Opinion › Feature Article       02.03.2019

The Fear Of Death

The Duke of Wellington is reported as having said that, that man must be a coward or a liar who could boast of never having felt a fear of death. And Dr. Samuel Johnson added that no rational man can die without uneasy apprehension. But Jesus Christ is able to set free even those who all their lives have been held in slavery by their fear of death. This is because by His own death, He has destroyed (deprived of power) him who holds the power of death---the devil.

THE SANCTIFIED LIFE

The sanctified life is life in, of, and for Christ. Holiness is not man’s struggle to attain some ideal on his own, but reliance on the indwelling Spirit, who may be said to work in response to man’s faith, hope, and love. Yet, this does not rule out the unpredictable way in which He turns even the most difficult situations and personal dispositions to eternal gain. Those who qualify as saints must validate their credentials as servants (Morris A. Inch, Saga of the Spirit).

THE NECESSITY OF SOUL WINNING

If I never won souls, I would sigh till I did. I would break my heart over them if I could not break their hearts. Though I can understand the possibility of an earnest sower never reaping, I cannot understand the possibility of an earnest sower being content to reap. I cannot comprehend anyone of you, Christian people trying to win souls and not having results and being satisfied without results (Charles Haddon Spurgeon).

THE LESSON FROM THE STORM ON THE SEA OF GALILEE (MATT. 14:22-33)

Undoubtedly, this storm on the Sea of Galilee loomed vivid in the disciples’ minds as they would face actual storm, their encounter with the Pharisees and Sadducees was equally sudden, equally threatening, equally demanding in faith to keep their heads above water.

The disciples experienced two physical storms in their three and a half years walk with the Savior—Jesus Christ. In the first storm, Jesus was with them. In the second storm, He withdrew to a distant hill. Why the withdrawal? To wean the disciples from sight to faith. To force them to rely less on their physical eyes and more on their spiritual ones. If they were ever to walk by faith, Jesus had to withdraw from their sight. Jesus did this to enable their trunk to grow stout. To enable their branches to grow firm so as to bear fruit in abundance (Ken Gire, Incredible Moments with the Savior).

SET FREE IN CHRIST THROUGH ABANDONMENT: ROMANS 7

To be chained to Christ is to find every false chain broken. To be bound by Christ is to be freed from all else. To be given up to Christ is to be set at liberty from the worst of all slaveries, the slavery of our own wills and weaknesses, our lusts and sins and follies. To be Christ’s captive is to be set free from fears and all the vain hopes of this present and passing life (Maxwell, Abandon to Christ).

GOD’S COMFORT

What a hot bath does for stiff, aching muscles---soothing, warming, renewing—God’s comfort does in a more complete way for the soul. God gives us joy for sorrow, hope for despair, peace for anxiety, love for bitterness, and strength for weakness (Craig Brian Larson, Decision Magazine).

DOUBT

Creative doubt can be a step forward in our faith, not the end of it. A faith hammered out on the anvil of our doubts and coming to terms with reality will be an enduring faith.

Tennyson wrote, “There is more faith in honest doubt, believe me than half the world’s creeds.”

PRAYER

Prayer is a power which soars on high

Through Jesus to the throne

And moves the and that moves the world

To bring salvation down (Wallace).

If we take God seriously, we will be serious about prayer (Our Daily Bread, August 7, 1991).

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