Warren W. Wiersbe - Be Courageous. Take Heart from Christs Example

BE COURAGEOUS

Published by David C. Cook

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David C. Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications

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All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes,

no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form

without written permission from the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. (Public Domain.) Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version . NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved; NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission; NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved; ASV are taken from The American Standard Version. (Public Domain); and WUEST are taken from The New Testament: An Expanded Translation by Kenneth S. Wuest 1961 by the Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Used by permission.

LCCN 2010923221

ISBN 978-1-4347-6499-7

eISBN 978-0-7814-0443-3

1989 Warren W. Wiersbe

First edition of Be Courageous published by Victor Books in 1989 Warren W. Wiersbe, ISBN 978-0-89693-665-2

The Team: Karen Lee-Thorp, Amy Kiechlin, Sarah Schultz, Jack Campbell, and Karen Athen

Series Cover Design: John Hamilton Design

Cover Photo: iStockphoto

Second Edition 2010

To Earnest and Annie Lott, faithful servants of God whose example and encouragement have meant much to me and my wife and to the ministry of Back to the Bible around the world

CONTENTS

The Big Idea: An Introduction to Be Courageous by Ken Baugh

A Word from the Author

1. The Man Who Came to Dinner (Luke 14)

2. The Joys of Salvation (Luke 15)

3. The Right and Wrong of Riches (Luke 16)

4. Things That Really Matter (Luke 17)

5. People to Meet, Lessons to Learn (Luke 18)

6. Jerusalem at Last! (Luke 19)

7. Issues and Answers (Luke 20)

8. Questions about Tomorrow (Luke 21)

9. In the Upper Room (Luke 22:138)

10. The Night They Arrested God (Luke 22:3971)

11. Condemned and Crucified (Luke 23)

12. The Son of Man Triumphs! (Luke 24)

The Big Idea

An Introduction to Be Courageous
by Ken Baugh

Im a Sylvester Stallone fan. Ive seen all the Rocky and Rambo movies, and I even loved his voice-over role in Antz . But out of all of the Stallone movies, one of my favorites is Cliffhanger (1993), where Stallone plays the role of an expert mountain climber who rescues other climbers from perilous situations. In the opening scene of Cliffhanger , Stallone makes a heroic attempt to rescue his friends girlfriend who is traversing from a mountain peak to the safety of the rescue helicopter. As the girl makes her way across the cable, her harness begins to break away from the line, and Stallone is faced with a difficult decision. Does he go out on the cable that is designed to hold the weight of only one person and try to rescue her before she falls?

Of course Stallone goes out on the cable (hey, what do you expect, its an action movie), and just as her harness breaks, he reaches out and grabs her hand. He assures her that he will not let her fall, but she continues to thrash around, screaming at the top of her lungs: I dont want to die! I dont want to die! Eventually, she cant hang on any longer, and as she falls to her death you see the terror in her face and hear her screams while Stallone looks on in horror. It is truly one of the most intense moments in film I have ever seen.

This scene from Cliffhanger reminds me of the time when Jesus cried out to the Father in horror in the garden of Gethsemane as He anticipated the agonizing death on the cross: Jesus, like this young woman, didnt want to die. And as you read Jesus words, you can almost hear the anguish in His voice:

Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22:4244 NIV )

Jesus was in such anguish of heart that He actually sweated drops of blood. This is a well-documented condition called hematidrosis that can occur when a person is under such heavy emotional distress and profound fear that it causes the tiny blood capillaries under the skin of the forehead to burst and emerge through the sweat glands. Jesus was in anguish as He anticipated not only the excruciating pain that would come with the scourging and crucifixion but also the separation from the Trinity that He would experience for the first time. The Father would turn away from the Son as the Son took upon Himself the sin of the world (Matt. 27:46; 2 Cor. 5:21).

Jesus didnt want to die, yet He lived His entire life on earth in the shadow of the cross. Why? What caused Jesus to be willing to endure the agony, humiliation, and abandonment by the Father at the crucifixion? One word: love. Jesus courage to face the cross was motivated by His amazing love for the lost. In fact, you could sum up the Big Idea in the second half of Luke as love.

Jesus came to earth to seek and save the lost and give His life as a ransom for many (Luke 19:10). His life mission was to save lost people from their sins, and the only way He could do this was to pay the price that the Father exacted for their salvation: death (Rom. 6:23). Jesus took my place and your place on the cross. He took the punishment that we deserved because of love. Jesus courage to face the cross was motivated by love, the deep desire to put the needs of others above His own. And Jesus calls us as His disciples to live a life of love toward others as we follow in His footsteps.

Over and over again the Bible records the love of God and how we, as His disciples, are called to live a life of courageous love too. Paul says, Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph. 5:12 NIV ). It takes courage to live this life of love, but as I continue to take in Gods love for me, as I continue to abide in Jesus and let Jesus word abide in me, as I continue to surrender to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in my life, I will bear the fruit of love (Gal. 5:22) and become a conduit of Gods unconditional, sacrificial, and courageous love toward others.

I believe that every disciple of Jesus Christ is called to continue His mission to seek and save what was lost by extending courageous love toward others. That means that I will allow God to help me love my enemies. It means that I will take the step of faith when the opportunity presents itself to share Christ with the person Im sitting next to on the airplane. To live a life of love means that I will reach out to the homeless person standing on the street corner and that I will generously give my time and my treasure to the ongoing work of God in my community as well as to mission work around the world. These are the acts of courageous love as we seek to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. The people you work with, live next to, and even live with need to know Jesus. They need to know of His love and His forgiveness. Be courageous and give it to them!