Text: And fear not them which kill the body, but are
not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him (God) which is able to destroy
both soul and body in Hell.”
Matthew 10:28.
“The fear of man
bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his/her trust in the Lord shall be SAFE.”
Proverbs 29:25.
Good morning, God-fearing
Christian! Fearing the Almighty Lord God
Jehovah and holding Him in awesome reverence - you fear absolutely nothing
else. Thus you cry out with the
God-fearing Psalmist:
“The Lord is my
light and my Salvation; whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my
foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my
heart shall not fear…” (Psalm
27:1-3)
God-fearing men and women can
be fearless in the face of all else!
In our previous Bible Lesson
from the Gospel of John, we were taught how the Lord Jesus chose His timing to
go up to the Feast of Tabernacles in Judaea; and refused to go up to that
public feast promoting Himself by miraculous works, or with loud fanfare to
publicize His arrival.
Christ used His wise
discernment, and His knowledge that the Jews sought to kill, Him to inform Him
on how he should attend the feast. We
Christians do well to exercise a similar sharp discernment in this latter-day
age of anti-Christian oppositions.
“Behold, I (Christ
Jesus) send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore wise as
serpents, and harmless as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)
Being God-fearing should not
encourage us to be humanly foolhardy!
Today’s selected Bible reading above informs us that, “…the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, ‘Where is He?’” (V.11)
Unpopular as Christ is in
today’s sinful world, the
unsatisfied world still seek Him out.
Unpopular as we Christian believers are in this sin-sick world, sinners
will still seek us out, and watch us to see how we live our lives in public. We are, in Christ Jesus, ‘…a peculiar people…’ indeed.
“But ye (born again,
God-fearing, Christians) are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy
nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him
who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
We then learn from our Bible
reading that, “…there was much murmuring among
the people concerning Him (Christ Jesus): for some said, ‘He is a good man; others said, Nay; but he deceiveth
the people.’” (V.12)
Has anything really changed
that much today, God-fearing Christian?
Are you and I not treated in a similar manner by those around us in the
world; those who are still in their sins and secretly hungering in their hearts
for soul-Salvation?
Those that might say we are ‘good’ are wrong in their
assessment of us, for the Scriptures teach clearly that - outside of Christ
Jesus - ‘…there is none good, no not one’! (Romans
3:10-12)
On the other hand, those that
might say you and I are ‘…deceivers…’, could be politically correct in their evaluation of
us! How?
Because, admittedly, we God-fearing Christians preach and teach a
perfect standard for daily life, yet cannot live up to it perfectly ourselves! We Christians, if we are brutally honest, and
in this strict sense of the meaning, are ALL hypocrites ! Groan…
“For the good that I
would (do) I not; but the evil which I would not (do), that I do…O wretched man/woman that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this
death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord…” (Romans 7:14-25)
However, let it not be ever
said of us God-fearing Christians - with all our faults and failings - that, ‘…no man/woman spake openly of Him (Christ Jesus) for
fear of the Jews (or any other temporal Government or power!)’ (V.13)
If we are truly saved by
Christ’s Atonement at Calvary - then
let us be swift to tell all who will listen that we are indeed Hell-deserving
sinners, yet saved by Christ Jesus Who only came ‘…to seek and to save that which was lost.’
Thought: Fear not, there has only, ever, been one perfect
Christian - Christ Jesus Himself! Our righteousness is found only in Him. Praise His Holy Name!
No comments:
Post a Comment
I invite comments that are Christian in nature. All comments are moderated, and any negative submissions are deleted and never published.