Cancer Blog #24
By Brian Zimmerman
Begun on July 31, 2021
Email: dyingman1@yahoo.com
My Dying Words
Entry #24
February 9, 2022
[Act 21:10-14] “10 As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'” 12 When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents [began] begging him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, “The will of the Lord be done!”
To live a faithful life, the acceptance of death is required, even if we’re not apostles. As we see in the passage above, Paul is shown that he will encounter a very dangerous, likely deadly, situation, if he continues on to Jerusalem. But, Paul’s response to this prophetic word is remarkable. Instead of taking the warning as a command to stop, Paul accepts it as only a word of warning, a foretelling of imminent danger to prepare him. And, despite the pleas of his friends, he refuses to be deterred from his course because of the fear of death, as so many have before him, because it is his commission from Jesus. We can think of men like Moses or Gideon and others, who resisted God’s call to go as He commanded them and they resisted because their command, like Paul’s, also entailed dangerous, possibly or even likely deadly, circumstances. But, it is obvious why Paul’s response was so different from others – he had already accepted death: “For I am ready …even to die…” Suffering and dying for Jesus were a part of Paul’s life. As Jesus told Ananias who brought word to Paul of his commission from Jesus: “15 But the Lord said to him [Ananias], “Go, for he [Paul] is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Acts 9:15-16) But, it is a part of our commission also for Jesus commands us to take up our cross and follow Him: ““Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:27) We follow Jesus carrying our acceptance of death on our shoulder, so to speak. Our conversion involves not only new life, but a new attitude toward death, for now we accept death without fear, no matter what form death for us may take, whether spiritually in the power of sin or of guilt, or physically, as we have seen before in Hebrews 2: 14-15: “14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.” We have been freed from the fear of death through Him who accepted death without fear.
That acceptance of death, once begun, continues to permeate our lives so that we are no longer slaves to its fear, but find that we would even be willing to die as Paul was, as Jesus was, for our families and friends, for our brothers and sisters, because we love them, and believe that if somehow our life were not enough to aid them, then we would offer up our death as well.
To me, it is a failure to accept death that has driven the hysteria surrounding COVID-19 shown in our willingness to accept the loss of any or all of our civil liberties not just for weeks or months, but for years, if only our government would keep us safe and alive.
For Christians, I believe that a failure to accept death is what is at the root of a belief that God has guaranteed healing to any and all believers in Jesus, saying rightly that God has the power and mercy to effect such a healing, but also exhibiting the misguided (in my opinion) failure to accept the fact of their own mortality. We are indeed all guaranteed as believers to be completely and finally healed of any sickness even those unto death, but that absolute guarantee is not for this age. Only in the age to come will we not just hope, but actually see the fullness and perfection of life and health, fulfilling our desire also to see an end to death.
I have written a small paper (small, that is, in importance, not necessarily in size as it is almost 30 pages in length) on supernatural and natural healing and the two unbiblical extremes that people tend to fall into. If you’re interested reading that paper, just let me know. You can do so by text or my personal email, if you have them, or just use the blog email that I give at the beginning of each entry.
Next: Death and the Value of Courage