Nell Nash finds himself victimized by a blackmailer. Holding proof
of his wife's secret past, the blackmailer keeps coming back for more money. Nell determines his only solution is to kill
his tormentor. He has a significant problem, however. Nell is a pussycat. Normally, he wouldn't harm an insect, let alone
kill a man. But, determined to protect his wife, he plots carefully. He will lure his prey into his home, where he has prepared
a welcome mat - a tarp spread out on the floor. Nell intends to shoot the blackmailer as he enters his home and have him fall
onto the tarp, thus preventing any blood spilling onto the carpet. He will then wrap him up in the tarp, take him out into
his back yard and bury him in the spot where a foundation for a gazebo will be poured the next day.
The fateful night arrives. Everything is ready. The front door stands
open for the unsuspecting blackmailer; his welcome mat beckons, like outstretched arms. Nell, sitting in a chair facing the
entry, waits with gun in hand. The blackmailer arrives. Nell raises his gun, shakily pointing it toward the door. He calls
out, his voice cracking under the strain, "Come in, the door's open." The blackmailer crosses the door's threshold; he enters
the house; he steps onto the welcome mat. Nell steadies his arm; as best he can, he aims; he fires one shot. His victim staggers.
The blackmailer lurches from one side of the entryway to the other. Like a stage director for a play, Nell, silently but desperately
waving his arms, attempts to direct the man to fall onto the carefully prepared tarp. At last, his victim falls onto the tarp
... dead.
As the movie draws to a close, his district attorney friend and a
police lieutenant confront Nell in his home and accuse him of the murder. Apparently having no way out, he starts offering his
confession, describing in detail how the trap was laid and how he lured his victim into the trap. Just as he is about to say,
"I shot him." something diverts his attention to a book on a nearby shelf. He notices a small hole in the book. Immediately
he recognizes the truth. He changes the direction of his confession and says. "I did not shoot him."
The lieutenant explodes in frustration; he’s convinced he has
his man. Nell all but confessed; now he says he didn't shoot him. When Nell saw the hole in the book he realized that
his shot missed his prey. The bullet penetrated the book rather than his intended target. The victim did not die from a bullet
wound. “How did he die?” you ask. He had a weak heart and died from fright when Nell shot the gun. The
man was literally “scared to death”.
And so, our subject: Overcoming Fear.
Consider these four questions:
1. Have you experienced fear?
2. Do you experience fear often?
3. Are you afraid to die?
4. Do you live in constant fear of
death?
I apologize for the gloomy mood of these questions, but many in our
culture deal with such fears every day. Let's discover what the Bible has to say about this fearsome subject.
First we have the promise:
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of
my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? Psalms
27:1
But the promise comes in the face of this stark reality:
The children [who] have partaken of flesh
and blood ... through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Hebrews 2: 14, 15
Here we have two phrases found in a longer passage that make a clear
statement of the issue we want to study today: Satan keeps us, as creatures of flesh and blood, bound by the fear of death.
In the next four articles, we will consider four elements as we seek to understand and overcome fear:
1. The Enemy Within
2. The Enemy Without
3. The Promise of Power
4. The Promise of Victory
