Be of Good Courage

you know if we were to survey the average person on the street I'm sure that we would learn that most with only a few exceptions of the people out there don't want to die I think that's probably the case with all of you we want to live and while sometimes people say well I don't want to live forever they just don't want to die which essentially means that they want to live forever they want eternal life and that's what God offers to us is eternal life it's a wonderful incredible gift that we can't even hardly comprehend that God would give us the opportunity to live forever in his kingdom that's our hope that's my hope that's your hope return life in the kingdom of God but revelation the 21st chapter in verse 8 tells us that not everyone is going to be in the kingdom of God among those that are left out are unbelievers murders people who are sexually immoral sorcerers and that word comes from pharmakeia which may have to do with the recreational drug use that we have in our world today idolaters and all Liars now the verse goes on to say that all of these categories of people will be thrown into a lake of fire and burned up thus ending any potential for eternal life but I've left out one category that John recorded in this verse and many of you know which one that is you probably are familiar enough with it that you think you've got it figured out and you probably do but let's turn over there to Revelation the 21st chapter and verse 8 and we're going to notice one category that I left out in reading this list it says but the Cowardly the very first thing was left out the Cowardly unbelieving abominable murderers sexually immoral sorcerers idolaters and all Liars shall have their part in the lake of fire or the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death so here it tells us that the cowardly are going to be left out and I think that sometimes people think that well cowardly we were all you know cowards in some way and we think that well why would God exclude those people just because they are afraid well it doesn't really say fearful because a lot of people who feel fearful we read of Moses when he was at Mount Sinai there said his you know he's shaked or quake I forget exactly the wording there but he was he was very frightened at that situation when the noise of the trumpet grew louder and louder and the ground was shaking underneath and there was this great pyrotechnic display that was taking place there on the mountain and Moses was terrified by it but Moses wasn't cowardly he wasn't so fearful that he was afraid to act or to react the opposite of cowardice is courage courage to do something even though you may be fearful you overcome that fear by doing what is needful to be done and it's evident from many scriptures that God loves one category but hates the other God loves the courageous he does not love the Cowardly now I suppose you could parse those words love cowardly you could say it any way you want to God loves all people but it also says that God loved Jacob and hated Esau he loved less God does not want us to be cowardly that's the point that I'm trying to make here he loves the courageous and so on today's sermon we're gonna see why God condemns the cowardly but loves the courage the courageous and we're also going to see that courage is something that each one of us needs as we move forward in today's perverse world I think we're coming up to the time very shortly when each of us is going to have to display courage to a degree that we may never have imagined because one thing that you think okay times can get rough and this sort of thing but when you're actually there on the spot with problems it takes courage to overcome and we practice courage on a day-to-day basis when you take off from work and your boss says that I'll fire you if you take off that day that's displaying courage and we do that all the time but we're coming to a time in the future that this world is going to change so much that we're gonna have a hard time dealing with it we're going to have to display a kind of courage that we've never had display in most of our lives today let's look at a couple parables Luke the nineteenth chapter first of all Luke 19 and verse 20 and these are very familiar parables this one is the parable of the - and we often refer to the one whose miner gained ten or gained five and sometimes we just stopped because we don't want to take the time to go on but let's notice verse 20 then another came saying master here is your mine up which I have kept put away in a handkerchief for I feared you because you are an austere man notice he says I feared you because you are an austere man now we know this is a parable that it wasn't something that actually happened there but it's it's giving a sense that there are those who are fearful and so instead of doing something they just sit on their meinem the you know the money that is given to them sit on God's Spirit whatever we want to substitute there says which I have kept put away in a handkerchief for I feared you because you're an austere man you collect what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow and he said to him out of your own mouth I will judge you you wicked servant so when someone is fearful to the point of not acting and that's the point it's not a matter of being fearful it's a matter of being fearful to not act upon the commission that you've been given he says I will judge you you would conserve it you knew that I was an austere man collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not so why then do you do not put my money in the bank that at my coming I might have collected it with interest and he said to those who stood by take the miner from him and give it to him who has ten - now we don't often think of this in terms of courage or fearfulness but this is what what we have here this is what Jesus said that the man said well I'm fearful IIIi was afraid to do anything with what you gave me God has given you and he's given me opportunities and he expects us to use those opportunities to serve Him and to grow and develop holy and righteous character but if we sit on it because we're afraid of making a mistake or whatever other reason laziness then God is not pleased with that in Matthew the 25th chapter Matthew 25 similar parable but slightly different and again I won't read the first part of it just getting down to the the individual who refused to do what he was supposed to do Matthew 25 24 says then he who had received the one talent came and said lord I knew you to be a hard man reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed and I was afraid here again he said I was afraid but it's what he did when he was afraid others might have been afraid but they did something but in this case he was afraid and went and hid your talent on the ground look there you have what is yours I've preserved it carefully so the individual is thinking well I did what I was supposed to do I took care