Don't be Afraid
27th November 2020
The phrases "Do not fear", "Don't be afraid" and "Do not be afraid" appear about 100 times in the NIV Bible, so we know God really doesn't want us to be afraid, and in the Bible He gives us reasons why we don't need to be afraid. But we all experience fear sometimes.
These verses that say "don't be afraid" are not commandments, like "Do not steal" or "Do not bear false witness". They're intended as encouragements, not as commands. If you're afraid, that doesn't make you guilty of some sort of sin. It just means you're carrying a burden you don't need to carry.
In particular, especially at the moment, many people in our country are afraid of death. I want to encourage you by reminding you that a Christian doesn't need to be afraid of death. Jesus tried to explain this to His disciples when He said:
John 9:4
As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no-one
can work.
Jesus was saying that, just as the number of hours of daylight in any single day is predetermined by God, so the length of a person's life is predetermined by God. It seems they didn't get the message because he had to say it again in:
John 11:7-9
and then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea."
"But Rabbi," they said, "a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are
going back?"
Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks in the daytime will
not stumble, for he sees by this world's light.
Your life, Jesus's life and my life are all exactly the length God the Father has determined in advance that they will be. We don't need to worry about death. It will not come before the set time. And we waste our time trying to postpone death. Again, it will come at the time God has determined it will:
Psalm 139:16
all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
You're no more at risk of death during coronavirus than at any other time. There is no such risk, because God doesn't think in terms of probabilities. God is certain of all things, past present and future. God already knows the date of your death. Nothing will change it. Jesus said:
Matthew 6:27 (in the NIV, anyway)
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
None of this takes away our responsibility to live wisely. We shouldn't be careless of our well-being. We should be good stewards of the physical, mental and spiritual health God has given us. There's no excuse for eating or drinking to excess, for taking harmful drugs, for neglecting to exercise, or for being careless about social distancing or hand washing, just as there's no excuse for dabbling in the occult, or watching unhelpful movies, or doing anything that's unhealthy in any way. But our motivation for a healthy lifestyle should be just that – good stewardship, not fear.
Also, of course, death for a Christian is good news, not bad news. The day we die we'll be translated instantly to the very presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. You'll remember the story of the thief on the cross next to Jesus:
Luke 23:42-43
Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
For a Christian, death will be wonderful. Paul understood this. He wrote in:
Philippians 1:21-24
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall
I choose? I do not know!
I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;
but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
Paul knew that, for a Christian, death is better by far than life on earth. His desire was to depart and be with Christ but he also understood that to continue to live on earth will mean fruitful labour. Paul understood that the only reason to stay on planet earth is to continue to work for Jesus. He was so confident of the value of His service to the church that he could tell them that "it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body".
Can we say the same? Do we have the Christian attitudes exemplified by Paul? Do we desire to depart and be with Christ? Do we share his confidence that that is indeed our destination? Do we understand that the reason we're still alive is that we still have work to do for Jesus by serving His church and communicating the Gospel of peace? Let's consider these questions one at a time.
When I occasionally say I'd rather be dead than alive, that's not an expression of unhappiness. It's not a sign of depression. It's my way of expressing my faith that life in glory will be infinitely better than life here. I rather enjoy living in Stubbington, meeting with my Christians friends to worship God every Sunday, studying scripture and praying, playing golf and watching football, walking on the beach, sitting the garden, and enjoying many other pleasures. I have a good life. But my enjoyment will be far greater when I'm living in heaven, meeting the saints in glory every day, bowing before the Lamb of God, talking face-to-face with the Creator of the universe, the Author of the scriptures, and praying at the very throne of glory.
Saying I'd rather be dead than alive is inaccurate anyway. I'll be vastly more alive in glory that I ever was on earth. Comparing glory with earthly life in not an expression of unhappiness or depression. It's like being in prison and looking forward to freedom. For the Christian, early death is not a punishment or a failure; it's time off for good behaviour. It's like being in boarding school and looking forward to going home for the holidays.
Is your understanding of heaven like that?
Secondly, are you confident that heaven is your destination? Are you certain that Jesus Christ died on the cross? Do you know for a fact that He has paid the price for your sins? Are you convinced that He rose from the dead, defeating death for you? Are you sure that when you stand at the gates of heaven, you'll be welcomed in? I am. I'm absolutely certain, not because of anything good in me, but because I know that Jesus Christ's sacrifice for me was perfect. Jesus accomplished what He came to do. The price for all my wrongdoing has been paid. I stand free from accusation and confident of my heavenly Father's love. I know this because the Bible says so, and I know it because the Holy Spirit continues to assure me that it's true.
Do you know that's true? Do you confidently expect to be with Jesus in paradise? If not, you'd better start praying.
Thirdly, our reason for remaining on earth is that we have work to do, as Paul said. If you're a Christian then, no matter what your health is like, no matter what a mess your life is in, no matter how you feel, even if you're confined to your home or, like Paul, confined in a Roman prison when He wrote Philippians, you can serve God.
You can make a difference. You can show kindness to somebody in Jesus's name. You can forgive somebody, perhaps. You can give. You can worship. And you can pray. The reasons the so-called great men and women of God are so effective is because of the prayers of the people who faithfully pray for them day after day. If your work on earth were finished, God would not be so unkind as to leave you here for no reason, when you could go to be with Him in glory.
As he approached the end of his earthly life, Paul wrote:
2 Timothy 4:7-8
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
Judge, will award to me on that day…
Let's change our perception. We invest so much in our earthly comforts and pleasures. We look forward so avidly to a couple of weeks in the sun, or skiing, or playing golf. We spend so much on clothes and food and cars and interior decoration. These are good things, and:
1 Timothy 6:17
God… richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
Let us never despise the good and pleasurable things in our lives. But compared to God Himself, compared to the joy of prayer and worship, compared to the bliss of heaven, the pleasures of this life are very small, and very transitory.
There are a few golf courses I'd like to play, a few places I'd like to visit, a few meals I'd like to eat, but compared to heaven, they don't matter very much. So why be afraid of death?
In fact, why be afraid at all? I'm not talking about the moment of fear that's a natural, God-given instinct when you're in the middle of the road and a lorry's coming towards you, and you need to move. But why live in long-term fear that something might go wrong? As we've already seen, God knows the future perfectly. God has planned the future perfectly. God is in control. Let us truly put our faith in God.
Let us obey the Bible, and trust God. As Jesus told us in Matthew 7, God knows what you need and, if you will seek His kingdom and His righteousness as your first priority, He will supply all your needs. And let's not worry about death. Jesus has already told us:
John 14:1-3
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.
In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am
going there to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me
that you also may be where I am.
Let's live every day to the fullest extent we can. Let's serve God every day. Let's share God's love with each other and with those who don't yet realise that God loves them, too. And let's trust God for our future and for the futures of all our loved ones. God is good, and God is in control.
Genesis 18:25
Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?
In Joshua 1:5 and Hebrews 13:5, God says "I will never leave you or forsake you".