Funeral For A Christian Man

Funeral for a Christian Man

Psalm 46

We come here today not to mourn death but to celebrate life. __________ life here on Earth is over but his life in Heaven with his beloved Savior Jesus Christ has just begun. We rejoice because _______ gave so much of his life to us. But praise God his life of no pain, no physical struggles, no doubts, no lack of understanding has begun with Jesus in his new home! Everyone born into this world will also leave it but the Bible teaches that there is life beyond the grave.

Men and women have an allotted time on Earth, for some it short and for other relatively long, but for each there comes a moment when time ceases and we enter into another realm, the world of Eternity. where we will spend forever in the presence of God OR forever separated from God’s love and no way to ever receive God’s love again.

Everyone who has come here today has come with a sense of loss.

• The loss of a wife who will miss the presence of her husband.

• The loss of a son who will miss the sound of his father’s voice.

• The loss of grandchildren who will miss their grandfather’s laugh.

• The loss of a friend whose companionship will be missed.

In one way or another, we have all gathered here seeking comfort. Of course, comfort can be drawn from family and friends. We find comfort from shared memories. Helen Keller once said, “With the death of every friend I love- a part of me has been buried – but their contribution to my happiness and strength and understanding remains to sustain me in an altered world.” As we are gathered here, we all have different memories about _______ that will help to bring comfort - some are serious, some are humorous, some can only be fully understood by those who hold them. Comfort can be drawn from our memories today.

But our greatest source of comfort is God. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, (4) who comforts us in all our trouble, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with comfort that we ourselves have received from God.”

So, for a few moments this afternoon I would like to share with you comfort from one the great psalms of the Bible, Psalm 46. In the first three verses we read, “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. (2) Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; (3) Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling.”

The scripture here paints a word picture of a time of great turmoil. He describes it as a time of “trouble” which is a Hebrew word meaning “pressed in, confined in a tight space.” Do you remember the old saying, “between a rock and a hard place?” This is the kind of pressure the psalmist is talking about; when life presses in upon us, when trouble comes, when we have no place left to run.

There is within these verses a three-fold promise, a promise of the Lord’s protection, a promise of the Lord’s power and a promise of Lord’s presence.

First, The Promise of the Lord’s Protection

The psalmist is telling us that God is that refuge and the strong one to whom we should flee when the storms of life become so overwhelming that we can no longer stand alone. It is a picture of someone running from a terrifying storm into a cave that is quiet, dry and safe or of a child running to their mother or father for safety and comfort in their arms. Three times in this Psalm (vv. 3, 7, 11), the psalmist reminds us that God is our refuge.

The psalmist says, “God is our refuge.’ It is God Himself that is our refuge – not some place or city – but the one true living and power-ful God. He is a refuge, a place of shelter during the time of trouble and storms. It is from this great psalm that Martin Luther got his inspiration for his beautiful song, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” Martin Luther in that great hymn of the faith wrote, “A mighty fortress is our God, a (defence) never failing. Our helper He amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. …” [Hymn 333. Praise! Our Songs and Hymns (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979]

We have one to whom we can flee when we are overcome by doubts and fears and He will calm our fears and give us joy, even in the midst of our difficulties.We have one to whom we can flee when we are weary, we can flee to Him and find rest not just for our bodies but for our souls. When we are tossed about by the winds of adversity in this life we can find according to the Apostle Paul, “the peace of God which passes all understanding.” (Philippians 4:7).