Chapter 5

WE CAN TAKE HEART AND BE
COURAGEOUS
We need not lose heart in the last days; instead we can
take heart and be courageous and confident in God. Why is
this so?

GOD IS OUR GOD
Surely it is because of the awesome and amazing
revelation and appreciation that the triune God is our God and
we are His children. The great “I am”, the almighty, unchanging
everlasting triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is our God
because we have been accepted in the beloved.

We have the wondrous privilege to call God ‘our Father’
and to come into the very holy presence of the Father through
the blood and sacrifice of the Son. God is so majestic and holy
that the average Israelite dared not even mention His name.
Yet, the reality is that, if we believe in Jesus, we are the children
of the great all knowing Creator and God of the universe.
In church history, believers, in different periods of time,
tend to emphasise and focus on one person of the Godhead.

For instance, some believers focused on the ministry and person
of the Holy Spirit. Christians today become over familiar with
the Son such that we forget that He is one person of the
Godhead, God Himself. Over familiarity leads to the loss of
reverential fear of the Son of God. Instead of praying to the
Father, many believers pray to Jesus most of the time and the
Father becomes so distant and almost forgotten in their
consciousness. This is also not helpful in our wholesome
worship of God.

GOD IS THREE IN ONE
The truth is that God is three persons in one and each
person of the Godhead has a wonderful role and ministry in
our lives. As we ponder over this, we can rejoice and grow in
confidence and courage even though, for a short while, we may
need to face tribulation, trial and suffering in this world.

GOD THE FATHER
As we think of the Father, we picture Him sitting on the
throne, sovereign and majestic
“And we know that God causes all things to
work together for good to those who love God, to
those who are called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8: 28

In the “sermon on the mount”, we notice the many
references to the Father by the Lord Jesus.

“…so that you may be sons of your Father
who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on
the evil and the good, and send rain on the
righteous and the unrighteous.”
Matthew 5: 45

“Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your
heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 5: 48

“So do not be like them, for your Father
knows what you need before you ask Him.”
Matthew 6: 8

“For if you forgive others for their
transgressions, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you.”
Matthew 6: 14

“…so that your fasting will not be noticed
by men, but by your Father who sees what is done
in secret and your Father who sees what is done in
secret will reward you.”
Matthew 6: 18

We see references to the Father also in the epistles of the
various apostles.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all
comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction with
the comfort which we ourselves are comforted by
God.” 

2 Corinthians 1: 3-4

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus, who according to His great mercy has caused
us to be born again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
1 Peter 1: 3

As we look at these various passages, we see several
aspects of the role and ministry of the heavenly Father.

He is the one who is our heavenly Father – to Him we
make our petitions and prayers and He knows what we need
even before we ask Him. He is the Father of mercies and God
of all comfort who comforts us in all our afflictions. He provides
for us our daily needs; He delivers us from evil; He forgives
our transgressions and all power and glory belong to Him (see
Matthew 6: 9-13 in the Lord’s prayer). He is the one who caused
us to be born again.

He is perfect – perfect in all His ways; perfect in all His
goodness, His sovereignty, His mercy, loving kindness, holiness
and love. We can rest in these wonderful truths and because He
is perfect, He does not make a mistake. He can overrule and
undertake such that all things work together for good for those
who love Him and are called according to His purpose. God
the Father works through the evil and negative intention of man
and causes the outcome to be good for His people.
We see this wonderfully illustrated in the life of Joseph.
He was sold into slavery by his brothers, wrongly accused by
his master’s wife and imprisoned. Through a series of events,
Joseph was elevated to be ruler of Egypt, next in power only to
Pharaoh. Subsequently, when his brothers asked him for
forgiveness, Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in
God’s place? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God
meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to
preserve many people alive.” (Genesis 50: 19-20)

Joseph’s brothers’ intention was evil; the master’s wife’s
motive was evil, but God worked through the evil to bring about
good in Joseph’s life and in the lives of God’s people.
Being perfect, God the Father is completely faithful and
reliable, unchanging and truly dependable in all His ways. Being
holy, He would judge wrong doers and reward those who please
Him. Such indeed is our heavenly Father. As we encounter
trials, we can rest in the sovereignty and goodness of the
heavenly Father and we need not lose heart even though we do
not fully understand all the issues involved.

JESUS THE SON
The second person in the trinity is the Lord Jesus. He is
risen and seated at the right hand of the Father, and from there,
He is constantly interceding for us. He is our advocate before
the Father, defending us and declaring us justified and righteous
in Him.

