Courage (Pastor Douglas Na'a, 08/02/25)

Father in heaven, speak to us this morning, we

ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Once again, it is a

privilege and an honor to be here at the Rainbow

Church. This is my first time here. We have a

beautiful facility. I drive by this road all

the time, and I've always wondered what this

church was like. As soon as I walked into Sandler

School, I thought to myself, I wonder what this

church is like. And the first announcement, to

my dismay, I was a bit discouraged, I saw on

the screen was... Potluck is next Saturday. I

said to myself, man, I should have come next

Saturday. Come on back. Maybe I'll come back

just for Potluck. How does that sound, right?

But it's good to see that there are still some

churches who hold on to the tradition of Potluck.

Potluck, friends, is more than the food. It's

more than just eating food. You know, I passed

it for a number of years, and I've said this

to my elders and my leaders. You know, Potluck

is not about the food. It's about connecting

with people. It's about fellowshipping with people.

And there may be times where the food will run

out. That's okay. Because it was never about

the food. And I'm so happy to see that some churches

are still holding on to the tradition of potluck.

It's a time to connect. It's a time to visit

with each other. And as the pastor, it's a time

for me to visit those that I couldn't visit during

the week. And so I just want to commend you for

that wonderful tradition that you're holding

on to, potluck. It's one of my favorite parts

of the Sabbath. Well, today I've entitled my

sermon, Courage. Courage. I've thought a lot

about this, and I've prayed about it. The Lord

has impressed upon my heart to preach on this

subject, this thing called courage. Ladies and

gentlemen, if truth be told, if you're honest

with yourself, and if we're honest with all of

ourselves, if we're honest with ourselves, and

if truth be told, we all admire courage. When

we see it, we have this great respect. When we

see courage being exemplified, it's an admiration.

And I believe that the reason why courage is

often admired is because it's a rarity. We hardly

see it. It's a virtue that's lacking not only

in our churches, not only in our families, but

also in society today. When I think of courage,

the metaphor that comes to mind, is a diamond

or diamonds. You see, when we see a diamond,

we're in awe. You know, we're amazed. We're excited.

Why? Because diamonds are a rarity. And the same

is often true when it comes to this virtue called

courage. It is a virtue that is lacking today.

It's a rarity. It's an anomaly. And I'm not just

making that based on pure observation. As a matter

of fact, research confirms it. There's a company,

a survey was done and conducted by HisCos in

partnership with Forbes Insiders insurance companies.

And what they did was they came together and

they wanted to measure the level of courage across

aspects of American life today. And this survey

was done over a span of 10 years. And they came

up with a metric system called ACI, American

Courage Index. And so they wanted to quantify,

they wanted to measure this thing called courage

in everyday American life. And over a span of

a decade, the final conclusion was, according

to the survey, is that in America, courage is

on the decline. Research confirms it. Courage

is on the decline. It's a rarity. It's a virtue

that's lacking today. As a matter of fact, another

independent research states that as courage is

declining, fear is increasing. What's very interesting,

according to this research, is that we are living

in the most safest era in Earth's history. And

what doesn't make sense according to these researchers

are why is it that we are living in the most

safest era when we talk about safety. Never before

have we had so many locks on our doors. Never

before have we had so many surveillance cameras.

We are living in the most safest era in earth's

history and yet fear is still increasing. That's

what boggles the mind of these researchers. But

here's the conundrum that I want to submit to

your attention. Courage is on the decline. Courage.

in the land of the free, in the home of the brave,

is declining. If there's ever a virtue that we

need in the Christian experience today, it is

courage. Without courage, victory is impossible.

Without courage, you cannot do the impossible.

Without courage... You cannot share your faith

without courage. You cannot tell others about

Jesus. If there's ever a time, Ringgold Church,

we need courage, it is now. Why? Well, first

and foremost, this is the reason why we need

courage. Because God commands it. God doesn't

suggest it. God doesn't make it an option. You

heard the scripture reading this morning in Joshua

Joshua 1:9

chapter 1 verse 9. Jesus said, God says, have

not I commanded you? Courage is a command. God

commands it of us. Be of good courage. He doesn't

suggest it. He doesn't request it. He says, have

not I commanded you? It's a command of God. It's

a virtue in the Bible that we often overlook,

but it has serious implications. It's crucial

and imperative to the well -being and the success

of the children of Israel in the Old Testament

and also to the spiritual children of the New

Testament. As a matter of fact, whenever you

often see the word courage, Be of good courage.

