Godly Courage

Jim Jamieson

May 3, 2014

Welcome, family, to another weekly Sabbath.

As we go forward in God's Church in these end-times we have to be careful of how we let events of this evil world affect us spiritually. We must have the courage to allow God into our lives in all we do. So the title of today's split sermon is Godly Courage.

So brethren, how do we allow Godly courage into our lives? First, we need not to be discouraged. We can let trials we must fight drag us down, health, finances, problems at work, and we have to be careful not to be discouraging to ourselves. You know, the 27th came around and the 19th came around – well, how did that affect us? And we've got to be careful not to be discouraging to others, those people that we're around, especially our spouse, our children, people in the Church.

So let's look at the definition of “discouragement”: “the act of making something less likely to happen or making people less likely to do something.” We need to fight against the negative thoughts that come into our minds. Discouragement or becoming discouraged generally leads to sin as it is the opposite of acting in faith. Brethren, we have to be careful when it comes to discouragement with ourselves. We can fall into traps or an event might come up in our lives where it could cause us to sin, whether a financial problem, or we're struggling with an addiction, or struggling with being thankful in our tithing. And that can cause us to fall back into that, and there again, cause sin. So we need to be really careful to trust in God and look to Him for everything in our lives and just not become discouraged.

Let's turn to Numbers 13, and we're going to read verses 17 through 33, and we're going to see how ten negative people affected a whole nation for forty years. So starting in Numbers 13:17 – 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 into the mountains, and see what the land is like, whether the people who dwell there are strong or weak, few or many, whether the land they dwell in is a good or bad, whether the cities they inhabit are like camps and strongholds, whether the land is rich or poor, whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage… There again, Moses is sending them off, a dangerous so-called “mission” you might say that they're going on. But they're going into a land of their enemies and he told them to be of good courage ...and bring some of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the season for the first ripe grapes.

So they went up, and spied out the land in the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near the entrance of Hamath. (I'm probably slaughtering those.) And they went up through the south, and came to Hebron… I'm not even going to attempt the rest of those... the descendants of Anak were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) And they came to the Valley and they cut down a branch with one of the clusters of grapes, and carried between them on a pole. And I can remember the Bible stories as a kid, Basil Wolverton trying to picture these two men with this pole and this huge cluster of grapes between them. So pretty amazing. Just a side thought there, remembering that as a child. The place was called the Valley of Eshcol because of the cluster which the men of Israel cut down there. And they returned from spying out the land after forty days. There again, you know, God's test number of forty days, of forty years, with the number forty.

And they departed and came to Moses, and Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel in the wilderness of Paran. They brought back word to them and all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told them and said, We went up to the land you sent us, and it truly flows with milk and honey; and this is the fruit. So you know, there again, they saw what was good there, but let's just read on and see how, you know, their negative thoughts and lack of trust in God... Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong and their cities are fortified and large: moreover, here another discouragement starts coming in, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the banks of the Jordan. Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses. Okay, here is where somebody with some courage is injecting, Let us go up at once and take possession, for we will all be able to overcome it. You know, there again, he had the courage to let God into his life. He'd come out of Egypt, gone through the Red Sea and seen what God had done, and he took courage in that. But the men who had gone up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people for they are stronger than we. Well, they were relying on their own strength, not God's, and their own lack of courage instead of having Godly courage in their lives.

And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying The land, through which we have gone as spies, and a land that devours its inhabitants, all negative thoughts, and all the people who we saw are in it, men of great stature. There we saw the giants and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.

Alright, let's drop down to Numbers 14 and we're going to read verse 20 to 24, and then verse 34, and we're going to see what they got for being discouraged, for not trusting in God and going up with Godly courage and taking the land God said He was going to give to them.

Okay, starting in verse 20 – Then the LORD said, I have pardoned according to your word, but truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. Because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness have put me to the test now in these ten times and have not heeded My voice. In other words, everything God did for them, these people, these ten negative spies that were leaders of each one of their tribes, they just didn't put their trust and courage in God and allow Him to work in their lives and to take them up there and overcome the land.

