Who Shall Enter In?

Question for you. Do you ever feel like a stranger living in a strange land? And some of you are thinking, yes, and the land is getting stranger by the day. Well, such a feeling of not belonging, being at a place in the world around us, that feeling certainly does feel strong as the world turns ever more away from God. It's turning its back more and more whether they know it or not.

They're turning its back away from God in His way. But we who follow God appropriately will feel like strangers in the world. And you know, that puts us in very good company. That puts us in very good company with all the faithful who have preceded us. Many, many people, many unknown to us, but known to God, have preceded us in faith. If you turn with me to Hebrews 11, I just want to read a few verses with you to set the ground for where we're going to be going today in this message.

In Hebrews 11, verse 10, of course, Hebrews 11 is for many, many years, decades, longer than that, I suppose, has been called the faith chapter. And here, Hebrews 11.10 tells us a little bit about Abraham.

I'm just going to take a few scriptures. Abraham, how Abraham believed God. And he believed God and he followed God, much like the song we heard for special music today. And breaking in verse 10, speaking to Abraham, known as the father of the faithful, he followed God. He waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And so it's interesting, that reference. He waited for a city, for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And many, not only Abraham, of course, but there are many others, and people among us now, we are, and others around the world, are very similar to Abraham.

And we're speaking that city. Let's look at verse 13. And these all died, many others are intervening in these verses, these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them. Assured of them, they embraced them and confessed that they were strangers in pilgrims on the earth. That's what I say, we're in good company. Verse 14, for those who say such things declare that they seek a homeland.

And verse 16, but now they desire a better that is a heavenly country, not just some place on earth, some human city, some human country, but they desire a better that is a heavenly country, something coming from Hetven. And therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. And so these faithful pilgrims of God, many of them listed here in chapter 11 and others unnamed, they desired a homeland and a city, just as we do today. The kingdom of God and New Jerusalem.

Let's turn to Revelation 21. Let's turn to Revelation 21. New Jerusalem is not, by any means, the Jerusalem of our time. Rockets are being lobbed over Jerusalem, and it's under constant threat from enemies surrounding it. In some ways it's nothing new. But this New Jerusalem is not the Jerusalem of our time, nor is it the world capital of Christ's millennial reign. The New Jerusalem will come down from heaven after the great white throne judgment.

That is the time when the first earth and the first heaven have passed away. Let's look at Revelation 21. We'll read a little bit here. Revelation 21. Let's go ahead and read verse 1. John says, Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and also there was no more sea. And then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people.

God himself will be with them and be their God. This is part of our vision, what we're looking forward to. And I think we're looking forward to verse 4, especially. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

And of course, in God's plan of salvation, we're going to be hearing so much more about that in the days and weeks ahead, during the Feast of Tabernacles of the Eighth Day. We understand, according to God's timeline, that at this time, the sages coming down, the New Jerusalem is coming down. At that time, all existing human beings that are still all around will have been transformed into immortal spirit beings. Those who refuse will have perished in the lake of fire. Some will refuse.

Let's continue on in verse 10, same chapter. John continues, He carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain. It showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. All these references to jewels and stones. It says, It says, Jumping on down to verse 22.

And the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it. Now, just a reference to the word nations. Sometimes you read nations, and we may think of the geopolitical nations we have today, a Germany, a Paraguay, a Canada. But when you look at the Greek word, it also means multitudes. And from our understanding of God's plan of salvation, we're talking here, then, about the billions and billions of people, we believe, who, after the being resurrected to a physical existence and given their first full opportunity to know of God and to choose salvation. It's these multitudes, these peoples from nations, for how many thousands of years, that will then choose to follow God. And they will walk in the light of the city. And the kings of the earth, it says, will bring their glory and honor into it. Well, at that time, who would those kings be, perchance? They would seem to be the kings and priests, the firstfruits. They would be the kings of that time. And they will all be, in this beautiful city, New Jerusalem.

Everybody should want to enter New Jerusalem. That is, you might say, our first and long-term goal. That's where we want to be. Not just us, those who become the firstfruits of Christ and God and kingdom, but those who will have their opportunity to choose. But as I said, not all will choose this way. So a question then comes up for us. Who shall enter in? Who shall enter in?

