Don Wilkerson led us in that last song, “I’m not ashamed to own my Lord, or to defend His cause.” I guess all of us can remember at some time in our life when we later felt that we should have spoken up for the Lord, but we didn’t. I think our society today does not want us to disagree with them. I know that as children of God, we’re often in situations that we do not agree with. Perhaps someone makes a statement that we do not agree with. It’s difficult to know whether we ought to speak up, or whether we should keep silent.
I think that there’s a word in Scripture that possibly we haven’t studied much. The word is “COURAGE.” Luke records in Acts 23:11 that while Paul was in a prison in the city of Jerusalem, one night “the Lord stood near Paul and said, ‘Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.’ ”
That’s an interesting phrase. The word courage is in the Old Testament a lot. It’s a word that means inner strength—strength of mind and strength of spirit! I like that! Strength of SPIRIT! We’re spiritual beings. We are body and SOUL. And the synonym for “soul” is spirit.
And of course, we have in the Godhead the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is described by Paul in the Colossian letter as the only member of the Godhead BODILY, [Colossians 2:9]. He put on flesh and blood like us. He went through the whole cycle of life and was put to death, as you well know. We commemorated that death a few minutes ago in the Lord’s Supper. Then He was resurrected from the grave, and the Bible declares that He is the “firstfruits of them that are raised from the dead,” [1 Corinthians 15:20]. Firstfruits. All of us will be in that category. We’ll be like Him. We’ll have a body. The soul will never die, and even when the soul is separated from this body, it will be in the realm of the dead. We have strong reason to believe that we’ll be conscious. There are any number of passages that indicate that to us. “But when the Lord comes, they that are in the grave shall also hear His voice and shall come forth, some unto a resurrection of eternal life, and some unto a resurrection of eternal punishment,” [John 5:28-29]. My, these are sobering passages! But friends, that’s how it’s going to be. It’s a serious thought!
While we’re in THIS life, we don’t want to be overwhelmed by the world. We want to be fearful of our adversary, the devil. We do not want to remain quiet on occasions when we should SPEAK for our Lord!
I think our country is in real trouble. I’ve never seen so many murderers. I’ve never seen so many people that are in high places that are corrupt. We don’t have a lot of people that we trust. And we hear a lot of lies. It’s common.
Should we remain silent when our Lord is vilified? I don’t think we ought to be mean or nasty at any time. But I think we ought to give a defense for our Lord, for the church, for His whole Word.
After I got out of high school, I worked in a clothing store. While I was going to high school, I worked in a grocery store. I was thrown with people who used a lot of profanity, people that drank. I’m not bragging on myself, but I refused to drink. I remember one occasion after a football game, we were in a car. Somebody had a pint of whiskey, passing it around to everybody so that they could take a swig. Their eyes were red, and they were coughing and sputtering! Boy, that’s sure good! Well, when they came to me, I didn’t want it. I said, “I don’t care for any.” Well, the guys started making fun of me. They called me “sissy”, “pantywaist”, “goody-goody”. One of the boys who was larger than me said, “Leave him alone! He’s smarter than all of us put together!” Hey, I liked that! I asked him if he could go with me all of the time! He couldn’t.
What should I have said? Well, it took a lot of courage to say, “I don’t want that,” because I wouldn’t be “one of the gang.” And I’m sorry to say that there were days when I really didn’t stand up—that I went along with the gang. Peer pressure is a marvelous thing to control our lives, and the devil knows it! The devil uses it all the way through life! We’re not teenagers any more, many of us. But we work on the job where there are people around us that are pretty free-booting very often. If you don’t enter into their activities, you’re going to hear some criticism. If you say something about God or about the Bible, you may hear this retort, “Don’t preach to me!”
So, it’s hard! I’m not saying that ALL the time we ought to speak up. But I think that there are occasions where we ought to have enough strength of character, and strength of faith, that we don’t let it go by without comment, that we say “I believe that,” and then you live what you believe. We can say it kindly, but nonetheless we can say it!
So I got to thinking this week about the word “courage.” Then I thought about the word discourage. “Discourage” means that we have lost heart, or we’re disappointed, and we’re hurt, and we’re “down”. Courage means that we’re standing strong! It’s when we know what we believe, and we feel it, and we’re happy that we DO believe it. That’s what “courage” is.
I looked the word “courage” up in a Bible dictionary, and the definition is, “strength of mind or spirit to meet difficulty or danger or opposition”. I could say, “I don’t want any opposition. I want ‘smooth sailing’ all the time. I want people to be compatible. I want them to be my friends. I don’t want to anger them.” But that’s not always true, or possible. There comes a time when you have to be counted—a time when you have to speak up and defend what you believe and live in your life.
