Have Courage!  · Web viewenemies, but we must be true to God, and because we care enough to tell the truth. HAVE COURAGE, CHURCH. Firstly, have . the courage to... BE STEDFAST.

HAVE COURAGE(Some copied items)

I stood at the bedside of my wife as the surgeon swabbed the skin of her belly with a bright orange-red disinfectant mixture.

The nurses swarmed around us. Just before he started to operate and insert the scalpel to perform the Caesarean section, I leaned over and said to Julie, my darling wife:

‘HAVE COURAGE honey... I’ve got to go now, I’m going to faint.’

I started seeing stars, and I quickly darted out of the operating theatre.

My message today is a rousing call to the church – at this time of our Annual meeting – to issue a call to...

HAVE COURAGE!

We have NEED of COURAGE.

Just to set the scene...

We face much opposition and enemies.

It’s par for the course. You could say, it comes with the territory...

This is THE SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS.

It was Paul’s experience... to face much trouble, and yet, even in the very midst of his tribulation he found joy...

He says...

2 Corinthians 7:4-6 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort,

I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. (5) For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest,

but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.

(6) Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;

These times in which we live – call for boldness.

And we, as God’s faithful church, can be filled with comfort, and even joy.

Even though troubled on every side... Despite fightings without and fears within...

We can be EXCEEDING JOYFUL IN ALL OUR TRIBULATION.

Not that as a church we have really SEEN ANYTHING YET, but even in disappointing times we have reason for comfort and encouragement...

I put it to you, that WE NEED THE COURAGE... TO BE STEDFAST, TO STAND FAST, AND TO HOLD FAST...

When many will meander in mediocrity and sit on the fence... When popular Christianity will pander to the masses... When many will accommodate error and half truths and compromise.

In these days WE HAVE MORE NEED NOW... NOW MORE THAN EVER we have need of a courageous, uncompromising Christianity.

These are days that call for courage. Days when men falter and fail. When many fall back and are cowardly in the face of challenge, and give ground to the enemy.

When many will not seem to care about sound doctrine, but will just swallow whatever morsels they find, out of the garbage can virtually, without realising that some tasty scraps of teachings are laced with poison, and will harm them spiritually.

This is a day when many are WILFULLY IGNORANT of the devil’s devices... And THOSE WHO DARE TO BE BOLD are called bigots or Bible thumpers.

We have need of courage – to speak up and stand up... Not because we want to paint target sights on ourselves, and make enemies, but we must be true to God, and because we care enough to tell the truth.

HAVE COURAGE, CHURCH.

Firstly, have the courage to...

BE STEDFAST

When I think of being stedfast it makes me think of the picture of a captain at the ship’s wheel, braving the storms... Steering the ship ever onward and on course.

As we work towards our graduation from the university of life, the school of hard knocks, we have need of resilience...

I believe this is what God wants for us as a church, as the people of God, to be stedfast. Not deviating, but straight as a die.

Acts 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine

and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

I love how the early church had a stedfastness in doctrine and fellowship. There was a stedfastness in their gathering together for the Lord’s supper and prayer.

This mark of stedfastness is something we can learn from.,.

God’s people in Acts 2 were COURAGEOUS, in spite of the persecution that they faced... They did not buckle under They braved the storm They were empowered by God’s Spirit

and led by the Word of God They were marked by faithfulness They confessed Jesus as Lord as much as

it could mean a literal cross for them They were stedfast.

Paul remarked positively about the Colossians – about their godly order and the stedfastness of their faith...

Colossians 2:5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.

It seems lacking, nowadays, to have stedfastness. Even in a secular form. It seems like no one is reliable. You can’t count on people. What is it with people these days?

And, spiritually-speaking as well, it seems that many seem to flip and flop and flounder. Many seem to wander spiritually and end up in the flaky churches, or in no church at all.

Can we be like the Colossians and buck this trend?

How we desperately need a stedfastness of faith!

How we need a committed stedfastness to doctrine and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers. A stedfastness of unbending faith, that will hold its course. It should be the hallmark of those that confess Christ.