So today I want to share with you three attributes of those who shall enter New Jerusalem. We'll take these from Scripture, of course. And I'll share those three attributes with you right now, as we'll look at them individually in the message today. Those three attributes of those who have entered Jerusalem are, one, that they walk in righteousness with God.

They walk in righteousness with God. Two, they have God's Holy Spirit in them. They have God's Holy Spirit in them. And three, they show courage in being faithful. They show courage in being faithful.

Now, of course, these same attributes are attributes we're to be building right now. Now is our time of judgment. Now is the time God is working with us and we're yielding to God so we can build these attributes so that we will be found worthy not only of the first resurrection in the kingdom of God, but also after the millennium, after that first thousand years of entering that holy city, New Jerusalem, reigning with God and Christ and all the resurrected human beings turned into immortal spirit beings for the rest of eternity.

The title of the sermon is, Who Shall Enter In?

Who shall enter New Jerusalem? What attributes do they share? Number one. They walk in righteousness with God. They walk in righteousness with God. Let's be turning to Psalm 15.

Well, actually we're going to be reading the whole psalm. Psalm 15.

It's now nearly some roughly 3,000 years ago that King David asked a very similar question. And we find it asked in Psalm 15 and verse chapter. I'm getting my words mixed up. Let's try that again. Psalm 15 verse 1.

Psalm 15 verse 1. David asked this question. And of course, Psalms are songs, but they are also prayers.

And so David asks in Psalm 15 verse 1, he says, Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill?

Of course, we just read God's tabernacle will be coming to earth with men.

And then David in verses 2 through 5 shares God's inspired answers. The answers that God had pressed upon his heart, answers that are very vital to us all. So who may abide in God's tabernacle? David provides the answers.

Who may abide? He who walks uprightly, that means blamelessly, and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart.

Of course, notice those are all action verbs. They're not passive. He who walks uprightly, works righteousness, speaks the truth.

It's an entire way of life, every aspect of our existence.

And so this defines, verse 2, this is a righteous man and woman, righteous people who fully submit to God and his way.

More of this about David's answer here, who's going to be in the temple with him, with God.

Verse 3, he who does not backbite with his tongue, means he's always respectful. He does not create slander.

Nor does he do evil to his neighbor, nor does he take a reproach against his friend.

And so verse 3 tells us this person guards his tongue. He practices love towards all. He does not spread gossip.

He does not create false accusations or spread them about. He's very cautious.

Continuing in verse 4, this person in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord.

He who swears, it's this person as he who swears to his own hurt and does not change.

What does that mean, in whose eyes a vile person is despised?

It seems to suggest that a person who walks in righteousness of God will recognize wicked people, and he will detest their ways.

And what's also part of this is, it seems to suggest, the Hebrew seems to suggest, it doesn't matter if that person is an important person or unimportant person in the eyes of the world.

It doesn't matter if that person is rich or poor. Those who walk with God will recognize wickedness wherever it appears.

And the same holds true for the next part, but he honors those who fear the Lord.

The same way he respects the godly, whether the godly is an important person or unimportant person.

The righteous recognize God's presence, God's character, God's spirit even, and other people. They recognize when people are doing good things.

And so they reject, they despise the wickedness of the world, but they do honor those who fear the Lord and try so hard to walk in his ways.

And of course, that last line, verse 4, it's he who swears to his own hurt and does not change.

This is a person who's honest, trustworthy, reliable. He does not tell lies.

Verse 5, who may abide in your tabernacle, he who does not put out his money at usury.

He's not going to charge interest to those who just need that help and money.

He's not going to take unfair advantage of people. Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

Bribes are often used to thwart justice, to pervert justice, to twist it in a way that it would not normally go.

That should not be happening to this person who wants to enter the tabernacle of God.

And then David summarizes the very last line. He summarizes all that has occurred, verses 2 through 5.

He who does these things shall never be moved.

I think that's similar to what we heard in the special music today.

He who does these things shall never be moved.

Want to understand what that is, you might jot down Matthew 7, verse 24 through 25.