So let's read on, verse 23 – They certainly shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it, but My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit, he had God's spirit working in him and giving him the courage to know that they could go up and take it, and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it. So you can see there, just by his actions, his whole family was blessed, because if it. According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, and for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years you shall know My rejection. So they had to wander for forty years out in the wilderness when they could have just gone right up and taken the land if they'd had the courage and trusted in God and had the Godly courage to do it.

Alright, let's move on. This sermon is about Godly courage, but we wanted to look at just how negative discouragement can be and how it can be on ourselves and other people, so let's look at the definition of “encouragement”: “the act of making something more appealing or more likely to happen, the act that makes someone more likely to do something.”

So let's look at Ecclesiastes 4, and we're going to read verse 7 through 12 and just see how this applies to our life, being an encouragement to each other and staying loyal to each other, loyal to other people in the Church. So, starting in verse 7 – Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun: There is one alone, without companion. You know, brethren, we've got to be careful not to get off by ourselves and get discouraged and bring ourselves down, bring other people down. He has neither son nor brethren. Yet there is no end to all his labors, nor is his eye satisfied with riches. But he never asks, For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good? This also is vanity and a grave misfortune. But here is where being an encouragement, verse 9 – Two are better than one, to be there to lift each other up, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, if one starts getting weak, getting discouraged, one will lift him up his companion. In other words, encourage to stick together as a family. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. And if we stay close to God and Jesus Christ, we've always got someone there to lift us up. So we don't want to get off by ourselves and have self-pity, and we just have to stay encouraged and stay close to God.

And again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? In other words, we need to keep each other spiritually hot, keep encouraging each other to stay close to those 57 Truths, and get together when we can.

Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him, and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. And you know, you think of that threefold cord – if we're repenting and staying close to God and Jesus Christ and they're living in us, each one of us is a threefold cord. We are the only weak part of that cord when we sin. We can only have Godly courage if God is in us.

Alright, finally, let's look at the definition of “courage”: “the ability to do something that you know is difficult or dangerous.” So what we're going to do is look at some examples in the Bible of God's people that had Godly courage. And most of these instances and stories there, it was a life and death situation that grew up under a whole different society than we do. I mean, a lot of these governments back then, they could take your life without trial or... it was a dangerous place to live at times. But anyway, first of all let's go to Deuteronomy 1. We're going to read verse 30 through 38, and this is talking about Joshua and Caleb and their Godly courage.

Starting in verse 30 – And the LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you. Well, there it says it right there, that God's going to do the fighting for us. We have to go and we have to show the courage to do it, but we also have the courage to trust in God and know that He's going to work things out in our lives. Going on... according to all He did in Egypt before your eyes. There again, He gave them a lot of examples of how He would take care of them. What has God done for us in our lives as we fight Egypt, sin? And He's there to strengthen us and through the holy spirit and the Truths He's given us.

Going on in verse 31 – And in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place. There again, through the plagues of Egypt, through the Red Sea, you know, they went to Mount Horeb and the things that happened there, and here they are at the Jordan River, and they could have gone across then, but because of ten negative people they had to wait forty years.

Yet, for all that, you did not believe the LORD your God, who went the way before you and stretched out a place for you to pitch your tents, and showed you the way to go, in the fire by night and the cloud by day. And the LORD heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and took an oath, saying, Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; (I probably mispronounced that), and he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land in which that he walked, because he wholly followed the LORD. And the LORD was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, Even you shall not go in there, speaking of Moses. And then, Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. In other words, that's who God was going to work through forty years from then. So both Caleb and Joshua had Godly courage.

Alright, let's move on to another example still in the time of Joshua, and the spies went up. This is when they're going across and let's go to the story of Rahab. You know, a lot of the times we can just read through these verses, and there are just a few verses here concerning her, but a lot of time passed just through these verses and what was going on in her mind. There again, she was a harlot in the land, probably not well thought of and mistreated, but she had the courage to hide these two spies and pretty well put her life on the line for it.

