Outside the City
(All scripture
quotations are from the New International Version unless
otherwise noted. Scriptures designated KJV are from the King
James Version.)
At the end of the book of Revelation in the Bible, the Apostle John sees a
vision of the future promised to the true believer:
Then I saw a new
heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth
had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy
City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I
heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of
God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his
people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He
will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more
death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things
has passed away." (Rev 21:1-4)
What a wonderful promise! This life is so full of sadness and suffering for
so many. Wouldn’t everyone want to inherit what is promised here?
But there is also a warning at the end of Revelation. Some folks will
not be in that City. Here is a list of who will be "Outside the City":
Rev 21:8 But the _________, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and
murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all
liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and
brimstone: which is the second death. (Rev 21:8 KJV)
Note that the name of one kind of such people has been left blank in the
quotation above. Can you guess who they might be? Well, they certainly must be
pretty disgusting. Look at the company they keep! For instance, the old English
word "monger" which we don’t use much any more means "seller." Thus a whore
monger is a person who "sells" the sexual favors of women--what we would today
call a pimp! And the others listed are just as disgusting or worse.
So what despicable group belongs in the blank above?
The fearful.
What? How can that be! Just because someone is afraid of something, does that
make them the equivalent of a murderer?!
And all those other labels describe people who do disgusting things.
But fear is an emotion! How can it be the equivalent of these heinous
deeds?
Are you ever afraid of anything? If so, do you now need to worry that you
will be— Outside the City?
In order to understand the warning in Revelation, we first need to consider
more carefully the topic of fear.
Varieties of Fear
Not all fear is "created equal." There are several quite different kinds of
fear that people can experience.
1) Fear of immediate physical danger—such as a rabid dog coming at
you.
Is this kind of fear a sin? No--this is an instinct built into you
by God for self-preservation!
2) Fear of consequences of doing wrong—Either fear of God or fear of
humans in authority (parents, police).
It is very clear from the scriptures that a proper fear of God is a
good thing:
Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who
finds great delight in his commands. (Ps 112:1)
In fact, such a fear of the LORD is even called wise:
Ps 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who
follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal
praise. (Ps 111:10))
And the Bible even indicates that a proper fear of the power of other
authorities is a good thing:
Rom 13:3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for
those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in
authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.4 For he is
God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he
does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of
wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.5 Therefore, it is necessary
to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment
but also because of conscience. (Rom 13:3)
These fears are right, wholesome, good, and will protect us from foolish
acts. If those are the only kinds of fears you have, there is no condemnation.
But God says the fearful will be "Outside the City." So what kind of
fear is He talking about?
Unhealthy and Unprofitable Fear
3.) Worry— which is
fear of the future
What did Jesus say about this kind of fear?
Matt 6:25 "Therefore I tell you,
do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is
not life more important than food, and the body more important than
clothes?26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or
store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you
not much more valuable than they?27 Who of you by worrying can add a
single hour to his life? (Mat 6:25-27)
The King James Version translation of the scripture above says to "take no thought" for
tomorrow. This would almost seem to be saying never make any preparations for
the future, such as budgeting your money! But the word translated "thought"
actually implies "anxious thought," which is why the NIV translators
chose the word "worry" to express this idea.
Even worse than worry is what is commonly referred to in modern times as
"free-floating anxiety."
A "worry" is usually focused on something specific. It may be a bill
that is due or a test you have to take tomorrow. "Anxiety," on the other hand
often describes a nebulous fear of the future not necessarily tied to any one
factor. An "anxious" person may not even be able to define what it is they fear!
Many modern people seem to have worry down to an art. They don’t even need a
focal point. Unfortunately we may even joke about this tendency if we have it.
We adopt cute names for our malady like "Worry Wart." We excuse ourselves by
saying it’s just a weakness: "I’m just a worrier—I can’t help it." But anxiety
and worry are not cute. And (unless caused directly by a medical condition) they are not just weaknesses.
We need to openly label them what they are—sins!
But how can that be, you may ask? Isn’t a sin something against the commands
of God? There isn’t one of the Ten Commandments that says "Thou shalt not worry"
is there?
No, but there are many commands in the
Bible beside the ten given on Mt.
