We can best identify a coward by saying this: a coward is a person who is bankrupt of courage when confronted with danger; a fear of exposing ones self to injury, pain or loss. I came across a synonym for coward. How many of you have ever heard the word poltroon (paul-trune)? It means a spiritless coward, craven, characterized by complete cowardice. Did you pick up on the word spiritless? Without spirit, were dead. If were spiritually dead, how can there be godliness? What is godliness? It is conforming to the will of God. Its our divine nature, the breath of life made in the image of God to take dominion of the earth. I know thats no small order from our Commander in Chief. Weve been trying for thousands of years. But there are things out there in the world that quench or extinguish our battle axe spirit, and the Israel race of God finds an easier and softer way of life in mans law and mans will. I believe there is a connection between a coward and ungodliness. Psalms 73:12 tells us who they are: Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world, and they increase in riches. This is not knocking the prosperity of godly Christian economics, but rather chastising the love of mammon and all the ungodly wars of Babylon. Who is the coward in Mt. 10:39, He that fended his life for filthy lucre sake, or he that loses his life for my sake for Jesus Christ? The Bible suggests those who will not die or kill for what is right and wrong, will themselves lose their own life. The way of the ungodly shall perish (Ps. 1:6). Turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, God condemned them with a catastrophe, setting an example to men intending to be ungodly (II Peter 2:6). Do you suppose the godly battle axe was designed to destroy the ungodly cowards among us? The book of Jude talks about the apostasy of the church and a time when people just dont give a damn about anything except their own gain. And verse 4 says for there are certain men crept in unawares (cowards), those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men who turned the grace of our God into unbridled lust. Youve been there before. A conversation about religion comes up at work or school or even with a random stranger on an airplane or bus. I dont know what I believe, they say. Church isnt for me. Your mind is spinning a million miles a minute with the right words to say. On the one hand, you dont want them to think differently of you if you admit youre a Christian; you dont want them to get the wrong impression of you. On the other hand, you know exactly what you need to do. You need to speak up for God. Silence can be our own worst enemy, and a horrible slap in the face to our faith. The brave thing to do, the right thing, is to be bold and speak up. Let me begin by recollecting a scene from the movie, Patton, in which George C. Scott reenacts the encounter General Patton has with a soldier at a field hospital. The General is honoring his wounded men until he comes to this one guy shaking like a leaf and he asks a nurse, Whats wrong with the man? She said something like, Oh, sir, hes suffering from the emotional stress of the battlefield. At that point, Patton takes off his gloves and starts smacking the soldier in the face, calling him a coward; telling him theres nothing wrong with him and running him out of that hospital where other soldiers were bleeding, bandaged and dying on their deathbeds. Do you think Patton understood the implications of cowardice among his troops if gone unchecked? For one thing, youre not going to win a war, if your men lose the will to fight.
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 09:28:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015