Hey, today I'm going to talk about the importance of this trait of courage. I love this quote from Aristotle. Aristotle said, courage is the first virtue because it's the virtue that makes all the other virtues possible.
In these coming days, what kind of traits do we need? It's interesting what he said. He said, number one, you're going to need courage.
Number two, you're going to need critical thinking skills because that's been lost in America. I believe that. We need courage. We need boldness to stand for the truth. I know what the ladies are saying. Here he goes again, talking to all the men about being bold, strong men of God. Listen, you ladies are going to need this trait as much as we men are.
I don't want to answer stuff that much, but I remember last year. This is on the news. I saw this on WRAL. There's a lady that had pastored or started a church in a very liberal part of Durham. It came out that she has conservative views when it comes to marriage and family. Man, they were giving her all kinds of grief.
I don't know if you read about this or not. It was interesting. She was very kind.
She was very nice, but she boldly said, no, we're standing on the truth. I thought, man, she's got more guts than most male pastors I know. Ladies, you need to have this trait as well. We really push missions.
I don't know this phenomenon. We're seeing more and more young ladies go into global missions. Ladies, are you all going to go change the world for Jesus Christ in global missions?
You're going to have to have courage and boldness as well. I have noticed through the years about courageous people, and John the Baptist is exhibit A of this. In fact, Jesus said about John the Baptist, he was the greatest man who ever lived.
Did you know that? What are some of these traits of courage that I see in John the Baptist? Well, in Matthew 11, 17, Jesus is just basically summarizing John the Baptist's ministry. Here's what he asked of the crowd. He said, hey, crowd, when you all went out into the desert to see John the Baptist, what did you go out into the wilderness to see?
A reed shaken in the wind? In other words, did you go out to see a man that kind of bends with the currents of culture? If culture says this is right, okay, I'll go along with culture just like a weed in the wind. No, no, if culture says, no, we've changed our mind, this is right, okay, then I'll change my view.
Is that what you went out to see? John the Baptist wasn't like that, which tells me the very first trait of courage is this. Men and women of courage don't compromise. They don't bend with the culture. The days are rapidly approaching where we're going to have to stand up instead of blending in, stand strong instead of bound with culture, and it's easier to compromise, to wimp out, to change our theology, to just go along with the culture.
I know that's the easier route. Just ask Amy Grant, but that's what's happening in the church in America. If you're going to be courageous, you're going to have to stand strong and not compromise, and we saw this this past week. Ivan Provarov was born in Russia. He came to America when he was 13 years old.
He's a Christian, and last week, as a player in the National Hockey League, Provarov was told, hey, tonight is gay pride night at the NHL, and so you're going to need to wear this rainbow gay pride jersey. And I loved his response. He said, I'm not mean. I'm not trying to be nasty. I want people to live whatever lives they want to live.
That's fine. I'm not telling you how to live your life, but he said, as a Christian, I can't compromise. I can't wear the jersey. He said, if I wanted to support the LGBT community, I'd go shopping at H&M. He didn't say that, but anyway, he said, I can't do this, and all hell broke loose.
He was called all kinds of names, and one NHL National Hockey League analyst said this, that team, if they can't force him to put on that gay pride jersey, they need to be fined a million dollars. And then he said, maybe he should just go back to Russia where he came from. Okay, maybe he should go back to Russia where he came from. Imagine instead of being from Russia, this was a brother in Christ, a Bible-believing NHL player from Kenya. And that analyst had said, maybe he should just go back to Africa where he came from.
You think that analyst would have a job today? But it's open season on Christians, and it seems like society is going along with this. See, we all like to think that if we lived in the 1940s, we'd be Oscar Schindler. What we're finding out in our society today is most Americans are going along with the Nazis, honestly, is what would have happened. And so if you're going to be a woman or a man of courage, that means, number one, you don't compromise.
Let's look at some more traits of courageous people. Turn to Mark 6, if you would. We've been going through the Gospel of Mark.
