A Royal Courage Series

“A Royal Courage”

Lessons from Prince Caspian

May 18, 2005

Introduction: This weekend the movie “Prince Caspian” was released and I’m sure Hollywood is thrilled with the adaptation of C. S. Lewis’ timeless Narnia book of the same title…this morning we are going to close our sermon series on Prince Caspian with a message entitled, “A Royal Courage.”

Caspian is the sequel to “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” In the first story, four children, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, travel through a wardrobe to the land of the great lion, Aslan. Edmund becomes a traitor and can only be redeemed by voluntary death of Aslan. So we have the death and yes the resurrection of Aslan, which reminds us of the death and resurrection of the Lion of Judah, Jesus.

The sequel, Prince Caspian, finds the same four children returning to Narnia—it’s one year later for them and 1300 years later in Narnia. They find Narnia darker and under the control of the false king Miraz and they discover that the old stories of Narnia and Aslan are forbidden. C. S. Lewis said that Prince Caspian was about “restoring the true faith” and it is up to Caspian and the four children to fight the battle against King Miraz and restore the old stories and the glory of Alsan. It requires incredible courage to face a world that has forgotten the old stories of Aslan and fight to restore His Kingdom.

Two weeks ago we began the sermon series with a message, “A Royal Identity.” We reminded ourselves as born again believers we have the right pedigree, the right primer, the right pursuits, and the right power for a prince or princes in the Kingdom. We need to realize who we are and whose we are and live for the Kingdom! Last week, we talked about “A Royal Faith.” If we are to have Kingdom faith it must be seeing, trusting, following, growing, and pleasing.

This week we are going to think about the courage required to be a prince or princess in the Kingdom of God.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31: 6

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This cour•age - noun

1. the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.

2. Obsolete. the heart as the source of emotion.

3. have the courage of one’s convictions, to act in accordance with one’s beliefs, esp. in spite of criticism.

—Synonyms 1. fearlessness, dauntlessness, intrepidity, pluck, spirit. COURAGE, BRAVERY, VALOR, BRAVADO refer to qualities of spirit and conduct. COURAGE permits one to face extreme dangers and difficulties without fear…

As a prince we must show courage in at least three arenas…

1. In our personal world. Philippians 1: 20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. Paul longed to have the courage to exalt Christ with his body…with his entire person. In Prince Caspian, the characters had to get right with their personal world, with Aslan, before they could effectively fight any battles. To order our personal world to honor Christ we must say yes to things to that are pleasing to Him and no to things that aren’t. It takes courage to do that. There are at least three areas in your personal world that will build your character.

• Temptation – Saying no to temptation takes personal courage. You know your weakness and what temptation can cause you to stumble. Saying no, builds character and draws us closer to Him. 1 Corinthians 10: 13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

• Time – How we use our disposable time can define over time who we are and shape our character. We can do things that honor the Lord with our time or we can choose to do things that distract us from His purpose and mission. It takes personal courage to say no to the things that distract us from the Lord. Ephesians 5: 15-16. Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

• Trouble – One of the biggest shapers of our character is our response to trouble, and it takes incredible personal courage to respond in a Christ-like way when trouble comes our way. We normally want to run and hide or avoid people or God…or wonder what’s going to happen next. James 1: 2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.