So, let's start in Joshua 2:1 – Now Joshua, the son of Nun, sent out two men to the acacia grove to spy secretly, saying, Go, view the land, especially Jericho. So they went and came to the house of the harlot named Rahab and lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country. Now there again, there are two spies and I'm sure her fate would have been the same as theirs had they'd been caught. And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring out the men that you have who have come to you and have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land and the country. Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, Yes, these men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And it happened as the gate was being shut, you know, they shut the city up at at night, especially knowing that a nation of Israel was just across the river from them, and when it was dark the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them. So she kind of sent them on a wild goose chase and just see how it worked out that she actually saved these men's life by putting her life on the line.  (But she brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.) Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, and to the fjords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.

Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to them, I know the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. In other words, these people, it was well known what happened at the Red Sea and what happened to Egypt. So like I say, these people were fainthearted and concerned about what their future held.

We have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan...whom you utterly destroyed. It took Godly courage for her to hide these men. Had she been found out the outcome would have not gone well for her.

Alright, let's go to another example. We're going to look at just a, take just a small portion out of Esther's story. I think if you go back to January of 2009, I think there was a three part series on Esther and what she did, which goes into it in more detail, but we're just going to touch on it here.  So let's go to Esther 4:10 – Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a command for Mordecai: All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: to put them all to death, except the one that the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called in to the king for thirty days. So there again, Mordecai is asking her to go to the king. Haman's... he's causing problems for Israel and so she's telling Mordecai that, "Hey, I go in there without being asked, I'm dead."

So they told Mordecai Esther's words. And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: Do you think that in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews? In other words, Haman was out to kill the Jews, and she was a Jew, and she wasn't going to escape. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise from the Jews from another place. In other words, you know, we yield ourselves to God and allow God to come into our lives and give us the courage. You know, He's called us out, especially those of us that came out of the Apostasy, and we've got to trust in God and go forward because, you know, He can work with other people but He's chosen to work with us. So we have to have the Godly courage to go through these evil end-times and just wait on God. And that takes courage, just to wait. Hopefully and prayerfully we're in this last lap, and hopefully Christ will return this next Pentecost, but if not, God's going to give us the courage to go to the next Pentecost, and we live Pentecost to Pentecost ...but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come into the kingdom for such a time as this? In other words, that's why Esther was called – was just for that. Why are we being called? Well, to do this work for God and just to stay loyal, again, being encouraging to each other and those that, you know, look for an answer from us when asked. And there again, we just answer the question and we don't go any further than that. But there again, God is working through every one of us in different ways.

Then Esther told him to reply to Mordecai: Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go into the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish! And there again, she knew that what she was about to do for Israel, for the Jews, she could lose her life; I mean, right then and there.

So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him. So you know, a lot of times we just look at, well, men are the ones with courage. Well, it's pretty evident— and I'm not covering all the women in the Bible that showed courage and strength. But that's just it. It just doesn't matter our stature when Godly courage is in us. It doesn't know gender. So anyway, Esther had the Godly courage to go into the king on a chance of being killed.

Alright, moving on to our next example. We're going to go to 1 Samuel 17 and read verse 33 to 40. Mr. Matthew's covered this whole chapter in his series on Signs of Pride, and really went into David, but I just wanted to hit on this one part of this chapter where David just knew that God would give him the courage to do what he did. And a comment was made in that series that "Godly confidence is humility." And this is also true of courage that Godly courage is humility because we have the humility to know that God is going to give us the strength to do so. And David knew God would give him courage.

So let's start in verse 33 and just go over this story. We've all heard it so many times, but it just shows a young shepherd boy, we don't know his age, but must have been in his teens just by the description of him. And he'd been out taking care of the sheep in his youth and there were times that he had to go up against wild animals and whatnot, but God gave him the courage so he knew that God would be there.