We're now at Mark 6. Mark 6, 14 and following, this is the only account in the Gospel of Mark that's not about Jesus. Every other account, it's about Jesus.
This one, it's about John the Baptist. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him. But others said, no, he's Elijah. And others said, no, he's a prophet, like one of the prophets of old. But when Herod heard it, he said, John, John the Baptist, whom I have beheaded, has been raised.
Now look at this. It says in verse 14, when Herod heard of it, what is it? You remember not last week, but the week before. We talked about how Jesus sent out his 12 disciples and said, go into all these villages, preach repentance. Cast out demons and heal the sick.
Y'all remember that a couple weeks ago? So evidently they did the job that Jesus told them to do, and now the name of Jesus is just all over the place. And that's what Herod has heard about. He said, who's this Jesus guy? He must be John the Baptist that I beheaded. Now look at verse 17. Verse 17 and on, this is a flashback. In other words, the readers are like, okay, Mark, when did John get his head chopped off by Herod? And so now Mark is going into a flashback here. And he says in verse 17, for it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her. Now stick with me.
I've got to explain to you what's going on here. If you look at Mark 1 14, Luke chapter 3 verses 19 through 20, if you look at this, it says basically right after Jesus is baptized is when Herod put John the Baptist in prison. So John the Baptist has been in prison for about a year now. And he's probably being kept, we're not sure, but tradition says it's at this fortress. It's called Makaris. Makaris is not in Israel. It's right across the border from Israel in Jordan.
And there was a fortress at the top of this little mountain, and now they're actually starting to excavate that more and more. So this is probably where John the Baptist has been held for a year. Herod, it calls him a, here's the word, a tetrarch. That means a ruler of one fourth of the kingdom. Because Herod, this is Herod Antipas, his father was Herod the Great.
Have you ever heard of him before? He's the one that killed all the babies in Bethlehem. That's his father. His father served under the Roman emperor Tiberius for about 42 years. When Herod the Great died, they divided Herod the Great's kingdom into four parts. And this guy, Herod the Great, Herod Antipas, his son, got one fourth of the kingdom. Now, he had a lot of brothers, and one of his brothers was a man named Philip. Philip was a private citizen. He was disinherited.
We don't know why he was disinherited. And so Philip is living in Rome. So Herod is married to this lady.
His brother Philip lives in Rome. Philip in Rome is married to this wicked lady called Herodias. Herodias was his niece.
There was a lot of incest in the Herodian dynasty. And so one day Herod Antipas, this Herod, goes to Rome to visit his brother Philip. And while there, he sees Philip, his brother's wife, Herodias. She sees Herod and have an affair. And so she leaves Philip. She abandons him in Rome. Herod Antipas divorces his wife, and they hook up, and now they're married to each other. So that's what's going on here. That story.
It's interesting. If you look at verse 17, the Bible doesn't call Herodias Herod's wife. Did you know this? Did you notice verse 17, it says the wife of Philip, his brother. Almost as if the Bible says we're not even going to acknowledge the legitimacy of this marriage.
This shouldn't have even happened. Okay, so that's what's going on. Verse 18. For John, John the Baptist, here's what he's been saying to Herod, Herod Antipas. He said, hey, what you're doing is wrong.
It is not biblically lawful for you to split up your brother's marriage and take his wife. It's wrong. Which leads me to the second trait of courageous people. Courageous people speak the truth. Romans 13 says keep your mouth shut. Just do whatever the government says, right? That's not how John interpreted Romans 13.
John says no. Sometimes the people of God have got to be a prophetic voice to the government and say what you're doing is wrong, and I'm going to be that prophetic voice. If you take your marriage and start speaking up, you better be aware of two phrases that are floating around in our culture.
First phrase is this. The First Amendment doesn't protect hate speech. Actually, you may not like this. The First Amendment does protect hate speech. It doesn't protect speech that only the liberals like. No, the First Amendment protects all kinds of speech.
