COURAGE AND ENTHUSIASM
Be strong and of a good courage (Joshua 1:6, 7, 9, 18).
I shall take for my subject today only two words, courage and enthusiasm--necessary qualifications for successful work in the Lord's service. In Joshua 1, four different times God tells Joshua to be of good courage. He says that if he was of good courage, no man should be able to stand before him all the days of his life. We read of Joshua that in the evening of his life he was successful, and that no man was able to stand before him all his days. God fulfilled His promise. God kept His word.
But see how careful God is to instruct him on this one point. Four times in one chapter He says to him, "Be of good courage; and then you shall prosper, then you shall have good success." I have yet to find that God ever uses a person that is all the time looking on the dark side, and is all the time talking about the obstacles and looking at them, and is discouraged and cast down, people that go around with their head down like a bulrush, looking at obstacles and talking about darkness all the time. If we are going to succeed, we have to be of good courage. The moment we get our eyes on God and remember who He is, that He has all power in heaven and earth, and that it is God who commands us to work in His vineyard, then we will have courage given us.
The Bible gives us two examples: Moses and Elijah. If you take your Bibles and look carefully through them, you will see that people who have left their mark behind them, people who have been successful in winning souls to Christ, have all been people of courage like Moses and Elijah.
You will notice that, after Moses had been among the Egyptians for 40 years, he thought the time had come for him to commence his work of delivering the captives. Without consulting God, the first thing we hear is that he was looking this way and that way to see is somebody saw him. He was not fit for God's work. God had to take him on the back side of the desert for 40 years. Then God was ready to send him, and Moses then looked but one way. God sent him down into Egypt. Moses had boldness now, and he went right before the King of Egypt. He had courage, and God could use him. But it took him 40 years to learn this lesson: He must have courage and boldness to be a fit vessel for the Master's use.
Next, we find Elijah on Mount Carmel, full of boldness.
- How the Lord used him!
- How the Lord stood by him!
- How the Lord blessed him!
But when he got his eyes off the Lord, and Jezebel sent a message to him that she would have his life, he got afraid. He was not afraid of Ahab and the whole royalty, and he was not afraid of the whole nation. When he stood on Mount Carmel alone, see what courage he had! But what came over him I don’t know, unless it was that he got his eyes off the Lord. When one woman gave him that message, he got frightened. God had to go to him and ask him what he was doing, and that he was not fit for God's purpose.
I think that the trouble with a good many of God's people is that we get frightened, and we are afraid to speak to others about their souls. We lack moral courage, and if we hear the voice of God speaking to us and saying, "Run and speak to people about Jesus," we will go to them, meaning to do it, yet we will really talk to him about everything else and dare not talk about their souls. When we begin to invite people to Christ is when the work begins. It won't begin until we have the courage given us and are ready to go and speak with them about their souls. We read that when the apostles were brought before the council, they perceived their boldness, and it made an impression on the council. The Lord could use them then, because they were fearless and bold. Look at Peter on Pentecost, when he charged the murder of the Son of God upon the Jews. A little while before he had got out of God’s will, and one little maid had scared him nearly out of his life, so that he swore he didn't know Christ. Ah! He had his eyes off the Master, and the moment we get our eyes off Christ we get disheartened and God cannot use us.
I took down my Bible and read about Noah. The thought came over me: "Here is a man that toiled and worked 120 years and didn't get discouraged. If he did, the Holy Spirit didn't put it on record." A few years ago I got discouraged and I said,
- If the Lord wants me to work without any fruit, I will work on even when few people come forward during the Sunday morning invitation—but maybe they will come to me in private.
- Noah worked 120 years, and he never saw a prayer meeting outside of his own family.
- Noah preached so many, many years and didn't get a convert, yet he was not discouraged.
- He worked 120 years, and he never had a man come to him trusting God, and yet he didn't get discouraged.
I made up my mind then that, God helping me, I would never get discouraged. I would do the best I could and leave the results with God. This has been a wonderful help to me even though frustrating sometimes sets in.
What we want is to have Christians come out and take their stand. I find a great many professed Christians who are ashamed to acknowledge that they are saved. If we are going to be successful, we have got to take our stand for God and let the world and everyone know we are on the Lord's side. That is what we want. The time is coming when the line must be drawn, and those on Christ's side must take their stand. The moment we come out boldly and acknowledge Christ, then people will begin to inquire what they must do to be saved. AMEN?
