It's time for The Line of Fire with your host, Messianic Bible scholar and cultural commentator, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice for moral sanity and spiritual clarity, here to infuse you with faith, truth, and courage so you can stand strong in the Lord in these critical times. Welcome, friends, to The Line of Fire broadcast.
Michael Brown here. I'm taking you into a message that I preached in Kona in Hawaii at the YWAM base, oh, not that long ago. May it bless you and minister to you. The title of the message is Deliverance from the Lion's Den. Deliverance from the Lion's Den.
You will not have great testimonies without great tests. You will not have great deliverances without great danger. And the greatest stories in the Bible are the ones that come out of the greatest crises. John 16, the last verse, shortly before Jesus will be betrayed and crucified. Verse 33, I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.
Count on it. No matter how godly you are, no matter how much you pray, no matter how much you know the Word, no matter how faithful you are, you will have trouble in this world. In fact, many times the closer you get to God, the more God uses you, the more tests you will have, the more challenges you will have. But Jesus says, but take heart, I have overcome the world. Let's go over to Acts chapter 14.
Maybe we can get a little different take there, one that's not so sobering, one that's a bit more upbeat. Acts 14 beginning in verse 21, Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. We must go through many hardships, tend to the kingdom of God, they say.
Same word for trouble there in Greek. On our way to the kingdom of God, on our way into the eternal world, we will go through many hardships and challenges. Well let's go over to Revelation the first chapter. Revelation chapter one, and that's an amazing book full of vision of Jesus and and God's work in the midst of an evil world. Revelation the first chapter, John writes this. Revelation chapter 1 verse 9, I John your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. He has the most extraordinary series of visions really that anyone has in the Bible and perhaps through all the ages.
And yet he has it on the island of Patmos. And look at this, he is our brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus. The kingdom is right in the midst of the suffering and the patient endurance. Let's go over to Romans chapter 5. Really I'm just selecting representative verses. You will be greatly encouraged by the end of the night but not by a cheap message.
Not by a message that appeals to itching ears. Not by a message that tells us what we want to hear but what we need to hear because it is in the trenches that you experience the faithfulness of God. It is in the times of greatest attack that you experience the greatest grace. And often the very worst and most difficult times are the times that make you into men and women of God that can shake the world.
Young people count on it. In this world there will be trouble. There will be opposition. There will be persecution for the faith. There will be demonic attack.
Count on it. But take heart Jesus has overcome the world and we are in him. Our victory is not by our own strength. Our victory is not by our own wisdom.
Our victory is not by our own experience. Our victory is found hiding in him. We die with him. We rise with him. We overcome with him. The greater one really lives within us.
But be serious. Be sober and understand there is a battle. There's a reason when you read the psalms over and over an enemy. The psalmist talks about my enemies. My enemies.
They're surrounding me. They're attacking and deliverance comes out of it. There may not be natural enemies but there are spiritual enemies. It's a real battle but the longer I go on in the Lord the more amazed I am at his faithfulness. The longer I go on in the Lord the less confidence I have in me and the more confidence I have in him. And I want to encourage you tonight and you'll remember these words in a time of trial. In a time of test. You'll remember these words when it seems like you're in over your head. You remember these words when it's you have lost all hope.
They'll come back to your ear at that moment. He is faithful to deliver. He is faithful. Romans 5. Therefore since we have been justified through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so but we also glory in our sufferings.
Same word we had in John 16 Acts 14. Trouble. Hardship. We glory in our sufferings. He doesn't mean suffering for our sins suffering for our foolishness but suffering in obedience to God. Opposition and obedience to God. The difficulties we experience as we walk in this world. We actually glory in them.
Why? Because we know that suffering produces perseverance. You know you have these sayings working out no pain no gain. The fact is you will get stronger. You will become more people of faith. You will become more unshakable, more immovable, more determined, more confident as you suffer, as you go through hardship, as you go through trial. You see the faithfulness of God.
You know that no one can stop him and what you go through it doesn't destroy you. It may try you. It may test you. It may bring you to your knees but you come out stronger. So when you recognize what's happening you know just like when you're in the gym working out and and and you know you have these I was never been a gym rat but sorry for the Korean translation. Gym rat may not translate well.
There's a simultaneous translation going on now. But I was never one that really lived in the gym all the time and worked out heavily heavily. But again you learn these little sayings a trainer of mine would share some of these things. There's this saying pain is weakness leaving your body. So you remind yourself okay the fact that it's hurting is good because something good is going to come out of it. It's one thing when we're suffering for our foolishness. It's one thing we're suffering for our disobedience. It hurts. It stings.