Now, here's the issue. Who gets to define hate speech? You're saying Jesus is the only way to salvation. That sounds like hate speech. It's not. But it sounds like hate speech against all the other religions out there. Do they get to define that as hate speech?
Marriage is between one man and one woman. That might be hate speech because that might hurt somebody else's feelings. So you need to understand there's this thing floating on out there, and again, they're setting us up, okay? The second phrase, if you're going to start speaking up for what's right and have courage, you've got to be aware of this phrase is this. Well, you know, hate speech is violence.
Hate speech is just as violent as if you took your hand and punched somebody. And again, it's a setup. Let me give you an example of this. I just read about this yesterday. Matthew Gretch is a Christian who lives in Malta, the nation of Malta. He recently gave an interview, and during this interview, he just shared his testimony about how God delivered him from homosexuality. I was a practicing homosexual.
I came to Jesus Christ. The Lord forgave me. He broke me out of homosexuality, and he just kind of makes a comment about that. As a result of that interview, he is now going to go on trial in Malta on February 3rd for violating their law against conversion therapy.
If Matthew Gretch is convicted, he could spend five months in prison and a $5500 fine. Just because he said Jesus delivered me from homosexuality? Well, yeah, because the idea is your speech is just as bad as violence, and that kind of speech foments violence against homosexuals.
Therefore, put them in prison. So it sounds really nice to say let's speak up for the truth, but you need to understand there is a counter movement in our culture to speak the truth of God. But at some point, beloved, if you call yourself a courageous woman or man of God, you're going to have to say, you have to speak up. The days of silence are slowly coming to a close, and I love how John said this. Do you see this in verse 18?
John is very simple and to the point. Here's all he says. Look at verse 18. All he said to Herod was this. What you're doing is morally wrong.
That's not right. He didn't throw furniture. He didn't spit. He didn't slobber.
He didn't start. He just said, Hey, Herod, what you're doing is wrong. Simple, clean, and to the point. In fact, I read this verse a while back. I've read the Bible before, and I can't believe I'd always skimmed over this verse. But Ecclesiastes 917 says this. Listen to this. Better to hear the quiet words of a wise person than the shouts of a foolish king. John just quietly, to the point, says this isn't right.
Saw an example of this last week, week before. There's a lady named Kristen Hawkins. She is evidently a conservative, pro-life, I don't know. I don't know what she was doing at this university, but she was lecturing at Western Washington University in this class. She had this class, these liberal kids at Western Washington University, and for some reason, Kristen Hawkins is just kind of talking, very low-key, to the point, and I don't know if she's talking about reproductive rights. I don't know what she's talking about. But somehow, the phrase, uteruses, uteri, whatever plural is, comes up, and she's talking, and this bladder-mouthed girl raised her hand.
She says, Let me ask you a question. You keep talking about uteruses as if only women have uteruses. Men and women can have uteruses as well. And I love what Kristen Hawkins said.
She wasn't mean, she says, she's kind of looking for that. She says, Because only women have uteruses. And then the blabber-mouthed, No! Men can have uteruses. I have a uterus, and I identify as a man. And the speaker said, Well, hon, if you have a uterus, you're not a man. You're a woman.
And that Kristen Hawkins, and she wasn't smirking, she wasn't being sarcastic, but I watched her, and she kind of backed up, and she had this little smile on her face, like she loved the sight of seeing liberal heads explode all over the place. But I love how she did this. Very simple, to the point, not argumentative. Honey, if you have a uterus, you're not a man.
You're a woman. She just said what everybody, 100% of people, would have agreed with five years ago. That's all she did. And that's what John the Baptist does. I'm not going to argue with you on this. Herod, what you did, that's morally wrong. You shouldn't have taken your brother's wife. And you and I are about to do that in this coming culture.