Jot down Matthew 7, 24 through 25.

That is the account of the man who built his house on the rock, versus the account of the man who built his house on shifting sands.

The person who wants to abide in God's tabernacle will never be moved because he built his life, his house, on the rock.

Our rock is Jesus Christ.

And so those who truly revere God and desire to abide with him forever will be walking in God's way, which is holy righteousness.

And it makes perfect sense that to abide with God, we must make God's way our way, God's house.

We are God's creation, God's rules, not our own.

We do not create our rules, our way of life, and expect God to bow to us. That is not the way.

Righteousness is not defined by human beings, but by God. And especially, it's defined through his Ten Commandments. Ten Commandments broadly define love toward God and love toward neighbor.

And especially, it defines love unto their full spiritual intent, as Jesus Christ taught.

And so it makes perfect sense that to abide with God, we must be changing our ways to God's ways and not the other way around.

And, of course, we must be keeping God's commandments. Let's look at Matthew 19, please. Matthew 19. We'll see that Jesus is making this point about the need to walk in righteousness, the need to submit to God's commandments, to their full meaning.

And what we find here is an account that is familiar to many of us.

It's the account of a young man who said he wanted eternal life.

He said he wanted eternal life.

Matthew 19, verse 16. We're just going to read bits and pieces of this. Now, behold, one came and said to him, Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do? What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?

And Jesus answered, going on into verse 17, Jesus said, If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.

And then when the young man further asked, well, which ones? I don't know why he asked that. We're not sure, but maybe you want to make sure he had them all covered. Or maybe you want to show. Maybe you want to show Christ that, yeah, I've been doing that. Well, then Jesus began to list the Ten Commandments. They are the Ten Commandments. He doesn't list every single one of them, but it's very obvious which ones he's talking about. Look at verse 18. And Jesus said, You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and your mother. And so on. He's talking about the Ten Commandments. Well, then, verse 20, it seems that that young man perked up. He seems to respond with some confidence, we might say. For he says, well, all these things I have kept from my youth. Ever since I was a little boy, I've done this. What do I still lack? What's missing? And so his reaction almost makes it sound as if keeping God's laws is a rather easy thing. It's like a checklist. I've done that. I've done that. I've done that.

Maybe he thought, well, you know what? I haven't murdered anybody, so I'm good on that account. Many of us might find ourselves, yeah, I haven't murdered anybody. I'm okay. But then what does Jesus do? He comes and expands the meaning. Jesus says, if you hate someone in your heart, you are a murderer. And so this young man didn't quite understand that, it seems, at that time. And it's something we all continue to grow in understanding. Well, then Jesus continues on, verse 20, he says, Jesus said to him, if you want to be perfect, if you want something to do, well, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.

Wow, that's a whole lot better. And come, then he says, and then come and follow me. Join me. Join my disciples. Right now. Don't wait. But when the young man, verse 22, and young man heard that, saying, he went away sorrowful, where he had great possessions. It seems that this young man lacked the willingness to do what Jesus said, to sell his possessions and then give it away to the poor. But remember, he had asked for a good thing that he could do. Why? So that he might have eternal life.

He wanted this, and Jesus answered. He gave him something to do. He said he wanted eternal life. Jesus offers him the opportunity of treasure in heaven. But he wasn't willing to give up his worldly possessions. Perhaps he wasn't brave enough to let it go. He wasn't willing to live a life of selfless serving in following Christ.

And indeed, as we understand now, that is truly a very sorrowful thing. That is a very sorrowful thing. Let's turn to Revelation 22.14. Because what Jesus said, the young man wanted to know, What must I do to receive eternal life? And Jesus said, and essentially told him, Keep the commandments. It is what is repeated again in Revelation 22, verse 14. Keeping God's Ten Commandments, now that does not mean we keep them in some sort of Pharisaical way.

Jesus made that very clear in his instructions and in his example he set for us. Or to keep them in the full spirit meaning of the law. Jesus shows us how and he lived them. But they are necessary for those who desire eternal life, who desire salvation. We cannot ignore Scripture's clear meaning here. Revelation 22.14. It reads, Blessed are those who do his commandments. Not think about it. Not write them on a list and hang them on your wall.

