WOULD YOU BE FREED

FROM THE FEAR OF DEATH?

Hebrews 2:14-15

Our Saviour has also taken the fear of death away from those who trust him by assuring us that our souls will go to be with him in heaven immediately. His word of promise is, "Because I live, ye shall live also.” His prayer for us was, "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am: that they may behold my glory.” It is written, "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord!” Knowing this, I can no longer fear to die (2 Cor. 5:1-9).

Our Lord has delivers us from the fear of death by assuring us of the resurrection of our bodies (1 Thess. 4:13-18). This body must die. But, blessed be God, we shall arise. This is my satisfying confidence: "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me!” With such a hope, the grave causes me no alarm.

Would you be free from fear of death? Look to Christ in faith as your crucified Substitute, rising from the dead as your Representative, living and reigning in heaven as your Mediator, and coming as your King.

If you would be free from the fear of death, think about death often and meditate on what it is to die in Christ. We know that those who die in the Lord are blessedly safe and happy. Even Balaam saw that and desired to die the death of the righteous. What makes the death of the righteous so blessed?

1. Death will bring us into the presence of many friends. Yes, death takes a wife from her husband, a child from its mother, and a father from his family. But we cheer ourselves with the prospect of a happy reunion in glory.

It is true, above all else, that we will see Christ and be with Him. But it is also promised that we will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When we die we will leave some behind, but we are going up to "the general assembly and church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.” And we shall know one another then, even better than we do now, even as the disciples knew Moses and Elijah on the mount.

2. When, at last, we come to die in Christ our most earnest and constant prayers will all be answered. How often have we prayed to be free from our trials and temptations? When we close our eyes in death, we will leave this veil of tears behind. For the believer, death is the blessed funeral of all sorrows. Does your soul long to be free from all sin? It will be when this body lies in the grave. Oh, how our hearts long to be more like Christ! And we shall be perfectly like him in glory when we have put off this body of flesh. We pray for a brighter and clearer vision of Christ in his glory. After we are no longer hindered by the sight of things in this world, our eyes will be opened to see the Son of God as he is. We should never weep for those who have died in the Lord. We might well envy them, but do not weep for them.

3. The death of God's saints is accompanied with many comforts. Death can never separate us from the love of Christ. He will go with us through the dark valley. I am sure that the believer never has such full revelations of Christ's love, grace, glory, and greatness as he is given in the hour of death. The Lord will make His people triumphant over the last enemy in that hour. In that hour, all our enemies will be as still as a stone (Ex. 15:16).

The Lord Jesus Christ, our great God and blessed Savior delivers believing sinners from the fear of death by giving us a foretaste of the glory that will follow it. It is written, "Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” Yet, he has given us his Spirit, which is “the earnest of our inheritance.”

We cannot comprehend this glory, but we can think upon it. In Christ heaven is ours, the throne of Christ is ours, the glory of Christ is ours, the crown of life is ours, eternal joy is ours. God is ours. Christ is ours. Heaven is ours. If these things are so, and they most assuredly are, then death is not to be feared, but anticipated!

If you would be free from the fear of death, live every day as though it were your last. Get into the habit of dying to this world. Let us die daily. Hold everything here with a loose hand. Learn to live in this world in the awareness that everything here is perishing. Live not for the perishing things of time, but for the lasting things of eternity. Live here as a traveler through this a strange land. Do not become too fond of it. Soon you will have to let it go. Be prepared at a moment's notice to do so.

I exhort you to walk with God. "Enoch walked with God: and he was not; because God took him.” Walk with God; and when you die you will walk into glory. Press as much as you can into each day for the glory of Christ and the service of His kingdom. We must soon die. We will be wise to put our affairs in order.

Let us ever be ready for that happy day when the Son of God calls us home. When death comes, let us have nothing to do, but die. I try to think often every day of my last day. I cannot tell you what a blessing it is to do so comfortably. Until we are freed from the fear of death, we will never be free to live.