In this current that we're seeing, it's going to take some men and women of God, of courage, to say, very simply, I'm not arguing with you. Honey, if you take your little kindergarten kid to a drag queen story hour, you're not a good parent. You're actually a bad parent. You can't say, I'm not going to argue with you.
You're just a bad parent. Hey, if you think it's perfectly fine for a full-term baby to have its brains sucked out, there's something wrong with you. Murder is wrong. I'm not going to argue with you. I'm just telling you how it is. Hey, marriage is between one man and one woman.
You can do all your gay mirage stuff all you want, but it's a mirage. I'm just telling you, I'm not going to argue marriage is between a man and a woman. This is what John the Baptist did.
He's a courageous man who just spoke the truth. Look at verses 19 through 20. And Herodias, now remember who she is. She's left her husband, Philip. She's shacked up with Herod. This is Herodias. Herodias had a grudge against him, against John, and wanted to put him to death. But she could not.
Why? For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, listen to this, Herod was greatly perplexed and yet heard him gladly.
Now that's amazing. So there evidently would be nights where Herod would slip down into that prison cell and say, John the Baptist, talk to me. And John the Baptist would tell him the truth and Herod is like, I don't understand really what you're saying, but I love hearing the truth. It's so refreshing to hear somebody who actually believes in something. And listen to me. This gives me the third trait of courageous people. And I want you to jot this down.
It's kind of a complex thing, not complex, but I'm going to try to explain this. Third trait of courageous people is this. They pursue righteousness. Verse 20, John the Baptist is called a holy and righteous man. He's not perfect.
He makes mistakes like us. He sins like us. But John is a man that pursues holiness, pursues righteousness.
So here's what I want you to see. There is a correlation between living in sin, watching porn if you want to watch porn, watching whatever you want to watch, living your life loose morally. There's a connection between that and nervousness and fear and anxiety. There's also a connection between I know I'm not a righteous person, I know I make mistakes, but I'm covered in the blood of Jesus and I'm trying to live right by the power of the Holy Spirit even though I make mistakes. There's a connection between that and boldness. In fact, here's how the book of Proverbs puts it. Proverbs 28, 1, the wicked run away when nobody's even chasing them. But the righteous are as bold as a lion. I've talked to young men.
I'm not going to betray confidences or whatever, but I've talked to multiple young men in our church who've said this. You've preached on this before. I was a porn addict.
I had social anxiety. And when I stopped looking at the porn, my boldness and my confidence came back. Did you know even secular psychologists are drawing a connection between porn addiction and social anxiety? This isn't just a Christian thing. Even the secular world recognizes that. And you see this in John and Herod.
Look at the difference between the two. John is like, man, I'm going to walk with God. I'm going to pursue the Lord. And he has this boldness, this confidence. Herod is a pervert and a reprobate, and he gets to the point now where he says, Jesus, God, who is Jesus? Oh, I know who it is. It's John the Baptist's ghost. He now sees ghosts behind every tree. The guy is neurotic.
Why? Because he's not pursuing righteousness. Those who pursue holiness have confidence.
Those who live loosely, morally, have nervousness and anxiety. Look at this. Let's go a little bit further. Verses 21 through 29. So you understand this. Herod's wife was like, who does that man think he is judging me? Don't you know, John the Baptist, there are no rules.
Anybody can sleep with whoever they want. Who are you to impose your Jewish worldview onto me? I've got to kill them. Verse 21. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. For when Herodias' daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests.
Stop. This girl, her name is Solomon. Solomon scholars think she's about 15 or 16 years old. This is Herod's stepdaughter and his niece. And when it came in, she came in and danced. You understand she didn't tap dance and do the Charleston, do some square dancing.
This is a perverted dance. That woman, Herodias, has just pimped out her daughter to get what she wants. And the king said to the girl, ask me for whatever you wish and I'll give it to you. And he vowed to her, whatever you ask me, I'll give you up to half of my kingdom.
