A coward is someone who runs from hardship, who quits before they have tried, who deserts in the hour of attack, who shrinks back in the face of adversity.
The enemy is out to get you. He will also use you to kill, steal, and destroy what the church is doing to reach the lost. We cannot give up or shrink back but must press on, “For yet in a very little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks/draws back, I have no pleasure in him. But we are not those who shrink back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and are saved” (Hebrews 10:38-39).
Vs. 1 – You, as a minister of the new covenant, are not to give up or lose heart, but are to share the Truth. Concern over what others may say or do must be set aside. What if your sharing the gospel offended them enough that they went and looked for themselves?
Vs. 2 – Your life is to be an open display of the Truth of the mercy of God. You were shown mercy, you received grace, and so now you are suitable for approval and can stand before God cleansed of your sin. Like Paul, you are commendable not because of anything you did but because of what Jesus did.
You have a ministry that is glorious! It out shines the ministry of Moses! You are not laying out a law with the outcome of wrath! You are to be sharing the gospel of love, mercy, and grace that is found in Jesus Christ.
Vs. 4 – And if your sharing the gospel is not received well, it is not your fault because the god of this age, the enemy of our souls, has blinded the minds of unbelievers to the light you carry…
Vs. 5 – You are sent out into the world with the light of the Gospel (see John 20:21)! God’s love and His Spiritual empowerment go with you. You are not proclaiming the good news of what you have done or that of others, but Jesus Christ as lord and yourselves as servants!
You carry eternal life in the message you share. Let that light shine in the darkness, share that message (see Acts 26:18).
“Never give up, never surrender.”
Commander Peter Quincy Taggart
The new covenant is ours in Christ! Jesus is coming back to get those who are His, not unbelievers!
We as Christians are given new life…
Take a step of faith, move forward, don’t shrink back. Take your next step and see what God does. Minister to those who are perishing, grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.
“The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirt who has been given to His Church,” the Spirit is here to help us, comfort us, bring to mind what we know, and to empower us to be the Church (Romans 5:5).
Digging Deeper:
- Have you given up, stagnated, stopped moving forward?
- To whom are you ministering?
- Can you name 3 people you have shared the Gospel with in the last 6 months?
Further Reading: Matthew 10:16-42, 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, 1 Peter 2:1-10, Hebrews 10:26-39, Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, James 1:12, 21-24, John 3:19-21, John 8:12, 1 John 1:5-7
Dayton First Church of God 