Friday. [I Thess. 5:9-13, 24-28; Luke 12:2-12]

   Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. The greatest fear we have is death. But the Lord says that the fear of God should be above the fear of death. When circumstances come together in such a way that it is necessary to either lose life or to act against the suggestions of the fear of God, it is better to die, and not go against the fear of God; because if you go against the fear of God, then upon your bodily death, which is nevertheless inevitable, you will meet another death which is immeasurably worse than all of the most terrible bodily deaths. If we always bore this in mind, the fear of God would not weaken in us, and we would not do any deeds contrary to the fear of God. Suppose that passions rise up. At the moment they rise up, the conscience, motivated by the fear of God, requires one to defy them; a refusal of the demands of the passions seems like a parting with life, a killing of the body. Therefore, when disturbing feelings of this type come back and begin to shake the conscience, hurry to raise up the fear of God and of His judgement and its consequences. Then fear of a most terrible death will chase away the fear of a very weak death, and it will be easy for you to stand firm in your duty and conscience. This is how the wise [Solomon’s] saying is fulfilled: Remember thy end and thou shalt not sin unto the ages.