So let's start in verse 33 – And Saul said to David, You are not able to go up against the Philistines to fight with them, for you are a youth and he a man of war from his youth. So Saul is looking at David and just judging him by his outward appearance as a young man and not on his heart and what he believed in God. But David said to Saul, Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock I went out after it and struck it. I can't imagine doing that, going out and taking on an African lion or a bear, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by the beard, and struck and killed it. God was building courage for what was ahead.

Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defiled the armies of the living God. David knew that God was there and the Israelites were God's people and God was for them. And this Philistine was profaning God and David had the Godly courage to go out there, knowing God would go with him.

Verse 37 – Moreover David said, The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and the LORD will be with you! So Saul clothed David with his armor, and put a bronze helmet on his head; and he was... clothed him with a coat of mail. And there again, Mr. Matthew's went over all of this. It's just unfamiliar and untested armour and weapons that David knew nothing about. He'd not used them before. That isn't what he used to slay the lion and the bear. And David fastened his sword and his armor and tried to walk, and he had to test them. And David said to Saul, I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them. So David took them off.

Then he took his staff in his hand, something that he was familiar with, and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, something he knew, that he knew what to pick out and what he could use in his sling and be accurate with, something he tested, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, and in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. Just thinking about this, “And he drew near to the Philistine.” He's closing the distance because he knew what his accuracy was with his sling, you know, something that he tested in the field. So he was going by what...with the courage of God working in him and he was closing the distance so that he could be effective.

What spiritual weapons do we have? Have we proven in battle? What is our spiritual sling? What spiritual stones do we throw at our spiritual Goliaths? Isn't that the holy spirit and the power, the power in which that we sling the stones, of the 57 Truths, at the problems that come along in our lives? I mean, that's what we've tested in battle, and we come on trials. We need...we need to go back to what's been tested and not rely on ourselves, but to rely on God and have the Godly courage to go forward on these spiritual Goliaths in our lives. And God's going to put them in our hands and we're going to overcome and defeat them, but it's going to take Godly courage to do it.

Alright, let's move on to the next example. Back in 2007, 2008, we really went through the story of Gideon and the three hundred, but let's just pick Judges 6 and we're going to read verse 12 to 17. Anyway, let's get into it, starting in verse 12 – And the angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor! Encouragement. He was encouraged right off, right at the start there from the angel of the LORD with “mighty man of valor.” And he was given encouragement right to begin with, but it took time for God to build that courage in Gideon.

And Gideon said to Him, O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And [“why” should be “where”] are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, Did not the LORD bring you up out of Egypt? But how the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. Anyway, there again, this angel has appeared to Gideon and told him, encouraged him right off the...right at the start there, but it took some time for God to show Gideon that He was with them. And you know the story, the fleece with the dew on and the dew off, and the bread rolling down the hill. But it took time for God to build that courage in Gideon so that he could do what God was going to do through him.

And then verse 14 – Then the LORD turned to him and said, Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? So he said to Him, O my LORD, how can I save Israel? Well, so he still is lacking that Godly courage, but God was going to give it to him, and we know the story. Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I... so he's discouraging himself, he's talking himself. God's trying to build him up and he's tearing himself down, and I am the least in my father’s house. And the LORD just said to him, Surely I will be with you, more encouragement, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man. More encouragement.

Then he said to Him, If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You that talk to me. Through all the signs that God used to show Gideon He was with him, Godly courage was instilled in Gideon. So there again and God does it with us, too. And we're going to get into that here just a little bit later as that... things that have happened in our life, whether going through the Apostasy. Like I said, a little later on we're going to get into some of the Truths of the 57 Truths that have built courage in us.

