Good morning and welcome to the Panhandle although you might want to stay away we’ve got some kind of bug going around and almost all of our elementary kids are out sick. But we will continue on with our study this morning and pray that you are staying well.
Christmas is over so if it’s okay with you I would like to go back to our study of the 49 General Commands of Christ Jesus. Now before you checkout remember that these commands of Christ Jesus are not meant to be a bunch of rules and regulations. Instead they are meant to be guidelines to living a life more abundantly ~ "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10). #23 on the list is Fear God, Not Man and our Scripture is found in Matthew 10:28, so come on in and sit a spell and lets do some Biblesurfing.
Matthew 10:28 – Don’t be afraid of people, who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. The only one you should fear is the one who can destroy the soul and the body in hell.
17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (Daniel 3:17-18). Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego didn’t fear Nebuchadnezzar or his furnace because God was in control. And just before His execution, Christ Jesus told the Roman governor, Pilate, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11). He didn’t fear Pilate because God was in control. God is still in control and as such He is to be feared (revered in awe and wonder) and He is to be feared (afraid of). Why do we need to be afraid of a loving God?
In Matthew 10:28 there are at least three major issues addressed. The first is the question of who we should fear most, man or God. And while I think it is okay to have a healthy fear of man, they are not who we should fear most. All that men can do is kill the body; and, if they do, the believer’s soul goes home to be with the Lord. But God is able to destroy both body and soul in hell! Of course, God will never condemn one of His own children ~ "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” (John 5:24). Martin Luther caught this truth when he wrote:
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still;
His kingdom is forever.
The person who fears God alone need never fear any man or group of men.1 So our reason for learning not to fear men comes from the fact that the worst they can do does not match the worst God can do. Satan may have great power, but only God can destroy soul and body in hell.
Another thing we see in this verse is conclusive proof this that there is a hell for the body as well as the soul in the eternal world. In other words, Christ Jesus confirms that the torment that awaits the lost will have elements of suffering adapted to the physical as well as the spiritual part of our nature, both of which, we are assured, will exist for ever.2
The Hell-fire sounds pretty bad, and I sure wouldn't want to spend one day there let alone eternity. But it isn't what we are to fear, according to Christ Jesus it is God. Why do we need to fear God, because only He can send a person to Hell, body and soul. Well that isn't totally true, you see we have a choice, we can accept Christ Jesus as Lord and Saviour or we can reject Him. It is when we reject Him that our course is set for Hell. So while God's word is the last word, our actions or lack of action dictates the outcome of His judgment. Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (John 14:6).
What strange blindness is it to expose our souls to endless ruin, which should enjoy God eternally; and to save and pamper the body, by which we enjoy nothing but the creatures, and them only for a moment! -WA Bellinham, The Holy Bible with a Cmmentary and Critical Notes.
Yes, God wants us to Choose Christ Jesus and eternity with Him ~ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
Don’t be afraid of people, who can kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Did you notice what is being said here? Body/Soul, in this sentence Christ Jesus tells us that the body and the soul are distinct parts of us. I don't know how it works, but I do know we have both a physical component and an immortal spiritual component to our lives. Look again at what Christ Jesus says here, for the body may be slain and the soul escape. Men, and yes even Satan have no power to injure the soul, the immortal part.
No one wants to die, I understand that, I sure don’t. That is why we fight so hard to hold onto life. But in the end our temporal death is a slight thing compared with eternal death. Christ Jesus directs us, therefore, not to be alarmed at the prospect of temporal death, but to fear God, who can destroy both body and soul for ever. This passage proves that the bodies of the wicked will be raised up to be punished for ever.3
So in the final analysis our Heavenly Father should be the correct object of our fear, throughout Scripture God alone is sovereign over life and death, temporal and eternal.
Wow! What away to restart this study. All this talk about death is a bummer, and I would agree if it weren’t for the hope we have in Christ Jesus. With Christ Jesus as our Lord and Saviour when we step into eternity, we have the assurance that we will spend it heaven, in a place that has been prepared for us by God. Death at the hands of someone else is still a scary prospect, but God’s eternal rewards make it a little easier to face.
Thanks for dropping by and looking at God’s Word with me and I pray that our Lord and Saviour will bless you and yours this week and that you’ll be able to be back next week.
Biblesurfer
1 Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, pp. 38–39). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
2 Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 37). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
3 Barnes, A. (1884–1885). Notes on the New Testament: Matthew & Mark. (R. Frew, Ed.) (p. 114). London: Blackie & Son.
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