We are also called to A STEDFASTNESS OF SERVICE...

Our service of the master should be unrelenting and abounding.

1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Let us be firm, fixed, and faithful.

Constant, and reliable.

These are character qualities that employers look for. And I think God looks for these character traits as well.

In the picture of the parable the Lord especially commends the good and FAITHFUL servant.

What is the OPPOSITE of STEDFAST? I would say it is being FLAKY. We’re living in a culture where everyone is falling over themselves to be relevant and follow the latest gimmicks and new fad, flaky ideas that the latest gurus are pushing on us.

It’s as if the goal posts are constantly shifting, and the church is ever shifting to follow the world and its ways...

I think that it’s been truly said that the church RATHER than being SHIFTING. should be STATIONARY.

The church should be as solid as a Rock in a world of shifting sands.

In many quarters it’s as if the church has so transformed – to become so ‘relevant’ to the world that it has become IRRELEVANT to God and its mission.

The church has lost its salty flavour and has become bland and blended in. It has lost its sharp cutting edge and has become weakened and powerless by worldliness.

We are MEANT to be unmovable – grounded – stable...

God wants us to be ALWAYS ABOUNDING – THERE IS WORK FOR ALL OF US TO DO– that means LABOUR. We just need to FIND WHAT GOD WANTS US TO DO, AND DO IT. What’s stopping you?

The word here – of LABOUR – speaks of a fatiguing labour, of an intense labour, a labouring – even to the point of exhaustion.

So let us not give in. But rather, let us be stedfast in this.

Even when persecution threatens; when we could easily weaken... the Lord will strengthen us to BE STEDFAST.

So, FIRSTLY, let us have the courage to BE STEDFAST.

SECONDLY, let us have the courage to...

STAND FAST

When I think of standing fast I like to think of a faithful military unit, holding its ground, and standing firm together. There’s a courage that we have as we stand shoulder to shoulder against the fight to come.

Paul urges the church at Philippi along these lines...

Philippians 1:27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

There is a crying need that we stand fast in ONE SPIRIT, with ONE MIND striving together for the faith of the gospel.

Notice it says, Not in a striving AGAINST one another, but the striving we are to have is with this common goal, this common love, this common faith.

With one spirit and one mind...

How we need to STAND FAST, in a godly unity, to strive together, for the faith of the Gospel.

Also, our standing fast is a standing strong, with a manly faith.

When the church seems to have been emasculated in many quarters, I reckon it’s high time to MAN UP...

1 Corinthians 16:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

We have much need to STAND FAST.

STANDING FAST – for me it speaks of a SOLID FAITH.

It speaks of having a firm resolve, a resolution, and a strength, against opposing forces.

It’s as if we are by God’s Spirit holding up a banner, and the tide is against us. There

are many opposed to us, but we will stand fast.

We will hold our ground. We will not back down.

That’s what I want for this church.

That we will STAND FAST.

I urge you to be a committed part of this work. Get behind it. Put your shoulder to the wheel. Be reliable.

Stand fast.

We take a stand for something. And we will not be moved.

It will not matter to us that others quit, and cave in to the world. We will stand fast, we will swim against the tide; we will not give ground. We will face many an attack. But we will stand fast.

Our standing will be uncompromising and boldly biblical. That is my prayer.

Paul tells how the stand that we make is in the LIBERTY of Christ. This stand we make is in the FREEDOM we have in Christ.

We are not serving as conscripts, but we are freely serving God. We are not under a slavish bondage to some system of religion, or works, or a latterday teacher.

Our loyalty is heart deep, borne out of a deep love for our Saviour, as willing servants we serve, and our heart’s desire is to please Him with our lives.

Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

We stand securely in Christ, knowing His salvation is sure and purchased by the

blood, not by any of our own works. And we are willing combatants in this battle.

We stand on the fundamentals of historic Christianity – not in the airy fairy world of latter day revelations – or the flaky philosophies of men.

