Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 10
The speaker highlights Chrysostom’s claim that the person who doesn’t fear death is “out of the reach of the devil’s tyranny,” connecting it to Acts 20:24 (“nor do I count my life dear”); if that is true, what specific threats still control you (property, reputation, comfort, security), and how would “laughing death to scorn” re-order your habits, risk-taking, generosity, and witness?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript teaches that once death-fear is broken, the devil loses his leverage: threats like property loss, degradation, or banishment become “small matters.” If you truly “laugh death to scorn,” you would stop being controlled by self-preservation and become freer to obey Christ in costly witness, generosity, and endurance.
- Chrysostom’s claim is explicit: “the man that does not fear death is out of the reach of the devil’s tyranny.”
- He argues the devil’s threats fail: “Shall he threaten the loss of property or degradation or banishment…? For these are small matters to someone who does not even hold his life dear.”
- The speaker links this to Paul’s example (Acts 20:24): “chains and tribulations await me… none of these things move me… nor do I count my life dear to myself.”
- He says when believers suffer, “the victory becomes even more glorious,” because Christ destroyed death “by death.”
- The exhortation is practical: “Let us not then prove weak to this gift… we have not received a spirit of fear… Let us stand then nobly, laughing death to scorn.”