And she went out and said to her mother, for what should I ask? And she said, ask for the head of John the Baptist. And she came in immediately with haste to the king and said, I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter. The king was exceedingly sorry because of his oaths and his guests. He did not want to break his word to her and immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl and the girl gave it to her mother.
And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. Can I give you the fourth trait of courageous people? And that's this. They often have to pay a price because some of you all are listening to me talk about be bold, be strong, stand in the Lord, be fearless. And you're like, great, I'll do that and God will take care of me and everything will be happily ever after. I've got to warn you before you go out there and be a bold man or woman of God. If you have courage, you may lose your job. You may lose all your Facebook friends.
You may lose your life. I don't know if it's because of the demographics of this church that we just kind of attract all the radicals in Raleigh or what, but it's amazing in the last year, year and a half, how many people in this church I've talked to who have lost their jobs for this very reason. People in this church have lost jobs because they wouldn't sign a document saying that they believe sodomy is right.
I'm not signing that they lose their job. Later, our church had to resign a national position with a pharmacy because she refused to promote the LGBT stuff at that pharmacy. We had a man in our church friend of mine. He made really good money at a company and they said, hey, you know, this Tuesday is going to be our HR is going to come in and talk to us about diversity and inclusion. And they all sat there and had about a six-hour seminar on things like transgenderism and this and that. And when it was over, they said, now, we want you to sign this document saying you took the seminar and that you agree with this. He said, I'm not doing that.
He lost his job. We have Christians in this church who are in the medical profession. They're going to medical school and they're all telling me the same thing. The right of conscience is being eroded in the Christian medical field in a way that would blow your mind to the point that the day is very quickly approaching, where if you're a Christian medical school student and you refuse to be part of an abortion, because we've got to teach you how to do abortions. I don't want to do that.
Then you're kicked out of medical school. So don't hear me say if you're a man or woman of courage, everything's going to be all right and everything's – you might have some price that you have to pay. But, Chad, some of you say, a man has got to live.
No, you don't. But every man's got to die. And when you die and stand before Jesus Christ one day, are you going to be able to look Him in the eye and say, Lord, I paid the price and I did not compromise.
I didn't wimp out. I didn't back down. That's what men and women of courage do.
I was reminded of this idea that sometimes if you're a man or woman of courage, you've got to pay the price. A little while back, Darla has a great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather or something that was an associate of William Pindale, one of the early translators of Scripture. Her maiden name was Rogers. This man's name was John Rogers. John Rogers helped translate the Scriptures into English, and he began to propagate the good news of Jesus Christ, the gospel, all over England when Queen Mary I had come into power. We know who ours is, Bloody Mary. And they kept telling him, John, you better stop.
Bloody Mary, Queen Mary is after you. He kept preaching the gospel. And the day came when they arrested her great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather back in the 1500s, and they sentenced him to death. And they take him to London, and they put a big stake in the ground, and they tied the rope around his body. He's tied to the stake, and they put all this wood at his feet. His wife and 10 children are there.
The youngest child is still nursing, so his wife is holding the baby in her hands. And he said to the executioner, can I talk to my wife and say goodbye to her? The executioner said, no, you cannot.
And then suddenly a man rides up on a horse with a paper in his hand. He said, I got great news. Queen Mary, Bloody Mary, Queen Mary has commuted his sentence. You are free. As long as you recant what you've been preaching, you're free.
He said, I'm not recanting what I've preached. And so they lit that fire at his feet, and he slowly began to roast to death. And I think it's Foxe's Book of Martyrs said that as those flames began to consume his body, he lifted up his hands and praised the Lord Jesus. Well, Don and I knew that had happened in London, so we're just walking through downtown London, and there's Big Ben, there's that big Ferris wheel, there's this, there's that. And we turn the corner, and we come across this marker. And I said, that's kind of a strange marker.
And I start reading it. And that marker said, within a few feet of this spot, John Rogers suffered death by fire for the sake of Christ. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, the noble armies of the martyrs.
