Funeral Service #1

Many of us can remember a time in our life, when on a dark night, we stood outside and looked up into the sky, and saw literally millions of stars. They were beautiful; they looked like diamonds on black velvet. But today, many of us live in the city, and because of the many bright lights we are not able to see the beautiful stars anymore. BUT LET ME ASSURE YOU, THE STARS ARE STILL THERE!

I want to assure this grieving family today, GOD IS STILL WHERE HE ALWAYS HAS BEEN. He has promised us, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Perhaps the emotional glare of this moment has blinded our eyes temporarily, but God is still where He always has been.

For centuries, the Twenty-third Psalm has been one of the most treasured passages in the Word of God. Every effort to modernize it into contemporary English has proven to be futile.

• The King James Version that we just read from remains the favorite translation.

• The 23rd Psalm is still the most popular passage in the Bible.

Why is this Psalm the most popular scripture in the Bible? Because of three reasons:

I. FIRST, IT DEALS WITH THE REALITY OF LIFE

The psalmist said, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

Notice two very significant things:

1. The psalmist does not promise that we shall never have to walk through such places.

2. Nor does he promise that there is no evil there.

However, he does promise this: As we walk through the VALLEY OF DEATH we do not have to FEAR any evil.

WHY? The Word of God tells us why.

The Psalmist said, “For thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” What does he mean when he says, “…Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”?

• The rod was used by a shepherd to ward off evil, and to direct the sheep as they walk.

• The staff with its large crook at the end serves to support the sheep's body when it crosses a dangerous crossing.

God was with ____________ until the final moments of his life on earth.

Notice, God does not say, “You go through the valley of death and I will meet with you on the other side.” No, God promised He would go with us through the valley of death. He walked with _____________ through the valley of death, and only a few days ago, he emerged with God on the other side of the valley of suffering and death. NOW HE IS WITH GOD FOREVER.

______________ came to know the Lord late in life.

Was he perfect after he was saved?

• Absolutely not!

• Was he saved, absolutely he was!

I say that, because at funerals you have people who have come together from all kinds of religious backgrounds. Some of these have been taught salvation is acquired by works. And if they can see sin in the life of a believer, they are quick to say that person is not saved. If that were the case, there would not be a saved person on the face of the earth.

The Bible makes it clear; we are saved BY GRACE ALONE!

• God’s grace gives us ETERNAL LIFE

• Our works give us our ETERNAL REWARDS

What these folks fail to realize is, Christian people are not perfect people, they are sinners saved by the grace of God.

If ____________ was not perfect, then how do we know that he was saved? Because the word of God was opened, and step-by-step, what he must do to be saved was revealed to him.

• He confessed he was a sinner.

• He repented of his sins with tears of sorrow running down his cheeks.

• He recognized that he could not save himself.

• He asked the Lord Jesus to forgive him of his sins and to come into his heart.

• He trusted Christ to save him.

• He did everything the Word of God told him to do to inherit salvation.

As he walked through the valley of the shadow of death, he knew that God had saved him.

Illus: The last time I talked with him face to face, he was staring death in the face, and he said, “I am ready, I am not afraid!”

HOW COULD HE DO THIS?

David tells us how! David said he would fear no evil, as he walked through the valley of death. Why? Because he said, “For thou art with me.”

Every one of us has this one thing in common, if we do not have anything else in common, we have this one thing in common: AS WE WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH WE ARE ALL STARING DEATH IN THE FACE. We do not know what time death will leap out from behind some bush and attack us and snatch us from this life.