Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Don’t Be Disqualified

3 Oct 2009

“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.” Revelation 21:7

In Revelation 21, we are introduced to the heavenly Jerusalem. The purpose of the New Jerusalem is to be a habitation for the Lord; a place for God to dwell with His people. All the promises of God are reserved for those who overcome. Therefore, by the grace of God, we must cry out for grace to have victory over the flesh, the world and the devil. The Lord says to the overcomers that He will be their God and they shall be sons (21:7). “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (21:8). Who are those who will be disqualified from the New Jerusalem?

(1) The cowardly: those who consider God to be unworthy of their trust. They refuse to exercise faith in Him, but would rather lean on their own talents and abilities. They are ashamed of Jesus and are afraid of what family and friends would think of them being identifi ed with Christ.

(2) The unbelieving: those who doubt what God has said. They refuse to believe His promises and His Word.

(3) The abominable: Those who are unclean. Titus 1:16 talks of them who “profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.”

(4) Murderers: those who break the sixth commandment by committing murder. This includes those who hate others in their hearts (Matt. 5:21-22).

(5) Sexually immoral: those who habitually commit all kinds of sexual impurities outside the holy bounds of marriage.

(6) Sorcerers: those who practice and condone witchcraft in whatever form.

(7) Idolaters: those who worship people and other objects of affection rather than God.

(8) Liars: those who don’t love or speak the truth. While one might summarily dismiss these groups of people as those who are non- Christian, a careful study shows that they are those who are in the Church. Remember the solemn warning of Paul to the Christians in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you.” Let us walk in true liberty and not be entangled by the works of the flesh.