How To Be Courageous

Back in history, a group of slaves were led to an uncertain freedom in their eyes. They had been part of a totally different culture in which they were put down. They were made to feel horrible. In fact, many of them were even killed. A leader promised them that they could have their own country, their very own country, and be a people when they themselves were not a people. They arrived at the outskirts of a new land and sent a search party ahead. And guess what they found there in their wonderful land? They found walled city-states with armies inside.

And these walled city-states had the latest technology of iron and bronze and weaponry and chariots.

And they were heavily armed, and they were trained in warfare.

And they shook in their boots. They manufactured textiles. They had dyes. They looked good, heavily armed.

They felt outclassed, outgunned, uncapable, impossible for us to make this their homeland. Let's pick up the story in Numbers 13, verse 27.

Numbers 13, verse 27. Because this actually is like you and me in the spiritual sense, as we'll see.

Numbers 13, verse 27.

Then they told him and said, We went to the land where you sent us, and truly, it's nice land, milk and honey. In other words, there's a lot of good stuff there.

Nevertheless, the people who dwelled in the land are strong. And the cities are fortified. And they are large. The Amalekites dwell there. Verse 31. But the men who had gone up with them said, We're not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are. We can't do this. We can't do this.

It's too hard. It's too difficult. It's impossible. So, in chapter 14, verse 3, they said to one another, Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.

Now, you might think, well, yeah, that's historical, and that was back then and everything, but let's transpose that just for a moment. We were once slaves to Senn, slaves in an Egypt, in a society of sin, slaves under the thumb of a Pharaoh type of Satan, who wanted to harm us and discourage us and even kill us, as has been done to the faithful over time.

He, as our escape has progressed, he's wanted to recapture us like the Pharaoh who came after Egypt, or after Israel, the edge of Egypt, and tried to capture them, drag them back into that slavery. You know, Satan wants to do that to us as well, but at baptism, you and I had a Red Sea event like they did, where they came through and came out as the people of God under Jesus Christ, under the ruling banner of God, the pillar of fire and cloud, and they left that old society, in that way, behind them, along with the washing or the flooding that took place of all those powers that no longer held them sway. And at baptism, we are cut off from the power of Satan, and that influenced, and we have the power of God. So now we seek a homeland under a new ruler in the kingdom of God, and yes, we might say, I can't do it. Well, you and I by ourselves can't do it, but we need to have a mindset of can-do. Where do we get that from? Where do we come up with the encouragement or the courage, the courage to go do the impossible, to climb the unconquerable, to master that which no human can do other than Jesus Christ? You know, as the Israelites came out of the Red Sea and went forward, their next big event would be to come into the edge of the promised land. And what did they find? What was their first task? To go conquer the city of Jericho. It's almost as if God said, let's do the worst first, right? Because Jericho wasn't like the other city-states. Jericho had been rebuilt several times over time, and what it was, it was a tell. It was a mound. It might have been a hill, but they embellished it and made it big. They made this big mound so that any approaching army had to go uphill. Then they built the first wall around the bottom out of brick, big wide tall wall on top of stone. This thing was just impermeable. Now behind that wall, you had to go uphill. If you could get over the first wall, past the people shooting at you from that wall, you had to go uphill to the second wall. And the second wall was high above, and they were shooting down at you there. Nobody got into Jericho. And it probably was double walled because it was a town full of aristocrats. They had money, enough money to have the latest of everything, including they had chariots.

So it was as if God sent them to do the impossible right away. Do you ever feel that way sometimes? God will put a trial or let something happen to you, or you know, your job, you come in the church, and it's about the Sabbath, or about the holidays, or family is pushing at you, or maybe a mate, maybe there's going to be a breakup. This is impossible. And so the impossible was met with seven trumpets. Remember? Seven days they marched around and blew trumpets. Seven times of trumpets. And then God simply shook that little version of Babylon to the ground.

