Courage is a Command
Courage is the strength of that enables one to withstand fear or difficulty; being
bold, and fearless. II Chronicles 19:11 says “and behold, Amariah the chief priest is
over you in all matters of the Lord Yahweh, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the
ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king’s matters; also the Levites shall be
officers before you. Deal courageously and the Lord Yahweh shall be with the
good”.
The opposite of courage is fear, and the Bible says “fear not” over 300 times. Fear
causes your faith not to work, so courage enforces your faith (Deuteronomy 31:6-7)
“be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them, for the Lord
Yahweh your God, He it is that does go with you; He will not fail you, nor forsake
you. And Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, be strong
and of a good courage; for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord
Yahweh has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit
it”. God reaffirm this to Joshua (Joshua 1:6-7) “be strong and of a good courage;
for to this people shall you divide for an inheritance the land, which I swear to their
fathers to give them. Only be you strong and very courageous, that you may
observe to do according to all the law, which Moses My servant commanded you;
turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you
go”. In verse 5 God says “there shall not any man be able to stand before you all
the days of your life, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you, nor
forsake you”.
Courageous people risk their lives to do what is right. Because the midwives feared
God, they refused to obey the king of Egypt and allowed the boys to live, too
(Exodus 1:17). Hebrew midwives helped women give birth and cared for the baby
until the mother was stronger. When Pharaoh ordered the midwives to kill the
Hebrew baby boys, but these women showed great courage and love for God by
risking their lives to disobey Pharaoh’s command. Their faith in God gave them the
courage to take a stand for what they knew was right. God does not expect us to
obey those in authority, when they ask us to disobey Him or His Word. Whenever
we are ordered to disobey God’s Word, “we must obey God rather than human
authority” (Acts 5:29).
Courage people are bold in representing Christ. Boldness is not reckless
impulsiveness. Boldness requires courage to press through our fears and do what
we know is right. How can we be more bold? Like the disciples, we need to pray
with others for that courage. The disciples in the early church, when they were
threatened to stop preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus, went to their own
company and prayed “and now, Lord, behold their threatenings; and grant to Your
servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word. By stretching forth Your
hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of Your hold
child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were
assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spoke the
word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:29:31).
We have to take courage, Paul is a good example in Acts 28:15 the Bible says “and
from there, when the brethren heard of us they came to meet us as far as Appi-
iforum, and the three taverns; whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took
courage”.
The Bible says “God have not given us a spirit of fear, but of love and of power and
of a sound mind” (II Timothy 1:7). Joshua to Israel “fear not, nor be dismayed, be
strong and of good courage; for thus shall the Lord Yahweh do to all your enemies
against whom you fight” (Joshua 10:25). David showed his courage in the face of
the giant Goliath, even though all of Israel was afraid. David remembered that God
was with him with the lion and the bear, and knew that he could count on God. He
knew his covenant rights against the uncovenant giant. David told Solomon his son
“be strong and of good courage, and do it; fear not, nor be dismayed for the Lord
Yahweh God, even my God, will be with you; He will not fail you, nor forsake you,
until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord Yahweh”
(I Chronicles 28:20).
The Bible tells us many times that “God will never leave us nor forsake us”; when I
was little and someone was bothering me, my older brothers would stand up for me,
and my courage would grow because I was not alone. The Bible says “you are of
God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He within me than
he who is in the world” (I John 4:4). Remember Jesus said in Luke 10:19 “behold, I
give to you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the
enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you”.
The devil is defeated already, he is like a bully; and you know as people stand up to
a bully, they leave them alone. The Bible says “submit yourself to God, resist the
devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you”
(James 4:7-8a). courage grows as we trust God. Our only true refuge is the eternal
God, who always holds out His arms to catch us when the shaky supports that we
trust collapse and we fall. No storm can destroy us when we take refuge in Him.
Because God is our refuge, we can dare to be bold. Jesus told His disciples to take
courage, in spite of the inevitable struggles they would face, they would not be
alone. Jesus does not abandon us to our struggles either. If we remember that the
ultimate victory has already been won, we can claim the peace of Christ in the most
troublesome times.
Faith is associated with courage, Jesus rebuked His disciples for their lack of
courage, in Mark 4:35-41; Jesus had told them, “let us pass over to the utter side”,
as the entered the ship, Jesus fell asleep, then a storm arose. The disciples were
afraid and awoke Jesus saying “Master, care You not that we perish?” He arose,
and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still”. The wind ceased and
He said to them “why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith”? The
Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:13-14 “wherefore, take to you the whole armor of God
that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.
Stand therefore, having your lions girt about with truth, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness”.
