The Sentence of Death

"But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead."  II Corinthians 1:9.  The sentence of death was from the enemies of the gospel.  Preaching Jesus was costly.  And so it is even in this time.  The cross of Jesus forever has opposition.  And so, our trust must not be in ourselves, but in God.  The enemies of truth continue to perish from the landscape of time, but new ones are born to replace them.  We face a continual battle.  We must trust a power that is greater than ourselves.  The sentence of death is upon all.  If we do fall by the sword of the enemy, we eventually give way to the decline of the flesh.  Our leader and master was taken and killed.  But, God raised Him up from the dead.  The greatest message that the world has ever and will ever hear is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It is the hope that beats in the heart of the believer.  It is the drum beat of our faith.  So what if death comes and takes the last breath from our body.  What difference does it make in what manner the sentence of death is served?  Trust in God means the raising of the dead.  The sentence of death which separates the enemy of God from the faithful of God is the raising of the dead.  Those who trust in themselves die without hope.  Those who trust in the God who raises the dead travel under the sentence of death without fear and always hopeful of a new awakening.