We stand where God’s remnant church has always stood, down through the centuries while facing scorn, or fire, or sword – and it has withstood the test of time.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

The stand that we make is for the time-tested doctrines that do not budge to become more relevant or more palatable for compromising men.

The traditions that we stand for are not the fashions and fads and fancies of the floundering flip-floppers.

We stand on the time tested truths that are built on the sure and firm foundation of THE FAITH.

What is it that we stand for?What is it that we hold dear?

The stand that we make is for THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE FAITH.

This means we don’t go along with latter day errors, charismatic errors, or Calvinism, or Lordship salvation, or countless other manmade teachings and errors that have sprung up over time.

I was talking with someone recently and challenging the theological ideas that he presented. They were relatively modern in invention. They were flawed, and out of accord with historic Christianity.

I think it is generally a good guide, as far as doctrine goes; if it’s a comparatively new teaching then it is wrong.

God’s truth does not change, as far as the plain teachings of the Bible.

If the faithful of the past were not teaching and preaching it – then chances are it is off track. And steer clear of it.

We may be accused of being “BACK IN THE PAST”, a bit like the hateful remarks that are thrown against some politicians today who dare to stand up for natural marriage between a man and a woman.

Just because something is seen as OLD FASHIONED doesn’t make it wrong.

I would say that ‘New fangled truth is often mangled truth’.

So let us NOT GIVE IN. But rather, LET US BE STEDFAST.

Let us not GIVE UP, but rather LET US STAND UP.

Let us have courage, to... Be STEDFAST, and to... STAND FAST, and

And – Thirdly – let us HAVE COURAGE, to -

HOLD FAST

We have something precious, eternal, and something we need to hold onto for dear life. It sustains us and strengthen us.

It is our lifeline, our communication line with Heaven.

Paul urges young Timothy, 2 Timothy 1:13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

Paul speaks of: Sound words, and Sound doctrine.

It is critical that what we hold fast to is SOUND. In other words it is healthy and wholesome.

There is need for courage. It may not be popular, or easy to say these things. But this is no time for holding back. The truth must be told.

We surely must HOLD FAST the form of sound words. SOUND DOCTRINE.

Sound doctrine is sadly absent in many quarters. The clear and crystal truth has been adulterated – it is like muddied waters – there is much confusion in contrary teachings – and it can be hard sometimes to distinguish truth from error.

We see so much chaos and confusion in the compromised ecumenical scene that seems so prevalent and all-pervading.

Many just go along with seemingly innocent inter-church activities where doctrine can get blurred and put aside.

The danger is that it can lead to a dumbing down of Christianity – where we just go along to get along.

We have need of courage.

The absolute truth of the Bible is under attack today, more than at any other time in history. And sometimes it is professing Christians who are doing this, blindly, and belligerently.

And another part of the problem is the confusing babel of so-called Bible versions that abound today.

As the atheist French philosopher Voltaire once said: "If we would destroy the Christian religion, we must first of all destroy man’s belief in the Bible.”

More than ever before we need to stand for the sure Word of God.

We can hold it fast.

Thank God, He has preserved His word and given it to us in our day.

Paul gives this charge to Titus,

Titus 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

We are called to a word that is FAITHFUL.

There will be gainsayers who mock the Word of God. But this is the faithful word, and we will not budge from it. As a church, worldwide, we have much need of Biblical literacy. To know the Word of God.

It is completely trustworthy. We are called to hold it fast, to cling to it. To grasp it firmly.

In days when many attack the King James Bible and we see many compromised Bibles emerging, such as the NIV and The Message Bible, we need to HOLD FAST THE FAITHFUL WORD.

It has been said that there are over 100 different English bible versions available to the general public and none of them agree with the others in both text and meaning in hundreds of verses.

To take a position that ANY BIBLE WILL DO just leads to uncertainty and confusion.

Satan hates the word of God and we see his fingerprints in many of the modern bible translations.

As a church we must hold fast the Word of God.

The faithful word.

Hold it fast.

God has preserved His infallible words for our generation, and He has provided the Bible for us, in our own language.

He most assuredly has.

We have God’s complete and perfect words.

