Text: “And I (Jesus) say
unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that
have no more that they can do. But I
will forewarn you Whom ye shall fear: fear Him (the Lord God), which after He
hath killed hath power to cast into Hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him.”
Luke 12:4-5.
Good morning, naturally timid
Christian! You have always possessed a
sweet and timid human nature; you think you have few enemies; you never seek to
do harm to another soul; and, naturally, you never seek confrontation with
others. Those who are naturally timid,
sweet-natured folk, seldom receive threatening and abuse as a consequence. But should they?
The time has come - in this
apostate and perilous 21st Century - when such naturally timid
Christians should get a little more angry at the state of things around
us. It is time to speak out boldly in
the service of King Jesus.
Quote: If you can keep your head, when all others
around you are losing theirs - perhaps you have lost a sharp sense of reality! Dr C.K.McClinton.
“Wherefore putting
away lying speak every man/woman truth with his/her neighbour; for we are
members one of another. Be ye angry, and
sin NOT; let not the sun go down upon your wrath; neither give place to the
Devil.” (Ephesians 4:25-27)
Fear was all around the Master
as He (Jesus) ‘…stood and cried, saying, If
any man thirst let him come unto Me and drink.
He that believeth (trusteth) on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of
his belly shall flow rivers of living water.’ (John 7:37-38)
The fear of man was, no doubt,
keeping many unsaved souls from coming to Christ and receiving Eternal
Salvation. Many were saving their mortal
skin, but losing their immortal souls!
It is terrible what fear of man will do!
Yet, Jesus was, is, and always
shall be God of very God. Thus, the fear
of God was also graciously present on that day at the Feast of the Tabernacles.
“And some of them
would have taken (arrested) Him; but no man laid hands on Him.” (V.44) “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
but fools despise instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7)
The officers’ failure to arrest Christ Jesus, as they had been earlier
instructed by the Pharisees - the religious leaders of the day - caused an
immediate division in the ranks of Christ’s enemies. The Pharisees desired to take Jesus off the
streets, but the officers were understandably afraid to do so. They had no doubt arrested and imprisoned
many at the behest of these same hypocritical Pharisees - but there was
something much different about this Jesus.
The fear of God came upon the officers concerning Him.
“Then came the
officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have
ye not brought Him? The officers
answered, Never man spake like this Man. ” (V. 45-46)
The lowly officers were proven
to be far more Spiritually discerning than the so-called religious priests and
Pharisees. The fear of God that the officers displayed was instantly ridiculed
by the Spiritually dead priests and Pharisees - a most dangerous practice
indeed. ‘All that glitters is NOT gold!’
The Pharisees were so incensed
against God the Son, Christ Jesus, that they began to mock the Godly fear of
the officers. Unbelief always leads
to sin!
“Then answered them
the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?
Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him? But this people who knowest not the Law are
cursed.” (Vs.47-49)
These two verses, above
quoted, expose the threefold depth of the Pharisees’ unbelief and Spiritual blindness:
1. They had no fear of God,
due to lack of Spiritual discernment. (1 Corinthians 2:14) (Matthew 23:13)
2. They publicly revealed a deep disbelief among
the majority of Pharisees and religious rulers of the day. (Matthew 23:14) (Ephesians 2:8-9)
3. Their utter hypocrisy was revealed, for they
pronounced their own Eternal judgement from out of their own mouths - the knew
not the Spiritual import of the Law, and thus they were, indeed, Eternally
cursed. (Matthew 23:15)
Nicodemus, himself a chief
Pharisee, finally spoke out in the service of his Saviour, Christ Jesus.
(V.50-51) There can be no ’secret Christians’ in the service of
King Jesus. We all must give an account
of our witness for Him.
‘Every man went unto
his own house.’ (Verse 53) Some to Heaven, some to Hell?
Thought: God-fearing souls must stand up, and speak
out for Christ!
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