of your talent that you had given a talent being a unit of money he says there you have it but his Lord answered and said to him you wicked and lazy servant you knew that I reap where I have not gather where I did not scatter seed so you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers so something very similar there and he was to take the talent away from or they were to give it to someone else now when you study those parables there's there's a little bit of difference there in terms of the lead-up to it but the bottom line is the one who sits on his talent his meinem and does nothing because he is fearful to do so is going to be it's gonna be taken away and he's gonna be cast out now those are parables but let's look at a real-life example of an individual who apparently was fearful of the wrong thing to be fearful of and made a very bad mistake let's go back to Exodus the 32nd chapter and as soon as I say that you probably have that one figured out Exodus 32 and we'll begin in verse 1 says now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain the people gathered together to Aaron and said to him come make us gods that we shall go before us that shall go before us for us for this Moses the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt we don't know what has become of him and Aaron said to them break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives your sons your daughters and bring them to me and all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears and they brought them to Aaron now we we know that not everything is stated here that went on they didn't just probably come and say hey Aaron we'd like to have a God here a calf or something but there was something obviously that took place there we can surmise we can read between the lines so there must have been a lot of pressure being put on Aaron he didn't just immediately go out and do it in the sense that there was no pressure there was no conflict that they would have taken place there and he received the gold from their hand and he fashioned it with an engraving tool made in a golden calf then they said this then he they said this is your God o Israel that brought you out of the land of Egypt so when Aaron saw it he built an altar before it and Aaron made a propagate proclamation said tomorrow is a feast to the eternal then they rose early on the next day offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings and the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play and the rising up to play that was obviously quite a celebration dancing that was no doubt inappropriate type of dancing no doubt some very lewd dancing we get that impression that this was more of a licensures experience it was going on there but let's get down to verse 19 after Moses comes down off the mountain it says so it was as soon as he came near the camp that he saw the calf and the dancing so Moses anger became hot and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain then he took the calf which they had made burned it in the fire and ground it to powder and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it that was gold and he wasn't concerned about the value of it he didn't just melt it down and make something else out of it he he destroyed it he got rid of it as much as you can destroy gold it would have been there if anybody knows where that stream is there might be a lot of gold there but I wouldn't suggest that you go there that's probably not the source of gold that we want to have but Moses said to Aaron what did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them Moses understood that they must have done something there must have been some sort of pressure that was being put upon Moses on Aaron he said what did they do to you and Aaron said well dinner do not let the anger of my lord become hot Moses was probably very hot at that point in time I I would think that you know he's he's saying you know don't know what don't get too excited here about this you know the people that they are set on evil you know what they're like where they said to me make us gods that shall go before us as for this Moses the man who brought out of the land of Egypt we do not what has become of him it was kind of your fault because you did take a long time before you came down and I said to them well whoever has gold let them break it off so they gave it to me and I casted the fire and the most ridiculous statement that's ever been made I suppose and this calf came out it just jumped out now you know it shows the degree that human nature will justify itself but when you look at this incident you have to believe that there was pressure that was being put upon Aaron by the people and instead of doing what was right his first reaction may have been that no no we don't do anything like that but as pressure was put on him he finally gave in may not have taken very long to give him but he I think we can surmise that there must have been quite a bit of pressure that was put on him at that point in time and Aaron rather than obeying God and fighting the crowd he just simply gave in now when you think about it we do that from time to time don't we we give in to pressure I I may have given this before and I apologize to the ladies because you're going to take it personally and it's actually I'm going to talk about the men in this the fault of the men but it's my favorite dr. Laura quote everybody knows dr. Laura I suppose she's on the radio and my mother my wife is already rolling her eyes here if you heard this a time or two but a man called in and he said there was a problem in the family and he ended the conversation by saying I'm just trying to keep peace in the family and her response was that peace is not your responsibility leadership is and then she went on to say as long as there's a woman around there will be no peace complete capitulation or even death will not bring it about I know I am one now I'm sorry ladies that's what she said that was a woman that said that but the point I want to focus in on because she wasn't slamming women she was slamming both men and women she was saying to men your responsibility isn't just keeping peace your responsibility is leadership now think of Adam and Eve why did Adam who was not deceived eat of the fruit I surmise only two reasons one is she used her feminine wiles or there was going to be no peace in that household until he did and it might have been a combination of the two but Adam knew better didn't he but he went ahead and did it and oftentimes that's what we we do this is the case of Aaron no doubt Aaron wanted peace he didn't want to fight those people there he didn't want it you may have thought he was going to lose his life who knows what he thought at that point in time they came to him they said this is Moses he's gone off what are we going to do as with Aaron men will often give in just to have peace husbands and fathers need to exercise the courage of leadership husbands need to