HOLD FAST THE FAITHFUL WORD.

As a church, the authority of the Bible must be our absolute guide and trust. We can be assured of the accuracy and veracity of this Book.

It is the perfect, preserved Word of God, inspired, inerrant, infallible, 100% reliable, word-for-word.

As Dr. Shelton Smith puts it:“God has preserved His inspired Word for us. It is preserved in the Hebrew Masoretic text and in the Greek Textus Receptus.

“It is also preserved for us in the English in the King James Bible. What He at first inspired, the Lord God has now preserved.

“Therefore, when I hold the King James Bible in my hand, I hold the inspired text. It was inspired and now that inspired Word has been protected, preserved and provided for us!” (End quote)

Psalms 12:6 says:The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

This word is preserved.

It is precious, pure and powerful.

It is alive – God has breathed life into these pages.

It is the complete, and absolute truth.

Here is how one church defined their position about what they believe about the Bible.

And I wholeheartedly agree, that it is what we stand for as well:

PLENARY INSPIRATION – is the view that the entire Bible is inspired.

VERBAL INSPIRATION – is the view that “God-breathed” extends to the choice of the Words of Scripture. It asserts that the God-breathed truth was grasped by God-appointed men who were guided by the Holy Spirit in their selection of Words.

PRESERVATION – is the view that God will, and has, preserved His Word in pure form, including the most minute details (the jots and tittles), and that this would include the whole Scriptures, Old and New Testaments. The Biblical doctrine of

preservation is verbal, plenary preservation, which is the only reasonable view in light of the Biblical doctrine of the verbal, plenary, inspiration of the Writings.

INERRANCY – is the view that the Bible is without error; that the Bible is correct in every statement it makes.

INFALLIBILITY – is the view that the Bible is effective in everything it does. When the Bible is used, it always works. It never fails us. The Bible is incapable of error. It is never wrong and so it’s absolutely trustworthy.

We also believe in the SUFFICIENCY of scripture. In other words, the Bible is all we need to equip us for a life of faith and service. The sufficiency of Scripture is under attack today, and, sadly, that attack comes far too often in our own churches. Management techniques, worldly methods

of drawing crowds, entertainment, extra-biblical revelations, mysticism, and some forms of psychological counseling all declare that the Bible and its precepts are not adequate for the Christian life. But Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me” (John 10:27). His voice is all we need to hear and the Scriptures are His voice, completely and utterly sufficient.

Let us hold fast the faithful word. By it we are saved...

1 Peter 1:23 says,

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth (its inspiration) and abideth (its preservation) for ever.

As Bible believers we hold fast the Word of God, as the supreme and final authority in faith and life.

Let us approach this book with reverence and love, as the man who God praised, in

Isaiah 66:2 "...but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word."

This book has power to transform the soul. It is the book that has changed the world.

The Lord Jesus says to you,

John 6:63, “...the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

God is faithful. And His word is faithful and reliable.

He keeps His promises.

We must firmly defend the Bible and hold it fast.

This is my plea to the church today.

We have NEED of COURAGE.Let us have courage.

To sum up...

HAVE COURAGE, CHURCH.

COURAGE, in terms of...

Be stedfast.

STEDFASTNESS.

Acts 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

May we as a church display this courageous Christianity with... A committed stedfastness to doctrine

and fellowship A stedfastness of unbending faith, that

will hold its course A stedfastness of service of the master

that is unrelenting, unmovable – and always abounding.

HAVE COURAGE, CHURCH.

COURAGE, to...

STAND FASTCourage means we won’t wimp out, we will take a stand, and no matter what the cost.

We will be a church that will be as in –

Philippians 1:27 ...stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

It’s time to man up.

1 Corinthians 16:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

We will stand fast, for THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE FAITH.

HAVE COURAGE, CHURCH.

Courage to...HOLD FAST

Hold fast the faithful word...

Hold fast the absolute truth of the Bible, the perfect, preserved, precious, pure and powerful Word of God.

It is the supernatural, supreme, and final authority in faith and life.

Church, Have courage.