Franklin Graham: Heaven Is Not for Cowards!

If God’s people do not stand strong, who will? Many in the church have accommodated worldliness (a devotion to temporal interests and pleasures to the neglect of spiritual things) in order to be relevant and increase attendance. This approach has desensitized the conscience.

There was a day when God’s messengers was preached against drunkenness. Unfortunately, this is seldom heard from the pulpit anymore; rather, there is widespread acceptance of the intoxicating drug. When preaching falls short of God’s whole truth, it becomes easier to overlook or redefine evil behavior. The result is that we get our worlds mixed up. We are not to become like the world; we are to illuminate the world with the light of Christ and distinguish ourselves from the darkness. There are those who minimize this astounding message in an effort to make sinners comfortable in their sin.

This is egregious to Almighty God, and He has prepared a lake of fire for those who reject His truth. In other words, there is grave danger in not preaching, as the apostles did, the whole gospel.

Just as our nation has drifted from the strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, so has the church seriously drifted from taking God at His Word. Sin is destructive to people, to families, to nations and to the church. Sinful behavior that is excused and repackaged as personal choice is Satan’s greatest deception. His greatest victories today take place within the church by those who remain silent, who are not aware of his divisive presence.

The body of Christ must recognize that we have allowed Satan to distract us with non-essentials. It is time to get back to the basic teaching of God’s Word. It is cowardice to excuse sin by claiming we have no right to judge what God has already judged. There is only one personal choice that decides where we spend eternity; if we choose Christ and all He stands for, we gain Heaven; if we deny Christ’s Word, we are cowards and deserve hell.

“Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, you people in whose heart is My law: Do not fear the reproach of men, nor be afraid of their insults. … You have feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor” (Is. 51:7, 13). We can be fearless when we stand strong on the Word of God because as Joshua proclaimed, “The Lord your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you” (Joshua 23:10).

What are the characteristics of God’s people? Have we become so accustomed to the worldly system that we fear we cannot overcome it? Or do we draw strength from the One who has overcome? Can we stand with the believers at Thessalonica who did not seek comfort and fulfillment but endured hostilities because of God’s Word? Paul wrote to them: “So that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer” (2 Thess. 1:4-5).

Who does not remember the cowardice of Peter, the salty fisherman—the sea-walking but fainthearted follower—who denied Jesus Christ? Out of his anguish he overcame his greatest failure, and a bold and mighty faith emerged. He became a soul-winning fisher of men—the disciple who instructed others in serving as effective shepherds of God’s flock (1 Peter 5:2). He wrote: “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles [the very Word] of God” (1 Peter 4:11). We must understand that the very Word of God is the Bible.

Let’s overcome cowardice with courage. Let’s be fearless ambassadors of Christ and stand strong for the glory of God our Savior, pulling others from the fire of eternal judgment (Jude 23). 

Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, is the president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse.

©2014 BGEA. This article originally appeared on BillyGraham.org.