take the lead in their families this does not mean they should be dictatorial they should not be controlling control freaks as we sometimes say you know some men are very controlling because they're selfish and they just want it their way others are insecure and fearful of losing control and so they become very controlling one of the problems we had I think earlier years in the church more than more than I've noticed in more recent years but a lot of young men they hear sermons about the man is supposed to be the leader and so they would let their wives know that they are in charge and they tell them when they could go to the bathroom and whether they could get up when they had to go to bed and all kinds of things like that that's not that's not leadership that's tyranny and we don't want our young young men or old men any men to be that that particular way but on the other hand this does not mean that we should always just be pleasing and peaceful I'm not talking about making war but there are times you just have to make decisions that are not going to be popular there are some decisions that will not be popular and in the household this is a situation that comes up all the time and often times it is for the father to make the tough decision although there are some women that end up having to make the tough decisions because their husbands won't but their time to say no I remember over at somebody's house one time and I so admired this this individual just the way he spoke he he was his daughter had come in and she wanted to go someplace and he he said no I don't think so he just said no I thought well he just said no that's the way that sometimes it has to be because fathers want to protect their daughters and their sons and so sometimes you have to say no when it'd be so easy to give in I've had times when I've had people come up to me and ask me about something on the Sabbath for example can i play in a concert on the Sabbath Friday night and when I was younger right I can remember several occasions where this happened where somebody came up and said well they had this situation I think well you know you don't want to say no you don't to be the bad guy and then eventually I'd say well what do you think and they'd say well I don't think I should and I realized they were playing me for a sucker that individualise he was trying to get papal permission from me papal dispensation as though if I said yes it would be okay well he knew it was going to be wrong but sometimes we try to please when we just need to be principled and say the truth fearlessly and let the chips fall where they may we'd be nice about things but we need to be principled and we need to know what the truth is and we need to live by that truth and not be fearful of what people are going to think about those things so the problem that we have is that some people are controlling in a wrong way in leadership and you have others that are simply weak and cowardly which is not what we want the problem is that with all of this we generally cannot see ourselves in the category that we're in the problem when you bring these things out is that the person who's controlling thinks that he needs to be more controlling and the person in his week thinks that he's been too controlling and he wants to be weak I that's the way I've seen it over the years somebody gives a sermon and they give you know one side or the other and and afterward you're talking with people and you find that they thought just the opposite of what it should have been if they tend to be controlling then they think that oh I've been too weak I need to be stronger or the other way around or I've just been too harsh but we need to exercise leadership and leadership takes courage and courage means that you're willing to you know you're secure enough that you're not going to be controlling but at the same time you're courageous enough that you're willing to step in and say no when that is necessary and Ezra the the tenth chapter there's a very interesting situation here it actually starts in the ninth chapter but I'm gonna skip over the ninth chapter the the problem was that they were marrying outside of Israel and we find that in fact I'll just read this in chapter nine verse two they've taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons so that the holy seed is mixed with the people of those lands and notice this so often happens it says indeed the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this trespass that's a sad commentary on an ancient Israel and it shouldn't be that way then in chapter 10 it says now while Ezra was praying and while he was confessing weeping and bowing down before the house of God a very large assembly of men women and children gathered them from Israel for the people wept very bitterly they had brought this problem to him he had only been there a short time they brought this problem up they had come out of captivity they saw themselves doing things making decisions that were not the right decisions they said themselves they saw their their nation doing that and they're very concerned about it and check and ayah the son of Allah Jehiel one of the sons of Elam spoke up and said to Ezra we have trespassed against our God and have taken pagan wives for the from the people of the land yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this now therefore verse 3 let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them so they were going to put away not only the wives but the children themselves now think about what this would be like this would not be an easy decision think about it if you know it became clear that you'd made a mistake in some way and that you are going to have to put away your wife and your children that was a pretty traumatic event in the nation it's not something we're going to face in quite the same way our selves I'm sure we're not going to suddenly go out here and say well we don't like who you're marrying so we're gonna make you separate that's that that would be ridiculous but there was a reason in Israel at that time and Judah specifically because they were marrying outside of the the nation their culture was being overthrown and destroyed and they had violated God's law concerning this where God had been very clear about it and so it says therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away these all these wives and those who have been born to them the the children as well according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble the commandment of our God and let it be done according to the law so the law of God was what was important here and let it be done according to the commandment arise verse 4 for this matter is your responsibility said desura this is your responsibility this is what you have to do we also are with you be of good courage and do it so every one of us in our whatever our particular area of life might be there's a time when it becomes your responsibility as a husband as a mother