Alright, brethren, now we're going to look at Godly courage in our time. Go back to Mr. Armstrong, and if any of you haven't read his autobiography, I strongly recommend that you do because it just goes through his life and just shows us how God really built courage in him. I mean, from the time he was a, you know, a young boy and looking for answers to things, and that led him on to a very successful life in the early part of his life, and later in his life, but he had to go through some things and God built the courage in him so that he could do the end-time Philadelphia work, and how strong that message got out. But just go through and read that, but the part where his wife challenged him to prove the Sabbath, whether it was the seventh-day Sabbath or Sunday, and he had the courage to go through and prove that. And when God showed him that it was the seventh-day Sabbath, he had the courage to go forward with it and to change his life. So if you get a chance, you can find the autobiography's on the Internet, on Barnes and Noble (I think that's where I found mine, was something like that), but anyway, I encourage you to read those because it's quite a story. And a lot of us lived part of that life with Mr. Armstrong and actually saw firsthand what courage he had to do things. I mean, to go talk to kings and queens and the people of parliaments and the Diet in Japan, I mean he... God opened doors and he walked through them. And so, there again, the courage in our end-time, it's here. God's still working with it and building it in His people.

Look at the two witnesses, God's two prophets at this time, just not only what they've gone through since the Apostasy and how God built courage in them and courage to, you know..."No, I'm not here for a paycheck. I'm here to obey God," and to walk away from that, and beginning this, starting this end-time work. Look at where we're at right now. One of, you know, God's prophets sitting falsely accused in prison, and then his wife, the prophet of God is, you know, out there spearheading this Church and carrying it on and doing the administration and being able to get up in front of congregations as she visits and update all of us and keep us updated on Ron and whatnot. And you know, just the courage that's there with both of them. And, you know, we need to pray for not only God's two witnesses, to give them Godly courage, but for each and every one of us, you know. How has God prepared us with Godly courage for what is ahead, you know? And He has, and we might not realize it, but the trials we go through and overcome, well, we learn that, you know, to trust in God and have that Godly courage.

So let's look at some of the 57 Truths and see how God – and we're not going to go through all of them, but just a few here just to hit on it and see how God has built courage in each and every one of us. Let's go to Truth #4, which is the first one of Philadelphia, it's....

4 (1) The government of God.

It's just the changes in God's government here just in the past few years where women are being ordained and being a very big part in working and assisting in this work. We just recently had a three part post on “Ordinations & the Church” and how that government is there to help us to grow, to overcome, to really seek God's government and not let it get discouraging to us when we, you know, inject our own understanding, but to rely on God. When He does something in His government, to be behind it and support it and help each and every one of those individuals do their jobs and come closer to God and so this Church can go forward in unity and harmony. But there again, it's just to have the courage to do that, and not only those that are ordained, but the ones that aren't ordained, to have the courage to support those that are.

Okay, let's look at Truth 23, and that's the second one in Laodicea....

23 (2) The Man of Sin has been revealed to be Joseph Tkach, Sr., who initiated the end-time apostasy.

You know, I know somebody that's left recently, that that was what they, when they read the book, 2008, they said that's what proved to them that this was God's Church and whatnot. But it's still true! I mean, you know, he gave that sermon in December of '94, and 40 Sabbaths to the hour... And we have two people that were in that audience that can witness to that, and you can pull up his death certificate. Anyway, my point being is that did happen. And that individual that I was speaking of, you know, okay, if that happened, it's still true, and that's what they considered to be the thing that proved that this was God's Church. But they're no longer with us!

So we have to have the courage that, yes, this did happen, and those numbers are numbers that God uses and we have to have the faith and the courage to believe that. God showed that to us, you know, there again, building that courage so that we could go past the 27th and the 19th and we can now live Pentecost to Pentecost. Because those things happened and we witnessed them and God continues building courage one layer on another in our lives so that when it comes down to what's ahead of us, and we don't know what's ahead of us totally. We know Christ is going to return soon. We know this world is in sad shape! But there again, it's just another truth, and all these truths, we really need to go over them often. Even if you just read the bold print, it doesn't take long to go through them. And you just have to ask yourself, each one of them, "Do I believe that?" Well, if you believed it today, you should be believing it tomorrow if we're staying close to God.