This is why God commanded courage. Please listen

to what I'm about to say next. This is why God

commanded courage in the Old Testament. Because

it is a life or death issue. We often just read

courage and we think, well, that's okay. But

if you read it in its context, when the 12 tribes

scattered the promised land, God commanded them

to be of good courage because it was a life or

death issue. Be of good courage. When the children

of Israel were to cross over to Canaan land,

God commanded them, be of good courage. Why?

Because it was a life or death issue. If we are

to prosper, if we are to triumph, if we are to

be successful in reaching out our community,

we must be of good courage. It's a life or death

issue. There are so many verses in scripture.

That we can read and we can see. But let me just

share with you a few of them here this morning.

Numbers. There's a plethora of promises, of commands

where God commands his people. Be of good courage.

Be of good courage. He doesn't request it. He

doesn't make it optional. He says be of good

courage. It's a life and death issue. And it's

a rarity these days. It's lacking. Numbers chapter

Numbers 13:20

13 verse 20. Let me read it to you. And be ye

of good courage and bring of the fruit of the

land. Deuteronomy 31 verse 6. Be strong and of

Deuteronomy 31:6

a good courage. Fear not nor be afraid of them.

Deuteronomy 31 verse 7. The Bible says, And Moses

Deuteronomy 31:7

called unto Joshua and said unto him in the sight

of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage.

For thou must go with this people unto the land

which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers

to give them. Deuteronomy 31 verse 23, And he

Deuteronomy 31:23

gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said,

Be strong and of a good courage, for thou shalt

bring the children of Israel into the land which

I promised you. Ezra chapter 10 verse 4, Arise,

Ezra 10:4

for this matter belongeth unto thee. We also

will be with thee. Be of good courage and do

it. You see, Satan knows that when we have courage,

he will be defeated. Be of good courage. Psalm

27 and verse 4. Wait on the Lord. Be of good

courage and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait,

I say, on the Lord. Psalm 31, 24. Be of good

courage, and he shall strengthen your heart,

all ye that hope in the Lord. Isaiah 41 verse

Isaiah 41:6

6, they helped everyone his neighbor. Everyone

said unto his brother, be of good courage. You

see, this phrase, be of good courage, is written

in a way that we're not supposed to just say

it to ourselves. We're supposed to encourage

each other with it. We turn to our brother, turn

to our sister and say, brother, be of good courage.

Be of good courage. That should be a habitual

thing. Be of good courage. First thing you wake

up in the morning, tell yourself, be of good

courage in the Lord. First person you see at

church, brother, happy Sabbath, be of good courage.

Would you say amen to that? This statement, this

promise is not confined, nor was it designed

to be kept to yourself. It was meant to be shared.

You imagine being on the receiving end and someone

comes up to you and says, brother, be of good

courage. Right? Turn to your brother. Be of good

courage. You see, Satan wants your mind. I was

reading a psychology paper and I came across

this very interesting statement that I want to

excerpt from it. It had this one -liner and it

said in this psychology paper, it said, Courage

is a buffer to mental illness. Courage is a buffer.

To mental illness. According to a survey of 1

,000 soldiers in a brigade unit in the Iraq war,

the results show that in this survey that brave,

courageous soldiers who were, the results show

that courageous soldiers who were able to effectively

handle or regulate fear and show courage showed

less. Combat fatigue showed less anger and showed

less post -traumatic stress. Courage. Courage

is a buffer to mental illness. You see, if there's

anything that Satan wants, Satan wants control

of your mind. The battle of the great controversy

we all know, yes, it's the battle between truth

and error. But the battle of the great controversy

is the battle over our mind. Who has our mind?

Who has your mind? For the servant of the Lord

tells us that out of our mind come our actions.

Out of our thoughts come our words and our actions.

And the more we repeat our actions, those actions...

become our habits. And the servant of the Lord

tells us that our habits lay the foundation of

our character and our character determines our

destiny. And Satan will do anything that he can

to control your mind. And if it means destroying

courage, he will do that. If it means crushing

your courage, He will do that. That's the reason

why, friends, Satan is not concerned about your

destiny. Satan is not concerned about your character.