It happens to all of us but you want to learn from it. It's another thing when you realize it's your obedience to God that's causing the opposition. It's your faithfulness to God that's causing the attack. You realize God's going to do something out of this. I'm going to come out stronger on the other end and hear me what the devil meant for evil. God turns around for good.
Amen. We glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance and perseverance character makes something out of you. It doesn't just toughen you. It produces something godly in you.
It produces something where you're compassionate. Where you're strong. Where there's a real character inside of you. Where you have quality of life.
Where you're not cheap and shallow. It only comes through trial and test. There is no other way to get there. I rejoice. I love it in times when everything's good. No attack. No opposition.
Finances are there for the ministry. Everybody's healthy. Sun is shining brightly. I love it.
I enjoy it. I hope it stays like that forever. But the reality is there's going to be rain. There's going to be clouds. There's going to be storms.
Jesus does say that that one man builds his house on a rock and the other on sand and then he says the winds blow. The rains come. There's going to be wind. There's going to be wind. There's going to be storm.
It's going to happen. Some people have this false idea of the gospel that you ask Jesus into your life and it's just happy, happy, happy from there on in. Ask Jesus into your life and it's all just magic from there. No problems. No tests.
No difficulties. That's not the gospel and it's not helpful either. God didn't call us just to be pampered and spoiled and spoon-fed. He called us to be warriors. He called us to be soldiers. He called us to be overcomers. He wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 2.
He wrote to him and said endure hardship as a good soldier of Messiah Jesus. Sometimes we're in the midst of a battle and we're just feeling sorry for ourselves. Sometimes we're in the midst of tests and we kind of have the whoa is me mentality and often God wants us to change our mentality and think I get to grow. This is another opportunity for God to be glorified. This is a this is a platform for a miracle.
That's why James and Peter say rejoice in the midst of suffering. All right we will take a short break and be right back. We've got an important announcement for you and then after that we will go right into our message again. Let's hear what TriVita customers are saying. Dr. Bronner can't wait to tell you those supplements are absolutely amazing. My strength has gone up.
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Call 1-800-771-5584 1-800-771-5584 or online at T-R-I-V-I-T-A TriVita.com. And now back to the line of fire with your host Dr. Michael Brown ready to infuse you with faith truth and courage. All right welcome back to the line of fire. I want to resume this important message that was preached. I pray it's a blessing to you. We will finish it off tomorrow but back to this message preached in Kona at the YWAM base in Hawaii.
Perseverance produces character and character produces hope. Oh some friends a few years back asked me have you ever written out your testimony like book form and told your story. I said no I've got a testimony track years back and share my testimony share about what God's done over the years and they said you you need to write you need to write your story.
One of them almost he said I'm rebuking you Mike you need to write your story. You got saved and what God's done over the years and it started to stir in my heart. God willing I turned 70 in March and it started to stir in my heart I should I want to testify to what I've seen God do so far. I want to testify to his faithfulness. I want to testify to his grace.
I want to tell the stories to his glory and talk to a publisher they're they're excited about doing it and as I began to write God began to impact me because I went back to my journal I thought whoa that's more intense than I remember and then I'd look back and oh just at the right moment when I was about to fall over the edge and God's mercy you know go in the wrong direction and he turns things and I I got stirred. Here I'm telling my own story but faith is rising and it's stirred. He's faithful. I'm not 110 years old.
They didn't have to carry me out in a chair and sit me down here but but listen I'm almost 70. I've been in the Lord 53 years. He's faithful. You can trust him.
You can trust him with everything. You you can put your whole life in him. You can put your whole future your health your mind your family your ministry you he is utterly faithful and trustworthy. I'm testifying to his goodness and the more you go on in Jesus you end up with one boast only. Jesus is my righteousness. Jesus is my all and all.
Jesus is my sufficiency. Let's go over to Daniel chapter 3. We're getting closer to the lion's den. Daniel chapter 3. So Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon makes a giant image that everyone is going to have to worship. I'm going to give you a tidbit that you might not have heard from any other speaker here. Can I do that Daniel?
His Babylonia's name is Nabuchadur Uzzer which is may Nabu the God Nabu protect the boundary stone which you didn't need to know at all but I never get to use my Babylonian. So he makes this giant image and everyone has to bow down and worship. Everyone's required to and if not you die. Now a lot of times we face unseen opposition. We face pressure in the spiritual realm. But sometimes it gets really bad. I mean really bad, really urgent, really in your face, really life and death. Someone unfriends you on social media. No, no, no. This was not getting unfriended on social media.
