But the cowardly, the
unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice
magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake
of burning sulfur. This is the second death.
Revelation 21:8
“Have a little hell
fire and brimstone to start your day off with?”
“No thanks, don't mind
if I pass.”
Messages of this sort don't rank high on my fav's list to
listen to, let alone write about. I'm more comfortable looking into God's grace
and mercy. Still it's important to heed all of God's Word, even those parts
that make us squirm and feel uncomfortable.
Revelation 21:8 lists the Who's Who of Hell. Just in case you haven't heard, there aren't
any parties there. A good time won't be had by anyone.
Ask many people, Christians included, who will go to hell
and they'll probably get most of those on the list except the first two. Those
leading the charge to make hell “Home Sweet Home” aren't the usual suspects. It
isn't the mass murderers, the Robber Barons and the child molesters who are first
in the pool. It's the scaredy cats that lead the way. Christians fall into the
trap of accepting cowardice and unbelief as part of life. Let's not call them
sins shall we? They are however, the top two on the list. Ouch! I've walked in
those shoes and they can feel quite comfy.
God's got a problem with cowardice – He doesn't like it at
all. Unbelief, the kissin' cousin of
cowardice, is fear based and opposed to faith. Faith is what pleases God,
Hebrews 11:6.
I've heard reference to the 365 instances of “fear not” in the bible; one for every
day of the year. It is a nice thought but inaccurate. Fear and its derivatives
appear 314 times. Jesus used the word fear about ten times. There
may not be a “fear not” for everyday
of the year but if Jesus only said it once, that’s sufficient.
Maybe cowards go first because cowardice is the root of all
the rest. Fear puts us in a self-preservation mindset. Unchecked, it drives
individuals to extremes in order to protect themselves, their lifestyles, their
stuff and so forth. Fear is the main reason we accomplish so much less than we
were designed for. Ouch again!
Cowardice isn't ok with God. Speaking for myself, it will
not hold up as an excuse. Fear is not an acceptable response – faith is. When
we walk by faith we please God. He likes it when we imitate our Father. When we
act just like Him it's a sign that we really get it.
Ok, now I need to get rid of the mental image of the
cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz at the head of the Going to Hell line. I also need to ruthlessly admit to and
confront the fears in my own life. They're not ok. Hanging onto them hasn't
done me any good in the past and that's not going to change in the future.
Lord, help us all to face what frightens, even terrifies us and break it's
stronghold off of our lives, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Photo from Google Images
Although the authenticity of this quote attributed to Adolph Hitler is disputed, it DID appear recently in the Billy Graham Evangelistic Assn.'s "Decision" magazine...and they believe it's authentic. It really convicted me. If it's accurate, THIS is how Hitler viewed Protestant laypeople and pastors. I have been asking myself, "If I were pastoring in Germany circa 1939, how would I have behaved before Hitler?" Well, here's the quote: "The Protestants haven't the faintest conception of a church . . . You can do anything you like to them—they will submit. . . . They are insignificant little people, submissive as dogs, and they sweat with embarrassment when you talk to them. They have neither a religion that they can take seriously nor a great position to defend like Rome."
ReplyDeleteWow, I've never heard of that but if he said it, unfortunately for the most part he was right on target for that time frame. This is something to really think about
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