Do Not Be Afraid of Those Who Can Kill the Body but Cannot Kill the Soul

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,’ says the Lord Almighty.

But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.

‘So, I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,’ says the Lord Almighty.

‘I the Lord do not change. So, you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.

‘But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ ‘Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

‘In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse – your whole nation – because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,’ says the Lord Almighty.

‘You have spoken arrogantly against me,’ says the Lord. ‘Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’ ‘You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly, evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’

Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.

‘On the day when I act,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.’” (Malachi 3: 1-18)

Our world is changing so quickly that no one can keep up with all the changes that are happening. Combine the technological advances with the recent Coronavirus outbreak and our world will never be the same.

We are hearing positive rumors like universal income for all and extending monetary help to those in need. We are also hearing disturbing developments like the coming mandatory vaccination combined with the community desire for on-demand testing of every human on the planet. Some ideas are out right frightening, and we must pray that society does not push us toward that abyss.

But we already know this is going to happen. Scripture has laid out what is unfolding around the world. While much of the population is wondering what is happening, Believers are referencing the Scripture as the roadmap to what is to come. Many of us have been proclaiming this truth for a long time now.

Our society is crashing down around us. If anyone believes that things are going to go back to normal after the Global Pandemic, you are sadly mistaken. Once Pandora’s Box is opened, it cannot be shut. In other words, when a government makes a move to gain control over a population’s rights and privileges, the government never returns the freedoms that were taken. Our world will be forever changed, and this means that going forward we must be very careful.

No longer can we rely upon the social interactions we have become accustom too. Moving forward we will be living in a society that questions the concept of gatherings or allowing anyone new into your trusted circle. We will no longer be able to participate in an event, without placing our lives at risk. The global psyche has been touched and there is no going back.

This control system that is ensnaring our society is moving faster than any of us could have imagined and there is no escape. Many will try, and many will fail. We know that this we lead to the ultimate hunting down and killing of those who will not participate in the global system that is unfolding (Revelation 13: 16-17). We are told that the stress of the time will be so severe that men’s hearts will fail them (Luke 21: 26-28) and that men will beg to die and cannot (Revelation 9: 6).

Understanding what must come to this world and being afraid of what can happen to you are two different things. We are told to not fear the one who can kill the body but to fear the one who can kill the soul. As the world makes its transition to this new system, we will be required to show who we truly fear, man or God!

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time, you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!

So, do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So, don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10: 16-33)

 

Clinton Kowach

04/29/2020