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Presented, August 26, 2007 am

A NEED FOR COURAGE

Today I want to talk about a characteristic all Christians need. It is a characteristic found in true, godly leaders, but as we shall see, it should describe every Christian.

I. Courage and the Bible

a. What is courage
Random House defines the word as, “1. The quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery…3. Have the courage of one’s convictions, to act in accordance with one’s beliefs, esp. in spite of criticism. (www.dictionary.com)
In the New Testament, the word
Louw & NIda’s Dictionary defines the word as, “to be confident, bold, courageous.”
Thayer defines the word as, “to be of good courage, to be hopeful, confident.”

b. Courage is the opposite of cowardice.
Cowardice is the way King Saul acted throughout his life.
For example: in 1 Samuel 10:20-22 when Saul is chosen to be king, we find him hiding from Samuel and the people. It was downhill from there. Fearing his army would defect while he waited for Samuel, Saul offers an unauthorized sacrifice. When confronted with disobeying God by sparing King Agag and various animals after having been commanded to destroy the Amalekites, Saul blames the people, and when he realizes that David is destined to replace him – rather than accept it, he tries to destroy David.
See Revelation 21:8 to see that such is condemned. We cannot be cowardly and have a hope of heaven. Jesus said in Matthew 10:32-33 that whoever denies Him before men would be denied before His Father.

c. Courage in the Bible

i. The word courage is not used too often, but it is found a few times. Often times it is associated with the idea of “be of good cheer” (Luke 8:48, John 16:33, Acts 23:11)

ii. Boldness - Proverbs 28:1, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion”

iii. Be brave – 1 Corinthians 16:13 – Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.

iv. Stand fast – Philippians 1:27-28, 2 Thessalonians 2:15

v. 2 Timothy 1:7 – God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

vi. 1 Peter 3:13-15 – he calls for courage, quoting the call of Isaiah (8:12).

vii. Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be safe.”

d. Examples in courage

i. There are many well known and outstanding examples of courage -
Daniel as he refused to eat the king’s delicacies
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego as they refuse to bow and worship an image of gold as commanded by the king – Daniel 3:16-18
Esther – going before the king to deliver her people
David as he faced Goliath
Elijah as he confronts the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel
Stephen as he faced stoning for preaching the gospel (Acts 7)
And the apostles as they stood loyally for God when threatened to quit preaching Jesus.

ii. But there are other lesser known and less spectacular examples that ought to stand out to each of us.
When a little servant girl tells Naaman to find the one in Israel who can heal him of his leprosy (2 Kings 5).
When Daniel keeps praying in his room, in the face of being cast into the lion’s den (yes, we know this one, but consider the act – a simple, daily prayer)
When a woman who had an ailment for twelve years finds her way through the crowds to simply touch the hem of the garment of Jesus (Matthew 9:21)
When a disciple leaves his trade to follow after Jesus simply because He called him (e.g. Peter, James & John, Matthew, etc.).
In these examples we find courage can be found in every walk of life.
As Joseph, the future husband of Mary, listens to an angel and takes Mary to be his wife even though she is found to be with child.

iii. Perhaps the ultimate example of courage is that of Jesus Himself.
We find courage throughout His life. Jesus as He cast out the moneychangers, rebuked the Pharisees in Matthew 23, accepting His death and condemnation before them, etc.

II. Where Courage is needed

a. Defending the truth
Think of Peter and John as they faced the Sanhedrin – threatened Acts 4:18-31, 5:29-31. Note how they spoke the word of God with boldness.
Think of Paul as he faced persecutions from place to place. On one occasion he said, “But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict.” 1 Thess. 2:2
We need courage and boldness as defend our beliefs. It takes courage to disagree with false teachers. It takes courage to walk away from sinful activities.

b. Admitting our weaknesses
There is a time when we are to confess our trespasses to one another – James 5:16.
Equally difficult is confessing your sins to yourself. It takes courage to admit needs for real change in your own life. But if there is to be real progress, you HAVE TO do it.
One author said, “You will never find yourself until you face the truth.” (John Maxwell)

c. Confronting erring brethren
As Paul confronted Peter – Galatians 2:11-14
Galatians 6:1, James 5:19-20
John the Baptist confronted Herod (more on this tonight)

d. Reaching the lost
Perhaps the area where we face the greatest weakness. We need courage to stand up and admit we are Christians to others. We need courage to tell people they are lost (but tactfully). Until we all begin to develop courage in this, the Lord’s church is going to suffer and dwindle.
Why is it that more effort is not put forward to reach the lost? While there are many reasons, some of the greatest involve a lack of courage. Some are afraid of rejection or ridicule as they tell others of their faith. Others fear facing an argument that they cannot answer. Some simply do not feel confident to do the task.
Until we see a need to overcome cowardice in speaking with others we are NOT going to better develop ourselves to speak with them about spiritual matters.

III. Developing Courage

a. Build up your faith. You HAVE TO learn to trust God – Hebrews 11:6.

b. Know your priorities – you have to believe in what you are going to fight for. Remember that it is God you are trying to please and not man. Galatians 1:10. Also note Matthew 10:28, Fear God who is able to cast our souls in hell fire.

c. Pray for courage - Acts 4:29-31

d. Surround yourself with those who display courage. It has been said that courage (and cowardice) is contagious. I think of the Apostles who were surrounded by Jesus.
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e. Face your fears. Like Jesus in the Garden – stand up and face your enemies.
Like Esther who had to appear before King Ahasuerus to save her people go do something you need to do. Quit putting it off.
Like the prodigal son in Luke 15:17 who finally “came to himself” which means that he faced where he was.

f. Do things that will force you to act with courage. For example, be a godly example at some time when doing so is going to get others attention. Maybe it is walking away from a bad joke and saying “I don’t appreciate that!”

g. Stand up and do what you ought to do.

We all need to develop courage if we are to be pleasing to God. It is my hope that in this lesson we will take a few moments to examine ourselves and determine if we need to make changes in this area. And here is the challenge: IF we do need to make changes, do we have the courage to admit it and start making those changes? Think about it!