Fellowship Hall

last SG · 2006-01-03T17:01:53+00:00

Yeah about the Rapture. I just really hope that it's around the corner already. The stage is set and the actors are on the stage for the Great Tribulation....

Ironside SG

This is exclusively for Christians who are seeking fellowship. Here you can share your fears and failures, your sorrows and successes, your doubts and etc.

This is a hall where no one will be condemned or judged for your honest confessions. This is a place where we seek to understand and feel and emphathize and pray for one another.

You don't have to be 'politically correct', you don't have to worry of saying the right thing all the time.....just be honest and open and be ready to love.

This is a hall EXCLUSIVELY for imperfect people. People who make mistakes [in their speech, actions, IN THEIR POSTS IN INTERNET FORUMS and etc.] Perfect people are not welcome.

Ironside SG

Let me start:

I know that this was discussed before already. But let us discuss this OPENLY HONESTLY AND PERSONALLY no holds barred.

Do you fear death? Have you conqured this fear already? What happens if you die next year...........as a Christian do the fear of dying still haunt you or are you like our beloved Paul who knows FOR SURE that his death would be an entrance to glory?

Micheal Bronson states three reasons why people are scared of death:

1) They are afraid to meet God and account for all the sins they made.
2) When you pass through death, you are all alone even though many people sorround you.........this 'aloneness' makes us scared.
3) The 'unknownness' of death. People are scared of the unkown. People dont know what lies ahead. To atheists they get all scared with the thought: what if God is after all true?"

Ironside SG

Personally, sometimes i do still get scared of death.

I know that i have trusted Christ alone for salvation and the Bible says: 'im saved.' I have experienced the assurance of the Holy Spirit that i am indeed saved. But sometimes thoughts still haunt me and say:

"Yup there's no doubt that Jesus is the Savior and that if you trust Him you are will be saved..........but the question is: do you have genuine faith or is that just all fancy?.........Jesus is indeed truly the Savior but do you have the true faith?"

Like C.H. Spurgeon, i have my regular ups and downs regarding my assurance of salvation.

Sometimes i just wished of the Rapture taking place in my time so as to escape death. Sometimes, i think that i'm not really afraid of death.....i'm just afraid of dying......you know the pain and suffering that often accompanies it.

Sometimes, i think that maybe we are scared of death because ever since when we were young we see people terrified of the prospect of dying and that got imprinted into our minds that death is something to be afraid of. I envy those Christians who have been reared in godly Christian families. FAmilies who are never afraid of death and as a consequence they reared children who are not afraid of dying.

Sometimes, i get comforted by reading Spurgeon's sermons. If you dont know Spurgeon, he is one of the giants in the faith.... practically every pastor knows who Spurgeon is. Spurgeon confides that sometimes he gets into a frame of mind wherein he doubts his salvation that often requres him to withdraw from the pulpit ministry.

Luther when he was dying was trembling, doubting his salvation. The great hymn writer, William Cowper [though saved] was so terrrified of the prospect of dying because he believed that he was destined for hell [the effects of extreme Calvinism inculcated in him].

I am in good company.......even the giants have experiened what i experienced.

M©+square SG

Yes! Very good thought!

I had this thought few years ago. Hmm...it is good being assured.

Cheers

Icemoon SG

LOL .. you won't have the Lord's presence liao. Laughing

M©+square SG

I hope you're just joking. Smile

Icemoon SG

Ironside said perfect people are not welcome mah. Laughing

breytonhartge SG

Icemoon, keep it nice in here, no insults, no wisecracks… as per the threadstarters request. Thank you.

laoda99 SG

Yup. I also experienced what u have experienced. All I need to know is when I die, I will be going to a beautiful place. And it is guaranteed.

klydeer SG

Hi Ironside.

Its always been edifying reading your posts.

personally, the time when i was very close to the notion of death is when i was forced to witness my friend's body lying on the floor as he fell from the 7th floor.

There and then, dark thoughts came to my mind - why ? why ? why this now ? so much grief ! so much sorrow ! i weeped.

A verse came to me in the midst of the wake:

"Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." John 12:24

And indeed, from his death till today, we have witnessed the production of many many seeds. To name but one, his father is saved after many years of denial and pride.

This experience gave me some courage to face death and to witness the Glory of God at work.

babyys SG

For me, i used to have a phobia of attending wakes, looking at dead corpse. Its thru my late grandparents death that shake me up and made me realise that hey! its all part & parcel of Life & death something all of us have to go thru 1 fine day be it sooner or later.

Now, if i am to close my eyes, i trust that God will put me in a better place. All in his time.

"In his time, In his time
He makes all things beautiful
In his time"

vince69 SG

Fear of Death?
Being a Christian, to die is to be with Christ, which is really a gain, imagine no more pain and suffering, entering into His presence and perfect rest. so why should we be afraid, infact we should rejoice....
(this is the right way)

Now, the reality, even though I knew all these, I am still afraid, maybe its just my nature to be afraid of the 'unknown'. Confused

Icemoon SG

rejoice your head! (if your love ones are unbelievers)

babyys SG

agreed! But by God's Grace all my loved ones are saved!

3 Cheers to our Lord Jesus Christ!!! Laughing

vince69 SG

hey... if you want to quote me, pls quote in it as a whole, not half way pls. Thanks

laoda99 SG

me too....but we just have to remind ourselves that should we die, we are going to a beautiful place =)

Ironside SG

I envy the apostle Paul and the other apostles............i mean they don't have to battle against the doubt if whether they are saved or not. They have seen the Lord....................Paul was accosted by the Lord Jesus on the way to Damascus....John recieved revelations.........i mean how could they doubt their salvation? When death comes they are 100% sure that they will go to heaven.

However, in my case, doubts assail me if whether i really saved or not sometimes.........Yes, i have the Word of God, the Bible and i know that all it says is true but the problem is how could i know if my faith in it is true.

I have no doubts about Jesus being the SAvior.............but sometimes i have doubts regarding my faith........if this is really the faith of the elect.

I have no doubts about the blessed and glorious Person, i have doubts about my connnection [to him].

Deportivo SG

i have the same problem too. many many times i doubt my own salvation, i doubt if the fruits of the Spirit are manifested in me, then i backslide and backslide and backslide.

God have mercy on me, and thank Him for always pulling me back to walk with Him. but i am weak, there are still times that i stray away from Him.

vince69 SG

actually, the unknown I am refering to also include what will happen to those left behind...
well, I guess the best we can do is keep praying for them and trust them into God's hands.

Ironside SG

Sometimes worry attacks me. And i then remember that worry is a sin and that i should cast my worries to the Lord.

but then again this doubt concerning salvation enters in again and say:

"Yes, Christians are to cast their burdens to the Lord and not worry, but are you really saved. Imagine yourself casting your burdens to the Lord when in the first place you are not saved."

What that thought does to me is that it makes me worry if i am indeed saved.
And then i worry that i have sinned and the cycle goes on.

Sometimes it's really difficult. I just hope and pray that these thoughts will not haunt me in my dying days.