The Courage
to Stand for Christ
by Steve Millar
The wicked flee when no man
pursueth: but the righteous are bold
as a lion (Proverbs 28:1). Many of the Early
Church disciples put their lives on the line for
Jesus. They believed so strongly in Him that
they were willing to sacrifice themselves to
further the Gospel; and many of them faced
awful deaths, from being fed to lions to being
crucified.
When Jesus started His ministry here on
Earth, it wasn’t an easy one. He faced opposition,
threats, plots against His life and betrayal.
Finally, He was totally rejected and put to
death; but Jesus had divine courage to stand
and to give the ultimate sacrifice—His life.
Jesus knew that the fate of all mankind was
at stake. He knew it was up to Him to complete
the plan of God so that we could have the hope
of redemption. What if Jesus would have given
in to fear and self-preservation and failed? It is
a natural instinct for a living creature to fight
for survival, but Jesus didn’t fight for His own
survival; He fought for ours. Now, it is our turn
to have the courage to stand for Jesus no matter
what the circumstances may be and to fight
for the survival of lost souls.
Paul Confronts the Devil
Paul and Silas had the courage to stand for
Christ. They were busy establishing churches
and doing a great work for the Lord; and the
Bible says, And so were the churches established
in the faith, and increased in number
daily (Acts 16:5). Paul and Silas knew the
importance of
getting the Word of God
to people, and they were willing to sacrifice
their lives to do that.
When Paul and Silas went to pray one day,
they met a damsel who had the spirit of divination,
meaning she was a psychic. The devil
was using her to tell people their future or to
uncover hidden things, and she was making a
lot of money for her masters.
The girl kept following Paul and Silas and
crying out, These men are the servants of the
most high God, which shew unto us the way
of salvation (Acts 16:17). What she was saying
was true, but she was not saying it to draw the
people to the truth. Psychics want you to think
they have a gift from God to help people when
they are really being used 100 percent by the
devil. Part of what they say may be true, but
that is how the devil draws people into deceit.
Paul knew that girl was devil possessed
because when you have the Holy Spirit living
and dwelling inside of you like Paul and Silas
did, you can discern between those who are
of God and those who are of the devil. Paul
finally got fed up with her. But Paul, being
grieved, turned and said to the spirit in the
girl, I command thee in the name of Jesus
Christ to come out of her. And he came out
the same hour (Acts 16:18).
Notice that Paul didn’t address the damsel
but the spirit in her because he knew a
demonic spirit was controlling her. Paul followed
the leadership of the Holy Ghost and
cast the spirit out of that poor girl. I’m sure
8