You've got to be doing them. Not that anything knows or wrong, but you have to be doing them. Blessed are those who do his commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life, representing immortality. And may enter, and look at that, that they may enter through the gates into the city.

Into the city. And so we must do God's commandments. We must keep them, must live them, with the help of God and direction from Scripture. And when we sin, we sincerely repent and confess our sins to God, because we will sin. We'll make mistakes. We repent, ask God's forgiveness, trust that he's forgiven us because he says he will when we're sincere in repentance, and go on our way and sin no more, until we sin again, because we will, and repeat as many times as necessary.

And we keep that up. And we grow through that. We become better. We become more like Christ. We build that holy character. And God is faithful to forgive. And so the point here, this first attribute, those who would enter through the gates into New Jerusalem, they will be keeping God's commandments. They will be walking, action verb.

They will be walking in righteousness with God. Number two, what's the second trait? They have God's Holy Spirit in them. Those who would enter in would have, they will have God's Holy Spirit in them.

You see, to enter New Jerusalem, as we understand, from Scripture we must be transformed. Paul clearly states 1 Corinthians 1550, and this may have been repeated in the message. You may have heard, I haven't heard the messages yet from trumpets here. Chances are good. You may have heard something like this.

1 Corinthians 1550, Paul says that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. If you pinch yourself, do you feel that? It's like that little chicken wing there. That's your flesh. If you pinch hard enough, you're going to have blood. Don't do it, but you get my point. We're flesh and blood. And we're mortal. We are mortal. We do not have an immortal soul. That's what Scripture tells us.

Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. In verse 53, Paul adds, this mortal must put on immortality. That's why we say we do not have a mortal soul. We've got to put it on. It hasn't happened yet. For this to occur, there's a process. We have to have God's Holy Spirit in us.

Let's turn back to John 3. When Christ was on earth, he was teaching, and he happened to meet with a Pharisee, a well-respected man in Judah and Jerusalem. Let's look at John 3, verse 3 through 5. It's a really wonderful account that you might want to read later.

John 3, verse 3 through 5, he read about this conversation Jesus had with a Pharisee named Nicodemus one night. And they were talking about how one can enter—or Jesus was talking about how one can enter the kingdom of God. And it caused a little confusion and consternation for Nicodemus. John 3, verse 3, Jesus answered his question and said to him, Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, born again is a phrase we hear a lot, but most times it does not seem to be rooted carefully in Scripture, according to what Scripture actually says. And we're going to get to that in a little bit. Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And Nicodemus said to him—and it seems Nicodemus was being very literal-minded, you know, he's a very literal-minded man. Nicodemus said to him, Well, how can a man be born when he is old? How can he enter second time into his mother's womb and be born? Yeah, I don't think my mom would want to go through that again. Me neither. Just for the record. How can he enter second time into his mother's womb and be born? Yeah, and he's right. That's ridiculous. That doesn't make sense. Well, then Jesus answered, points to the meaning as figurative here, Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. He cannot enter the city. New Jerusalem, either. And so Jesus was referring to one's need to be born spiritually to enter the kingdom. Being born of water and the Spirit refers to the process of conversion. It refers to the requirement of baptism. Believing God, being convicted of our sins, repenting of sin, being baptized, representing our commitment to God, our willingness to put away our old life, to live a new life in Christ, and then the laying on of hands by which we pray for God to give that individual his Holy Spirit. And when we receive that Holy Spirit through laying on of hands from God, that precious gift, we experience a begettle. We have this begettle, spiritually speaking, of God's life in us. Just as there's a human seed that's entered into a human oven, man, female, there's a new life that begins. And it seems to be analogous to what God's Holy Spirit does in us.

And with God's help through faith in Christ and in our effort to study God's Word, pray, build that close relationship to Him, living God's way of life, we exercise that Spirit. We strengthen it. It begins to mature, and it grows. And it gives God works with us great things through His Spirit.

We keep His commandments, and we essentially learn to walk more by faith, less by sight. More by faith, less by sight. That's 2 Corinthians 5, verse 7. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 7.

