Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28 HCSB
In this Scripture passage, Jesus has commissioned His twelve disciples. He is giving them instructions. He tells them which way to go and which towns to avoid (vv. 5-6). He tells them what to do in this ministry (vv. 7-8). He tells them what to bring and what not to bring (vv. 9-10). He tells them when and where to stay and when and how to leave (vv. 11-14).
One of my favorite parts of Matthew 10 is found in v. 15 where Jesus tells them, “Look, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as serpents and as harmless as doves.” He warns them of being persecuted and being handed over to governors and kings because of Him. He instructs them to bear witness to them and to the nations.
He warns them of being hated. Then He reminds them that they must fear God. He tells them not to be afraid of those who hate them and persecute them for their sins will be exposed. Then He speaks today’s Scripture passage to them where he tells them not to fear man who can only kill the body, but fear God who can kill both the body and the soul.
My friend, if you do your best to live according to God’s holy word, you will be persecuted. You will be hated. But you must now allow yourself to fear what others think or say about you. You must not be fearful of offending those who are dead in sin.
We must confront sin. Ephesians 5:11 tells us not to participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them. Sadly, in this nation, we are seeing a whole lot of what my pastor calls, “Going along to get along” going on. We see this in both the pulpit and the pew.
People choose churches that make them feel good. They choose churches that don’t offend those lost in sin. They choose churches that accept these fruitless works of darkness. They embrace them and encourage members to do the same.
We must love the sinner but hate the sin. When we tell a sinner their sin is okay, and we understand, and God will understand we become a stumbling block to them. The Bible warns against this.
In 1 Corinthians 8:9, Paul warns the Corinthians against allowing their religious liberties such as eating any type of food to become a stumbling block to the weak. In Matthew 16:23, Jesus predicts His disciples’ death and resurrection. Peter tells Him this will never happen. In essence, Peter is attempting to get Jesus to sin by foregoing what His Father has prepared for Him to do to save us from our sins.
Jesus rebukes Peter by saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me because you are not thinking about God’s concerns, but man’s.”
We have to stop worrying about the feelings of people who are lost in sin. We ought to be worrying more for their souls. We ought to be gently and lovingly confronting their sin. We ought to be showing them the way (John 14:6) according to God’s holy word.
We should fear God more than we fear man or hurting someone’s feelings because we are speaking the truth according to God’s word. We’ve got to stop honoring sin and start honoring God.
We must be discerning when it comes to false teachers. We must speak out against them.
Man may judge you here on earth, but I’d much rather face man’s judgment in this temporary abode than face God’s judgment for eternity.
Study your Bible, so you can clearly understand the difference between right and wrong. Pray for wisdom and discernment.
We are told in 1 Timothy 3:5 that in the end times, there will be those who hold to a form of godliness but deny its power. We should never underestimate the power of God. We should never deny His power.
Read our verse again. Don’t fear a man who can only kill the body, but fear God who can kill both the body and the soul. Fear the one and only true God who controls your eternal destiny.
Have a great day!