“For we do not have a high priest who cannot
sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who has
been tempted in all things as we are, yet without
sin.”
Hebrews 4: 15

Jesus understands us and our struggles and He
sympathises with us in our weaknesses. He knows what it means
to be tempted and to be assailed by sin and the pull of the
world. He identifies with us in all our struggles and pain. He is
our mediator and He brings us back to God the Father.
Truly, we are blessed to have the Lord Jesus as our high
priest who understands us in all our sufferings and tribulations.
He prays for us from the throne of grace and comes to our aid
in all our troubles. As we face adversity and distress, we can
consider Him who has suffered so much on our behalf and we
need not lose heart, for our sufferings cannot even be compared
to what the Lord Jesus had endured for us on the cross. He
knew what it meant to be wrongly accused; He experienced abandonment by those closest to Him; He bore the
misunderstanding and tauntings of His earthly brothers and
fellow Jews; He was scourged; He was unjustly condemned
and He bore our sins and the sins of the world on His shoulders
at Calvary as He agonizingly cried out, “My God, My God,
why have you forsaken Me”? He who knew no sin became sin
on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God
in Him (see 2 Corinthians 5: 21).

Jesus knew we would have tribulations in this world. Yet
He assures us, saying, “These things I have spoken to you, so
that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you have
tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world”.
Because He overcomes, we too can overcome in Him.

THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Lord Jesus requested the Father to send us the Holy
Spirit, the third person of the Godhead. The Holy Spirit is given
to us as a pledge (see 2 Corinthians 5: 5), like a down payment
or deposit – we were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of
promise who is given as a pledge of our inheritance (see
Ephesians 1: 13-14).

The seal and pledge assure us that our full inheritance in
Christ Jesus is guaranteed personally by God Himself.
The third person of the Godhead is our helper, our teacher,
our comforter and our guide. He brings to our remembrance
all that Jesus had taught and He magnifies the Lord Jesus in
His ministry (see John 14: 16-18, 26). He helps us in our
weaknesses and He teaches us how to pray, interceding for us
(see Romans 8: 26-27).

He strengthens us and gives life to our mortal bodies and
if we learn to walk by the Spirit consistently (in dependence
on Him and in continual fellowship with Him), we would
experience the victory in our Christian walk. We are not fighting
against flesh and blood and our enemy is a formidable foe.
However, by the Spirit, we can put to death the deeds of the
flesh and by the Spirit’s enabling, we can be more than
conquerors through Him who loves us. We certainly need not
lose heart in such a context.

The Holy Spirit is principally the one who does the work
of transformation in our lives. As we depend on Him, cooperate
with Him, even in the midst of pain and tribulation, we can
grow in the Lord and experience the deep work of
transformation in greater measure. In fact, God can and does
use sufferings to help mould us in our Christian lives. All the
help we need to overcome and to live godly lives comes from
the Holy Spirit and all that we need to know and understand in
our Christian walk is taught by the Spirit of God. As we look to
Him, scriptures become alive and relevant to us and we begin
to understand more the desires of God for us. He lives in us
and He prompts us, enables us and strengthens us as we learn
to listen to His voice and obey Him continually.

BLESSINGS OF BEING GOD’S CHILDREN
The triune God is our God and we are His children!

“What then shall we say to these things? If
God is for us, who is against us? He who did not
spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us
all, how will He not also with Him freely give us
all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s
elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one
who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died,
yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand
of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will
separate us from the love of Christ?…”
Romans 8: 31-35(a)

Yes, indeed, we need not lose heart in the last days even
though trials and tribulation may increase in intensity. Instead,
we can take heart and be courageous and bold, growing in
confidence in the Lord as we face eternity with hope and with
deep assurance and conviction in the triune God.
Increasingly, perhaps, we can begin to identify more with
the psalmist in Psalm 73, when he complained about the
prosperity of the wicked and the apparent uselessness of keeping
oneself pure, as he concluded,

“Whom have I in heaven but You? And
besides You, I desire nothing on earth, My flesh
and my heart may fail. But God is the strength of
my heart and my portion forever.”
Psalm 73: 25-26

And, wonderfully, we can concur with the psalmist in
Psalm 16 when he declared:
“…In your presence is fullness of joy; In your
right hand there are pleasures forever.”
Psalm 16:11(b)

The Lord, the triune God, is no killjoy. He, in His
lovingkindness and goodness, desires the best for His people.
The world and the evil one can only offer fake, unsatisfying
and destructive joy and pleasure that lead to death, physical
and spiritual; but God, the triune and Holy one can and will
offer to all those who cling to Him true, lasting and eternal
fullness of joy and pleasures in Him.

To Him, the only wise God, belong all honour, glory and
praise now and forevermore!