You and I will have our conquest with seven trumpets as well. When the seven trumpets of God blow, the final enemy will be defeated. And that is death. For the first fruits, we will be resurrected. So what we should have is a confidence that we go through life, an absolute confidence. And yet, if you're like me, we often go through life a little discouraged. Even when we hear a message or read the Bible, we think, oh, I'm falling short. God probably doesn't like me. You know, I'm just imperfect. I'm so imperfect, maybe I'll just quit. How many people have you known through the decades that have said, I can't do this? This is too, I'm just going to quit. That's one of Satan's biggest ploys is discouragement. Even now, if he can discourage you through pain, some kind of distraction, criticism, oh, there's a big one. Who is Satan? The accuser of the brethren. And what's society? Really a bunch of foul-mouthed people who are criticizing, and just their mouths are just like sewers. We'll see a little bit of this. In Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10, we find that we actually have something more than who we are ourselves as individuals. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10 here, and see a source of something that we might call courage. Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 10, and this is the Israelites standing outside of this double-fortified WOW! city with the latest stuff, and God says, go take it. Finally, my brethren, or if you're the brethren in the church, that God says, I want you to conquer, which is the word overcome throughout the New Testament. In every case, it means to conquer. You can look that up. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might.

Ah, so it's not about the Israelites. It's not about the Israel of God. Today, the church, it's about God and the power of his might. Having God as our leader, our ruler, our friend, that's what it's about. Put on the whole armor of God. Don't put on your own armor. You know, the Israelites didn't even have any armor. They just walked out of the bushes.

And it's like, uh, what's this? Put on the armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wilds of the devil. Can't do that on our own. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age. Can't even see them. They're invisible. And there are things that will come against the church at times simply because people are inspired to do that from a different type of a pharaoh.

Against spiritual hosts of wickedness and the heavenly places. How can we do that? Well, we do it mentally with God's spirit, with God's help, with his understanding, with his power. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Stand, therefore. So no matter what's coming, and maybe you look in the news or you see your own health or some situations come up, no matter what's coming, you're to stand. You're to conquer. You are to succeed. And you are succeeding. Sometimes we forget to tell that to each other. Sometimes we're always saying, oh, you need to do better. You need to do better. You need to be better. It's like a parent telling a kid, ah, you better, better, better, better. When does a kid ever get encouragement?

Some people, they go off to war and they go through boot camp and they got some sergeant major yelling at them, telling them what a dork they are and an idiot, and you can't do anything and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and you know, do all these things. And after they're finished with their service, there's a high degree of suicide among people who just, I don't know, something isn't right and they get back home and others look at them funny. And how is that for various parts of society? You know, everybody in society has some negative view from outside. You take any social group, any culture group, any racial group, any age group, every one of them has poked at and pushed at and said that they're not good enough, any political group. Everybody has this negativism. So today I want to talk to you about courage as the people of God. Let's step above and away from anything else that's out there and talk about courage as the people of God. What is the source of courage? How do you use courage? Is it reliable? When is it reliable? So what I want to do today is, in this brief message, is just take a look at some highlights in the Bible about how you and I can have and use courage in proper ways. It's very human to be fearful when you experience danger. And one of the things about You're in My Life is it's a dangerous time, as it says in 2 Timothy 3, verse 1. Sometimes when people are suddenly hit with danger, they just freeze. They don't know what to do. They don't do anything. And they go down with the ship, or they get hit by whatever's going to hit them.

We're not to be like that. In 2 Timothy 3, verse 1, we're told ahead of time, verse 1, know this in the last days, perilous, look in the margin there, or times of stress, or times of peril, times of danger will come. We're beginning to really see a lot of potential peril looming on our horizon, aren't we? And I'm not a doomsday guy. I like to live one day at a time. Let tomorrow, as Jesus said, let the evil of tomorrow have its own day. But today, we focus here. And I don't want to just sort of dwell and base my life on imaginations of what will take place. Too many lives in the church were lived that way, and the people are long dead and never saw anything but some of the best times of human life as far as ease. So here in 2 Timothy chapter 1, it says, men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good. You don't have to go any further than that. You know if you're going to be good, you're going to be godly. As it says in the next verse, they are lovers of themselves and things and pleasures rather than lovers of God. So there's going to be some persecution, let's say, some discouragement, if not some actual action. But we've been called to live God's way during this time, and we should be living a very fine life, a very good life. We should have encouragement from God, inspiration from God, and a great future, ultimately. After the childbirth pains comes the baby. After the end time, agonies comes finally the first fruits of the first children into the divine family of God. It's not going to be the greatest, easiest time, but nevertheless, we can do this. We really can.

Remember Joshua, the young assistant of Moses?