So anyway, let's move on to Truth 42, which is 21. Alright, Truth 42....

42 (21) God the Father is Yahweh Elohim and He alone has eternally existed.

You know, and God showed us, He finally brought us all the way out of the trinity back in 2005, Feast of Tabernacles. I listened to those sermons and it's good to go back over them. But you know, He... there again, just showing us that this is God's Church, set us apart from all the Churches in the Apostasy – this was one of the big ones – that, you know, God isn't a trinity. He alone has existed. And those scriptures, if you go back to those sermons, that just jump out at you now, but until God, it was God's time to show us that that was truth and whatnot, we just had to wait for it. And it's just like everything else as we go on through this life, that we have to wait on God and have the Godly courage to do it.

Alright, let's look at Truth...the 50th Truth. And that's probably one of the longest. It goes into more detail there, but for so many years we thought Christ was going to return on Trumpets. And there again, people go back and mock and say, "Oh, you guys changed it." Well, no, it was “the present truth” and when “the present truth”...we were given “the present truth” that Christ wasn't returning on a Day of Trumpets but on a Pentecost, then we changed. And He showed us that that 1335 days from Trumpets of 2008 to Pentecost of 2012, that that doesn't occur for a hundred years before 2008 and a hundred years after, you know. And people go, "Well..." It might occur, but not these end-times. And so God showed us that was that 3½ years of the witness where, you know, and nobody listened. But those numbers just don't happen. Again, you know, it's just like the seven... 40 Sabbaths that Mr. Tkach that we just covered. Things like these, they just don't happen. It's just God plans this out perfectly, and there again, building more courage in us so that we can continue to go forward and do this work that God set before us, and that we can have that Godly courage.

Alright, the last truth we're going to look at is the 53rd truth...

53 (3) The ordination of women in the Church.

And that ties into #4, God's government. And, now as it's been stated through sermons and posts and whatnot, there have been people that have had issues with that and it's just caused them to become discouraged instead of being encouraged by it, you know, that God's lifting that curse off the women of not only this Church but eventually the world as a whole. And there again, when it comes down to Godly courage or Godly faith, it knows no gender. It's how close each and every one of us are to God, and it doesn't matter whether we're male or female, but God's going to work through us if we allow Him to do so.

We just need to remember Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Weinland – a lot of people have mentioned this – that a third of the Bible is prophecy and 90% of that is about this end-time. What will be written about in this end-time? Are there going to be stories of Godly courage about, you know, Philadelphia era, the Church, and now the Laodicean's gone by, and now this remnant that is going forward and waiting for the return of Jesus Christ? But as we do wait for the return of Jesus Christ we continue to have the courage to work on our problems in our lives, to have the courage to encourage people, to help them to stay strong and stay steadfast. So, you know, I think that things will be written about this time; I'm pretty sure. If 90% of prophecy is about this time, the answers that so many people have had questions to, I think, will be there.

And we, as this little Church at this end-time, are using Godly courage to wait for the return of Jesus Christ. And that's just what we have to do, is just continue to go to God and just help Him when we feel like we're getting weak. I mean, so many examples where God's asked somebody to do something, and, you know, you go back to Gideon and it just took, took some time for God to build that courage. But as we go forward and we do go through this life we do build that Godly courage.

Alright, now we're going to look at a couple of the... about the courage that Christ had. And there is an 8 part series entitled, This World's Passover, which really goes into depth of this and it's basically about, a lot of it, is just about the last two weeks of His life. And we're going to read two excerpts from Matthew and Luke about His last night and just see what the ultimate in Godly courage is. So let's go to Matthew 26:36 and we're going to read through verse 44. And this is when – it was after the Passover supper – when... generally, when they were out in the garden and praying and, Then Jesus came to the place of Gethsemane and said to the disciples, Sit here while I go pray over there. And He took with Him... the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. I mean, He knew what was ahead of Him in a very short period of time.

