For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. –Luke 9:24
There is a disturbing phenomenon that has become rampant in our day, and that is of professing Christians who are afraid to die. While it may be somewhat natural to have a considerable apprehension of death, the extent to which it has come today is really troubling. It is a spiritually “bad fruit” (Matthew 7:20) which is at the least indicative of something amiss in our relationship with Christ: at the most, it may still show that we are really not His at all. It would be showing a deep love for this world, and our place in it, which is very contrary to what the Word of God says that our affections should be.
Christians facing cancer, or some other terminal disease, usually follow the same course of action that most of the unsaved do; they take every prescribed medical treatment available in order to extend their lives for even just a few years- as if this world were a great place to be, and they just couldn’t bear to leave it! Or, they somehow consider themselves to be “indispensible” to God and His work on earth, so they have to hold on. What they ought to be doing is humbly submitting to God’s plan for them, knowing that “to live is Christ, and to die is gain” for the truly regenerate life in Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:21). God is well able to preserve our lives if He chooses to, and that without costly & agonizing medical treatments whose outcomes are dubious at best.
My wife shared with me a conversation she once had, the substance of which went something like this; while working part time for a company, one day she spoke with another part time worker, whose mother was a teacher at a nearby Christian school: he also worked there, keeping their computers in working order. He was reflecting on his thinning hair, and how that he would eventually go bald- my understanding being that he said this with some remorse. My wife responded by pointing out that world conditions are such that we can’t expect it to be around much longer (as it is), and that Christ will soon return: that there probably wasn’t enough time left for him to go bald. He responded by saying, “I’d rather be bald.” Wow! Remember that this man & his mother were closely affiliated with a Christian school! You would think such an association would reflect on personal values.
Jesus made it clear that we are not to love our lives in this world. He goes so far as to say that we should hate our lives here;
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. –John 12:25
What does Jesus mean by this? Are we not to be thankful? Aren’t there good things to think upon? Yes, God does indeed show us His goodness even in this vile world. But it is vile; Satan is now in charge of this planet, and the results of the sin he stirs up are obvious everywhere. All manner of deaths, wars, famines, diseases, sicknesses and the like plague us at every turn. When we are regenerated in Christ we ought to be revolted by the great iniquities that surround us- but alas, we’ve become desensitized;
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. –Matthew 24:12
Brethren, we will be unable to bring about the attitude changes needed within ourselves. But it will be of our own choice to submit to God, and ask Him to bring about the changes. Consider the following testimonies from years in the past… In the Christian classic, The Pilgim’s Progress (John Bunyan, mid 17th century), we find this in an early conversation when Pilgrim meets Evangelist;
Evangelist: Wherefore dost thou cry? Pilgrim: Sir, I perceive by the Book in my hand, that I am condemned to die, and after that to come to judgment (Hebrews 9:27); and I find that I am not willing to do the first (Job 16:21, 22), nor able to do the second (Ezekiel 22:14). Evangelist: Why not willing to die, since this life is attended with so many evils?
The end of this conversation showed that Pilgrim was afraid of death because he was afraid of the eternal judgment to follow- not because of wonderful conditions here among the living! Indeed, the Bible confirms that this ought to be the real point of concern;
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. –Matthew 10:28
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? –Matthew 16:26
As Christians, we ought to consider ourselves to be strangers & pilgrims upon the earth, seeking that heavenly country (Hebrews 11:13-16). This is not the prevailing spirit in the professing church of today! What has happened to us? We can find that question answered in Revelation 3:14-19, a passage often looked at as a description of the last church age;
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
In bold, I have emphasized “the church of the Laodiceans.” The other 6 churches listed before them were referred to by the town alone, but this one refers to the church as town residents instead. The Lord has shown me that this is because this church cannot be distinguished from the world around it! It is easy to see this condition prevailing in the church today. Is this scriptural?
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God… And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. –Luke 8:11 & 14
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. –II Corinthians 6:14-18
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth, For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. –Colossians 3:1-3
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. –James 4:4
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. –I John 2:15 & 16
Many other scriptures could be listed, but these should suffice. Where are our priorities? Over the centuries, the pollutions of the world have overtaken us. When Abraham Lincoln was told of those who plotted to kill him, he said, “A man must not care how and where he dies, provided he dies at the post of honor and duty.” Jim Elliot, missionary to the Aucas of Peru in the early 1950s, said, “A man is no fool to give that which he cannot keep, in order to gain that which he cannot lose.” Don’t we realize that eventually we will die? Didn’t Jesus die for our salvation, so that we need have no fear of death? Let’s look at some more scripture…
FOR we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. –II Corinthians 5:1-8
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. –I Timothy 6:5-12
David Brainerd was an early American missionary to native Indians, about the years 1747-49. Check out this following account of one of the Indian converts, taken from The Life and Diary of David Brainerd, edited by Jonathan Edwards;
“Now her soul was resigned to the divine will in the most tender points; so that when I (David Brainerd) said to her, ‘What if God should take away your husband from you (who was then very sick), how do you think you could bear that?’ She replied, ‘He belongs to God, and not to me; He may do with him just what He pleases.’ Now she had the most tender sense of the evil of sin, and discovered the utmost aversion to it; longing to die (emphasis mine) that she might be delivered from it. Now she could freely trust her all with God for time and eternity.
“When I questioned her how she could be willing to die, and leave her little infant; and what she thought would become of it in that case, she answered, ‘God will take care of it. It belongs to Him; He will take care of it.’ Now she appeared to have the most humbling sense of her own meanness and unworthiness, her weakness and inability to preserve herself from sin, and to persevere in the way of holiness, crying, ‘If I live, I shall sin.’ I then thought I had never seen such an appearance of ecstasy and humility meeting in any one person in all of my life before.”