whatever the situation might be there comes a time when that responsibility becomes yours and what's helpful here is that these individuals were standing behind ezra and they said be of good courage and do it sometimes there's something that you might have to do in your life and your family the straighten out of the situation it takes courage doesn't it in Acts the fifth chapter acts 5 we see that the the Apostles had to make a rather tough decision and we look back and we think well that would have been easy I don't think any of these things would have been nearly as easy as we like to think they might be but here in Acts the fifth chapter verse 29 it says but Peter and the other apostles answered and said we ought to bei God rather than men they were told that they weren't to preach the gospel anymore you know we're going to be told or maybe not told we're going to have the gospel being shut down in this world the doors are going to close at least to whatever God allows we know that no man can shut a door that God is open if God wants to keep it open but the fact of the matter is that God has always allowed persecution to come upon his people and we're coming to a time when that persecute is going to be on our doorstep and it's just about there and if we can't see that our eyes are not very open because our world is changing radically and it's changing rapidly as I've said before maybe even here there was a time forty years ago where I couldn't understand how the church could be persecuted what are they gonna say eat pork and die or eat pork and don't if you don't eat pork you'll die but today we've got a different world world where not only you and I but others are being put down for what we believe and shut down in Australia we've had several programs that were censored of recent date we have programs in the United Kingdom that are censored regularly I think that we've had a good streak of late but there was a time where it seemed like every other or every third program was censored programs that would never be censored years ago we have programs that I know I've recorded a couple of them that you wonder will they get through because they're not politically correct are they truthful absolutely but the world today doesn't care about truth we're living in a very different world today than what we once had let's take a look at an example of courage and when we think about this I think that we we would not want to have been on the hot seat where these individuals were it's back in the Book of Numbers in the thirteenth chapter numbers 13 put yourself in this position there were spies that were sent into the promised land chapter 13 verse 1 the Lord spoke or the eternal spoke to Moses saying send men to spy out the land of Canaan which I am giving to the children of Israel from each tribe of their fathers you sow and Amman everyone a leader among them and so Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the command of the eternal all of them men who are heads of their children of Israel so these were leaders there and then it lists all the leaders that were chosen in verse 16 it says these are the names of them the man who Moses sent to spy out the land Moses called O'Shay of the son of nun Joshua or Yahshua then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them go up this way into the south and go up to the mountains and see what the land is like whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak few or many whether the land they dwell in is good or bad whether the children of the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds verse 20 whether the land is rich or poor and whether they are forced there or not notice what he says verse 20 be of good courage be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of land now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes so they go out the verse 21 they went up and they spied out the land as they were told to do let's skip to verse 26 it says now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron after they'd spied out the land and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the water and sopran at Kadish they brought backward them and to all the congregation showed them the fruit of the land then they told him and said we went to the land where you sent us it truly flows with milk and honey and this is its fruit it is a wonderful land nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong the cities are fortified walled cities fortified cities and very large moreover we saw the descendants of anak there the Amalekites dwell in the land of the South the Hittites the Jebusites the EM writes dwell in the mountains and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan so what they were saying was that it's a good land but we better leave it alone we don't want to go in there because we don't have a chance against these people we're just a ragtag bunch of people coming out of Egypt former slaves we're not warriors and we're expected to go against walled cities fortified cities large cities with good populations to fight against us who prepared for war and so forth but then in verse 30 Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said let us go up at once and take possession for we are well able to overcome it now you have to think here is a situation where 10 of the spies are bad-mouthing it and you have Caleb and we know Joshua's also also in on this and and they stand up and they said look no we can do this this is ours they're going to be our lunch we're gonna eat them for lunch so to speak they're our bread as he points out here we're able to go up against the people for they are strong but the men I'm sorry we're able to overcome it then verse 31 but the men who had gone up with him said we are not able to go up against the people for they're stronger than we and they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out saying land through which we have gone as spies as a land that devours its inhabitants and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature therefore we saw the Giants the descendants of anak which came from the Giants and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight and so we were in their sight so Joshua and Caleb is we we know from the story saw the same thing they did they saw these giants that they were going to have to go up against and they were willing to go into the land and to fight for it they were willing to obey God's command and to overcome as God showed them later on that they would overcome the city of Jericho with a miracle from God God would do it for them and through them they could see that but they didn't know exactly how God but they just knew they had faith didn't he but they also had courage but you know what else they had courage for was to go against the crowd to stand up against all the others because not only the 10 but now those 10 have stirred up the people and so you've got this giant mob mass of Israelites that are complaining in their