THE COWARD & THE CONQUEROR
Life is easy when everything is going your way. When
you are not in the heat of the testing, it is easy to have
faith and confidence that you can stand in the face of
whatever might come your way. Words are cheap, so they
say. It’s even easy to believe in “The Cause” from
the seat of comfort and security. But what if the call
did come to test you to the very core of your heart, to
overcome what you have never faced before? What if the
most crucial challenge was set before you, one that demanded
nothing less than your very life? What if it was the most
consequential mission ever conceived? How would you respond?
First comes the call, the challenge. Then a qualifying
criterion must be set forth, something that clearly spells
out all the demands and requirements. The course has to
be laid out, showing the starting qualifications, the objective
to be achieved, and what it will take to endure until the
very end. As the details are manifested, the candidate
can begin to evaluate the cost. He can weigh all the options,
the factors, and each and every possibility. He can determine
whether the end result is worth the cost, to see whether
he is really willing to face the challenge.
Every challenge is accompanied by a reward. According
to the clarity that one has, he can judge whether the reward
is worth the cost. And according to that understanding,
if he is honest, he can foresee whether he will be proven
a Coward or a Conqueror.
Will you face the challenge?
What if it was the Son of God who set the challenge?
What if the goal is making His Kingdom come on earth as
it is in heaven?
What if the call is to love, just as He loved?
What if the cost is everything… yes, even your
own life?
The one who only sees the goal becomes the Conqueror.
The one who conquers will inherit all things, and I will
be his God and he will be my son. Revelation 21:7
The one who only sees the obstacles is the Coward.
But for the cowardly and unbelieving… their part
will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone,
which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)
First you must hear the call, the challenge…
“Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take
up the cross, and follow Me.” (Mark 10:21)
“… whoever of you does not forsake all that he
has cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:33)
“Be saved from this perverse generation.” (Acts
2:40)
The one who heard the call (by grace), understood the
call (through faith), and walked away, proved to be the
Coward.
“But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful,
for he had great possessions.” (Mark 10:22)
“Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It
was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you
first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy
of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.” (Acts
13:46)
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy
of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is
not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and
follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:37-38)
The one who heard the call (by grace), understood the
call (through faith), and paid the price, became the Conqueror.
Then Peter began to say to Him, “See, we have left
all and followed You.” So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly,
I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers
or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands,
for My sake and the gospel’s sake, who shall not
receive a hundredfold now in this time —houses and
brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions – and in the age to come, eternal
life.” (Mark 10:28-30)
For “by grace, through faith” one is saved
if he is actually saved through the faith that came by
grace. To pay the price that He said to pay is not “works.” It
is what the faith that came by grace would persuade you
to do, lest anyone should boast.
“Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom
of God.” (Acts 14:22)
So what makes the difference between the Coward and the
Conqueror?
“If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know
of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak
from Myself.” (John 7:17)
John 3:18,36; 12:48
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