In Everything Follow And Live For God No Matter What

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My name is Spencer Coffman. I really want to thank you for being here today because this is important. You have to fuel your spirit, and these messages will help do so.

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Alright, today we are talking about a cool thing that is hard. It’s hard. It is not for the faint of heart. This is for people who really want to push on and who are determined. You – and you may not think that’s you. You might say, “You know what, forget it, next, or skip or pause. I’m going to stop you right there.” But, don’t! Keep listening, keep watching because this is something that is going to make you more and more like Jesus, and that’s the goal.

So, following no matter what, follow no matter what. What does that mean? A lot of people can say, “You know what? I’m going to follow no matter what.” Alright, well – what does “no matter what” mean? What is, what really is “no matter what”?

I’m going to be preaching these messages “no matter what.” What does that mean? Well, it means if someone bursts down the door right now, I will still be preaching, and they haul me away until I can’t anymore. That hopefully will never happen, and you can follow “no matter what.” Hopefully, the “no matter what,” the worst-case scenario will not happen, but there will be a lot of bad things that do happen.

For example, I clear my throat sometimes. Well, my – one of my “no matter whats” says, “Hey, sometimes maybe you’re going to get a cold, and it’s going to be harder. You’re going to do it anyway. You’re not going to say, “You know what? My voice might be a little off. I think I’ll take this week off.” No, it doesn’t happen. You might have something go wrong with the equipment. Guess what? That’s life – no matter what.

Okay, so I challenge you to do that, follow no matter what. Well, what does that mean? So, let’s dive into it. Let’s dig into the Scripture, and if you have your Bibles, get them out.

If you’ve got an app on your phone – a phone on your app I almost said – if you have an app on your phone, get that Bible app out, and let’s really dig into the Scripture. If you can’t right now, don’t worry. All of the references are going to be listed in the description below. You can come back, you can look them up, you can read them on your own, you can share them with others, you can talk about them, etc.

So, the first Verse we’re going to go to is Romans 1:6. Alright, Romans Chapter 1, Verse 6 says, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.” What does that mean? You’re not ashamed of the Gospel. Okay, so, You’re not ashamed. You’re excited. You’re happy to be a Christian. You’re happy to have Jesus inside of you. You’re happy to tell others you have a joy inside of you, and you’re not ashamed.

Why are you not ashamed? Because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. All they have to do is believe. The power of God will bring salvation to them, and so you are not ashamed of that. You are happy about that. Okay, great, let’s keep going.

You need to follow God no matter what. Okay, let’s get some examples here of the “no matter what.” These, hopefully, won’t happen to you. We – I just thought of one right now. Think about way back in the times of Nero, Emperor Nero, one of the Neros, who would burn Christians at dinner parties or evening parties as night lights or candles. Light ‘em up on fire. Round them up, light them up to light my evening dinner parties. That’s a big “no matter what.”

Alright, moving on to something else, something I actually prepared for here is the Disciples. Jesus had 12 then when Judas Iscariot hung himself or cut himself open, he died, he killed himself, then they indoctrinated or introduced another one, a couple others really, and sent them all out in pairs. So, really they had another partner with them, so there were 12 main apostles, 13, and then – could be others.

But, all of those men, however many you choose to include, really 13 but more if you account the partners, they all – those main 13, except for one – died terrible deaths. And, how did they do that?

Well, one of them, Andrew, he was being executed. As he was being crucified, there were people who would walk by and then heap insults on those who are being crucified, or look at them, or do whatever. He was so determined to follow no matter what, he not only died for his beliefs, or was executed, but during that crucifixion, if you call it that, it was different, but during that gruesome execution he was preaching to people who would pass by. That’s how strong his “no matter what” was.

Let’s look at another one. James, the brother of John, he was a Christian, and it was illegal to be Christian in the area he was in.

And, someone accused him and said, “I know this man is a believer of God. I saw him…” – whatever – “…I saw him praying, or I, I know it.” And, so, they went before the magistrate or the judge or whoever. And, okay, the charges were true, and you are now sentenced to be executed. So, James, the brother of John said, “No problem. I’m ready to die for my beliefs. I know that no matter what happens God will deliver me.”

And, his accuser was so inspired and shocked that a man could have such conviction, such power of the “no matter what,” that he said, “I want that in my life.” And, right there James, the brother of John, said, “You can be a Christian. This is what you have to do.”

And, I’m sure there was a lot of uproar in this, but this man who accused him converted to Christianity and requested to be executed with him – because he was going to be executed now anyway – so both men were beheaded simultaneously. Talk about conviction there, the “no matter what,” as he was dying brought the person who sentenced – or accused him to Christ, incredible, incredible.

So, the point is, follow God “no matter what,” and be proud of the fact that you are a follower of God. This is truly the greatest thing in your life. Jesus is the greatest thing in your life. Everything comes from Him, everything. You need more? Ask. If you’re ready for it, you’ll receive it, and also be proud that you are a Christian.

