Death is not the king of terrors to believers. He that had the power of death is nullified now to those who believe in Jesus. Through carelessness of walk some may say that they do fear death, they accredit the power of the enemy, so as to sanction in themselves a certain degree of fear of it. If I look back before I was converted it was not the thought of death but of the great white throne, the judgment after death, that I shrank from. There is such a thing as a physical fear of death. It may be given of thing for the protection of the body, to make people take care of themselves but believers on their death-bed have no fear; the Lord has been with them, and they have desired earnestly to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. I have never known anyone who walked closely with the Lord Jesus who feared death. I have known some who have said " If I were to meet death in my present strength I am not able to bear it." But will not Christ be faithful to His promise, "when thou passest through the Valley of the shadow of death, I will be with thee, my rod and my staff they shall comfort thee?"
I do not know what others think of heavenly-mindedness, but I groan at finding so little of it in myself. At the end of a day or week, am I conscious of having been walking as a heavenly-minded man? I do not mean in regard to anything outward; it is of little consequence whether I stand or fall in the sight of others, of fellow saints. The solemn thought is, What am I in God's sight? What passes in my soul? Have I the mind of heaven? In all trials and troubles, is it the thought of my heart " I am up there with the Son of God?" His life is my life; am I letting it flow forth?
We have to mike the discovery that the Lord of heaven and earth looks down and sees every believer as identified with Himself. Saul felt this when the Lord said, "Why persecutest thou me?" Yes, the Lord Christ looks clown on His people as being vitally united to Himself. What is sweeter than the name of Jesus to the Father! and that Jesus was with the Father in heaven when Paul heard the words " Why persecutest thou me?"