Romans 8, verse 9 through 11. Paul elaborates what Jesus was talking about here. Has Christ personally taught Paul? Romans 8, verse 9 through 11. Paul clearly states that to be resurrected in God's kingdom, God's Spirit must abide in us, must dwell in us, must be in us.

Romans 8, verse 9. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

Verse 11. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, which dwells in you. And so we see the process, we see the connection.

In addition, Paul says that through God's Spirit in us, we become the children of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Become part of that family. Let's look at verses 15 through 17, still here in Romans 8. Paul writes, For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption.

Sometimes it's called the Spirit of sonship, by which we cry out, Abba, Father.

The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. We have that begettleness of God's Spirit. And if children then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, we live a life of faith for strangers and pilgrims on the earth. We're going to suffer for that, but we're moving forward with our vision on the kingdom, our vision on that New Jerusalem. If indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Glorified. Taking on the same glory, the same sort of glory of the Father in Christ. And so we are God's children now when we are begotten spiritually, when we receive God's Spirit through the laying on of hands. And we must thereafter mature spiritually. We keep God's commandments, follow Christ's example and His instruction until we're born into the kingdom. That transformation, which we look forward to happening when Christ returns, those who are dead will rise up from wherever they are, the grave will rise up and meet Christ in the air. Those who are still alive at Christ's return will be changed instantaneously, it seems to say, and we will meet them, all of us, together as Christ comes down from the clouds. These, of course, are but the first fruits. First fruits means that there are many more fruits to come. From what Scripture indicates, we're talking billions and billions of people who will come to understand one day and then undergo the process to be born spiritually, from whatever indication it is, they will be undergoing the process conversion. So the second point here, those who enter New Jerusalem, indeed, must have God's Holy Spirit in them, for they are to be the children of God.

And number three, those who enter New Jerusalem, they show courage in being faithful. They show courage in being faithful. Those who enter New Jerusalem will have proven themselves brave in faith. They have proven themselves to be brave in faith to God. Why? Because the cowardly shall not enter in. The cowardly shall not enter in. Let's turn again back to Revelation 21. Let's turn back again to Revelation 21, and we're going to be looking at verses 7-8.

In the New King James Version of the Bible, the word cowardly is used just one time. And that's here in Revelation 21, in the section related to verses 7-8. In these two verses, we are told the opposite outcomes, contrasting outcomes, between those who obey God and those who will reject God. It's Revelation 21, verses 7-8. And here we read, Child of God. But look at verse 8. But, here's the contrast.

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.

We see, then, that the cowardly are listed alongside other wicked and unrepentant people. Wicked and unrepentant people. Now, what does cowardly mean?

Anybody can feel scared at times, right? Anybody can feel scared and in weak need. There's been times I've felt that way, and you may have too.

And how about those old westerns? Those of you that watch Gunsmoke.

It's about the only thing worth watching on TV anymore. If that, I don't know. That's not a promotion for...

Yeah, you can take that part off anyway. Sorry. I need to keep my hands down.

Those old westerns, remember?

You yellow-bellied whatever.

The cowards were those who were chicken-hearted. Remember? They're chicken-harded, lily-livered cowards.

Is that what cowardly means here?

Because sometimes I think we all feel cowardly.

But is that what this means? What is going on here?

Because this word may bother some of us. And if something bothers us in Scripture, we need to dive in and dig into it, see what's really being said.

So we can find out if there's something we need to change. We'll then change.

Well, the Greek word here that's translated as cowardly is dylos.

It's D-E-I-L-O-S.

Some of you like strongs. It's Strongs G1169.

Dylos. D-E-I-L-O-S. And it does mean timid.

It does mean timid or fearful. And by implication, it means faithless.

Now, this same Greek word is also used in Mark 4, verse 40.

Now, I'm not going to take us there, but I'll summarize and read to you the Scripture.

But Mark 4, 40, this is the account of the time that Jesus called his disciples dylos.

He called them fearful.

After they had panicked during a storm on the sea, Jesus was in the boat sleeping.

Jesus wasn't on the water in this tempest. He was in the boat, back of the boat, and the stern sleeping.