Sinai! And one of them is in the passage from Matthew quoted above—note that
Jesus gave a direct command: Don’t worry. Therefore to go against
that command is sin.
So back to our original question: Exactly what is a "fearful" person?
A fearful person is not just one who fears a specific
situation. It is one who is full of fear— fear of everything—or
fear of nothing specific!
Facing Fear
So what is the purpose of this article—giving you something more to
fear? Will you now worry that if you worry you will miss out on
God’s Kingdom?!
No, the purpose of this article is to help you see that if you do have a
problem with being full of worry or anxiety, you cannot solve that
problem by hiding from the problem. If you have such a problem (and have
eliminated the possibility that it caused by a medical condition) then you need
to know what Jesus had to say about such a mental state:
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his
life?26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry
about the rest? (Luk 12:25)
You don’t need to fear your fears or worry about your worries. You need to be
set free. If you are fearful, you are in bondage to Satan. You are giving
him a foothold in your mind. Nothing immobilizes Christians more than worry and
anxiety. One of Satan’s tricks is to take our natural human emotions—such as
fear—and intensify them to the point where they overwhelm us.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear,
because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made
perfect in love. (1 Jn 4:18)
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity [KJV: "fear"],
but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (2 Tim 1:7)
But what if you’ve read those scriptures, tried to apply them in your life—but it hasn’t worked for you?
Then perhaps you are making the same mistake many Christians do—they
pray for God to take away their feeling of fear. They say they will
tackle a scary situation when they no longer fear.
They have totally misunderstood how God works. They pray for no fear—and then wait. The person fearful of public speaking will refuse to give a
speech until God takes away the fear. The person afraid of learning to drive a
car will refuse to take lessons until God takes away the fear.
But that is not how to get rid of unhealthy fear.
Part of the key to escaping from the bondage of fear, worry, anxiety is
understanding:
THE OPPOSITE OF "FEARFUL" ISN’T "FEARLESS"
A person high on drugs can be fearless. We have another word for
people who face dangerous situations without a healthy fear of the consequences.
We call them:
FOOLHARDY
The rest of the key to escaping from the bondage of fear, worry, anxiety is
understanding:
THE TRUE OPPOSITE OF FEARFUL IS COURAGEOUS
A hero isn’t someone who has no fear when facing death to save
another. A hero is someone with the courage to do the right thing in
spite of natural fear!
God doesn’t expect you to feel no fear. He expects you to act
on His word in spite of your fear. That is faith.
God doesn’t just take away the emotion of fear. That isn’t how faith works!
If you fear something, you need to take your tiny bit of faith and act
on it. As you act, God will add to your faith. And you will be
able to do the scary thing. And as you succeed, it will increase your faith and
your courage for the next step.
It is not a sin to fear. It is a sin to wallow in that fear
until it becomes worry and immobilizes you! In fact, that is exactly why it
is a sin. For wallowing in fear keeps you from accomplishing all that God
has for you to do. And it gives evidence that you don’t believe God will
keep
His promises.
"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been
pleased to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father.The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are
the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may
be also glorified together.For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. (Rom 8:15)
The word Abba in the original
Greek implies an intimate relationship
between father and child. In fact, it might be more accurately translated
"Daddy" in modern English.
God is our Daddy, and we are his children. And Jesus said:
And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and
become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven. (Matt18:3)
Of course He did not intend that we take on all the qualities of
little children. We are to be spiritually mature. But the one quality in
particular we are to have like little children is absolute confidence in the
ability of our Father to take care of us.
Have you ever seen an older child at a swimming pool who is afraid of the
water? No matter how much coaxing Dad does to get him to jump in, promising to
be right next to him in the water and make sure he is not hurt, the child will
continue to concentrate on the water—and his fear—instead of on Dad and his
promise.
But have you ever seen a little child, a toddler, at the same pool
with her parents? One will take her to the edge of the pool where the other is
waiting, and the one in the water will say, "Jump, Sweetie! I'll catch you." And she will fling
herself into the parent's arms with abandon!
We speak of a "leap of faith." Next time fear or worry wells up in you, make
that leap of faith—into your Daddy’s arms. He will be there
to catch you!
And when the Book of Revelation finally all comes to pass, you will find
yourself ... Inside the City!
