Sermon Central
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Hope In The Midst Of Despair
Contributed by R. David Reynolds on Nov 28, 2017 (message contributor)
Summary: This is a funeral message, sermon, or homily preached at the funeral of a young suicide victim whose commitment to Jesus was unknown. It is a message of grace and hope for his family who has many unanswered questions.
Where is Jacob right now? That is the question his Mother Paula wanted me to answer on Saturday. I wish I could have told her without any doubt that Jacob was with Jesus in heaven, but I would not be true to God’s word by going that far. The Bible says in II Corinthians 6:2, “Behold, now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation.” You see, the time to turn to Jesus and receive Him as your personal Saviour and Lord is in this life.
I know Jacob was very open to Jesus, but I can not say for certain that He had accepted Him as his personal Saviour and Lord. It is my deepest hope and prayer that he did just tha. The Bible assures us in Romans 10:13, “for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” If John called out to Jesus in a simple, “Lord, save me,” he is with Jesus in heaven. Cling to that hope, and if you haven’t accepted Jesus as your own personal Saviour and Lord, do it in your own heart this very moment, and “He will save you now.”
I don’t know for certain that he made that commitment, but I certainly hope he did, and I am going to cling to that hope. If Jacob asked Jesus to come into his heart and be his Lord and Saviour, John is in the presence of Jesus for all eternity. I do know this without any doubt, only God has the right to pass judgment on John or on anyone of us. He is the “Judge of all the earth” and Abraham so beautifully reminds us in Genesis 18:25, “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” My brothers and sisters, this is a rhetorical question. The answer is obvious: “Yes, the Judge of all the earth will do right.” The judge of all the earth will do right by Jacob and right by every one of us as well when it comes to where each of us will spend eternity.
Only God has the right to be Judge of all the earth to pass judgment upon John or any of His creation. We have absolutely no right at all to pass judgment upon anyone, as Jesus says in Matthew 7:1-2, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” We have absolutely no right to judge anyone at all; only God has that authority.
Judgment is entirely His prerogative and His alone. Why? Because only God can see what is in the human heart. We judge by outward appearances. God knows our every thought, feeling, and motive in both our minds and our hearts. The Lord Himself speaks to His prophet Samuel in as Scripture I Samuel 16:7 and boldly proclaims, “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” We can not know a person’s heart, and we never have a right to pass judgment.
We can not know anyone’s heart including John’s, but God does. God and God alone knows John’s motives; intentions of his heart and mind; the feelings of despair, depress, hopelessness that he may have been enduring in his heart. God and God alone truly knows the hurt and emotional pain he suffered. God understands where we can only question.