And these disciples started panicking because of the terrible windstorm, this tempest.

They began to fear for their lives. And Jesus was sleeping in the back.

They woke him up in great fear. Jesus calmed the sea, and then he asked them this question, Mark 4, verse 40.

He says, why are you so fearful? Dylos. I guess the editors wanted to. They could have said, why are you so cowardly?

How is it that you have no faith? You have no faith.

It seems what the disciples had done, based on what Christ is saying, that they had allowed their fear to overwhelm their trust, their confidence in God.

They needed, in other words, they needed to be more courageous in faith. They needed to be a little more brave in faith.

Now, the cowardly, in Revelation 28, then, it seems to refer to those who are too fearful, it seems to refer to those who are too fearful to keep trust and faith in Jesus Christ.

They're too fearful to keep trust and faith in Christ. So the cowardly are not condemned because they experience fear.

We all experience fear. We're human. Fear is part of our makeup. That fear reflex keeps us safe. That fear reflex tells us to run.

And sometimes we do need to run.

So the cowardly are not going to be condemned because they have fear, but because they choose not to push their fear aside, they choose not to push through it and trust in God.

And so what does matter to God is what we do when we are fearful. What do we do when we're fearful?

Does fear compel us to be brave and steadfast to believe God and to trust, to obey Him?

We're scared, but we still stick with God. Do we still be brave through the fear? Holding fast is another way of putting that.

Or does fear compel us to stop believing God?

Do not trust and obey Him anymore.

Now, sometimes I've known people if something terrible has happened and their fear overwhelms them, they decide to be angry at God and walk away, thinking, God's abandoned me, I'm going to walk away.

They need to be brave and hold fast to God. God does not walk away, but we surely do not want to walk away from God.

Because He'll let us if that's what we want. We should not want that.

To overcome the world and inherit all things, we must choose to be brave and steadfast in faith with God. Let's notice Revelation 3, verse 11-12. Look at these words, Jesus says, and it really ties into this idea of being brave, of holding fast and being brave and faithful.

Revelation 3, verse 11, Jesus says, Behold, I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have. We could say, Be brave, be courageous and faithful. Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. And he who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no more. He will abide forever with God. That's what Abraham and all the faithful before us, in their own way of understanding, they were looking forward to this. So we look forward to this. We want to abide forever with God. Jesus continues, He says, I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and I will write on him my new name.

In other words, you will be immortal. You will be part of the family, the children of God. And so overcoming the world in our sins and our fears, we understand, requires that we trust in God. We be faithful in God. We are faithful through the faith of Christ. And so the cowardly, the timid, the fearful, will not commit or stay committed to God. And that would be especially true when they're faced with, as we may be faced with, persecution one day. Truly real persecution. As we've read from earlier in the Book of Acts and the accounts of Stephen and other sort of persecutions that may arise.

When confronted with fiery trials, the cowardly lack faith and reject God. Perhaps they hope to save themselves some other way.

But there is no other way. There is no other way. There's no place else to turn. They reject salvation. They reject eternal life. Now, in contrast, the brave and faithful trust God. And they overcome Satan. And they overcome the world, Satan's world. Let's notice Revelation 12, verse 11. Revelation 12, verse 11. And here we are told, and they, referring to God's righteous, and they overcame Him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Who are they overcoming? They overcame Him. It's a reference to Satan. They did not love all the trials at the end of the age. And the trials we're going through now. The truly faithful push through their fear to hold fast to their commitment. And they do that through faith in Christ. And God helps them endure no matter what happens.

