Explorers in the far north often meet the fierce, white polar hear. Its chief food is the flesh of seals, but if food is scarce, it will not turn away even from a man.
On one occasion, an explorer above the Arctic circle suddenly found himself within a few feet of an angry bear. He was armed with a rifle, and he was a good shot too, but he missed. The bear crouched, ready to spring. The young man was face to face with death.
Have you ever looked death in the face? if you haven’t, you probably will, sooner than y want to, and the Bible says, “The sting of death is sin.” 1 Cor. 15:5656The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. (1 Corinthians 15:56). If you are still in your sins, then death is fierce and powerful. “The strength of sin is the law,” and since you have broken God’s law, then you stand if unsaved, like our explorer, defenseless in the face of death. It is awful, isn’t it?
But he was saved, after all! The young man of whom I told you had one last hope. He seized a lighted lantern, and gave the savage beast a blow in the face. The animal turned tail and fled!
Have you a lighted lantern” for your enemy, death? God’s Word is the only lamp for the valley of the shadow of death. Many and many a Christian has gone joyfully through death into glory by the light of the Word of God. Reason will fail, and death will come on, stinging and powerful, but the Word of God will drive its terrors completely away. “The sting of death is sin,” but “the blood of Jesus Christ His (God’s) Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7). “The strength of sin is the law,” but “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.” Galatians 3:1313Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (Galatians 3:13).
This “lighted lantern,” ‘this simple faith in the Word of God, will take away the terror of death and give you peace, even on your deathbed.
ML 12/23/1951