tents and talking back and forth and we don't again we just have a little bit of the story here but they had the whole nation or an uproar ready to go back to Egypt instead of going forward and Joshua and Caleb were able to stand up before the whole mass of people and say no this is what we ought to do and be like if you were standing up where I am right now with 260 people are there abouts as we have here and and you were standing up in all of the people are cheering and shouting and you know they're they're about ready to stone you well imagine a couple million people 2 3 million people and those two men standing up against them I guess with Moses and Aaron at this point of course chapter 14 so all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried and the people wept that night and all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron the whole congregation said them if only we had died in the land of Egypt or if only we had died in the wilderness why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword that our wives and children should become victims it's always interesting that people never claim that that it's because it hurts them in other words I'm not fearful I'd go up a fight but our women and children they're gonna kill our women and children it says would it not be better for us to return to Egypt so they said to one another let us select a leader and return to Egypt this was a general insurrection it was a mob that was going up against them then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the Assembly of the congas on the children of Israel but Joshua the son of nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh who were among those who had spied out the land tore their clothes and they spoke to all the congas and the children of Israel saying the land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land if the Lord delights in us then he will bring us into this land and give it to us a land which flows with milk and honey only do not rebel against the eternal nor fear the people of the land for they are our bread they're our lunch we're gonna eat their lunch so to speak expressions sometimes used especially in sports we'll eat their lunch their protection has departed from them and the Eternals with us do not fear them now this is an incredible example of courage courage to be willing to go up and fight those giants in those fortified cities but also more immediately to stand up against the crowd how often do we stand up against the crowd how often do we just shrink and I'm willing to say something I don't mean that we should go out and every time we disagree somebody stand up and make an obnoxious boor of ourselves I don't mean that but there are times when we should stand up I remember one of our members was taken class University level class and the question was asked what's a family is a man and wife a man and a woman and two children is that a family everybody raises their hand about 35 in the class or what if it's just a husband or a man and a wife is that a family by raising their hands what if it's a woman a widow and her dog is that a family and everybody raised her hand except our member and instructor called on her oh you don't think that's a family see us what goes on in classes this what our children face as they go forward and we'll face it even more so and she said no I don't think that's a family it's a dog it's not a human being a family involves human beings and then she said well what about that's the class what about two women or two men is that a family well all the the fearful ones raised her hands they don't want to stand out yeah that's a family except I remember now she was getting a little bit nervous at this point and she didn't raise her hand and so the instructor said called on her again said no I don't think that's a family a family involves a man and a woman two women is not a family two men is not a family and then the instructor said to the whole class now see students this is what we're going to have to face what you're gonna have to face there are people out there like this this woman who are you know a Catholics and she went on about that and so she raised me I should I'm not Catholic but she was being put on the spot I was talking to a young man in Belgium last summer you're approximately a year ago and I just asked the question what is it like in the classroom these days when some of these subjects come up he said if you disagree everybody will turn around and stare at you and they just look at you like you've got two heads he said outside the class some of your friends may say that they agree but in the class they're going to go along with what the teacher is leading them to you it takes courage doesn't it to disagree takes courage not to raise your hand when everybody else is it takes courage to stand up against them and this is the world in which we're living you know Joshua and Caleb were braved not just because they were warriors but they were willing to stand out against the crowd they weren't going to be intimidated by numbers and yet humanly speaking that's what happens to most of us let's consider the challenge that we have in our rapidly changing world we're coming to a very strange world indeed we're all very familiar with the Charlotte City Council's so-called bathroom bill you you're very familiar with that I don't think you could live here and not know about that you're also familiar with the fact that the governor I didn't have internet access this morning so I don't know we got to look up his name but I saw him in on-air view and he was willing to stand up against the the young woman that was interviewing him and he even said I don't understand why we're having this conversation in other words this is so insane that how in the world can we even talk about it but she was very much against him probably because she would lose her job if she weren't you know if you don't just celebrate these things it's not enough to just accept it you've got to celebrate them or you would lose your job so he stood up against it and you have to give the governor of this state and the legislators as legislature or the legislators a credit for the fact that they within one day we're able to turn this thing around so that when you walk down to some business you don't have to worry about sending your daughter into a bathroom that some individual who pretends to be of a certain persuasion is going to walk in there and perhaps molest your daughter or expose himself or who knows what it's not just the individuals who are deceived about what they are it's the others who would take advantage of it as well but then there's the response of Bruce Springsteen PayPal and other individual and corporate giants cowards every one of them hypocrites every one of them because they'll do business in places like Saudi Arabia and elsewhere where all these things are condemned or other states would have quietly made these rules but they're very selective