. They were jumping across our buildings. We gave them permission to do that and I was watching them fall three or four stories onto a mat below. In fact, this guy, I got close to him.

He encouraged me to stand up on our buildings and actually fall all three stories into that mat. I didn't do it. I chickened out at the last minute. I just couldn't do it.

I wanted to do it, but I couldn't do it. But this guy said something to me I'll never forget. He said, Jack, I'll jump off anything if I've got a good catcher.

You've got a good catcher. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, A Dangerous Faith. Looking ahead to a new year can fill you with expectation, but it can also fill you with desperation. What if things get worse?

What if the world gets crazier? What if you don't have the strength to face what comes your way? It's through spending daily time in God's word that we find the strength, peace, and hope we need. And we want to help you do that by sending you Pastor Graham's 180-day devotional, Moments in the Word.

Moments in the Word is our special thanks for your gift this month. Be sure to request your copy today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily e-mail devotional.

Our website, again, is JackGraham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? The Christian life is absolutely a high-risk life. The Scripture gives us evidence that our faith is never dull or boring.

Instead, it's exciting, energetic, and full of abundance. In the early church, believers risked their lives for the glory of God. And in the same way, we should die to ourselves every day and put our lives on the line for the cause of Christ in the name of Jesus.

Be a risk-taker. Don't wait until tomorrow or next week or next month to muster up the courage to step out of your comfort zone and share Christ with your neighbor, your family member, or coworker. Take a risk and do something radical for Jesus today. Now, if today you don't know Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you're taking a risk that is not worth taking.

You're risking your eternal destiny. And Christ is asking you today to eliminate that risk from your life by accepting His free gift of forgiveness, of grace that will change your life now and forever. If you would receive Christ into your life today, then pray a prayer of faith like this. Lord Jesus, I turn from my sin, and I trust in You. I believe You died on the cross from my sins, that You rose again. And right now, I receive You as my Lord, my Savior, my Master and Friend. Come into my life, Lord Jesus, and I will live for You in the power of Your Holy Spirit until You come for me. And today, if you prayed that prayer with Dr. Graham and accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, we'd love to hear from you so we can help you begin your new life with Christ. Please call us at 1-800-795-4627. Join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how to seize the opportunity God's given you to make each day special. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.