My dear readers,

Fear only God!

Matthew 10:28-31 “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. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”

Fear is a crippling phenomenon that every sinner understands very well. All of us are fearful people ever since the first man, Adam, fell into sin. Fear came into man’s heart the moment that happened. Genesis 3:6-10 “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” [Emphasis added] 

The nature of fear is the fear of loss. For example, man is afraid of the present deadly virus as it might take a person’s life. There have always been all kinds of viruses floating around before the coronavirus but they are not as deadly. As such, there was no panic buying and paranoiac protection of a global scale. These viruses might take away some of man’s work or play time if he is bedridden for a few days, but he can recover. A virus that takes a man’s life results in the greatest fear. All other fears of losses such as of jobs, education, housing, cars, etc. pale into insignificance the moment the fear of loss of life comes to the fore. 

What ought to be the child of God’s response in the face of such fears? 

Who can destroy both body and soul? – The context of Matthew 10:28-31 is not about the loss of life brought about by a virus but by wicked men who tried to kill the Lord Jesus Christ and those who followed Him. This warning from Christ applies to all fears including the fear that arises out of a threat of the loss of life. The counsel from the Lord is that children of God do not begin to fear anyone or anything (virus and evil men included) that can only kill the body but is powerless against taking the soul. The soul of man cannot be destroyed. The soul of man is the real person in every man. Man and viruses can terminate the physical life of man but cannot touch the soul which lives on unto eternity. However, the LORD God is able to destroy both body and soul. This word “destroy” is used to describe the death of the body as well as where the souls end up after death. God determines when the body dies. God gives life to man and He alone takes life from man, not the devil. The devil or other men might be the immediate cause, but behind them all the One who determines the length of man’s time on earth is the Creator Himself. When man’s life on earth is over his soul lives on in eternity. The souls of the ones who die in sin will end up in hell and ultimately in the Lake of Fire forever. The souls of those who die in Christ will end up in heaven and ultimately the new heaven and new earth forever. This final destiny of man is determined by the sovereign will of almighty God. This will is revealed to mankind in Holy Scriptures. 

He is the One that all mankind should be afraid of. 

Why must man fear? – Fear is very good for sinful man. If he is not afraid, and with a depraved nature, he will run amok and his wicked and evil heart will murder and kill at will. All kinds of dastardly deeds and vicious iniquities and immorality would cover the face of the earth. When a sin is no longer a sin, wickedness will abound showing the evil deeds of man with his sinful nature. He is controlled by sin. His mind is filled with creating new ways to sin. His heart is unable to be motivated by anything good and kind except that which is selfish. But the law of man restrains. Man will lose his liberty when he sins. Fear restrains him. The fulness of his evil heart is not permitted to surface. 

When society breaks down like in times of war or anarchy, a demonstration of this evil is revealed to the shock and horror of the world. But man’s heart is hardening to such despicable horrors. The blame lies in the mass media especially through virtual reality, computer games and Hollywood. Virtual reality makes man live his real life in a dreamlike state. The more he enters into this virtual world the less he lives in his real world. He runs and hides from the reality of a sinful life because the virtual world can be a paradise of his own making. Computer games thrust the mind into a world of violent fantasy most of the time. Such a world hardens the heart to the gore and shedding of blood which ought to shock sinful man; but now he turns a blind eye to it and tragically in some cases he even delights in it. A life lost in a violent computer game can be brought back to life when he restarts his game. A life that is lost in real life is lost forever. This line is blurred or even lost in some cases. Hollywood has ingeniously, and with the help of virtual reality, turned sin into a beauty and a fragrantly acceptable way of life. Shame and disgust no longer exist and the lusts of the flesh and eyes are openly displayed as a new normal in modern society. In this way the god of this world has retarded the godly impact of the gospel in all societies, especially the western societies. Today these societies have reverted to their old sinful ways where evil is called good, and lies and deceptions are embraced and promoted as truth! This is the result when man fails to fear God. Sin always abounds when that happens! 

Fear is also needed for believers. The reason is that as long as he serves the Lord on earth in this mortal flesh he can still be tempted to sin. The fear of God will keep him from sin. And when he sins, as he will since he is not perfect, he must repent of it immediately because he does not want his heavenly Father to be angry with him and because he loves Him. Joseph the dreamer understood this truth very well. When he was persistently pursued by Potiphar’s wife to sin, he refused because he did not want to sin against his God. This is the fear of God in action! Genesis 39:9 “There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” [Emphasis added] When Christians sin less and less, their holiness will shine brighter and brighter. The image of Christ in them will become clearer and clearer. 

That is why the fear of God is good for all men. 

Why is the fear of God good? – The fear of God is good for sinners as well as for believers. For the sinners it is the beginning of their salvation. 

Psalm 111:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.” 

Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” When the sinner fears God because he believes that if he dies in his sin he will be punished with hell and ultimately the Lake of Fire, he will do something about his future reality. He is afraid of God. He cries to God for mercies. He turns to Christ and receives Him as his Lord and Saviour in abject humility and deep gratitude. If he does not believe, the sad warning from the Lord is found in Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” 

When glorified children of God arrive in heaven, there is no need for fear as they will no longer “lose” anything as they will not be able to sin. Reverential fear remains but the fear of chastisement and displeasing God will no longer plague God’s children. While they are on earth in mortality, the fear of God is good for God's children because they will sin less and turn back to Christ in love and devotion more. They know that their heavenly Father will protect and take care of them when they fear Him and desire not to sin against Him. Therefore Christians need not fear anyone or anything when they have the protective fear of God in their hearts. God assures and comforts all His children in Proverbs 3:1-6 “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: 2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. 3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” 

Yours faithfully in the Saviour’s Service

Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew, Pastor