And then He said to them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful. I mean, there again, He's a human being with human emotions; He had the mind of God, but He was still human and He knew what was ahead of Him. Anyway, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even to death. Stay here and watch with Me. And He went a little further and fell on His face and prayed saying, O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless, not as I will but as You will. There again, it was... He had the courage to, and the Godly courage, full of Godly courage to go forward and do what His Father wanted Him to do. And thankfully, He had the courage to do that or our lives wouldn't be worth much. And there again, just by Him doing that we're allowed to have that holy spirit come into us, because He was able to be God's Passover for us and cover the sins in our lives so that God can live in us and we can be that three strong cord.

Verse 40 – Then He came to the disciples and found them asleep, and said to Peter, What, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation: the spirit, indeed, is willing, but the flesh is weak. And you know, we need to really remember that, that our flesh is weak and the only thing that makes us strong is God's spirit living in us and that's what gives us the courage, again, to live this way of life and just to go forward to the return of Jesus Christ.

Verse 42 – Again, the second time He went away and prayed, saying, O, My Father, if this cup cannot pass from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done. And there again, He had the Godly courage. He was very sorrowful and fearful, and as we'll read in the next excerpt, to the point of sweating blood. And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So He left them and went away again and prayed the third time saying the same words.

Alright, let's go to Luke 22 and read verse 39 through 46. This is just Luke's version of what happened that night. It goes in a little bit more to what happened. But Luke 22:39-46 – come out, and He went to the Mount of Olives as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place He said to them, Pray that you may not enter into temptation. And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw and He knelt down and prayed saying, Father, if it is Your will take this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will but Your will be done. Then the angel appeared to Him from heaven strengthening Him. And being in agony He prayed more earnestly; then His sweat became like great droplets of blood falling down to the ground. I mean, I can't imagine the agony that He was in and just knowing what was ahead of Him in just a very short period of time. And when He rose from prayer He came to the disciples and He found them sleeping from sorrow, and He said to them, Why do you sleep? Rise and pray lest you enter into temptation.

So Christ set the perfect example for Godly courage.

Alright, for the next verse let's go to Hebrews 12 and we're going to read verse 1 through 3. Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, and we can look back to the Bible. I mean, even Hebrews 11, it just goes through some of those witnesses, that great cloud that surrounds us, we can't help but see them. You know, if you're in a cloud you can't help but see the cloud, and we're surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight, in other words, everything that just discourages us, that brings us down and keeps us from focusing on the return of Jesus Christ, on this way of life. And going on...and the sin which so easily ensnares us. You know, we ask God to give us the courage to overcome those sins and be on the lookout for the ones we know we're the weakest at, you know, and ask God to show us, you know, the ones that we're weakest at.

...and let us run with the endurance the race that is set before us. There again, we press forward Pentecost to Pentecost, looking to Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the stake, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand on the throne of God. You know, that's what's ahead of us, is being in Elohim, you know, and we've got to have the courage and ask God for the Godly courage to just go forward and to wait on Him.

For consider Him who endured such hostility for sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. Have the Godly courage to allow God into all aspects of our lives. Cast our cares on God and He will give us the Godly courage to go forward to the return of His Son, our King.

Alright, in closing, let's go to Joshua 1, and we're going to read verse 5 through 9. Joshua 1:5-9, and we're right back to where we started. No man shall be able to stand before you in all the days of your life. This is encouragement coming from God, and as I was with Moses I will be with you, and I will not leave you nor forsake you, and that same promise is to us too, as long as we stay close to God. Be strong and of good courage, for this people you shall divide as an inheritance in the land that I swore to your fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe and do according to all the law which Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn it to the right hand, nor to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. In other words, just stay loyal to the law, do it to the letter of the law and living this way of God's life.

So verse 8 – The book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, and you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will make your way's prosperous and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you, and this is a command just like any other command from God, be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.□