Prove Me Now - Part 3 — Keith Daniel

Honoring God Against the Pressure of the Crowd

He looked at his tobacco lands, and he got on the tractors, and he plowed the tobacco in the ground. And he planted vegetables. Well, that's tobacco land. The valley rose up in protest against what he's doing.

You don't do vegetables. This is tobacco. There was virtually almost a violent protest rising up against him for what he was daring to do in that valley. Within a few years, he so prospered that 90 of that valley plowed their tobacco into the ground and planted vegetables.

Do you honestly think God does not honor them that honor him? No, no matter what the devil says, no matter what people who have business minds, people who have their pulse on the economy say, no matter what anyone says, God honors them that honor him, beloved.

God honors them that beloved him, that honor him. My brother Dudley, he lives in Australia now. He used to live in America. My brother Dudley, when he was saved about 38 years ago now, he was really something for a young fellow just over 20.

Dudley Renounces Karate After Conversion

He was the South African champion of his sport. He had sports clubs across the land. He had his own business, which was just flourishing, booming. He really was staggering, admired by multitudes who would come to all these clubs where he would train them and have people training them.

He was asked to represent his country. When his country was sanctioned from the world sport-wise, he was so good they couldn't do without him taking part. He had to come. No one in the world was this good.

But what was the sport? Well, that was the beginning days of what took over in the world of young people of sport, karate, an Eastern fighting system, mainly self-defense. Anyway, he got mightily saved.

And the next day, he said, I must close these clubs down now. Karate is of the devil. He said, I don't care what anybody says. You speak to anyone who goes a little bit deep. This meditating, it's not just for concentration.

It's for a power. And it's not God. It's not of God. It's of the devil. And it's dangerous. And I'm stopping. He wouldn't go to represent his land. It was a shock. He closed all the clubs down. He said, I'm not making any money from this devilish thing anymore.

Christian Opposition to Radical Obedience

There's all these people locked in their throngs to train under something of his supervision in these clubs. Oh, how many religious people opposed him. He's gone mad. Nothing wrong in this. It's just good for the young people, you know.

Oh, how many confessing, professing Christians stood up against him. Gone off the rails. Go too far here. Oh, the criticism, the barrage of criticism that rode up against him. The little encouragement he got was unbelievable from Christians, evangelical Christians.

Refusing Sunday Work to Honor the Lord's Day

His business flourishing, yes, for a young man. He stands up now, saved, within a week. He tells everybody, this business does not work on Sunday. I make no money from this business on Sunday. It's God's day, and I'm not desecrating God's day, the Lord's day.

Well, then the criticism rose up. Oh, my, you're going to lose the business. His biggest dealers, the ones who gave him the most money with their contracts, the one man marched in when I was sitting there, shouting.

He was like beside himself. He said, because you have become a religious fanatic, it doesn't mean the whole world has come to a standstill, Dudley. He said, I give you my business, my contracts, many other of them.

We're all speaking about it. We're all shocked. If there's a breakdown, if there's a deadline to meet by Sunday, if you have our contract, you work on Sunday. You will work on Sunday, or you lose everything.

I will take my business, and I know everybody else is talking. We're getting away from you. You're going to lose everything. You've gone overboard, young man. He shouted at my brother, and I trembled at the way a man could speak to another man because of his love for God, what he had done.

Choosing Faithfulness Over Financial Security

My brother stood up, and he was trembling. I noticed that. He was deceived. He was young. And I noticed his little lips were covering. And I looked at him and thought, what do you do now with your God if you're going to lose everything, Dudley?

A little tear came down his face, and he said, sir, I don't care if I lose your business. I don't care if I lose this business. But I will not desecrate the Lord's day. I love God too much. Unless it is a matter of life or death, I will never again allow anyone in this business to work, even if I lose this business.

God's Blessing Through Integrity in Business

Well, what happened? Well, they might have found somebody that wouldn't work on a Sunday, but they also found somebody that's a very great rarity in the world, in the business world. They found someone that they knew wouldn't overcharge them, wouldn't do superficial work or undermine jobs, wouldn't do any cheating on any level, on what things he used in all the machinery.

There wouldn't be anything questionable about, well, instead of losing their business, his business just grew and grew and grew and grew. He had to just take on workers upon workers and open up next door and next, hide the next building.

It just went to such a state, God laid His hand on him to become a preacher and on me. And I remember my brother saying, thank God I'm getting out of all of this. It's too much. He couldn't handle it.

God Honors Those Who Honor Him

Oh, God honors them that honor Him, beloved. No matter what the devil says, through your biggest customer, threatening. No matter what the devil says through religious leaders, warning. You're going too far.

This isn't God. God honors them that honor Him. This book says, and I believe it, in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, I have come to love a young couple.