Friends, I don’t know of an age, in my life at least, that acts like the age in which we live. There is widespread sin. There is trouble and turmoil in the church! There’s uncertainty and turmoil in the whole religious world in our United States. And it’s time for us to speak. It’s time for us to stand up and be counted for our Lord. We may be ridiculed! We may lose a friend. But, we’ll gain our Lord!
Do you remember Daniel? Do you remember Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, [Daniel, chapters 1, 2 and 3]? How all of them went to Babylon? Friends, we have discovered in archeology the gates of the magnificent city of Babylon, build by Nebuchadnezzar. They are in the East Berlin Museum. You can see them today. They only reconstructed the lower half, and it’s 45 feet high. The wall was so wide that four chariots, pulled by two horses each, could run across the top side by side! It’s a magnificent structure. And it was there in the time of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego!
You remember that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were cast into the fiery furnace because they would not worship the King’s idol? They stood up for what they believed! God delivered them, and the King was amazed.
Do you recall that the enemies of Daniel knew that everyday at a certain time he opened his window and looked toward Jerusalem, and he prayed to God? And these enemies persuaded the King to make an idol, and at the sound of the blowing of a horn everyone would bow to the idol? And Daniel wouldn’t bow. Everyday, Daniel went to that window and prayed, and the King and his henchmen saw it. They were ready to kill him. The put him into a den of lions. You know how he was delivered. In fact, our children know these stories probably better than I do. When King Nebuchadnezzar came to see if Daniel was still alive, the lions had not touched him. The Lord had delivered him.
Now, I said all of that to tell you that in the first part of this great book of Daniel, Daniel is delivered because of his courage and faith. COURAGE and faith—strength of soul and mind and spirit. He stood for what he knew was right, even in the face of death.
Now friends, I don’t think we’ll be called upon to face death for our convictions. But it could come, and I hope that all of us would stand.
Joshua took the place of Moses. Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt by the power of God, and what a mighty deliverance that was! They wandered for forty years in a wilderness because of their disbelief, and finally, when they came to the promised land, Moses is not allowed to go in because of one of his sins. But he died with the grace of God. And we don’t know where he was buried, “even to this day” the Bible says. Only God knows, [Deuteronomy 34:5-7]. But when Moses died, Joshua took his place.
Do you know that the name “Joshua” in the Hebrew language is “Jesus” in the New Testament? Jesus would be our “Joshua,” who would lead us into the promised land—heaven itself. In the very first part of Joshua, chapter 1, God said to him, “I will not fail you, or forsake you,” Joshua 1:5. God is encouraging Joshua. Then in verse 6 God says, “Be strong and of good courage…” Strength and courage to together! When God uses the word “good” courage, that means “healthy or strong” courage. God is telling Joshua, actually telling him twice, “have courage” and “have good courage.” Be strong! Have courage! It’s going to be a very big task to lead all of these people into the land promised them by God.
Do you also recall that the 12 spies were sent into the various cities of the land of Canaan, and they came back. They said that it is a country of “walled cities,” [Numbers 13:28]. A walled city would be almost impossible to conquer. All of the people were inside. You can’t get inside. You can’t penetrate the defenses of a city that has walls all around it. Jericho was one of those walled cities, and you know how God delivered that city into the hands of the Israelites, [Joshua, chapters 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6], led by Joshua.
So, then, in Joshua 1:7, it says, “Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law.” What that literally means is that our courage is built upon not only God, but also His Word; and we will be careful to DO ALL the Word of God. While we are standing for something, we will live it as well as stand for it. Well, that’s a good thought. Not only do we love the Word of God, and live it, but we also defend it and stand for it. And that’s the kind of courage that the Bible will speak of.
In Joshua, the 10th chapter, our Lord says, “Do not be afraid or dismayed…” That word is translated “discouraged” in some translations of the Bible. “Be strong and of good courage,” [Joshua 10:25]. I think all of us get discouraged. I watch the news on television at night, and I get discouraged. I read our newspaper, and I get discouraged. I read some of the publications of the brotherhood, and I get discouraged. And I hear about people travelling and worshiping someplace, and that place didn’t worship at all like the church of Christ even though they call themselves the “church of Christ”—and I get discouraged. A lot of things are happening. Hey, we can’t live with discouragement. We’ve got to have something that builds us up, and it comes from within. This Word [the Bible] can encourage us, and what our Lord has promised can encourage us. That is what I hope we’ll see and hold on to today. “Only be strong and of good courage,” God said to Joshua.