He reported that Israel was going to be a great place to live, this land of Canaan. It was going to be great to live there. That's the focus you and I need to have about the Kingdom of God and about the work of God. We need to look positively about that and not get distracted by the noise that goes around us. If we go to Numbers chapter 14 verses 6 through 9, Numbers chapter 14 in verse 6, but Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jafuna, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and spoke to the congregation of Israel, saying, the land we pass through to spy out is exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, notice those words, 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 Lord nor fear the people of the land, for the Lord is with us. Do not fear them. So our courage, again, comes from God, not from what we would see or what we would imagine from anywhere else. We know that God has angels, and He puts angels about us, and God loves us very much. Where does courage in our daily lives come from? Well, the courage, as we're already beginning to see here, comes from living a godly life each day and having God delight in us as Joshua. God delighted in Joshua. And Joshua said, if God delights in us, it's going to be good. That is so good.

So the key here to courage is to live a godly life. There was another Joshua in the Bible, a lesser-known Joshua, you might say, because of the name, but his Greek name was Jesus Christo, or Joshua the Anointed, or as we say in English, Jesus Christ. He was another Joshua. He was appointed like the first Joshua. He was commissioned to come and do the impossible, and with the help of God, He did great. Now, he said here in John chapter 5 and verse 30, John chapter 5 and verse 30, something that helps us be courageous like he was.

Speaking to his disciples, who would be the apostles, he says these words, "'I can of myself do nothing.'" Those are powerful words from the Word, the Logos, the Word of God, Jesus Christ. "'I of myself can do nothing.'" The original Joshua, back in coming out of Egypt and into Canaan, also, you know, he couldn't do anything. He couldn't do anything against city-states, personally. But Jesus said, "'As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous because I do not seek my own will, but I seek the will of my Father who sent me.'" And he tells us to do that in our daily prayer, to pray for God's leadership in our life and to do His will on earth as it is in heaven. And when we do that, we are in harmony with God. We are one with God. We're one with Christ. We're one in the body of Christ. We're together doing the will of God.

I really appreciate the new President of the United, Rick Shabie, who will say in his sermons, we've got to find out what God's will is. We've got to study in here. We've got to look in here and pray and find out what God wants to do. Then we can do a great work. See, it's not our work, is it? It's really not our individual lives. It's a life that God wants to live in us and through us. And when we live that life, we should absolutely have the confidence that God is going to make everything work out just fine. In verse 37, Jesus said, So we notice, like the first Joshua that was sent, he was commissioned, the second Joshua, or Jesus, was also commissioned.

We have, then, two examples of individuals who God loved, he worked with, he looked to him for strong support. And the Bible gives us such individuals as ones that we can give our sort of focus to as we strategize our life. Now, there's other individuals who were given as kind of a warning. You can have great courage like Uzzah. When they were bringing the ark, David wanted to bring the ark home from the Philistines. And so he brought the troops in, and he got a couple of guys. One of them was Uzzah, and they built a cart, and Uzzah was going to drive the cart. So Uzzah's driving the cart, and his brother's walking along in front of the cart, and they got it all the way to the destination. They're just coming up where it's going to be put, and one of the oxen stumbled, and maybe they'd switch places. I don't know, but somehow Uzzah was able to reach back and steady the ark because it was going to fall. So he courageously steadies the ark, and God kills him because it wasn't his job. It was the Levite's job. He was just the driver.

So we've got to realize what it is we're supposed to be doing and not just courageously say, well, I think I'll start my own church. I think I'll just go be a minister or preach the gospel, or I think I'll go do something the Bible hasn't commissioned me to do or said I shouldn't do, but I'll be courageous. The Bible's full of that. Nebuchadnezzar and a bunch of individuals. So we have to really do what God wants us to do. Like we're told in Deuteronomy 28, first few verses, carefully obey God's laws and commandments. Then we have the confidence that we are doing God's will. Then we have God, or we are with God, God in us and us and God in what we're doing, and that should bring great, great confidence.

Self-assignment, self-things, and people even in the church will come up with this, oh, I just want to do this for I just feel I, you know, the I starts coming out and the me, but they kind of link it, I don't know, with God or some calling they have or some spiritual gift they have. Pretty soon the me and the I is, you know, swelled out of what the Bible says we're to do.

