How Audacious Will You Be?

Associate pastor Brother Ryan Crawford brought us our Sunday morning message: "The Audacity of the Victor."

We stood for opening prayer and the reading of God's word taken from 1 Corinthians 15:51-58.

51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

"The dictionary defines audacity as 'a boldness or daring, especially with a confident disregard for personal safety, or without any restrictions.' And in this particular passage of scripture we can be steadfast, unmovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord because the victory has been given to us through Jesus Christ. Like the old gospel song says: 'Victory in Jesus, my Savior forever.' That means we are already the walking victors! Not a bunch of defeated losers. We stand undefeated and have obtained the victory."

Read from 1 Corinthians -- "Without the Resurrection of Christ, we would not have had the victory. If you never accept the Gospel, then you, my friend, are walking in defeat - with no hope, no victory, no audacity. But if you have the victory, you also have the audacity, not because of anything you have done, but because of Jesus the Christ and what He has done already. So what is the audacity (or the bold plan) of a Christian?"

"Napoleon and George Patton were two famous and largely successful generals of the past. Both made this battle cry famous: 'Audacity, audacity, always audacity.' They both had bold, steadfast courage in the face of many great challenges. Someone else said audacity is God's plan when His plan works, and we are one with the Master Planner. By the way, His plans ALWAYS work. And we are in no position to question the audacity of our Savior. He did everything possible to do so and to give us that victory. But what is in question today is not His audacity, but the audacity of His people who have been given the victory. So how do we, day by day, stay victorious as a Christian? I submit, then, three main points to you this morning."

"First, we must learn where to find the advantage over the enemy. Our adversary, the devil, Satan, is a roaring lion seeking whomever he may devour. But remember always: he is already defeated. He has read the last chapters of Revelation, and he knows he has lost. But he is not going down without a fight. True, it usually is a very dirty fight as he attacks those that are weak and on their own and those that lose sight of Jesus. Therefore, we as Christians need to fight using all our audacity to gain that advantage. Start with the Word of God. Read it. Use it. Study it. Live it."

Hebrews 4:12 -- For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

"Next, put yourself among the people of God. Attend with them. Stand with them. Fight with them. Love them. Pray for them, and with them. Encourage them."

1 Peter 2:9-10 -- 9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; 10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

"Third, observe the finished Work of God.

Matthew 16:8 - And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

"Next, we must learn that failure is not an option. " (See verse 58 above.)

Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

And read from: 2 Timothy 1:1-17. -- "Christians, you've been taught right, not to quit. You've wept too long to give up now. That one soul is too important. You have been given a God-breathed gift; do not squander it. Nor has God given you the spirit of fear. And those hard times you are going through should remind you of Christ's sufferings on your behalf. Put the monkey on God's back. Make Him keep His promises to you. Therefore ... FAILURE is not an option."

Hebrews 11:1 and 6.-- 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

"So church, in this coming week, just how audacious will you be for your general who has already won the victory? After all, it's not a 'Maybe we will win, if it doesn't rain' or 'Hope we win and go to state this year' but 'We have already won.' It's over. Done deal. We need to walk daily in that victory and be bold and daring enough to just have the faith to believe God and take Him at His WORD. And see that those who are now lost, watching us, will want what we have, to have the same faith to believe in Him, and on His holy name, as we have today."

All Bible verses quoted above are from the KJV, the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

Remember you can hear a rebroadcast of one of Dr. Larry Crawford's services on KURM radio, 100.3 on the FM dial, at 8:30 a.m. Sunday mornings. Or listen to our pastors' services on our website at: http://www.firstbaptistchurchpineville.com/Sermons.html

If you have no church home of your own, we would love for you to join us (off the N/E corner of Pineville square, just behind U.S. Bank) in ours. No friendlier, down home church can be found anywhere in the four-state area.