Be Courageous

Be Courageous
By Don Vess

Josh 1:1-9 NLT After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, 2 “My servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites across the Jordan River into the land I am giving to them. 2 I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set your foot, you will be on land I have given to you—4 from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east the Mediterranean Sea in the West, including all the land of the Hittites. 5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you. 6 “BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7 BE STRONG AND VERY COURAGEOUS, be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. ONLY THEN WILL YOU PROSPER AND SUCCEED IN ALL YOU DO. 9 For this is My command—BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS! DO NOT BE AFRAID OR DISCOURAGED. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Courage: Mental or moral strength to venture, persevere and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.

Last time I preached I preached using Proverbs 24:10 as a text: If you faint in the day of adversity, our strength is small.  

God saw something in Joshua when he was sent into Canaan to spy out the land. He was sent out with 11 other spies with instructions to scope out the lay of the land, it’s people, see it was fortified and to gather some of the fruit and bring it back. On their return 10 of the spies gave an “evil report”. They acknowledged that the land was good and very fruitful. BUT, the people there were giants. They said, “we look like grasshoppers next to them, in our eyes and in their eyes too.” So, they lost courage and were afraid to go in and take the land even though God had promised it to them. But Joshua and Caleb exhibited courage and said, “Let’s go at once and take the land.” “We can certainly conquer it!”

Moses’ was a successful leader more than many others because he had a “successor”. Elijah was also a success as a prophet because he also had a successor in Elisha. Jesus was most successful because He left the greatest successor in the person of the Holy Spirit who inhabits those who believe in Him and receive His promises and do His works.

Doing the work of the ministry in an apostolic fashion requires God-given Courage which is obtained when we receive and are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:8 And you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses (Martyrs- Grk) for me in Jerusalem, Samaria, Judea, and even to the remotest parts of the earth.
Most anything we do for Christ and His kingdom will require a certain amount of courage. We will be tested and tried as we walk out our God-given destiny and Spirit-led assignments.

I remember certain times in my own walk that my faith has been tried and tested to the nth degree.

1994- During my tenure as youth pastor. Street camp 94 in Salisbury. After months careful planning, arranging speakers and special guests, and other expensive ventures, Flyers and invitations were sent out. This was before most of us had access to the internet, and Facebook was not even invented. So, mailers, flyers, phone calls, etc. were the means of communication.

We did all we could to promote and get the word out and we received and underwhelming response. Two days before the event we had a grand total of 15 students, outside of our own fellowship that had signed up for and we were looking at nearly $4000.00 in expenses. I was DISCOURAGED to say the least. I called our District Youth Leader and was honestly looking for a way out of our commitment to host the event. When I spoke with Mark Muirhead, our D-Cap, and explained our situation, his only response was, “Do you believe God called you to do this?” Which was a valid question, and I didn’t want to give him an invalid answer, so I said, “Yes!” And he said, “then pray and God will provide.”

I went into our designated prayer room laid face down on the floor and said, “God, I need you to speak to me and give me a word. Do you want me to proceed and how do I do it?” I heard in my spirit an almost audible voice, Joshua 1:9. I didn’t even know what Josh 1:9 said, so I got my Bible and read, “…this is My command—BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS! DO NOT BE AFRAID OR DISCOURAGED. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

That was enough! I didn’t worry about the context and that God was speaking to Joshua. That day, He was speaking to me!

I determined that I COULD NOT FAIL, and that GOD WOULD PROVIDE all that was needed for the event and that lives would be touched and changed by the power of God.

God moved powerfully in the meetings and in the ministry that we conducted in the streets and parks that week. We received offerings each night of the week-long event and at the end of the week we had received enough to meet our budget and to also give over $3000.00 to missions.
If I had canceled the event the lives that were ministered to, including the students that were involved in outreach and ministry training would have missed out and I would have missed God because of a lack of courage.

In 1989, Houston Miles, the founder of EFI heard God speak to his heart about sending teams into Soviet Russia to do ministry. The Berlin Wall came down in November of that same year. Teams were praying and preparing to launch and when it came down, they immediately went in to minister to the Russian and Soviet people. Crusades and conferences were held, churches planted, pastors and leaders raised up. Becki and I were blessed to be part of several pastor conferences in Perm, Surgut, and Siberia.

