THE COWARDLY SHALL NOT ENTER HEAVEN
''But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
Revelation 21:8
By the end of this post, I hope that many of you will raise the standard of their faith in the face of discouragement and fear.
The book of Revelation ends by prophesying the final victory of Our Lord but it also adds some eternal drama for some people.
I will not discuss the entire list of people included in Revelation 21:8, but for the sake of this post, I will only focus on one category: 'the cowardly'.
It is both sad and fascinating to see that the cowardly will not enter Heaven. It may sound harsh to many of you, but now that I have grown deeper in the things of God, I now understand why.
You see my friend, Christian life, many times over, will require courage. In Matthew 7:21, Jesus clearly says that 'only the one who does the will of God shall enter Heaven'.
There is a correlation between Matthew 7:21 and the 'cowardly' in Revelation 21:8.
Many times over, the will of God in your life will require a certain amount of courage against circumstances, fear ,adversity and many other things. Many hear the will of God in their lives but get discouraged once their physical eyes perceive obstacles.
A cowardly is a person who has made discouragement and fear his/her home.
Please hear me well: 'I am not telling you to arm yourself with courage for sinful and irrelevant activities.
In this Biblical context, 'cowardly' , among other things, refers to people who were too afraid and discouraged to do the will of God to the point of doing nothing about what God told them to do.
Some people have great courage to do everything except the will of God... it's true. They have the courage to marry people against God's will, they the courage to live in a city against God's will, they have the courage to work in all sort of jobs except the very one in which God has called them to...
The list goes on and on...
In most cases, failure to do the will of God can mostly be rooted in two things: 'a cowardly attitude and unbelief'.
We cannot take the word 'cowardly' too lightly. Based on Revelation 21:8, the 'cowardly label' can engage anyone into a battle for their soul. The coward shall not enter Heaven, neither shall he/she be in an eternal waiting room(that stuff does not exist). The coward shall be thrown into the lake of fire.
One more thing: 'if you have a gift of encouragement (ref. Romans 12:8), then ensure that your encouragement helps the cowardly in being armed with courage and in doing the will of God.
Cowardliness is more than a word. It's a battle for your soul.