Now, to have those that preceded us had to confront fear. Do they have fearful things they had to live through? Well, let's turn back to Hebrews 11 again. Let's turn back to the faith chapter. Let's think about this, because many of these names, many of these accounts here, we could connect back to the Old Testament, some of the histories there. Hebrews 11 again, let's look at verses 32-35. Another little excerpt here. These again listed the many faithful men and women who experienced, obviously in description, we could say experienced great fear, but they had courage. They pushed through it with faith. They had courage and faith. Verse 32, And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, and also of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms. They worked righteousness. I believe that's akin to what David said in Psalm 15. They worked righteousness. They obtained promises. They stopped the mouths of lions. Do you think that was a fearful situation for them? I really don't care to see that end of a lion. But there are other fearful things, too. They stopped the mouths of lions. They quenched the violence of fire. They escaped the edge of the sword. That sounds terrifying. And out of weakness they were made strong. Out of their weakness they were made strong. Perhaps said, weak knees. And they became strong through faith and being brave and God helping them. They became valiant in battle, courageous. They turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead, raised to life again. I think maybe Martha and Mary, their fear, their loss, and then their great joy. And they saw their brother Lazarus again. And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance. That took courage. That they might obtain a better resurrection. And so when we think on these things, we begin to realize that with courage born of faith in God, those who preceded us in faith, they did push through. They did overcome their fear. They trusted God and they never stopped.

And these are among those who shall enter in. And we can. We can and must do the same.

Now, let me pause. But, some may ask, but some may ask, well, in all honesty, what if we are a little lily livered? What if we are watery-kneed? What if we're just not feeling it? I'm really not feeling it. This brave thing? What if we're not the heroic Gideon and David sort of person? Because they seem like larger-than-life people. We can't have any comparison with them. I would encourage us not to think too little of ourselves. Don't think too little of yourself. I believe that many of us, maybe all of us, I think probably all of us, that we may be far more brave of faith than we think we are. Because I know some of you, I know all of you, but some of you I know your history is a little more. And I think there are many courageous people in this audience and listening online. And certainly, we don't want to doubt that God is faithful to help us have the strength of courage and faith we need, and whatever trials it may be we face. Well, how are we brave? Let's think of it. Let me offer you some examples of how you may be more brave than you think. You see, I believe, and I hope you agree with me, that it takes courage to do what's right. It takes courage to do what's right when everyone around you is doing wrong. Have you ever been in middle school and you're trying to do the right thing and everybody else is going the wrong way? Yeah, it takes courage. Our young people know about that. And all of us were young. We all know about that. We've got to stick to doing what's right. We've done it before. We've got to keep doing it. It takes courage to keep our promises, even to our own hurt. You've done that. Keep it up. It takes courage to tell the truth, to be honest, to not lie. Even though, and this happens all the time, you're telling the truth to somebody, a clerk, or somebody at the county office, and they look at you like, right. You're a liar like everybody else I've talked to today. And we're here going, no, believe me, I don't believe you. It doesn't feel good. But we have to be brave and hold to our ground. Stand fast and keep telling the truth. Don't stop. It takes courage to be faithful in paying our tithes as inflation creeps up and the bills keep coming on. But you know, God always provides. He always provides. We have to be brave and keep it up. Maybe I'll make this a little more personal at this point. It definitely takes courage to accept the facts of old age. Or should I say growing older? I'll say growing older. We know what it means. We're all experiencing it, we'll experience it, I should say. It's hard to accept. It takes courage to accept the facts of growing old. Decreasing strength, more aches, far more frustrations. And then the end of the race. I'm speaking figuratively. But we don't quit now. There's this wonderful line from Psalm 37, verse 25. Psalm 37, 25. And I've come to appreciate it much more. And you'll understand why. David wrote this. David said, Psalm 37, 25. David said, I have been young and now am old. And I'm not as old as some. I get it. I know. Yet, David said, I have not seen the righteous forsaken. I have not seen the righteous forsaken. We don't quit now. No matter who we are, how old we are, we don't quit now.

What's that phrase? We gird up our loins, we get brave, and we keep pushing forward in faith. Because God has a place for us prepared in New Jerusalem.

But some may ask, what if our fears threaten to crush our faith? What if things are just so terrible? Cancer. We're on the edge of the grave. Something terrible is happening in our family. Something happening in our faith just seems to be crushed. What do we do? What do we do? At those times, Scripture instructs us to cry out to God for His help. To cry out for God for His help, confess our fear, and then be brave to make that leap of faith. To trust Him confidently and totally.

Let's turn back to Mark 9. Mark 9.