Now then, we come to David and Solomon. David is going to die. All during his life he collected material to build a Temple of God in Jerusalem. He didn’t get to build the Temple; and the reason was, God said, “your hands have shed too much blood,” [1 Chronicles 22:8]. Solomon, David’s son, didn’t have a time of warfare like David did. In fact, he never fought any battles. In fact, his name means “peace!” “Solomon” means “peace!” So God had given him the privilege of building the Temple for Him. 1 Chronicles 28, verse 20, says that David says to his young son, “Be strong and of good courage, and do it…[build the Temple]” I guess what I see in that is that it’s not enough just to have courage, but we must be doing something! We must be advancing the cause of the Lord. Not only are we defending the cause of the Lord, but we’re building something.
You know, I think there are people in this town who would come and be with us when we get a permanent building—when we have a church building. [At this time, we have no building, and we are meeting in hotel conference/convention rooms from week to week.] A lot of people associate the building always with church. I know we’ve preached on it a long time that we—you and I—are the church. But everybody says, “Let’s go to church” and they’re talking about the building. I know that a building is important to us. And I know that we have men in the congregation who are working on that. It’s not easy. I know that we’re saving up some money, and hopefully we’ll be able to buy a lot and put up some kind of building, OR, we’ll be able to buy a building that’s already built. We’ll then have some permanent address so we can invite our friends, neighbors, and they’ll feel like, as some people say, “We’ve gone to church.”
You know, I was discouraged some this morning. I have been a little bit discouraged about where we had to meet for worship. But, we’ve had air conditioning and heating. We had a pretty room, actually. Our parking is a little bit inconvenient. We’re used to ALL of these conveniences. But it’s a test of our faith! To a degree, it’s a small test, but it still is a test. But I want us to be courageous. I want all of us to realize that there are people on this earth right now, members of the Lord’s church, that are meeting in mud huts! I know of some. I know of some in Bosnia that are meeting in an upper room. And I know of some in India that meet in the open. Dear friends, we’ve been spoiled in this good country! But we’ve got it good even here!! Let’s look at the project that is before us as a church of God’s people—that we’re not going to lose courage. We’re not going to get discouraged or lose heart!
I believe God has challenged us. We’re taking a stand on and for His Word! If we had no place to meet, we would still be blessed by God, because of the stand we have taken! We’re not mean. We’re not obnoxious. But there are some things we will not stand for—some things we will not condone. We’re trying to stand with this age old Word of God [Harvey holds up the Bible]. We’re trying to worship like we KNOW God wants us to worship. We’re trying to preach and teach what we know of God’s Word. Not everything is “all right” in this world. We have to “tell it like it is.” Our Lord did that. He was put to death for what He preached, not for how He looked or the fact that He came from Nazareth. It was what He said and what He stood for—His TRUTH—that killed Him! And Paul joined Him. Peter joined Him. Stephen joined Him. Secular history says that every one of the apostles was put to death, except John. And he was exiled to the Isle of Patmos. Friends, we’re going to be in some good company when we get to heaven. We’re going to be with those who gave everything they had for the cause of Christ.
Let’s don’t let these times tempt us to get discouraged because we don’t have a building, or because everything is not like we grew up with, or like what we’ve had for 40 years in this city. We must be of good courage and be strong.
Now what happens is that the Lord will stand with us. “I will not fail you or forsake you…” That’s what He said to Joshua, [Joshua 1:5]. “You be strong and of good courage, and I will not fail you or forsake you.” Boy, isn’t that encouraging? I know where God’s going. He wants people of strength! He wants people of faith! He wants people of fidelity who will stand no matter what the cost is, and no matter what the inconvenience is and no matter what the trouble is. In an age of ease, where everything is easy for us—good cars, good houses, good food, good jobs, good medicine… We have it better here than all of the world. And here we are, a group of God’s people—we have it good even now. Even now.
Let’s pray and let’s work. Let’s “hang together”. Let’s encourage each other. And may I say right here, since Sue [Porter, Harvey Porter’s wife] and I have been meeting with you, we haven’t felt this good in years. People in this congregation love each other, hug each other, shake hands, pat you on the back. We don’t all know each other, but we are getting acquainted. But we’re family! And I feel the family aspect in our association. And I’m happy to be here!