What is, what – if you have something and it’s so good and it’s so great, what do you do with it? You share it. Get out there, share it.

Matthew 10, 32 and 33, turn with me, Matthew 10, Chapter 10, Verses 32 and 33. It says, “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in Heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in Heaven.” Now, depending on your translation, whoever acknowledges me before man or whoever disowns me before man, it means humans, mankind, others, etc.

So, “Whoever acknowledges me…” – that means if someone asks you what do you believe, what are your religion, what, where do you go to church, what do you study, do you believe in God?

You can say what? Do you say yes? Do you, do you say yes and change the subject? Say yes and tell them what you believe: Yes I’m a Christian. I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. He died for my sins. He died for everyone’s sins. He died for your sins, too, if you believe in Him. That’s it.

Now, that person might say, “Wow, okay cool,” and then they may want to learn more, or they might say, “Alright, that’s cool. I go to such and such. I believe the same thing,” or, “Oh, I’m, I’m a Muslim,” or, “Oh, I’m, I’m Hindu or Buddhist.” And, you – okay, that’s cool. What do you believe?

You could either engage in a big discussion with them, not like an argument, or, they might say, “Oh, that’s cool,” and move on. But, you did what you were meant to do right there. You shared what you’re proud of. You were not ashamed, and you shared it.

Do not be disowned by your Father in Heaven. What do I mean by that? Well, don’t disown Jesus before others – acknowledge Him. “But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in Heaven,” – do you want to be disowned by Jesus before the Father in Heaven? No, no you don’t. Acknowledge Christ before others no matter what.

Alright, let’s take a look at Daniel. You remember him? Big story, Daniel in the lion’s den. Daniel was a guy who followed no matter what. Alright, sum up his story, Daniel – the whole Book of Daniel is incredible. I encourage you to read it. He was a kid in his 20s, captured, exiled off to Babylon.

They said, “Alright, you and, and some other men, you’re going to become servants of the king. You be here. You’re going to eat the king’s choice food. You’re going to do all this.” Daniel says, “No, we can’t eat that. We can’t defile ourselves like that. We want to eat only vegetables and only water.”

The guy said, “Are you kidding? The king’s going to behead me if I don’t do what he says.” Give us 10 days. At the end of the 10 days, they looked healthier than anyone else and were unbelievable. He followed no matter what. He didn’t budge. He said, “Alright, fine, give us the 10 days, and we’ll work it out. And, you, you be the judge.” God delivered.

Later on, the king had some dreams and said, “Eexecute all the wise men. No one knows what my dreams are.” Daniel says, “Wait a minute. Give me a, give me a day. Let me go pray to my God and see if we can save everyone here.” Okay, no problem. God gives him the dream and the interpretation. He goes back to the king, boom, everybody’s saved – unbelievable, follow no matter what.

Later on, some people tricked the king into passing a law that says you can’t pray to any God, except for the king – okay weird – and Daniel’s still praying. And, and they did this to entrap Daniel. They said, “Oh, by the way, you signed that law. Daniel your favorite guy, throw him in a lion’s den.” The king says, “Man, I can’t believe I got tricked into doing that. Hopefully, your God will save you.” Daniel says, “Don’t worry about it. My God is good whatever happens.”

Go down into the lion’s den, angels closed up the mouths of the lions. The next day they go see. The crafty guys are there, “Oh, Daniel’s alive and well.” Okay then, and then they throw those crafty guys into the lion’s den, and the lions jumped up and kill them before those guys even hit the ground. That, that’s how ferocious and hungry they were.

So, Daniel – and that’s Daniel Chapter 6 is the lion’s den – Daniel followed no matter what. All these times of adversity, he followed. He didn’t say, “Alright, fine, I’ll give up being a Christian. I’ll pretend not to be a Christian.” No, he was not ashamed.

What about his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Alright, this is also in Daniel Chapter 3. We’re going to go to the Verses here, 16 through 28 in case you want to read them. I’ll put them in the description. I’m not going to read the whole thing. I’m going to sum it up just like I did with Daniel.

But, basically, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were some other wise men of the king, and the king made a big statue and said, “Everyone needs to pray to the statue when I play this music.” And, these three said, “No, we refuse.”

So, some reports came to the king, “Hey, those guys aren’t bowing down.” Round them up, bring them in, and the king said, “Hey because I know you guys, because I like you, I’m going to give you one more chance.” Play the music. Go ahead, bow down, and they stood there. They said, “No, we won’t. We can’t worship anyone but our God Yahweh.”

The king was so angry at this, he said, “Heat that furnace up seven times hotter than normal, and tie up these people so they have no chance of escaping.” So, they tie them up really tight, really strong ropes. They’ve stoked up that furnace. And, then these men take Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, carry them over there, and the furnace was so hot that the men carrying them over died right there, and then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell into the furnace.

All of a sudden the king was looking over there, “Hey, didn’t we put three people in there? I see four people in there. They’re not even tied up, and one of them is glowing.” And so, they said, “Whoa, what’s going on?” Calls them out, and wow not a hair was singed. They didn’t even have the smell of smoke or fire on them.