but they don't want to lose business you know two can play that game and there are those who have decided they're not going to shop at Target for example over a million people signatures I guess have already said they're not going to shop at Target anymore I'm not trying to advocate one way or the other here in that context because Target has said that all of their wash rooms are open to anybody who wants to to use them let's hope the North Carolina governor and legislature or legislators don't back down as other governors have in the face of corporate pressure I want to use this in a telecast probably never see the light of day the telecast other than our internet site guidelines for best practices so I know if some of you have seen this guidelines for best practices because of the television studio for sure I like to just read this this was put out in January the middle of January 15th of this year in Alberta Alberta that's where Calgary that's where Edmonton are that's where this fire is in Fort McMurray which by the way if that is a much bigger deal than people realize because Fort McMurray is the heart of the oil sands a heart of the the oil industry in Canada that has really held up the economy to a great degree and until recent years people were driving three or four hours to work every day because it wasn't enough housing in Fort McMurray now there may be no housing at Fort McMurray so even if it doesn't touch the oil sands directly in the refineries it shuts it down because people have no way to get to work without driving long long distances each way it's a big deal it's no small thing up there but I'd like to read a little bit maybe this is a little bit why some things are beginning to happen I say maybe because we don't want to overreact and every time something happened to say that's a fulfillment of prophecy but what this is these are guidelines that came out in January middle of January that were to be implemented by the end of March in public private parochial all schools charter schools every school in Alberta they were to implement these policies and just as kind of a little background here says school authorities are expected to develop policies regulations and procedures that are consistent with provincial legislation and policies it's important that these policies regulations and procedures explicitly address the authorities the school's responsibility as it relates to students staff who identify as lesbian gay bisexual trans footnote two-spirit queer questioning and/or gender diverse and reflect the best practices as outlined in these guidelines now there's a little footnote for trans so let's see what that says some individuals identify with terms such as transgender transsexual gender fluid gender diverse and a gender we have chosen to use the word trans in these guidelines as an inclusive of continually evolving think about that continually evolving umbrella term commonly used to describe individuals whose gender identity and gender expression differ in some way from the sex they were assigned at birth while we recognize this umbrella term may not fit for everyone our intention is to be as inclusive as possible now this says continually evolving and I say you know these people have very fertile minds what are they going to come up with dr. Maris latest corker letter salaah gammy I marry myself now we had a little bit of fun of that in the office except it's not very funny in a way but how did this woman that was being described there have 40 friends that would actually come to see her marry herself unless they were just curious to see how this is gonna work it's a wonder that someone so unbalanced could possibly have that many friends and what is she going to do when she decides to divorce herself how is that going to work and what if she meets somebody and decides to marry that person that was she after then divorce and then marry that person I mean what else are these people going to come up with I think they've covered all bases but I doubt it I really doubt it let me just read a little bit more here because remember this has to be implemented and here's a chilling statement self-identification is the sole measure of an individual's sexual orientation gender identity or gender expression whatever the individual things forget what his parents think because you're not even allowed to tell the parents what goes on to schools that's part of it whatever that individual thinks is what he or she is now there's a term for this and I I didn't have the article in front of me so I couldn't and I couldn't find it but I couldn't log on to it there's a term for people who have an identity crisis where they they see themselves one way when in reality there's something else so if a boy is anatomically a boy but he sees himself as a girl we think that we should cater to that and oh ok yes you ought to be a girl would we ever do that with anorexia it's exactly the same type of a problem it has to do with the self-identity problem there there's a term for it psychologists point this out that this is we should not be giving in to this because the science is not on their side I'm sure there's plenty of psychologists go along with it but some very famous ones have testified against it and said this is a very bad idea would we say to someone who's anorexic and is wasting away that yeah you are fat you need that you need to lose some more weight we're doing that to children I say we that's being done to children because as you can begin to imagine some of these zealous school teachers especially some that are other various persuasions if somebody even hints that they think that there's something oh well we need to explore that they can change their school records the children can they can walk into a change room of their choice so Johnny thinks he's Jane it goes in the girls locker room some individuals may not feel included in the use of the pronouns he or she and may prefer alternate alternate pronouns such as ze I'm sorry ze lived in Canada England too long here Zed or Z whichever you prefer e instead of he or she said or z ir h ir instead of h ER and MX instead of mr. and mrs. so on and so forth you know this this is just madness but it's not just here in Charlotte it's not just here or up there in Canada let's take a look at the United Kingdom try to imagine a world populated by teenagers who are neither boys nor girls but have three genders at once they are male female and androgynous making them try gender other young people are known as demi boys and demi girls some differ between genders in a variety of ways some are by gender still more are trans girls and trans boys well yet another tribe identify themselves as gender fluid this sounds like the stuff of science fiction I would say sounds more like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in fact every term I've just used comes from a questionnaire that the British government plan to submit to children ages 13 to 18 as part of a