Satan is not concerned about what you do. Satan

wants your mind. Because once he has your mind,

he has your actions. He has your character. Once

he has your mind, he has your destiny. That's

the reason why the Bible says, let this mind

be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Courage.

Satan wants control of your mind and he will

do anything that he can to crush your courage.

It has an effect on your mind. Now I want to

make it very clear. I want to be very specific

and precise when I use the word courage. Because

courage is often used very openly. So let me

just kind of define what I mean by courage. And

let me define courage by telling you what courage

is not. I don't know if you think like me sometimes.

Sometimes in order for you to know something,

I've got to know what it's not. Do you guys think

like me? I've got to find out what this is what

it's not. By process of elimination, if this

is what it's not, then this is what it must be.

So let me define courage from that perspective.

This is what courage is not. Courage is not confidence.

There's a difference between courage and confidence.

You see, when someone is confident, confidence...

means that you have no fear. You're confident.

If someone were to stand up here and sing or

preach, and they were to sing and preach confidently,

they have no fear. They preach confidently. Right?

Confidence is the absence of fear. They're so

confident in what they do. That's not courage.

So let's not mix up the difference between courage

and confidence. Courage, on the other hand, listen,

courage... is mindful of that fear, and yet you

proceed to do it. That's what courage is. Courage

is acknowledging the fact that you're fearful

to do something, but you go ahead and do it anyhow.

Can anybody resonate with that? Right? Let's

take, for example, singing. Someone can stand

here and sing with confidence, and at the same

time, standing next to that person is someone

singing with courage. One person has no fear.

The other person has fear, but yet they still

proceed with it. Right? So courage is not the

absence of fear. Courage is the presence of fear,

but yet you still move ahead with it. That's

courage. You know, if there's ever a place I

learned, I started in my ministry learning courage,

it was when I was a literature evangelist. When

I was a coal porter. You know? When I had to

go knock on those doors. It took a lot of courage,

and we would knock on about 70, 80 doors a day.

Each door, each door, each door taught me to

be courageous. Each door, right? You have this

internal fear that they might do something, but

yet you still proceed along with it because someone

needs to know about Jesus. So courage is not

the removal of fear. Courage acknowledges fear,

but yet still proceeds with it. Tell you what

courage is not. is not recklessness I was driving

the other day and as I was driving on interstate

75 I saw this car group of young people they

were weaving between the cars they were going

at least at least 130 miles an hour and they

were just weaving from car to car and I could

see the young people inside they were high -fiving

each other and I could probably I could probably

see and listen to their conversation saying to

the driver, wow, that was courageous of you to

dodge that truck. Friends, that's not courage,

that's stupidity. So let's not mix up courage

and stupidity. Courage and recklessness, that's

presumption. I want to make it very clear what

courage is not. Courage is not coercion. If you

are forced to take an action, that's not courage.

If you are forced to stand up here and sing so

you can have someone singing with confidence

and standing next to that person is someone who's

singing with courage and then standing next to

that person is someone who's being coerced to

sing. You see, in order for courage to be genuine,

it must be a voluntary act. Or a choice. That's

courage. Courage is not when you are forced to

do something. And we see in scripture the display

of courage. The three Hebrew boys, they refused

to bow down to the image. That's courage. Not

because they were forced to do it, but because

they chose to. They loved their God so much that

they willingly surrendered their life to God.

Jesus displayed courage. No one forced Jesus

to go to the cross. Courage is not coercion.

He laid down his life voluntarily. That's courage.

When we think of courage, we often think of physical

courage, emotional courage. But I want to make

it very clear what kind of courage I'm talking

about this morning. If there's ever a courage

that matters, it's moral courage. That's the

kind of courage that will get us into glory land.

No other courage matters. That's the kind of

courage that Ellen White says the greatest one

of the world is the one of men. Men who will

not be bought or sold. And when she talks about

men, she's not talking about the gender man.

She's talking about mankind. The greatest one

of the world are men and women who will not be

bought or sold. Men who will call sin by its

right name. Men whose true to duty is a needle

to the pole. That's moral courage. That's the

kind of courage we need today. And courage, I

believe, when I analyze courage and I think about

courage in our everyday life, I truly believe

that courage should be our first virtue. If you

want to be successful, it takes courage. If you

want to learn and explore new things, you've

got to have courage, yes or no. If you want to

forgive your neighbor, You've got to have courage

to call that person up. You've got to have courage

to cross over to the other side and shake their

hand and talk to them. It takes courage. If you

want to reconcile with someone that has offended

you, it takes courage. If you want to discover

truth, it's going to take some courage, my brother.

