\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload Audio\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Matthew 10:32-39<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. Allen Webster tells the following story,<\/p>\n A. “The municipal auditorium was full. The speech by the noted atheist was\npowerful. After a bombardment of the Bible, there came a moment of choice. If\nyou still believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, stand up and be counted. The\nsilence was overwhelming. Surely someone would stand. Then toward the back\nof the room, two young girls stood and with tears in their eyes and a quiver in\ntheir voices, began to sing, “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus.” Within a few\nmoments the entire auditorium was echoing Christ’s name because there were two\nwho dared to stand up and be counted.”\n B. When we talk about confession, we do not refer to a one time action that must be\ndone before we can be baptized.\n
1. We must support Jesus before a world who denies Him.<\/p>\n
2. Matthew 10:32-33 – If we deny Him, He will deny us.<\/p>\n
3. Paul was prepare to defend the faith – Philippians 1:6-7,12-14<\/p>\n
4. Jude said to contend for the faith – Jude 3<\/p>\n
5. Peter said to be ready to answer – I Peter 3:15<\/p>\n
C. All this requires courage<\/p>\n
II. A Queen’s Courage<\/p>\n A. The book of Esther tells of a Jewish girl who marries King Ahasuerus, thus\nbecoming Queen of Persia. \n 1. She was called to make a stand for her people. A decree was issued by\nAhasuerus at the suggestion of his Prime Minister, Haman, that would\nallow Haman to destroy all the Jews and take their possessions.\n a. Mordecai, an officer in the king’s court and former guardian of\nEsther, learned of the decree and encouraged Esther to go before\nthe king to plead for the Jews.\n b. According to Persian law, if a person went uninvited before the\nking’s throne, he could be executed. This includes the queen.\n c. Nevertheless, Esther took the chance of not being invited by the\nking to save her people.\n
d. Mordecai encouraged her – Esther 4:14 and she agreed Esther 4:15-16<\/p>\n e. She appeared before the king and the king acknowledged her by\nraising her scepter, thus sparing her. She invited the king and\nHaman to a banquet.\n f. During the banquet and a subsequent one, she made a formal plea\nto save her people and also exposed Haman’s wicked conspiracy.\n 2. In the end, the Jews were granted the right to defend themselves. The\nJews were successful, Haman was killed, and the nation was saved.\n
B. We need voices lifted against the wicked “Hamans” of our world.<\/p>\n 1. Who knows if whether you are come to this place for just such a time as\nthis?\n 2. God can use you to make a difference in your family, your workplace, your\ncongregation, your school, your community, and your friends.\n 3. But you have to have the courage to go before others, to raise up your\nvoice, and put your reputation on the line.\n 4. You can’t always follow the crowd. “He who walks in another’s tracks\nleaves no footprints.”\n
III. A Spy’s Courage<\/p>\n
A. Joshua was one of the world’s greatest military leaders.<\/p>\n
1. In his younger years, he was a spy.<\/p>\n a. Returning from a mission in Canaan, only he and an older man\nnamed Caleb had faith to believe the Israelites could conquer\nCanaan.\n b. In front of an angry crowd, they declared they could take the land\n(Numbers 13:30-31; 14:6-10). They stood alone, but they stood\nfirm.\n
2. Later, he lead the Israelites in conquering Canaan.<\/p>\n
a. The first and greatest battle was at Jericho – Joshua 6<\/p>\n b. Because they trusted God’s “foolish” plan, they won a tremendous\nvictory.\n (1) Perhaps they looked silly marching around the city, once a\nday for six days.\n (2) Imagine the insults hurled from the walls: “What’s the\nmatter? Too chicken to storm the walls?”\n (3) On day seven, they marched around seven times, blew their\ntrumpets and yelled. The people of Jericho must have been\nreally laughing now.\n (4) Then the walls started shaking and rocks started falling and\nthe walls came tumbling down. (The laughing stopped\nabout here.)\n (5) Israel stormed the city, destroying everyone except Rahab\nand her family.\n
B. To stand up for Jesus, we may have to stand out.<\/p>\n
1. We may look silly to those around us<\/p>\n
a. We won’t dress in worldly fashions – I Timothy 2:9<\/p>\n
b. We won’t laugh at their dirty jokes – Ephesians 5:4, Colossians 3:8<\/p>\n c. We won’t go to their bars and provocative dances – Proverbs 20:1;\nGalatians 5:19-21\n d. We won’t cheat on tests or on our income tax forms – Romans\n12:17\n e. We won’t watch their sensual entertainment – I Peter 2:11;\nMatthew 5:27-28\n 2. They may think us odd. They may hurl insults at us. But the seventh day\nis coming! The victory is assured, for God always wins. We just have to\nremain on the winning team.\n
IV. A Deacon’s Courage<\/p>\n A. Stephen was one of seven deacons appointed to look after the daily care of the\npoor widows in the church. – Acts 6:1-6\n
1. He was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit – Acts 6:5<\/p>\n 2. Undoubtedly, he was well liked due to his work with the poor, but he had\nsome strong opinions.\n
B. Stephen stood up for Jesus in the synagogue.<\/p>\n 1. When the Jews could not refute his defense of Jesus, they hired men to\nmisrepresent his character.\n
2. At his trial, Stephen made a ringing defense of Christianity – Acts 7<\/p>\n
3. The Jews became angry – Acts 7:57-58<\/p>\n 4. Stephen stood boldly until his dying breath. He dies asking the Lord, “Lay\nnot this sin to their charge” – Acts 7:60\n
C. Would we be willing to die for what we believe?<\/p>\n 1. Is worshiping according to the New Testament pattern that important to\nus?\n
a. Would we stand quietly by while others alter the worship?<\/p>\n
b. Or would we stand against it? – Revelation 22:18-19<\/p>\n 2. The law of Christianity never commands us to play an instrument in\nworship – Colossians 3:17\n
a. If someone brought one in, would we oppose the addition? <\/p>\n 3. If a woman got up to lead a pray in the assembly or to teach a lesson to the\ncongregation (I Corinthians 14:34, I Timothy 2:11-14), would we take a\nstand against it?\n
D. If people violate God’s Will, then they sin.<\/p>\n 1. If we allow it to take place without opposition, then we have sinned too. \nRomans 1:32\n
V. Will you stand up for Jesus now? In the end He will stand up for you.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Download Audio by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 10:32-39 I. Allen Webster tells the following story, A. “The municipal auditorium was full. The speech by the noted atheist was powerful. After a bombardment of the Bible, there came a moment of choice. If you still believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, stand up…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[1126,1219,564,864],"class_list":["post-63507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-courage","tag-esther","tag-joshua","tag-stephen"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22219,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-peter-follow-jesus-in-matthew-2628\/","url_meta":{"origin":63507,"position":0},"title":"Why did Peter follow Jesus in Matthew 26:28?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 17, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did Peter follow Jesus in Matthew 26:28? 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