God had this account in Scripture. In my opinion, I think it's accurate. I would think. I don't know an entire mind of God. But it seems He put it here because He wants us to know what to do at those times when fear seems to overwhelm us. Mark 9 records the time when the disciples were unable to cast an evil spirit from a boy. It's unclear how old the boy is. Maybe an older boy, maybe teenage years or something. It's not sure. But this boy has been afflicted by an evil spirit since he was little.

This boy, since he was little, the father explains, we would say he's having seizures, but it's not seizures as we would think of it today. But it's an evil spirit causing these troubles for him. He asks the disciples. The disciples were unable to cast it out. So then he turns to Jesus Christ, who arrives on the scene. He sees all this crowd developing.

In verses 22-23, the boy's distraught father is very fearful. It seems that he's almost lost all hope of anything that these men of God can do anything. He explained to Jesus how the spirit, how often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. After years of this, the father is desperate.

And then he says, verse 22, the end there, But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us, me and the boy. Have compassion on me and the boy, our family. You see, it seems he feared that Jesus could do nothing. And maybe he didn't fully understand who he was standing, who it was he was talking to in a deeper sense. And then Jesus makes this wonderful response. Jesus said to him, if you can believe, if you could dig deep somehow and be brave and still believe, all things are possible to him who believes. Well, then immediately the father child cried out, verse 24, He cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. And what happens? God helped. Jesus then commanded the evil spirit to come out of the boy, and the spirit came out. And the father reaches down and gathers his boy, and it must have been great rejoicing in tears of gratitude and amazement and rejoicing. He pushed through his fear, and this beautiful, wonderful thing happened. The father's fear and his impassioned confession, Lord, I believe, helped my unbelief. It illustrates our human condition. It illustrates where we all may find ourselves someday. This man's belief, you see, was faltering. His fear is about to crush his belief, yet with Christ's encouragement, he confessed his need for the courage to believe. Because what he saw, nothing was going to fix us with what he saw. But took what he believed, and trusting God could fix this, that's what he needed. God responded. God strengthened him with the courage and the faith to believe, and Jesus cast the demon out and restored his son. I love—I like this story. It always makes me recognize how much I need God in my life, and I suspect we all can relate to this account. I call it a story. It's a real story. It's a true story. It's not fictional. This really happened. We know that.

And so we will face fearful situations which will test our faith and our belief, like this boy's father. And whenever fear threatens our belief and trust in God, we can cry out to God for help. That's part of the lesson I think we can draw here. God will give us strength of courage. He will help our belief. He will help us have that faith in Christ and the faith of Christ in us. God will answer that prayer. God is faithful.

And He will give us the resolve, the bravery, the courage we need to believe, and stay committed to Him. And so the point here, this point as we wrap up number three here, is that no matter what life throws at us, whatever our fears and worries, we must be brave to practice living faith in Jesus Christ unto salvation. And the brave and courageous in Christ, not the cowardly. The brave and courageous in Christ shall enter new Jerusalem. And so then we see three traits shared by those three attributes of those who enter new Jerusalem. They walk in righteousness with God. They have God's Holy Spirit in them. And they show courage in being faithful. And so as God helped the faithful men and women of old, He will help us as we journey through the spiritual wilderness of the world and unto His kingdom, so that we might enter into new Jerusalem when it descends from heaven unto this earth. Until Christ comes, we need to heed Paul's admonition in 1 Corinthians 16-13. Last scripture, let's turn there and read that together. Of course, Paul knew a lot about fear, too, didn't he? I think we can trust Paul that not only is he speaking inspired of God, but he's also speaking from his profound life experience. We can trust what he says here. 1 Corinthians 16-13. Paul writes, 1 Corinthians 16-13, Watch. I mean, guard, watch yourselves. Be aware. Watch. Stand fast in the faith. Be brave. Be strong. And yes, strong is not necessarily talking about physical strength. Strong is talking about faith in Christ, the faith of Christ in us as well, of course.

So, brethren, I hope this has been an encouraging message for us. We have lots of fear in this world, but we need not fear. Use the fear to turn to Christ. So let's keep the vision of New Jerusalem in our hearts and minds. God is for us. Never forget that. God is for us. And let's also remember, there is nothing. Nothing, God says, is too hard for Him.