The Strange Children Of The Last Enemy

THE STRANGE CHILDREN OF THE LAST ENEMY

Dr. D. K. Olukoya

The first question to ask is who is the last enemy? I Corinthians 15: 26 says, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” The second question is, who are the strange children? Psalm 144:7 says, “Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children.” This is the psalmist praying his usual warfare prayers. Verse 11 says, “Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.”

THE GREATEST FEAR OF MAN

The greatest fear of man is the fear of death. The fear of death does a lot of things to people. Hebrews 2:15 says, “And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” So the fear of death can put a person in bondage forever. When you see men running away from dangerous animals it is out of the fear of death. If you see people avoiding lunatics in the streets, it is out of the fear of death.

If you see people being careful with electricity, roaming about herbalists houses for protective charms or hanging charms in their cars, it is out of the fear of death. The major reason people join cults, lodges or go into all kinds of occultic things is the fear of death. Unfortunately, even many Christians are under the grip of the fear of death. There are many pastors and ministers of God who are afraid of death. Beloved, one of the reasons many people die before their time is fear. Once the fear of death grips a person, he could sometimes behave like a mad man. When the fear of death grips a person, it would open doors to several other things. These things know that they cannot kill you. They just come to see if they can instill fear in you and if you allow the fear to grip your heart, then you open the door through which they can operate. It is when the first strange child grabs a person that the other strange children would move in.

This is what the last enemy does. He wants to remove your attention from God.

CEMETERY OF FAITH

Fear would paralyse your faith. Fear would bury your spiritual growth. Not only that, it would distribute your home address to other strange children such as discouragement, sickness, etc.

FEAR OF DEATH

The fear of death does not recognise any academic qualification. In fact, the most fearful people are those who are well-read. Death has another evil and strange child. I Corinthians 15:54 says, “So when this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” After that exhortation the next verse says, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Then verse 56 says, “The sting of death is sin…”

THE STING OF DEATH

Another strange child of death is the sting of death. If you refuse to play with the strange child of death which is sin, it cannot sting you.

THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY

The Bible talks about the mystery of iniquity. Someone knows that what he is doing would hurt him. He knows that the thing is bad. After the thing has harmed him he says, “I won’t do it again” But the next moment he is on it again. That is the mystery of iniquity. For example, a man drinks alcohol to drown his sorrow and when he wakes up in the morning, he develops head-ache and suffers from indigestion. He cannot go to work. He has what you call hangover. Then, he says, “I am not going to drink again.” But behold, as he passes by the street, somebody invites him for a drink and a chat. He goes in again and starts the same thing that almost destroyed him. That is the mystery of iniquity. Likewise someone knows that something has been telling him or her that his or her patience as a husband or as a wife is not good enough. So he or she takes a quality decision not to get angry again or allow himself or herself to say harsh words. But after sometime, the same thing starts again. That is the mystery of iniquity.

Sin is a sting of death and the wages of sin is death. Sin is the greatest instrument of death. A sinner dies but for the saint, God calls him home. Once you are born again, and have given your life to the Lord, you become a saint. For the Christian, death is a special sleep or rest.