Tears come when I read this account! Still, how does it compare with the Word of God? While it surely is well to love our families dearly, it must be prioritized…
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. –Matthew 10:34-37
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. –Luke 14:26
Taking care of our loved ones, and other earthly business matters are some of the strongest attachments we can have in this life; but is our real trust in God, or ourselves? Is God unable to provide without us? Please remember that in this last church age of Laodiceans, God is sickened by our lack of needing Him (Revelation 3:17). Our main goal ought to be to do the things God actually wants, and in His way.
If you call yourself a Christian, and are struggling with the thought of dying, I urge you to prayerfully seek God as to why this is. Please don’t be ashamed, for God already knows your inmost thoughts, and is ready to help. Death should be, ultimately, victory for the Christian, and it is well-pleasing in the sight of God.
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. –Psalm 116:15
For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. –II Timothy 4:6-8
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. –Revelation 12:11
And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. –Revelation 14:13
What does Jesus mean by this? Are we not to be thankful? Aren’t there good things to think upon? Yes, God does indeed show us His goodness even in this vile world. But it is vile; Satan is now in charge of this planet, and the results of the sin he stirs up are obvious everywhere. All manner of deaths, wars, famines, diseases, sicknesses and the like plague us at every turn. When we are regenerated in Christ we ought to be revolted by the great iniquities that surround us- but alas, we’ve become desensitized;
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. –Matthew 24:12
Brethren, we will be unable to bring about the attitude changes needed within ourselves. But it will be of our own choice to submit to God, and ask Him to bring about the changes. Consider the following testimonies from years in the past… In the Christian classic, The Pilgim’s Progress (John Bunyan, mid 17th century), we find this in an early conversation when Pilgrim meets Evangelist;
Evangelist: Wherefore dost thou cry? Pilgrim: Sir, I perceive by the Book in my hand, that I am condemned to die, and after that to come to judgment (Hebrews 9:27); and I find that I am not willing to do the first (Job 16:21, 22), nor able to do the second (Ezekiel 22:14). Evangelist: Why not willing to die, since this life is attended with so many evils?
The end of this conversation showed that Pilgrim was afraid of death because he was afraid of the eternal judgment to follow- not because of wonderful conditions here among the living! Indeed, the Bible confirms that this ought to be the real point of concern;
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. –Matthew 10:28
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? –Matthew 16:26
As Christians, we ought to consider ourselves to be strangers & pilgrims upon the earth, seeking that heavenly country (Hebrews 11:13-16). This is not the prevailing spirit in the professing church of today! What has happened to us? We can find that question answered in Revelation 3:14-19, a passage often looked at as a description of the last church age;
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
In bold, I have emphasized “the church of the Laodiceans.” The other 6 churches listed before them were referred to by the town alone, but this one refers to the church as town residents instead. The Lord has shown me that this is because this church cannot be distinguished from the world around it! It is easy to see this condition prevailing in the church today. Is this scriptural?
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God… And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. –Luke 8:11 & 14
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. –II Corinthians 6:14-18
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth, For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. –Colossians 3:1-3
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. –James 4:4
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. –I John 2:15 & 16
Many other scriptures could be listed, but these should suffice. Where are our priorities? Over the centuries, the pollutions of the world have overtaken us. When Abraham Lincoln was told of those who plotted to kill him, he said, “A man must not care how and where he dies, provided he dies at the post of honor and duty.” Jim Elliot, missionary to the Aucas of Peru in the early 1950s, said, “A man is no fool to give that which he cannot keep, in order to gain that which he cannot lose.” Don’t we realize that eventually we will die? Didn’t Jesus die for our salvation, so that we need have no fear of death? Let’s look at some more scripture…
FOR we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. –II Corinthians 5:1-8
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. –I Timothy 6:5-12
David Brainerd was an early American missionary to native Indians, about the years 1747-49. Check out this following account of one of the Indian converts, taken from The Life and Diary of David Brainerd, edited by Jonathan Edwards;
“Now her soul was resigned to the divine will in the most tender points; so that when I (David Brainerd) said to her, ‘What if God should take away your husband from you (who was then very sick), how do you think you could bear that?’ She replied, ‘He belongs to God, and not to me; He may do with him just what He pleases.’ Now she had the most tender sense of the evil of sin, and discovered the utmost aversion to it; longing to die (emphasis mine) that she might be delivered from it. Now she could freely trust her all with God for time and eternity.
“When I questioned her how she could be willing to die, and leave her little infant; and what she thought would become of it in that case, she answered, ‘God will take care of it. It belongs to Him; He will take care of it.’ Now she appeared to have the most humbling sense of her own meanness and unworthiness, her weakness and inability to preserve herself from sin, and to persevere in the way of holiness, crying, ‘If I live, I shall sin.’ I then thought I had never seen such an appearance of ecstasy and humility meeting in any one person in all of my life before.”
Tears come when I read this account! Still, how does it compare with the Word of God? While it surely is well to love our families dearly, it must be prioritized…
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. –Matthew 10:34-37
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. –Luke 14:26
Taking care of our loved ones, and other earthly business matters are some of the strongest attachments we can have in this life; but is our real trust in God, or ourselves? Is God unable to provide without us? Please remember that in this last church age of Laodiceans, God is sickened by our lack of needing Him (Revelation 3:17). Our main goal ought to be to do the things God actually wants, and in His way.
If you call yourself a Christian, and are struggling with the thought of dying, I urge you to prayerfully seek God as to why this is. Please don’t be ashamed, for God already knows your inmost thoughts, and is ready to help. Death should be, ultimately, victory for the Christian, and it is well-pleasing in the sight of God.
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. –Psalm 116:15
For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. –II Timothy 4:6-8
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. –Revelation 12:11
And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. –Revelation 14:13
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