Jesus commissioned us to “go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: March 7, 2008
Courage is the strength of that enables one to withstand fear or difficulty; being
bold, and fearless. II Chronicles 19:11 says “and behold, Amariah the chief priest is
over you in all matters of the Lord Yahweh, and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the
ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king’s matters; also the Levites shall be
officers before you. Deal courageously and the Lord Yahweh shall be with the
good”.
The opposite of courage is fear, and the Bible says “fear not” over 300 times. Fear
causes your faith not to work, so courage enforces your faith (Deuteronomy 31:6-7)
“be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them, for the Lord
Yahweh your God, He it is that does go with you; He will not fail you, nor forsake
you. And Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, be strong
and of a good courage; for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord
Yahweh has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit
it”. God reaffirm this to Joshua (Joshua 1:6-7) “be strong and of a good courage;
for to this people shall you divide for an inheritance the land, which I swear to their
fathers to give them. Only be you strong and very courageous, that you may
observe to do according to all the law, which Moses My servant commanded you;
turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you
go”. In verse 5 God says “there shall not any man be able to stand before you all
the days of your life, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you, nor
forsake you”.
Courageous people risk their lives to do what is right. Because the midwives feared
God, they refused to obey the king of Egypt and allowed the boys to live, too
(Exodus 1:17). Hebrew midwives helped women give birth and cared for the baby
until the mother was stronger. When Pharaoh ordered the midwives to kill the
Hebrew baby boys, but these women showed great courage and love for God by
risking their lives to disobey Pharaoh’s command. Their faith in God gave them the
courage to take a stand for what they knew was right. God does not expect us to
obey those in authority, when they ask us to disobey Him or His Word. Whenever
we are ordered to disobey God’s Word, “we must obey God rather than human
authority” (Acts 5:29).
Courage people are bold in representing Christ. Boldness is not reckless
impulsiveness. Boldness requires courage to press through our fears and do what
we know is right. How can we be more bold? Like the disciples, we need to pray
with others for that courage. The disciples in the early church, when they were
threatened to stop preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus, went to their own
company and prayed “and now, Lord, behold their threatenings; and grant to Your
servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word. By stretching forth Your
hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of Your hold
child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were
assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spoke the
word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:29:31).
We have to take courage, Paul is a good example in Acts 28:15 the Bible says “and
from there, when the brethren heard of us they came to meet us as far as Appi-
iforum, and the three taverns; whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took
courage”.
The Bible says “God have not given us a spirit of fear, but of love and of power and
of a sound mind” (II Timothy 1:7). Joshua to Israel “fear not, nor be dismayed, be
strong and of good courage; for thus shall the Lord Yahweh do to all your enemies
against whom you fight” (Joshua 10:25). David showed his courage in the face of
the giant Goliath, even though all of Israel was afraid. David remembered that God
was with him with the lion and the bear, and knew that he could count on God. He
knew his covenant rights against the uncovenant giant. David told Solomon his son
“be strong and of good courage, and do it; fear not, nor be dismayed for the Lord
Yahweh God, even my God, will be with you; He will not fail you, nor forsake you,
until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord Yahweh”
(I Chronicles 28:20).
The Bible tells us many times that “God will never leave us nor forsake us”; when I
was little and someone was bothering me, my older brothers would stand up for me,
and my courage would grow because I was not alone. The Bible says “you are of
God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He within me than
he who is in the world” (I John 4:4). Remember Jesus said in Luke 10:19 “behold, I
give to you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the
enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you”.
The devil is defeated already, he is like a bully; and you know as people stand up to
a bully, they leave them alone. The Bible says “submit yourself to God, resist the
devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you”
(James 4:7-8a). courage grows as we trust God. Our only true refuge is the eternal
God, who always holds out His arms to catch us when the shaky supports that we
trust collapse and we fall. No storm can destroy us when we take refuge in Him.
Because God is our refuge, we can dare to be bold. Jesus told His disciples to take
courage, in spite of the inevitable struggles they would face, they would not be
alone. Jesus does not abandon us to our struggles either. If we remember that the
ultimate victory has already been won, we can claim the peace of Christ in the most
troublesome times.
Faith is associated with courage, Jesus rebuked His disciples for their lack of
courage, in Mark 4:35-41; Jesus had told them, “let us pass over to the utter side”,
as the entered the ship, Jesus fell asleep, then a storm arose. The disciples were
afraid and awoke Jesus saying “Master, care You not that we perish?” He arose,
and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still”. The wind ceased and
He said to them “why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith”? The
Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:13-14 “wherefore, take to you the whole armor of God
that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.
Stand therefore, having your lions girt about with truth, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness”.
Jesus commissioned us to “go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: March 7, 2008