Then there is a class of people that are not warm enough. I don’t think a little enthusiasm would hurt the church at the present time. I think we need it. I know the world will cry out against it. Business people may cry out against religious enthusiasm. But let stocks go up 15 or 20 percent, and see what a revival there would be in business. We can have enthusiasm in business or in politics, and no one complains of that. A person can have enthusiasm in everything else, but the moment that a little fire gets into the church they raise the cry, "Ah, enthusiasm--false excitement--I am afraid of it." I do not want false excitement, but I do think we want a little fire, a little enthusiasm. That is negative. I believe that it won't hurt us to have a lot of this enthusiasm and zeal in the Lord's work. We have got to work, because there are so many unsaved people. And then the question of pride comes up. We have got to lay all that aside, and we have got to be helpers.
Yes, let us have an enthusiasm in the church. Let us do anything so that the work of God may go on, and when we get there, God will bless us. (Deuteronomy 32:30) Now, if a few should lay hold of God in this way, see what a great army soon will be saved in this city! But, then, we have got to be people after God's own heart. We cannot be lukewarm. We have got to be on fire with the cause of Christ. We have got to have more of this enthusiasm that will carry us into the Lord's work. If there is going to be a great revival. It isn’t going to be in this building. It has got to be done by people talking to their neighbors. There isn't a skeptic, there isn't a drunkard, but what can be reclaimed, if we come with desire in our hearts.
That is the kind of zeal we want. We will work until Jesus comes, and then we w.il.l rise with Him. If people are willing to die for patriotism, why can they not have the same zeal for Christ? All that Abraham Lincoln had to do was to call for men, and how speedily they came. When he called for 600,000 men, how quickly they sprang up all over the nation. Aren't souls worth more than this republic? Aren't souls worth more than this government? Don't we want 600,000 people? If 60 persons should come forward, whose hearts were right red-hot for the Son of God, we would be able to see what mighty results would follow. Each one would then bring others to Christ and so on.
During war, the generals who were all the time on the defensive never succeeded. Generals that were successful were the generals that were on the aggressive. Some of our churches think they are doing remarkably well if they hold their membership; and they think, if they have three or four conversions in that church during the year, that that is remarkable work. They think it is enough to supply the places of those who have died, and of those who have wandered away during the past. It seems to me we ought to bring hundreds and hundreds to Christ. The time has come for us to have a war on the side of aggression.
- There may be barriers in our path, but God can remove them.
- There may be a mountain in our way, but God can take us over the mountain.
- There may be difficulties in the way, but He can overcome them.
Our God is above them all. If the church of God is ready to advance, all obstacles will be removed. No person ever sent by God ever failed, but self must be lost sight of. We must be willing to lay down our lives for the cause of Christ. Oh, that God may baptize us with the spirit of enthusiasm! That He may anoint us today with the Holy Spirit! Let me say to some of you men--I see some gray hair who, I have no doubt, are saying: "I wish I was young again; I would like to help in this work: I would like to work for the Lord. If you cannot give a day to this work, give an hour; or if not an hour, five minutes. If you have not strength to do anything personally, you can pray for this work. Now, it is a good deal better to do that than it is to stand off doing nothing.
All should work, and ask God's guidance no matter what your age. If you cannot go into the heat of the battle yourself, if you cannot go into the harvest field and work day after day, you can cheer those that ate working for the Master. I see many old people in their old days, get crusty and sour, and they discourage everyone they meet by their fault-finding. That is not helpful. You don't know how much you may do by just speaking kindly to those that are willing to work and keeping them in your prayers.
Now, you can all do something in this work of saving souls. There is not a mother, father, nor wife, there is not a young man in all the city, but what ought to be in sympathy with this work. We have come here to try to save souls. I never heard of one that was brought to Christ that it injured them. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us with courage and enthusiasm and that we may be of one spirit, as they were on the Day of Pentecost.
I pray that
- Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and
- that you are being rooted and grounded in love, and
- you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is breadth and length and height and depth and
- you know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge and
- that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
In this,
- may you do your part to tell others about Christ and
- use your spiritual gifts to further the work of the church.
