Build Faith and Courage

Will you be ready? Will you have the faith and courage that you will definitely need in the years just ahead? Will you be strong enough spiritually to “endure to the end”?

No Cowards in God’s Kingdom!

Near the end of the Bible, God set forth some key “markers” of the kind of people He wants in His eternal Kingdom as future “kings and priests”—ruling over this world under Jesus Christ in the soon-coming Kingdom of God. God’s Word tells us: “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 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” (Revelation 21:7–8). Notice that we are all to be “overcomers.” And especially note that the first characteristic that God mentions that would keep us out of eternal life is being “cowardly!”

Wow!

Each one of us must develop a strong and enduring faith that Almighty God is real and that He will “never leave us nor forsake us” (Hebrews 13:5). Then each of us must be willing to follow through and obey our Creator, even when it seems “dangerous” to do so. We all remember the stories of Daniel in the lion’s den, the tale of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace, and the example of the Apostles when they were threatened for preaching the Truth. As they told the Jewish leaders who were threatening them, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

Through the pages of this magazine, the Tomorrow’s World television programs, our many booklets and our outstanding Tomorrow’s World Bible Study Course, we hope to help you thoroughly prove that God actually is real—and that He will never leave you nor forsake you. Each of you needs to begin to ask yourself right now if you really are prepared to “weather” the trials and tests just ahead, as nations split asunder and as ethnic wars, food riots and other catastrophes begin to tear our nations apart.

Faith Leading to Obedience

One of the bravest men recorded in the pages of the Bible was King David of ancient Israel. Over and over in his writings in the Psalms, David pointed out the need to have absolute faith in the great God who guides our lives and protects us—who is ultimately in charge of world affairs. In the Psalms, notice the constant emphasis on putting your faith or “trust” in Almighty God. In Psalm 5:11, David was inspired to tell us, “But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them….” In Psalm 7:1, he wrote, “O Lord my God, in You I put my trust; save me from all those who persecute me; and deliver me.” And in Psalm 9:10, he said that “those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.” Throughout these and scores of additional verses inspired by God through David, our Creator tells us how important it is to Him that we learn to have genuine trust and faith in Him. When you read about this faith throughout the Bible, it is the faith that leads to obedience and the willingness to do what God says, no matter what!

We should often read and re-read the magnificent account of the ultimate “test” which God gave the “father of the faithful,” the patriarch Abraham. After Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his only son to Almighty God, He said, “For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me” (Genesis 22:12). And later: “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (v. 18). Again, we see that absolute faith leading to obedience is a key element of the type of character God wants every one of us to have, if we are to follow the “father of the faithful” Abraham and be given eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

The Only Way to Build that Courage

Please remember! God will not “save” any soul He does not rule. You must be willing to do what God says and have the faith and courage to obey Him in the perilous years just ahead, no matter what. The only way you can develop that faith and courage is through sincerely “seeking God” and having a profound relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. For Christ must literally live His life within you through the Holy Spirit! As the Apostle Paul was inspired to write: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 KJV).

If you will truly study the Bible, carefully read and study the powerful booklets we send you absolutely free, and prove them to yourself and so learn to “walk with God” then—and only then—will you be granted eternal life in God’s Kingdom! For God’s Kingdom is not a “feeling in your heart.” It is a genuine government to be set up on this earth under Jesus Christ within the next several years. All these events prophesied in your Bible are going to affect your personal life powerfully.

Almighty God does not want a bunch of spiritual “wimps” in His coming Government who will not put their full trust in Him and will not obey His son Jesus Christ, who is returning soon as King of kings. That is why God tells us: “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” (Revelation 21:8).

Dear subscribers, please do not take this lightly! Near the end of His inspired Word, God is telling you and me that we truly must develop the type of living faith that will prepare us to do what God says and obey our Creator, even when we are given glory and power and majesty beyond imagination in the Kingdom of God. So it is “worth it” a thousand times over. It is something you and I need to be profoundly involved in!

So get out your Bible and study this revelation from God on your knees! Pray fervently and regularly to God each day of your life. Meditate on His Word and think deeply about why you are here, where you are going and how to get there. Nothing is more important if you want to live forever.