When I didn't grow up an Adventist, I grew up

a Methodist. I'll tell you if there's one truth.

that I needed courage to accept. It was the Sabbath.

Now for those of you who were born and raised

in the church, you may not realize this, but

for those of you who did not grow up in Adventist,

you probably can resonate with this. You see,

in order for me to accept the Sabbath, I had

to reject Sunday. And that takes courage. Can

you resonate with me? It takes courage to discover

truth. It takes courage. In order for me to accept

that my body is the temple of the living God,

I've got to reject certain kinds of foods. That

takes courage. So you see, dear friends, courage

is the first virtue. If you want to love your

enemy, it's going to take courage. If you want

to grow your church, it's going to take courage.

If you want to do evangelism, it's going to take

courage. You can have a nice articulated vision

for your church. But it takes courage to act

on that vision. You can have board meetings all

day long. And you can come up with nice agendas.

But it's going to take courage to implement those

agendas. Courage. Greatest one of the world is

the one of men. Courage is the first virtue.

One of the most encouraging promises in scripture.

I'm coming to a close here. Joshua chapter 1

Joshua 1:9

verse 9. Listen to this. God says, have not I.

I've often wondered about this and I've asked

myself, why is this in a question form? Why is

it in a statement? Why doesn't just God come

out directly and say, Joshua, be of good courage.

But instead the Bible words it in a question

form. It says, have not I commanded thee? And

I can't help but think that the reason why God

puts it in question form is because Often times

we easily forget. And so God will have to keep

reminding us. Didn't I command you? Didn't I

command you? Be of good courage. Don't you remember?

What was it that Joshua was supposed to remember?

You see 40 years earlier. This was the same word

that God gave Joshua. When they were about to

scalp Canaan land. Be of good courage. And so

here in Joshua chapter 1 verse 9. God was reminding

Joshua 1:9

Joshua. Of what he told him in Numbers chapter

Numbers 13 · chapter mention

13. Didn't I tell you? Before you were to go

and scout this new territory. Be of good courage.

May you never forget that. We have nothing to

fear for the future. Except we forget how God

has led us in the past. Have not I reminded you?

Be of good courage. Be of good courage. Joshua

and Caleb displays this courage. One of the things

we must remember. Courage doesn't come by just

walking out there and says, well, I'm going to

have courage. Courage rests upon God's word.

Here in this book is the source of courage. When

you spend time in God's word, when you make this

book top priority in your life, you will find

and you will notice your courage being strengthened.

Day by day. No other book can give you courage

like this book right here. I often have to remind

my students every now and then what the pen of

inspiration says. Ellen White says, no other

book can do to your mind what this book can do.

No other subject can do to your human brain what

this subject can do. The subject of redemption.

She says, no other book can do to your human

brain. She says, this book, this subject. can

expand the faculties of your mind. And I say

that with all respect to all the other disciplines

that are being taught in university, but know

what a subject can do to your human brain, what

this subject can do. And it's the same as courage.

There are psychology books on courage. There

are magazines on courage. But if you want godly

courage, here's the source right here. I believe

as we're about to embark in the next few weeks

with this upcoming evangelistic meeting, I'm

convinced we already have all the knowledge.

We just need courage. We have all the light.

We need courage. Would you say amen? We've sermonized.

We've taught. We've listened to Sabbath school.

We have this podcast, that podcast. With this

media ministry, we have all the knowledge and

information on how to do evangelism. Let's step

out in courage. And let's put these things into

practice and the Lord will bless. May God bless

us. May God keep us as we pray for the success

of these evangelistic meetings. It's going to

take courage. It's going to take courage for

you to step out in faith and invite someone to

give a Bible study, to receive a Bible study.

It's going to take courage for you to invite

someone to these meetings. Yes, you will be ridiculed.

You will be misunderstood. You will be tired.

But be of good courage. And the Lord will bless.

This courage can only come from the Lord. How

many of you today want to say, Lord, give me

that courage? I don't have that courage in and

of my own self. I need that courage from you.

Is that your prayer this morning? That's my prayer

too. Let's pray. Father in heaven, give us the

courage that we don't have, that only comes from

your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.