Each of us within the body has an appointment, whatever that is. If it's a child, if it's a wife, it's a mother or a husband or a father or a grandfather. If it's somebody who is called to service or ordained or not, we all have an important function. What is yours? What is mine? Read the Bible. Figure that out. You know, figure out what you've been assigned, what God wants you to do as you read through the Bible, and then decide if you're going to commit to performing that and ask God to direct you in performing that, and then be strong and of good courage like the other people in the Bible, whether it's an Esther situation or a Mordecai or whether it's David or Solomon or one of the prophets like Isaiah or Ezekiel or Daniel. I mean, they were in predicaments, but they were led and they were doing their jobs or like Priscilla and her husband Aquila or Lydia. You know, we all have certain roles and things that we can do. Are we doing them? Are we doing what God wants us to? Let's go to Hebrews 13 and verses 5 and 6.

Hebrews 13 and verse 5.

Let your conduct be without covetousness. I would say, don't look at what somebody else has been given to do and say, oh, I want to do that instead of what God gave me to do. Be content with what things as you have or which you have been given or the place in the body where God has called you.

Be content with such things, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you. You know where those words came from? That's what he said to Joshua. I will never leave you or forsake you, so be strong and of good courage.

So we may boldly say, verse 6, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?

So, once again, if we notice here in this whole chapter, chapter 13, it's all about godliness. It's not about anything other than all various aspects of being a godly person. And therefore, we have God's support. That should be very, very encouraging.

The body of Christ has many parts. Once in a while, I have opportunity to dissect an animal before we put it in the freezer. And it's amazing how many parts an animal has. I'm referring to deer.

I'll tell you what. You think of a deer as kind of from the outside, but when you open one up and you start to dissect the parts, how God designed all the parts in there, the thing, not just the muscles that go this way and that, but the, not even sure what you would call it, but there's some stuff in between the muscles that's kind of slimy and helps those muscles move. Like, wow! Then you have various other little things that aren't even organs, and they help, and scent glands, and then you get into the various organs and how they're made, and how this deer can see and hear and know, go down, jump up, all in a split second, for your arrow can even hit him.

He is already in action and turning because of all the things the body does, including the heartbeat and the dumping in of various elements that go into the system. It's very, very incredible. When you think of a human body, or then translate that to the body of Christ, it takes a whole body to be a body, and the Apostle Paul speaks of that. Make sure you know from the Scripture what your part of the body is, and then have the courage to perform that part and do a really good job of that part. And if you do a really good job of that part, Jesus will give you 10 cities. How does that relate? I don't know, but we have, then, the confidence in God that we will do what He wants us to do then, if we're doing what He wants us to do now.

There are lots of things we could talk about as far as the roles and responsibilities. Jesus had his own role. Apostles had their own roles. Preacher, if you look at the word preach, or preaching, or preacher, that was a person who was a Caruso in the Greek, and that Caruso was appointed by a leader to go out and make an announcement, to go out and make a pronouncement or an announcement on behalf of the leadership. When we come to various parts of the Bible, we find, like in Ephesians 4 and verse 11, Ephesians 4 verse 11, some responsibilities there. I think it's important on the topic of courage to point this out, because sometimes we'll try to do things we're not commissioned to do, and we won't have success in them, because God's not supporting that. So that can be discouraging. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 11, and he himself gave some to be apostles, some, a few, very few, and then some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors, and teachers. And what was this for? Was it for them? No, it was for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, for the edifying of the body of Christ. It's all about the body. They were just members of the body somewhere doing a part that was important. They were and they are. We drop down to verse 16, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies.

Reminds me of that deer. Everything working together by what that part, all the parts supply, according to the effective working by what every part does it share. Every part does it share.

Every part in the body is important. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 12, Paul goes a little further in this, and I'll just hit some highlights here. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 12, Paul goes a little further in this, and verse 12, For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body being many are one body, and so is Christ.

We drop down to verse 14, for in fact the body is not one member, but many, and a member is you know all the various parts. When we say we're members of the Church of God, what does that mean? It means we're parts, right? We're parts. Parts of this body. And in verse 18, but now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as he pleased. Just as he pleased.