And I guess if anybody had a right to be discouraged, Sue and I did. We helped build the Montgomery Boulevard church of Christ. I see that building every day. [The home of Harvey and Sue Porter is located very close to the building and property of the Montgomery congregation that we left.] We gave of our money on all special drives—special calls for money to finance the building of a place to worship or special collections to help needy brothers and sisters in the Lord around the world—and a lot of you did also. We started with 27 people, including ourselves. There are two or three of you here that were part of that very beginning at the original San Pedro street location. And we didn’t lose courage! We were small! In fact, when 5th and Marble church of Christ turned the payments over to us on that property, we didn’t know whether we’d be able to make those payments on that building and that property. And the house that was built next door was where Sue and I lived. I wish we could buy it for $9,000.00 like they bought it then! Isn’t that something? And the church building cost about $76,000.00, not counting the property. Even when we outgrew that building and property and came to the Montgomery Boulevard location, we came with courage. I can remember when four elders dug the first shovel full of dirt out there. There were only eight of us that were there, and I took pictures of it. And while they were digging, I could look all the way to the Sandia Mountains down Montgomery Boulevard. Montgomery was only one little paved slot, and there was a street on the other side unpaved. Then I turned, and I looked all the way to Santa Fe [a city north of Albuquerque]. But God blessed us. And I have no reason to believe that He won’t bless us right here today.! [Several in the congregation said, “Amen.”] He knows and blesses what we’re trying to do—our hopes and aspirations. And it’s not a building that’s important! It’s you and you and you and you and you [Harvey points out into the congregation], and our children. That’s what God is looking at, and that’s what He loves. I believe He’s with us!
And so, David said to Solomon, “be courageous to build the Temple of God.” We need to be courageous to build what we think God wants us to build. That’s US—that’s a congregation of God’s people. And what I’m saying here, I hope, builds us and strengthens us. That is the kind of building that we want to be first of all. And secondly, we want to build a place where we can meet.
Nehemiah says, after the Israelites came back from the Babylonian captivity, “Let us rise up and build,” [Nehemiah 2:18]. That beautiful book says, “The people had a mind to work,” [Nehemiah 4:6]. Isn’t that beautiful? They said, “we will—we’ve got a mind to do that.” And they were all headed in the same direction, being of one mind.
Now, I’m reading from John, the 16th chapter, verse 33—John’s Gospel: “Jesus said, ‘I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble; but take heart…’” There’s our word. The New International Version of the Bible translated it “take heart” instead of “have courage.” It’s the word for “courage”. “‘…I have overcome the world.’” And I guess the thing that I want you to see is, He says, “…so that in Me you may have peace.” “In ME you may have peace.” Why? Jesus says, “I’ve overcome the world. You’re going to have trouble, but I’m going to help you.”
You know you’re baptized into Christ? “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit,” [1 Corinthians 12:13, King James Version of the Bible]. We were baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. We were united with Him [Christ] in a spiritual sense. Isn’t it interesting that the Bible says that a man and a woman, when they are married, shall become ONE flesh? [Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5-6; Mark 10:8; Ephesians 5:31]. We become ONE with Jesus Christ!
And Jesus is saying right here, “IN Me you have peace,” [John 16:33]. “I have overcome the world.” He has indeed! We are victors already because of joining ourselves in a spiritual way to our Lord Jesus Christ! Is Jesus courageous? ALL through His life, He was courageous! Man, He said things that cost Him His life! “But take courage. I have overcome the world.”
The devil never caused Jesus to sin. Oh, he tried! He never left Jesus alone. But Jesus’ resurrection is the victory because He overcame death for ALL OF US. And there is the heart and the center of our faith—our Christianity! We’re going to live again! We want to live in His presence. We’re in His presence now. We’re strengthened and helped by Him now. We have His Word. We’re seeking to follow that Word—to be of one heart and one mind with our Lord, but to ALSO be courageous as our Lord was—to walk right into the jaws of death, and say, “Nevertheless, not my will, but Thy Will be done,” [Matthew 26:39]. In the resurrection, we have the promise of overcoming the world! We will be COURAGEOUS soldiers of our Lord Jesus Christ. And what a life that will be!
You don’t want to live with doubt! You don’t want to live with discouragement! You don’t want to live down—feeling depressed; dejected, sad, lonely and afraid—all of the time! We don’t want to see all of the things that are wrong with the church of Christ. But we MUST see, and then take a stand for what is right in the sight of God. Friends, we’ve got a good situation here! We love each other. We’re trying to know each other. We’re trying to DO what we know the Lord wants us to DO! So, “be of good courage. I have overcome the world.”