Praise the old Lord. It's kind of a weird thing to read that and what happened right there and to see his descendants standing right there. But it was a reminder to me that sometimes you're a man or woman of courage, it's great, but you're going to pay the price. And you're saying to me, well, if evil Herod gets to stay on the throne and John the Baptist does the right thing and he's beheaded, okay, Chad, then why do the right thing, okay?
Do you understand the question? Herod does the wrong thing, he lives. Herod does the wrong thing, he lives. John the Baptist does the right thing and he dies. Why follow John the Baptist's example? Give me a couple reasons. For starters, at this very moment, Herod is burning in hell and John the Baptist is with Jesus.
So there's that, incidentally, okay? But secondly, let me tell you how Herod's story ends. And this is not in the Bible.
We have to look at history. But the day came when another family member of Herod died and now the emperor on the throne is Caligula. And Caligula said, I'm going to give all this kingdom to this family member of Herod. Well, Herodias, the same wicked lady says, honey, you can't let him give that to them. Let's go to Rome, talk to emperor Caligula and say, don't give it to that family member, Agrippa, give it to us.
Well, Agrippa knew what was going to happen. So he sails to Rome and gets there before Herod and his wife. He says, emperor Caligula, in a little while, this Herod guy and Herodias are going to come and ask for the land. These are wicked people.
They don't like you. And he turned Caligula's mind against Herod. So when Herod, this same guy, and his wife get to the emperor's throne room, the emperor says, before you say anything, I sentence you to prison. You're going to be imprisoned in the wilderness in the western part of the Roman Empire. I'm taking everything away from you.
You're under arrest and get out. And that's how Herod spent his final days. And so now, 2,000 years later, we celebrate John the Baptist as a great man of God, and Herod and his wife are just a footnote to history. So you've got to take the long view. Even though today it seems like we're in the minority, those of us who believe in the word of God, we're the ones who seem to be on the defensive right now. But you've got to take the long view. And the day is going to come where eternity is going to show that men and women of God who didn't compromise, who were bold and strong and courageous, those are the true heroes of history.
That's why you stand for the Lord. And I read this, and I love this. I said, okay, I got four traits of John the Baptist.
That's great. But what was the secret? In other words, what was the root of this? All these are wonderful traits. You know, they speak the truth, they do this and that.
All that's great, but what was the root? What was the key to John the Baptist's courage? You know, they're telling all churches, businesses, people, university, everybody, y'all need to have a mission statement.
Everybody's got a mission statement today. You know, John the Baptist had a mission statement. You know what John the Baptist's mission statement was?
You see it in John chapter 3, verse 30. John the Baptist said, here's my mission statement. He must increase and I must decrease. In other words, Jesus is not my Tony Robbins motivational coach, seminar to kind of make my life more successful. Jesus isn't here for me.
I'm here for him. He must increase and I must decrease. That was his key. Because I'm going to give you right now, I need you to listen to me. If you want to know the secret to boldness, the secret to confidence, please listen to me.
I'm going to pause for dramatic effect, okay? The key to Christian boldness is this. When you are satisfied with Jesus, you are invincible. When all you want and all you need and all you care about is Jesus. When it's all about Jesus, you are invincible.
Their threats bounce off of you. When all you want and all you need is, I just need Jesus. That's all I need. Well, I'm going to take your job away.
Take it, have it, I don't care. I got Jesus. That's all I need. Hey, I'm going to de-friend you on Facebook. That's fine. Jesus is my friend.
You can de-friend me. I just got Jesus. That's all I need. Hey, I'm going to take your... I'm going to kill you.
That's fine. This world is old. I'm getting ready to go home anyway. Kill me the moment I close my eyes here, open my eyes, and I see the face of Jesus. I just want Jesus. All I need...
When you have that attitude, you are invincible. One of the best stories I've ever heard about that was a man named John Chrysostom. Chrysostom was a dynamic, powerful, bold preacher back in...