Verse 27, Now you are the body of Christ and members individually, and God has appointed these in the Church. First apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues, are all one or the other? No, they're not all one or the other. So when you and I look at the body, we've got to remember what it's for. Chapter 14 in verse 12, just a page over. Chapter 14 in verse 12, it's all for the edification.

It says here in verse 12, It says here in verse 12, See that you excel in that. Dropping down to verse 26, as a tongue, as a revelation, as an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. So there are many things that we can do within a congregation or within a church as a whole that are unique. They're encouraging. They're embellishing. They're serving. They're helpful. They're praising so many different things. But as long as they're for edification, then let's have the courage that this is for God and is therefore supported by God.

I think that's an essential element to lay down before we start getting courageous. You know, ready, fire, aim, kind of an approach. You gotta know who you are and what you're doing.

I'd like to give you five quick points here. Point one. You can be courageous about doing what God commands.

If it's in the Bible, you can be absolutely courageous. I don't care who says you can't. If God says, do it, do it.

Like Daniel, full of courage. He's an alliance, Dan. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedneh. No, full of courage. God said, do it or don't do it. Fine. We're in the fiery furnace.

If God says to do it, be courageous about doing it.

I want to give you an example of this, which was David telling his son Solomon, who was preparing to build the temple, the first temple, in 1 Chronicles 22, verse 13.

Here's the key about doing what God commands. Ready to build the temple. You've got the temple in mind, right? Project.

Then you will prosper if you take care to fulfill the statutes and judgments which the Lord charged Moses concerning Israel. This isn't about a building.

It's about doing what God said. That's what David is saying here. First of all, go back to the law and make sure Israel is doing the law.

Be strong and of good courage. Do not fear nor be dismayed. His words had nothing to do with building the temple.

Strong, courage, don't fear, to fulfill that which the Lord commanded.

Point two. You can be courageous about repenting and doing what God commands. Repenting in order to obey God. You can be courageous about that. Sometimes that's very dissuading to people. I know individuals, Mary and I remember a teenager in high school that brought his girlfriend to church one day up in Canada many years ago, decades ago. Well, this is going to be interesting. Somebody right from school, high school, is coming to church. First day, oh, the day was the second holy day of unleavened bread.

So we have the unleavened bread component.

Oh, and it was a Tuesday.

Her first day at church with this guy from school is on a Tuesday for a feast of unleavened bread. And my thought at that time was, I wonder if she'll last till after church is over.

She's been in the church every week since. She's been in the church. Her daughter is in the church.

Their children are attending church. You know, you can be courageous about repenting and obeying God's command, even though it doesn't seem logical to tithe or to go to church on the Sabbath or whatever. I remember not too many miles from here, about 40 years ago, I was pastoring, and a couple had a unique marriage. I call it unique. Maybe it's a standard marriage, but anyway. She was the head, and he was the submissive husband, and they liked it, though. It was the way they married. She had short hair. She wore men's type clothing, and she was definitely the head of the family. He liked that. He was submissive. He was kind of happy.

But as they came into the church, and they learned more, and they read more, one day they called me up, and I think Mary, and had us come over to their house, and they said, we're going to ask you, not for an opinion, we're going to ask you for some advice because we're afraid to implement what the Bible says in our marriage. But we read it, and we trust the Bible, and we see other relationships, and we think we should do it because God says to do it, but it's foreign to us, and it's not something we want to do, but we think we should do it. And we just want to know, do you think it'll work out if we reverse our roles? If I become the leader in the family, and the lady says, if I actually buy a dress, which she didn't own, and let my hair grow, and submit to my husband, and I said, you know, God's way works. That's all I can tell you. And if you do that, I believe you'll be blessed. And they did it. They did it. She turned into a very feminine lady and a beautiful woman. He manned up, put on some pants, and they told us, you know, as the years went by, they told us how much better their marriage was. So you can be courageous about repenting and obeying God's commands. Let's go to Ezra chapter 7 verse 9.