research project sponsored by the Department of Education via the 2.9 million pound a year office of the Children's Commissioner for England that's from mail online 29 January 2016 it's happening all over the world there is a spirit behind this and who knows koalas behind it in a physical human way God has commissioned us to be strong in this world and Joshua the first chapter Joshua 1 and verses 5 through 9 you can hardly talk about courage without going to this passage Joshua 1 vs. 5 9 says no man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life talking about Joshua who was taking over after Moses had died and he said as I was with Moses so I will be with you I will not leave you nor forsake you now that's a promise that God has given to you and if we are with him he will be with us he says be strong and of good courage for to this people you shall divide as an inherence of land which I swore to their fathers to give them and then he says in verse seven only be strong and very courageous why why did he tell him to be strong and courageous was it just because he was going to go up against a few giants or maybe he had to go against public opinion occasionally he says that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you do not turn from it to the right hand or the left do you may prosper wherever you go he says verse eight this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate in a day and night you may observe to do according to all that is written in it for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success have I not commanded you be strong and of good courage do not be afraid nor be dismayed for the eternal your God is with you wherever you go now this is a promise to Joshua but God is the same yesterday today and forever and he will be with us as an organization as a group as a family he will be with us if we are faithful to him and we're coming to a time in our world were it's not going to be easy you know the government can put a lot of pressure on us then cut off our tax status tax you know in terms of what would be like if you no longer can clink can claim your your ties and your offerings as a an income tax deduction what would it be like will be like our people in England or many other parts of world who are not able to do so but as Americans those those who live here that would be a significant financial hit wouldn't it they could do that a lot of other things they can do they can bring charges against individuals in the church trumped-up charges ridiculous charges just to harass and make life difficult they can take children away from families I don't mean to scare anybody but they can do that there are a lot of things that are going to happen before this is over they're not going to be very pleasant and unlike 40 or 50 years ago we can see how it will happen we couldn't understand it back then but we sure can today because the way the world is going several states have passed laws to protect businesses only to back down because the financial pressure that's being put on them because you see as the governor of a state when various companies decide to pull out in various entertainment programs begin to pull out then you've got people who are beginning to hurt because their business is hurt their income is being cut their jobs are being lost and when that happens people who thought they were all for something suddenly aren't for it but we can't change our minds right is right and wrong is wrong and III fear that if we ever get to the place where we back down from the truth that's when God won't be with us but I believe that God will be with us because I think that we have people in the church who are courageous and principled and will stand up and I hope that we we always do we can't afford to back off Ezekiel the second chapter Ezekiel it is interesting that when people back off they get run over when they stand against the bullies and political correct bullies they sometimes win Hobby Lobby stood up and they won Robinson Robertson Robertson Phil Robertson I was suspended from duck dynasty but because he didn't back down and the family rallied behind him as we should do as a church when things happen and as well I'm convinced we will then even the public those who never said anything suddenly came out of the woodwork an AMC back down or A&E I guess they any the entertainment company had to back down you have to stand up against these bullies and Ezekiel the second chapter verse 1 here's a commission that we've been given he says son of man stand on your feet and I will speak to you then the spirit entered me and I spoke and spoke to me and sent me on my feet and I heard him who spoke to me verse 3 and he said to me son of man I am sending you to the children of Israel to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me they and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day and when you read through here he just keeps saying they're stubborn their rebellious verse 4 he says they're impudent and stubborn children I'm sending you to them and you shall say to them thus of the eternal God as for them whether they hear or whether they refuse for they are a rebellious house yet they will know that a prophet has been among them the article that dr. Meara throat and latest tomorrow's world the one with the article on the unraveling which is very good article by mr. McNair showing that our world is coming unraveled it's changing very rapidly but the article by dr. Meredith showing how individuals recognize this the truth but they're just not ready to do anything about it I'm reminded of a man years ago I was giving a tomorrow's oral presentation although we didn't call it that at the time and I happen to say toward the end of the program I don't remember what the subject was but I just happen to say something about Christmas being pagan and this fellow is sitting there was an aisle just like we have here except that it's not slanted the way that you know stairs terrorists but anyway he was sitting in the back at the very back corner and he was on the right-hand side as I was looking out and suddenly his head came out in the aisle and he said what and he wasn't trying to be disruptive he was shocked and so he came up afterward and I explained that well you just check it out for yourself look it up I got a call from later I went out and talked to him he said you know everything you said was true he said Christmas is of pagan origin and we had a couple visits and then I went to a different place where he had moved and he said to me you know I know that everything that the church teaches is right but he said I'm just having too much fun I can't do it you know they're gonna know that they've been warned we've been warning of this kind of world coming for many decades and it's coming upon us right now a very different world than the one that we grew up in those of us were older he says here in verse 5 as for them whether they hear or whether they refuse for they are a