Cowards and Thieves and Liars (Oh My!)

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:5-8

This morning, I woke up with a dream. I was preparing this post (yes, this one), and I headr Dorothy, the Tin Man, and The Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz saying “Cowards and Thieves and Liars, Oh My!” as I was splicing a picture together of a lion, a tiger and a bear. Kind of strange, right? Until I started thinking about it more. Think about the Wizard of Oz for a minute. Each person in Dorothy’s Party was off to see the Wizard to get something improved: The Scarecrow wanted a brain, the Tin Man wanted a heart, the Lion wanted Courage, and Dorothy wanted to go home. At the end of the movie (I’m sure it’s similar in the book), they all found that what they wanted was within themselves, all along; THEY were the real source of their own salvation. While this is a nice story, it’s antithetical to what Scripture says. What we need is within Jesus Christ, and in Him alone we can be saved.

Now, consider the text at the beginning of this message: the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters and liars all are doomed to be apart from God, forever within the lake of fire. All of these attributes are trying to find salvation within one’s self. Cowards seek self-preservation above all else, faithless people abandon things that don’t work out for them, detestable people live only for themselves and do not care who they affect by their actions, murderers kill those who are in their way, sexually immoral people look for fulfillment in sexual partners as opposed to Christ Jesus, sorcerers seek substances to expand their knowledge of the spiritual and to gain personal power, idolaters seek gods (including themselves) that build up their egos, and liars lie to gain what they desire, whether reputation, money, or power. I hope you’ll forgive the run-on sentence, but I say all that to say this: we cannot save ourselves.

Salvation is not found within ourselves. There is only one name in Heaven and on earth by which we must be saved, and that is in Jesus Christ. Jesus, who is God, humbled Himself, being born of a Virgin, and then lived a perfect life according to all the standards His Father set. He died in the place of sinners, bearing the wrath of the Father on Himself so that all who believe would be forgiven of sin and reconciled to the Father. He died and was buried, rising again on the third day so that those who believe would no longer need to fear death!  By rising from the grave, Jesus conquered death, proving we can have new life now, but also be raised in the fullness of life in the last days. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot work for our salvation. We cannot lie, cheat, steal, or sleep our way into heaven. We need to follow Jesus, trusting that His life, death, burial and resurrection are enough to save us, and surrendering our lives to His Lordship. We can’t save ourselves, but Jesus can save us!

Philippians 2:1-18

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.