Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38).
The Captain of our salvation wants us to stand for Him and His words against the world. He will be ashamed of us at his coming if we do not. He expects men to have moral courage.
President Calvin Coolidge (a Christian) once said, “I would rather fail in a cause that will someday triumph than triumph in a cause that will someday fail.” To this a song writer wrote:
Who is on the Lord’s side? Who will serve the King?
Who will be His helpers, other lives to bring?
Who will leave the world’s side? Who will face the foe?
Who is on the Lord’s side? Who for him will go?
By Thy call of mercy, By Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord’s side – Saviour, we are thine!
– Frances Havergal
A man once asked Pastor Jack Hyles, “Brother Hyles are you against...”
“Yes, I am,” Brother Hyles shot back before the man could finish, “I’m against it all!”
That about says it for moral convictions. If we are going to be men of God – masculine men – we are going to have to oppose almost everything in this world.
Someone once confronted Evangelist Lester Roloff, “Why do you have to have a head-on collision with everyone you meet?” He answered, “Because most people are going in the wrong direction!”
We must be against it all: abortion, adultery, booze, casinos, chatrooms, crack, cohabitation, covetousness, dating, deadbeat dads, dereliction of duty, drugs, drunkenness, forgery, fornication, gambling, gossip, Hollywood, homosexuality, illegitimacy, immodesty, jealousy, killing, lasciviousness, lewdness, licentiousness, lust, murder, nakedness, nudity, oppression, pot, pornography, pride, prostitution, quackery, queerness, quitting, racketeering, rebellion, selfishness, sin, stealing, stubbornness, temper, TV, unforgiveness, vice, waywardness, wickedness, witchcraft, womanizing, x-rated movies (and most other movies), yelling, and yielding.
Why should we be for something that is evil? “Ye that love the Lord, hate evil...” (Psalm 97:10). These are the things that crucified our Lord! Why should we embrace them? Why should we tiptoe around these subjects? If something has ever been wrong it has always been wrong and it is still wrong today.
Men should be moral: the salt of the earth. They should be examples of righteousness to women and children! Never changing or compromising, men should set high standards in society, government, church, and home. They must be sure of what they believe and why they believe it. Then must have the courage to stand and not change.
What are your convictions? Get them from the Bible, not society. Don’t change. Put “moral courage” on you prayer list, men.
But beware: you will be labeled a legalist and extremist when actually it is holiness. Satan hates holiness more than any other of God’s attribute and opposes it in us through his human agents. Satan may use family members, church members or people in the world who will disdain you for practicing and preaching personal holiness. John the Baptist had his head cut off for his moral courage in confronting King Herod (Matthew 14:3).
Vashti was removed from being queen for her refusal to expose her body (Esther 1:10-12). Though this booklet is for men, Vashti is a profound example to us of moral courage.
Having strong convictions and high biblical standards is not legalism but moral courage, and moral courage is masculinity.
