Pastor Leon Seaton

Where Is Your Courage?

“Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power!” - Ephesians 6:10

I gave my life to Jesus when I was 11 years old. It was such a powerful experience that I immediately began to tell people what God had done for me and about how exciting it was to know that I would go to heaven some day. I have always been very naive, so I was amazed at the response some people gave me.

“You can’t be sure that you are going to heaven until you die.”

“Sunday school and church is for little kids and little old ladies.”

“Nobody believes that stuff any more.”

Let’s see how that played out. The kid in my 6^th grade class is now a turned-on Baptist and believes that he will be going to heaven when he dies.

I’ve been in churches where the program revolved around little kids and little old ladies. They were not successful churches.

In all my years as a pastor and chaplain I have seen a lot more people that believe “that stuff” than do not. And towards the end of life they generally call in the preacher or church to make sure that they are indeed ready for heaven.

This morning we will be looking at the raw courage it takes to be a true believer. Two weeks ago we focused on the men in the scriptures that failed for a season but overcame their failures. The truth is, we all drop the ball at times… there are times when we just are not able to live out our faith. God understands that and He holds no grudges.

Noah and his family spent 100 years building the Ark so they could escape the flood that was coming. That meant 100 years of ridicule because people had never seen rain and could not comprehend water falling out of the sky. They also spent over a year floating around the world in a boat the size of a football field that was filled with lots of birds and animals. Think about how much work that had to be!

Daniel was a mighty leader in Babylon – which was enemy territory. But he was a slave the entire time. He spent one night in a dirty, stinking lion’s den with hungry lions because his enemies wanted to kill him. To get Daniel thrown into the den they had to prove he broke the law… so they had the king pass a law against prayer. Daniel got caught because he prayed during the day time, in his room, but with the window open so his enemies could see him. That, my friend, takes courage and commitment.

Seventeen-year-old Joseph was tossed in an empty cistern well, then sold as a slave, then tossed in prison in Egypt because he openly talked about what God was doing in his life and because he refused to sin. It all seems unfair to us until the end of the story where we learn that God was using these experiences to teach him how to rule Egypt. Proverbs 3:5-8 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”

The book of Acts is filled with some amazing stories of how the church coped with the opposition to the gospel. Saul of Tarsus was a powerful leader of the Pharisees. He had Christians put in prison and put to death. But God got even with him, if you please, by converting Saul, renaming him Paul and sending him to lead the Gentiles to Christ. Listen to what Paul endured:

So God calls us to be strong in the Lord – He calls us to step out of our comfort zone and be a powerful witness of His love and strength. But…God never asks us to do what He would not do.

As we approach Easter we have to look at what God did through His Son Jesus. There is a new teaching in the religious world that says that Jesus was only a man – no divinity – and that Christ is actually an invention of the church. My friends, that is a lie from the pits of hell! Don’t buy into it – keep your trust in the Lord and do not lean on your own understanding. I have been following the teachings contained in the Bible for 60 years now. It always works when I do what it says. Wishful thinking and ignorance will not bring it to pass, but walking in love with God and my fellow human beings will make it work.

But you have to be patient and you have to be expendable.

Jesus was the Son of God in the flesh. He was truly man and He was truly God. Don’t ask me how that works. It’s like Jesus told Thomas, blessed are those that believe even though they do not see. I don’t understand how electricity works, but I certainly enjoy the benefits. I don’t understand how love works, but it is a powerful force that makes my life meaningful!

The word Christ actually means “the anointed one.”

The Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry defines Christ as follows: “Christ is a title. It is the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament term "Messiah" and means "Anointed One." It is applied to Jesus as the Anointed One who delivers from sin. Jesus alone is the Christ. As the Christ He has three offices: Prophet, Priest, and King.

As Prophet He is the mouthpiece of God (Matthew 5:27-28) and represents God to man.

As Priest He represents man to God and restores fellowship between them by offering Himself as the sacrifice that removed the sin of those saved.

As King He rules over His kingdom.

By virtue of Christ creating all things (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-17), He has the right to rule. Christ has come to do the will of the Father (John 6:38), to save sinners (Luke 19:10), to fulfill the Old Testament (Matthew 5:17), to destroy the works of Satan (Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8), and to give life (John 10:10,28). Christ is holy (Luke 1:35), righteous (Isaiah 53:11), sinless (2 Corinthians 5:21), humble (Philippians 2:5-8), and forgiving (Luke 5:20; 7:48; 23:34).

Some will say that we have the right to believe whatever we want. I totally agree. But believing what you want will not make it true. I challenged one man because of that statement with this question. “Suppose a man believes that he can stand in the middle of a busy highway at night and a truck will not run over him. Does that make it true? And he said, “Yes, it does.” So I asked, “What if a truck driver cannot see him and hits him and kills him. What then?” And he responded, “Then it was his time to die.” That is a good illustration of “freedom of choice” - God does not force anyone to believe in Him.

During the 12 years I worked as a dialysis nurse I saw a lot of people lose their kidney function because they did not believe that uncontrolled blood pressure, uncontrolled diabetes or illegal drug use would destroy their kidneys. But it did!

Psalm 53:1, “The fool hath said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

Well, there is a God in heaven. He loves us so much that His Son came to earth and lived among us for 33 years. Then He went to the cross where He died a terrible death just to pay for our sins. The death was terrible, as Dennis pointed out recently, because of the pain of the cross and the scourging that took place before He was crucified.

But what actually killed Jesus was the fact that He became sin for us. The guilt of every sin that has been committed was placed on Him. Also, every sickness that has ever taken place was placed on Him. All of the cancers, all of the heart attacks, every disease known to man were placed on Him.

In reality that did not kill him either. After our sin and sorrows were placed on Him Jesus said, “It is finished” and He gave up the ghost. (KJV) John 19:30 in the NIV says, “When He had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”

When Jesus died the disciples ran and hid in terror. Their whole world was in shambles for three days. But then something happened!  Jesus arose from the dead. Something new was on the way, but it had not arrived yet. For 40 days Jesus came and went, making frequent appearances to the believers – not to the unbelievers.  After His ascension, the disciples and others spent 10 days in Jerusalem waiting for God’s next step. It took place on Pentecost. After they were filled with the Holy Spirit, things were never the same. And that brings us to the end of this message…

What is God’s Holy Spirit asking of you today?  As you go about your daily duties do you see things from God’s perspective?

March 29, 2009