rebellious house yet they will know that a prophet has been among them and then he says in verse 6 and you son of man do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words though briars and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions do not be afraid of their words or dismayed at their looks reminds me of the young fella in the class and you know that's tough when you're 15 years of age having to deal with that kind of peer pressure and you have to have sympathy for our young people and they need to be wise but at the same time I hope that they're willing and the right way when forced to do so that they will stand tall but I don't think they should go out of their way to create problems but they shouldn't back down when confronted with the truth or error do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks though they are a rebellious house then he keeps going on and on and on about talking about the house of Israel not the Jews but the house of Israel and how rebellious we are in Acts the 28th chapter acts 28 here the Apostle Paul is there going to Rome and in verse 15 it says and from there when the Brethren heard about us they came to meet us as far as a PA forum and three ends and when Paul saw them he thanked God and took courage who was it that encouraged him the Brethren everybody surrounding the wagons everybody surrounding ranks working together you know true Christianity is not for the Cowardly we've had a long run of relative peace that's coming to an end and anyone who has eyes to see can see that it is coming to an end true Christianity is for the bold and the courageous there are so many examples of courage in the Bible that you know where do you start and where do you stop well let's take a look at a few let's turn over to Hebrews the eleventh chapter because that we call this the faith chapter but I think we could just as easily call it the courageous chapter or the chapter of the courageous notice here in verse 32 he says what more shall I say what where do we go with all this there's so many examples he says what more shall I say for the time would fail me to tell of gideon a barrack in samson & Jephthah also of david and samuel and the prophets who through faith subdued kingdoms worked righteousness obtained promises stopped the mouths of lions Wow when you think about it God is going to stop the mouths of lions in a figurative sense at times for us quenched the violence of fire escaped the edge of the sword out of weakness were made strong became valiant and battle turned to flight the armies of the aliens women received their dead raised to life again do we believe that we should I hope we do but notice the next sentence in verse 35 others were tortured God is going to allow some things to happen to his people down at the end of the time they're not going to be very pleasant others were tortured not accepting deliverance why that they might obtain a better resurrection they see the big picture and they know what where they are there these are people who are secure and who they are and what they believe and what their hope is and they'll obey God no matter what the consequences trusting that God will rescue them as the three as we call them Hebrew children Shadrach Meshach and Abednego they said we know God can save us we expect them to but if he doesn't let the King know we're not going to worship your gods he says others were tortured not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection still others had trial of mockings and scourgings yes of chains and imprisonment so if any of us get thrown in prison we've got really good company right here in this book at one time he gave a sermon on all the people that had been thrown in prison it was surprising I don't remember the number but how many jailbirds we have in the Bible we've got really good company they were stoned they were sawn in two I always think about Sun and - it was a dis way or this way which I didn't really doesn't matter it couldn't have been a very pleasant thing son and - I mean people have no conscience they were tempted they were slain with the sword they wandered about in sheepskins and goats skins being destitute afflicted and tormented of whom the world was not worthy they wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth maybe even losing their homes because of financial hardship you know there are people right now in the United States who are under terrible financial hardship because they didn't want to go along with a homosexual wedding or lesbian wedding that and there's not a lot of truth being told about this for example the fell out and are the lady out in Washington Oregon I forget which state it is I think it's Washington or Oregon so one of those two states and she had a flower shop and she provided flowers for this young man as he was growing up for the prom for all kinds of different things she provided flowers for him but when she found out that he wanted her to give flowers for his wedding to another fellow she said look I can't do it they were friends same community and so it was the fellas boyfriend I don't know what you call them the one that was going to quote marry him that said something and then the state attorney general stepped in contrary to normal practice and filed suit against them and now she's having to defend herself her business has been affected people have picketed her her business all kinds of terrible things have happened we heard several examples of that at the NRB m-- several examples of people suffering as a result of it he says of whom the world was not worthy they wandered in deserts and mountains and deadens and caves of the earth and all these having obtained a good testimony through faith or we could also say through courage I think we could use courage in this term as well did not receive the promise God having provided something better for us that they should not be made perfect apart from us and then it talks about how Christ has set the the standard for us and during the cross despising the shame in Chapter 12 verse 2 and then in verse 3 it says for consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself lest you weary and notice this couraged and your souls discouraged we don't want to lose that courage that we should have our world is changing rapidly and you have to be blind not to see where we're headed the time is rapidly approaching when our courage will be sorely tested as it tells us in Psalm 31 and verse 23 and I'll close with this verse twentieth Psalm 31 verses 23 and 24 it says oh love the Lord or love the eternal all you his Saints for the eternal preserves the faithful and fully repaid repays the proud person be of good courage and he will strengthen your heart all you who hope in the eternal you

Channel: Living Church of God

Views: 5,348

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Courage, Christian

Id: pHQq-0RClxI

Length: 70min 27sec (4227 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 24 2016