I think it was around the 400s AD. And John Chrysostom had preached Jesus hard. He was a bold, confident, uncompromising preacher.
And as a result, the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, Arcadius, and his wife, Eudoxia, had him arrested and brought to their throne room. And the emperor's on his throne, and he's all cocky, and he's whatever, and he thinks he's going to bulldoze this little preacher. And he points his finger at him, and he says, You've been preaching this Jesus. Tired of your preaching. Stop preaching, Chrysostom, or I will banish you to a faraway island, and I will separate you from everybody you love. You know what Chrysostom did? He pointed his finger right back at the emperor, and he said, Banish me to a faraway island away from everybody I love?
Hey, I have a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. You can't exile me from him. The emperor's kind of taken aback, and he said, All right. Well, stop preaching Jesus, and I'll take away. If you don't stop preaching, I will take away all of your possessions. Chrysostom pointed right back at him and said, Take my possessions.
I have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus, and you can't take those blessings away. And finally, in desperation, the emperor pointed at him one more time, and he said, You'd better listen to me. Stop preaching Jesus. Stop preaching this gospel. Back off on this bold, confident preaching, and if you don't, I'll take away your life. And Chrysostom pointed right back at him and said, My life is hidden with God in Christ Jesus.
You can't touch it. And it is said that the emperor threw up his hands and said, What do you do with a man like this? Let me ask you something. Do you want people's likes on Facebook more than you want Jesus? Then you'll never have courage. Is this job that you're clinging to more important than Jesus? Then you'll never have courage. Is being in the crowd and making a living and fitting in the most important thing in your life? That's fine.
Do it. But you'll never have courage. But when you come to the point and you say, All I want, all I need is Jesus. He is mine and my beloved is... When he is your life, suddenly you have confidence. Suddenly you just don't care anymore.
Let me ask you something. What do you care more for? Jesus or the stuff of this world? I want you to stand with me right now.
My heart is so full right now. Because I know our world is messed up. I know everything seems to be going to hell.
I get all that. But my heart is full because I'm starting to see a remnant that God is raising up. That loves Jesus more than life. That loves Jesus more than popularity. That loves Jesus more than their business or their job or their 401k. I'm seeing a generation of people who are passionate about Jesus Christ.
And if you're one of those people, I'm going to tell you, you will be bold and strong and the threats of this world are going to start bouncing off of you. If that's you. If you're that person that loves Jesus more than anything this world could offer, can you lift up hands and lift up your voice and sing this not as a song. Sing this as a prayer to Jesus right now. Let's sing this together. And you put me back together. And every desire is now satisfied.
You're in your love. Oh, there's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you, Lord.
There's nothing. Nothing is better than you. Oh, there's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you, Lord.
There's nothing and nothing is better than you. Use her grace into darkness. Use her bones into armies. Use her season to highways. You're the only one who can. Use her grace into guidance. Use her bones into armies.
Use her season to highways. You're the only one who can. Man, would you lift up your hands and praise something like this to Jesus. Lord, there's nothing better than you. You've saved me. You've forgiven me. You've given me a fresh start and a new beginning. You've put me back together. You've given me hope when I had no hope. Lord, I love you. There's nothing better than you. Lord, this world can have all their mess. I just want you.
Jesus, I just want you. You know, millennia ago, God said to the priest. He basically said, you know, my people are going to be fighting some battles. They're going to have some stuff coming against them. And they need to be reminded that I'm for them.
And if I be for them, I'm going to be against them. And to preach to every now and then, I want you to speak over your people. And I want you to say this. Yavarekah kadonai vishmorekah. Ya er Adonai p'nyav el kavikuneka. Ya saw Adonai panayv eylecha ba'sim lecha shalom. Which means people of God, the Lord bless you. The Lord keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And the Lord turn His countenance to you and give you shalom. Peace, wholeness, mind, body, soul, and spirit in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit we pray, Amen and Amen. God bless you, beloved. You would change this world for Jesus Christ.