This is if you obey God and do not worship idols you die. We've got a dear friend sent out from our missions department years ago, served in Nigeria, now in her sixth year. She's a great friend of mine. She's a great friend of mine. She's a great friend of mine. She's a great friend of mine.
She's a great friend of mine. She's got entire financials department, years ago, served in Nigeria, now in her 60s, courageous single woman, start schools and Muslim villages and tell them they said we want your school but not Jesus. She said the best schools are Jesus schools. Single woman talking to these Muslims, if you don't want the Jesus school, we're not.
SUM wall Okay, we want the Jesus school it's fearless for the Lord and she contacts us. being held for ransom and life and death issue or praying, and then we get the good news. Praise God, he got released, praise God. He's only got a gash in his head, missing a few fingers, praise God.
That was the good news, the good report. In many parts of the world, if you're baptized, you may die. Every year when I'm in India with my dear friend and he does water baptisms, at the end of their profession of faith, he asks them, are you willing to follow Jesus to your last breath, to your last drop of blood? That's a water baptism. Some of my friends working in the Middle East, some of the missionaries we've sent out, before they baptize a Muslim, form a Muslim, they ask him, are you willing to suffer for Jesus, are you willing to die for Jesus?
That's entry level. That's just, this is what it may cost you to follow him. Do you really wanna follow him? I was talking to a Christian leader who had written a book about the gospel in the Muslim world, and he was telling me a similar story, and we said, what if that was one of the questions that we asked before church membership? So I'm glad Jesus went through our church orientation class. Great, great, and I looked at the list from feedback, from all of you, terrific. Yeah, I know, we got the best coffee here. I know it, it's terrific. Oh, and the parking, isn't it sweet?
The in this way, out the other, it's, you don't get tied up in traffic. And yeah, the pastor, I know he's very funny, very funny. Oh, and we see, some of you are already tithing, that's excellent, and we see you agree with our statement of faith. So before we receive you into membership, we just have two more questions. Are you willing to suffer for Jesus, or are you willing to die for Jesus?
I wonder what would happen to our church memberships. This was not just theory, this was not just vicious comments posted on your YouTube channel. This was, you're going to die, how? You're gonna be burned to death. So we know the account, Daniel chapter three. Verse 16, the three young Jewish men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they replied to the king, the king who has the power to execute them. King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from your majesty's hand. They're speaking by faith.
But even if he does not, we want you to know, your majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. Now this reminds me of a story that Pastor Richard Wernbrand confirmed for me. He said he knows the pastor, it truly happened. Pastor Wernbrand, the most famous persecuted Christian of last century, his book, "'Tortured for Christ,' an international bestseller."
I got to know him towards the end of his life, and he and his wife were some of the most extraordinary human beings ever met, but they were purged through terrible suffering, and prison, and torture. He said, I know this story to be true. It was during the communist takeover of Romania, and in midweek service, at night service, two communist soldiers came into the church building and closed the doors behind them, fully armed. They closed the doors behind them, and they said, we're going to give you an opportunity to leave. We're going to give you an opportunity to leave. If, if you want to save your life, you can deny Jesus and leave now. Think about it.
If you stay, we will kill you. And a few people got up and left. I mean, who knows, maybe someone was there, he cared for his elderly parents at home, and if he doesn't get home, they die. Maybe a couple had just come back from the honeymoon, and the husband decided to go to the service while the wife stayed home.
Is he going to die and never see her? Who knows the pressure, but a few got up and left. Everybody else stayed. Then the soldiers locked the doors, and then they took off their weapons, put them down, and said, praise the Lord. We are Christians, too, but we could not risk worshiping with anyone that was not a Christian, who was willing to die for Jesus.
Whoa. These Jewish men are saying, our God is going to deliver us, but even if he doesn't, we don't bow down. The miracle that happens, one of the most famous stories in the Bible, where the three of them are thrown in the fiery furnace, and they're walking back and forth, their hair doesn't even get singed or burned.
Their clothes don't get burned. And then there's the famous fourth man in the fire. We always like to preach that of Jesus being the fourth man in the fire.
You don't get to have the fourth man in the fire unless you're in the fire. All right, friends, we will continue the message tomorrow. I pray it's a blessing to you. Thank you again for your year-end support at thelineoffire.org. Click donate to stand with us. We are indebted to you as we move forward together.
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