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.