I didn't have that example in my notes. Ezra chapter 7 verse 9 is a good biblical example. So here you have Ezra, and he was in Babylon. King Artaxerxes now has sent a remnant from Babylon back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Various people of various talents were sent back to do that. Ezra now is following them, and he gets there quite quickly. But notice Ezra chapter 7 and verse 9. See why he's going there. Is it about the building? On the first day of the first month, he began his journey from Babylon. On the first day of the fifth month, he came to Jerusalem. It took him four months to get from Babylon to Jerusalem. According to the good hand of his God upon him. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel. That was the foundation, and he had God's support. Now if we go to chapter 10 and the first four verses, Ezra was praying while he was confessing and weeping and bowing down before the house of God a very large assembly of men and women and children gathered to him from Israel. And in verse 2, Shekiniah, the son of Jehil, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said, We have trespassed against God, our God. We have taken pagan wives from the people of the land. Yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this. Therefore, now let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to the law. Notice, arise, for this matter is your responsibility. We also are with you. Be of good courage and do it. We can be of good courage in repenting and doing what God says. And back at that time, that was something that they needed to do. Point three. You can be encouraged. You can be courageous about doing good works led by God's Spirit. That's one thing we're all called to do, is good works led by the Spirit of God to perform works of agape love. One example was the burial of our slain Messiah.

Nobody told anybody to go bury Jesus Christ. Nobody told somebody, hey, they just killed the person who believes this way. Why don't you go say, hey, I really supported him to the Roman government that had him crucified. Can I have his body? But that's what happens in Mark chapter 15 and verse 43. Mark chapter 15 and verse 43. Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage to do a good work, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

He found out that he had been dead. He granted, verse 45, so when he found out from this interior, he granted the body to Joseph. And then Joseph bought fine linen. He bought it with his own money, and he took him down from the stake that he was on. And he wrapped him in the linen.

And then he laid him. He carried him and laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. That took courage, but that was for a good work, as the Bible would say. Point four. You can have courage during your trials. And you can help others. You can have courage during your trials, and you can help others. A trial can be a very discouraging event. A trial hits you out of nowhere. It comes. You didn't see it coming. You don't understand it as you're going through it. It's perplexing. You're like Job.

Why did all my children die? Why am I suffering with boils? I can't figure it out, and my friends can tell me. But you can help others have courage. In Acts chapter 28, we see the Apostle Paul no longer being that Apostle going out and preaching the gospel, that which he was so used to and so efficient at with God's help, suddenly we find him in a little different condition. Let's pick it up here in Acts chapter 28 and verse 14.

Acts 28, the last chapter of the book of Acts.

Paul here is sailing in an Alexandria ship with Roman guards heading for prison in Rome.

In verse 14, we found brethren and were invited to stay with them seven days.

In that journey, the ship paused and they were members. Oh Paul, you're in chains now. You can't go where you want. You can't do what you want. You are a prisoner. You're a convict.

They stayed seven days. In verse 15, and from there when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as Appy Forum and the three ends. This is when they had made it all the way to Italy, finally. And now they're on the road as they're going from southern area, crossing probably over from where Venice is, and crossing over the land and heading towards Rome, where the Appy Forum and the three ends. And when Paul saw them, he thanked God and he took courage.

You know, how important is that? That is something the Apostle Paul himself needed. In verse 30, then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and he received all who came to him. People came to him. Members at Rome. And he preached the kingdom of God and taught these things which concerned the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

So the point is here, others need encouragement. Paul needed encouragement. He said so many times he would name people by name who came to him. Jesus talked about those who will visit. You visited me in prison. You visited me when I was sick. You visited me in prison. We need to encourage one another when we're having trials. Point five. This is the last point. View yourself as God does. View yourself as God does. Now, here's one thing that probably all of us fail at, and that is seeing ourselves accurately. There are four different views that you can have of yourself that are available. You may have one or two at the same time. The first is the view that others have of you, and this is the loudest view you've listened to your whole life. You've listened to your dad, your mom, you've listened to your school friends, you've listened to any and everybody who would tell you who you are. You're this way, you're that way, this is your character, you're put a name to it, you probably have heard the names, and usually they're critical.

They might be instructive, let's say, but sometimes they can actually be critical. They can type you as, this is really who I am, and here's what all my shortcomings are, and therefore I am fulfilling that because I believe that's me. That's what I'm doing. I'm failing like everybody says I fail. They put me in my box and here I live. That's everybody else's view. Remember, that's exterior views.

They can't read your mind. They don't know who you are. They're minimal because they just did it like that. It's not like they sit down and spend their life assessing who you are. Also competitive because human nature will say, I want to be a little better than them, therefore you're a little less than me, so I'll be condescending to you. It's asumptive. They're assuming this is who you are. It's presumptive. They're presuming that.