 Because of Houston Mile’s courage and leadership, and the courage of all those of EFI who responded and went in to those territories minister, over 760 churches were planted and many more have been spawned from those churches since then.

Since then, many other nations have been touched with the gospel through the courage of men and women who are full of the Holy Spirit and the courage to do what God has called them to do even in the face of persecution, threats and even the prospect of martyrdom.

Great courage was shown by the early disciples who were willing to suffer persecution and death for the cause of the Gospel.

Peter and John: Acts 4:1-21 NLT- While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees. 2 These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead. 3 They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning. 4 But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of men who believed now totaled about 5,000. 5 The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest.

7 They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people, 9 are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? 10 Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. 11 For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ 12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”13 The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures.

They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say. 15 So they ordered Peter and John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves. 16 “What should we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. 17 But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.”

18 So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? 20 We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.” 21 The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God.

As soon as Peter and John were released, they went back to the other believers and told them all that had happened and what the powers that be had said and how they had threatened them and warned them to keep silent. But when they heard the report, instead of becoming silent and bending to the threats, they prayed.

Acts 4:29-31 NLT- “And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants great boldness in preaching Your word. 30 Stretch out Your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” 31 After this prayer (God answers prayer) the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with BOLDNESS.

There is one baptism in the Holy Spirit, but many fillings. Being filled with the Spirit gives you supernatural courage.

Acts 5, Peter and John had been warned by the ruling elders and religious leaders not to speak anymore or do anything in the name of Jesus. But they were filled with courage and the boldness of the Spirit and went right back to obeying God and preaching the gospel.

Acts 5:12-16 The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in an area known as Solomon’s Colonnade. But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them. 14 Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women. 15 As a result of the apostle’s work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. 16 Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed.  

You would think that “men of God” would rejoice that this was happening. But just the opposite happened. The religious leaders became jealous. They arrested the apostles and put them in jail. But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out. The angel told them, “Go to the temple and give the people this message of life!” So, at daybreak the apostles entered the Temple and began teaching.

When the night priest and other officials arrived, they convened the high council of the elders of Israel. They sent for the apostles so they could try them. But when the Temple guards went to the jail, it was empty, they were gone. The jail was securely locked, but no one was in it. About that time, someone came and reported, “The men you put in jail are standing in the Temple, teaching the people.”

They arrested them again and brought them back before the council and confronted them and warned them not to keep doing what they were doing. But the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.”  

This is a NOW WORD for us today! We are living in a society who has rejected God and His authority given in His Holy Word. We have to make a choice as to whom we will serve. Will we bow down to a secular world system that is attempting to replace God? Or will we stand in COURAGE in the face of social rejection and threats from an ungodly legal system and make the choice to “obey God rather than man?” It will take courage!

Not a “Natural courage.” But a courage that is given by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not going to get any better no matter who wins the election. What we are wrestling against is not ‘Flesh and blood.’ Eph. 6:10-12…Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all the strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting flesh-and-blood enemies, but against rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against the mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

2 Cor 10:3-5 NLT- We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. 4 We use God’s mighty weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.

I want to ENCOURAGE you today! We can rely on God’s power, promises, and provision to work in us to do the work He has called us to. We are the “chosen generation, the royal priesthood, we are a holy ETHNOS: nation, a called out people, that we should show forth (Reveal to the world) the praises (to glorify, to be examples of, to show the world) Who He is who has called us OUT OF DARKNESS, out of the dark places we WERE in and what it means to WALK IN THE LIGHT.  1 jn. 1:5-7 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: GOD IS LIGHT, and there is no darkness in Him at all. 6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in darkness: we are not practicing the truth. 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.

When we live a life of Holiness before God, we will stand out as surely as a bright light stands out in a dark place. As we walk in the light of holiness in Him, we will reflect His holiness to this dark world. It takes courage and that is what God is saying to us all today,

“Be strong and courageous.”  “Be strong and VERY courageous.”