They followed no matter what, and they even told the king, “Our God has the power to deliver us from this fiery furnace, but even if He doesn’t, we accept it and we will follow no matter what.” That’s it, follow no matter what. They weren’t afraid to tell others that they were Christians. They told and they said who they believed in. They said who they pray to, and they followed no matter what and God delivered them.

Let’s go to 1 Peter 3:15. We’ve got a few more Verses. Then we’ll wrap it up. I know we’re getting close. Don’t worry. It’s alright, good messages – 1 Peter 3:15 says, “But your hearts – but in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

So, when people see that you are so filled of joy and hope, that you are always happy, that no matter what happens, you’re pretty easygoing, that something could go wrong, and you’re like, “Ah, it’s okay. It’s not a big deal. I’ll – let me handle it.” And, someone says, “How are you always so cool, so level-headed, so calm?”

The reason for the hope and the peace and the joy that is within me is Jesus Christ. You want some of that peace? You want some of that hope, some of that joy? Here is how. Boom.

Stand behind your beliefs. Defend your faith no matter what even to the point of death. God may deliver you. God might not. But, the Bible is filled with stories of how God delivered people, but it also has some people that weren’t delivered.

Look at Stephen. He got stoned to death. He was a Christian, a new Christian, and he all of a sudden got really tired of everything that was going on, so he went out there, started preaching, and immediately stoned him to death right there, done. That was it. He had a short life, but he did something. He followed no matter what.

Remember this, though. God doesn’t want you to die for Him. God wants you to live for Him. Because if you die for Him, you’re done. Your light is snuffed out. You can’t do any more here. You’re in Heaven. That’s great. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to be in Heaven. It’s done. But, think of everything that you can do here. If I died right now, sermons would end. Right here, if I died right now, it would be done right in the middle of it.

So, God wants you to live for Him. You can do so much more here. You’re on a special assignment from the Most High down here on enemy territory, in foreign lands, to bring more people to our heavenly Kingdom. You’re a part of that kingdom if you are a Christian. You’ve got to bring more people there. So, God wants you to live for Him.

We’re going to go to 1 Corinthians 10:31, 1 Corinthians 10:31…10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” God wants you to live for Him. If you’re living for Him, He will deliver you no matter what. Okay, wait a minute. You want to follow Him no matter what; now, He will deliver you no matter what.

Let’s go to Colossians 3:17 to help us out with that point, “And whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to the Father through Him.” So, God will deliver you. Now, whether He delivers you into Heaven or delivers you here on Earth to continue your assignment, that’s up to Him, but He will deliver you no matter what.

Think about this – what is the worst-case scenario? You follow God and all of a sudden you are in big trouble and you’re sentenced to go through whatever – whether it’s a lion’s den, a fiery furnace, hanging on a cross, hanging from a tree, beheading, lethal injection nowadays, whatever the, the method is, stoning, okay? And, God can deliver you. He will deliver you no matter what. He could deliver you here on Earth by keeping you alive, some miracle.

Some of the Disciples got stoned, and they would just get up later and walk away. Everybody left and thought they were dead. Miracles happen a, a lot of times. Look at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Look at Daniel in the lion’s den. Okay, God can deliver people here on Earth, but if He doesn’t deliver you here on Earth, He will deliver you into Heaven.

So, the worst case scenario – yes it may be unpleasant as you’re dying here – you will be going to Heaven.

So, follow no matter what, but remember, take courage and take satisfaction and peace in the fact that God wants you to live for Him. He wants you to live for Him. He’s not just going to take you away. He wants you to live for Him, so do that – live for Him. Whether it’s in eating or drinking, do it all giving glory to the heavenly Father?

Let’s pray:

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for this inspiration. Thank you for the courage that you are giving each and every one of us to continue to live for You. Please build that courage, and we know that we can only get more courage by encountering times where courage is required, which means that we may have to be scared or we may have to be put to the test.

We might be in situations where things get really difficult, and we may have to make some sacrifices or lose loved ones. Or, we might have to be ready to give up our lives and, and leave those we love in order to continue serving You.

And, we, we pray that You would see us through. Give us the courage and also deliver us because we want to live for You. Allow us to continue living for You and to make some changes to bring more people to your Kingdom, to the Kingdom of Christ, and, and keep us safe here on our special assignment in this foreign land.

Keep us hidden from the Devil. Keep us so strong and powerful that the Devil will flee from us because of the light that is within us through You. Allow each and every person out there, Lord, to continue living for You and to continue giving You the glory, and if they’re ever asked, give them the courage to tell others why they have that joy within them.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Thank you again so much for being here, for listening to this, for watching this. I really hope that it has inspired you and that you have found some comfort in the fact that Jesus wants you to live for Him. So, no matter what do not be afraid – live for Him. Acknowledge Him before others and be acknowledged before the Father when your time comes.

God bless.