It's critical and it's judgmental. They're making a judgment about you, but we listen to others, and if you're not careful, that's who you think you are. The summation of what everybody else has decided you are, and that does not give you courage to be what God wants you to be.

Second view is your view of yourself. Your view of yourself is heavily and few influenced by what others have told you your view of yourself is, and so you don't trust who you are. You listen to the others, the voices, and whatever, and you kind of take this son or daughter of God and you minimize who that person is, what they have become, who they are, what they're fulfilling, what their talents, their abilities, and their contribution is, and you say, oh, I'm just nothing. Beware of discouragement.

That's a tool of Satan. Satan's not going to send a whole bunch of encouraging voices around to make you feel like you're doing well. He wants you to quit. The third view of you is the real you, right? The real you. You probably know more about that than others, but at the same time, Jeremiah 17 9 says, the real you is very deceptive.

The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it? But then it says, I the Lord know the heart. God knows. So there's the fourth view, and that's God's view of you. View yourself as God does. View yourself as God does. Let me give you a couple of scriptures about how God views you. First is John chapter 16 verse 27. Here's what Jesus says, verse 28.

For the Father Himself loves you because you have loved me and believe that I came forth from God. That's the first view that God has of you. He loves you because. After the word because, you can just start looking through the scripture. You can add so many scriptures because you keep the Sabbath, because you love Him, because you love His Son, because you hate sin, because you're a daughter of His, a son of His, because you give, because you serve, because you do good works.

I mean, start the list. You might even write a description yourself. Get out a piece of paper and write a description of who you are from God's eyes. Second scripture we'll look at. Since God dwells in you, lives in you, Jesus Christ does, and you are part of the body of Christ, you are the beloved of God. All right? So in 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 9, here's a second view from God about you.

And you can write this on your description of who you are as God sees you. Second Peter chapter 2 and verse 9. But you are a chosen generation, just like Israel. You are the Israel of God now, the church of God. You are chosen. God selected you. You probably even know about the time God selected you before you came into the church, before you were ever baptized.

And he walked you through opportunities to learn and to sample and to see, and even in your own doings to learn and get experience of what wrong is like and what right is like. And then to ease you and move you through these experiences of life to where you are now. That's God. That is God leading and guiding with some pushback that we give. We can't just say, well, he made me do that. No, that's a personal choice. But we learn from those things.

You're a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, royalty, priesthood, priests serve. They work, they serve. They're not upon a pedestal sitting in a corner with lights shining on them saying, look at me, look at me. No, they're out serving. They're processing animals. They're doing the hard work, the leg work. They're rotating in shifts. It's hard, hard work.

Okay, you're one of those. We're called to be workers of God, servants, going on. His own special people. Can you define on your description of yourself these elements and expand on them and why what you are doing in that role of serving and why you are his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you.

Didn't happen to just walk into the faith. He called you. He said, I want you. And he called you and you are responding and you're coming out of darkness into his marvelous light.

So this point is view yourself as God does. Put some work into taking courage about who you are today, who you have become, and where you are going. Be strong in the Lord. Be courageous. Don't have pride. Don't make it about me. Make it about him. Remember, we are the weak of the world that we can give him the praises and others can see what is done in our lives and give God the glory. But we can have confidence in that. So, brethren, in conclusion, God is always with you as you seek to obey him and do his will. He's always with you. He is excited about that. You are the apple of his eye. He extols you to Satan like he did with Job. Satan, have you seen my servant Job? Who is more righteous in all the earth? There's only one individual, maybe, in Job's day. Daniel, you are so beloved, Gabriel told him, in heaven. Jesus, God loves you. Jesus said, you are my friend. If you do whatever, I command you. And we are doing what he commands us. So he's our friend, our very best friend. So I'd like to conclude by reading Deuteronomy 31 in verse 6. Deuteronomy 31 in verse 6. From the second Joshua to the first Joshua, here are the words. And we can, as the Apostle Paul quotes these words to us, we can be a recipient of these words ourselves as we are confident about our contribution to the body of Christ. Deuteronomy 31, verse 6. Be strong and of good courage. Do not fear, nor be afraid of them. For the Lord your God, he is the one who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.