Stand Up For God And He Will Stand Up For You

There have been countless people the above statement applied to but lets focus on these five men for one second:

Shadreck, Meshack and Abindigo – Daniel 3:1, 4-6, 13-30

Daniel – Daniel 6:7, 10-24

Stephen – Acts 7:54-60

In each case each of these men were in a position to take a serious stand for the Lord or back down and allow a mediocre brand of Christianity (or Judaism) to continue to dominate their culture.

These men had the audacity to take a stand for the Lord in a culture that was simply anti-Christ, kind of like today’s culture.  The thing that caught my attention about each of these cases is that these men took a stand despite the consequences that were coming due to their decision.  

The three Hebrew men had to face a chamber of fire, in that chamber the Lord showed up for them and spared their lives. Daniel was thrown into a den of lions because of his stand, but the lions weren’t hungry that night and all they wanted to do was keep Daniel company - the Lord showed up for Him. Stephen’s stand seems to be a little different.  He was stoned to death, but before he closed his eyes on this life, he peered into the Heavens and Stephen sees Jesus in a very awkward position - standing at the right hand of the Father.  Stephen’s act of taking a stand got the Lord attention, so much so that He stood up to watch the audacious act of His servant.

Are we living out a mediocre brand of Christianity today or do we have the audacious ability to take a stand for the Lord in this day which is anti-Christ? The fact remains that the God who is the same yesterday, today and forever is still looking for audacious people like Daniel, like Stephen, like the three Hebrew men.  

I pray that the Church - the real Church - would take a stand for the Lord.  If we do this He will take a stand for each of us.

Setting The Record Straight

Obviously, we are still here today, May 22nd a day after the prediction!  I would like to turn your attention to Matthew chapter 24 verses 36-41 which reads:

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.”

The first issue hear is that the Bible is clear, no one knows the time that the Lord will appear.  No one - not the angels in heaven, nor the Son of Man - this includes anyone here on Earth as well.  In fact the Bible states that the coming of the Lord will be like the days of Noah.  In Noah’s day, Noah was informed to build an ark and warn the people of a coming flood.  Noah however did not know exactly when it would begin, Noah simply did what he was told to do - warn others and prepare himself and his family for that day.  As believers we are not call to predict the date of the Lord’s return - that is a waste of time - we are to warn others and to prepare for that time.

The state of the people during the time of Noah is interesting though.  Although Noah was preparing this ark, for an apparent flood, the Bible says that the people were basically doing their own thing.  Eating, drinking, marrying and getting married are signs that the people were more interested in satisfying their own desires, being sociable, making deals, etc than they were in hearing Noah’s warning to prepare themselves for the destruction of the world as they knew it.

Strangely enough we see the same thing going on today.  The church is preparing and warning while many are simply doing what they feel is right for them.  This weekend might have been a mockery of all we believe because we have experienced those that have entered in the business of predicting the unpredictable.  But this doesn’t negate the fact that the Lord will return.  The question is when He returns which person will we be?  The Bible states that there will be two men in the field (both engaging in the same practice, doing the same thing at the same time) and there will be two women grinding with a hand mill (doing the same thing at the same time) but one man and woman gets left and the other is taken.  What does that mean?  

The man and woman that are “taken” are those that have heeded the warning and have change their lives to conform it to the ways of Christ.  The man and woman that get left are those that have did what they felt was right.  The Bible offers no other distinction between these two (those who are taken and those who are left), This means that economic or racial differences don’t matter.  The other thing that matters is is they have believed in Christ and conformed their lives to Him or not.  

When the Lord does return, and He will, will you be the one who gets taken or the one who gets left?