FUNERAL: Billy and Judy Reece 050612
TEXT: Various
I. THE QUESTIONS OF OUR HEARTS
A. The question we are all asking ourselves: Did Billy and Judy go to
Heaven?
1. There are problems with with us even asking such a question. It
puts us in the posistion of being judge over someone’s eternal
destiny. We are not judges, we are those who one day be judged.
2. When we try to judge people, we ususually end up judging them by
our standards. “Did this person have a lifestyle or habits which I
consider to be somewhere a little lower, a little more sinful than
mine?” We judge people accorning to our flawed human reason
and logic rather than searching the word of God—the Bible for
answers.
3. If we are not the judge, then who is? I hope we all know the answer
to that question. The Judge is our Creator, the King and Ruler of
the Universe.
4. He is the One who sparked life and gave us a soul at the instant of
conception. He is the One who gave us our first breath as we
came from our mother’s womb. He is the one who collects our
breath as we breathe our last.
5. It is interesting to know that in Hebrew and in Greek, the languages
of the Bible, the word breath can be translated breath or spirit. So
God gave us our spirit, and when we pass from this earth, He
captures it again.
6. The spirits of Billy and Judy are at this very moment in the hands of
God—the judge of everyone who has ever drawn breath.
7. Our next question is: What do you think God will do now that Billy
and Judy are in His hands?
II. HERE IS WHAT WE KNOW
A. Billy and Judy a few years back accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord—
or at least the recommitted themselves to this truth.
1. Their lives were turned around. They left the old man behind. They
became new creations.
2. Miracles began to happen for them. Retribution which was due
them for past acts was stopped in its tracks by the mighty hand of
a merciful God.
ILL. I don’t remember all the details—I try not to remember people’s sins and short comings since I have so many of my own. But I remember Billy was going before an earthly judge—He was guilty—the penalty would be severe. I believe the penalty would require him to do some time. The church prayed—we prayed for mercy. Billy admitted his wrong, but also gave testimony as to the work that Jesus was doing in his life. God got involved. And as is the case in every occasion, when we tie our lives in knots, then give our tangled mess back to God, God immediately begins working, untangling that knot.
I’m ashamed that I don’t remember as clearly as I should, but I believe that the judge sentenced him to a number of months of mandatory church attendance here at PCC—When you consider some of my sermons, you must know--that’s hard time my friends that some might consider cruel and unusual punishment.
3. Here is something else we know. We wish we didn’t but
unfortunately we do. Billy and Judy fell out of church. I’m sure the
devil gave them plenty of excuses that seemed like well-formed
reasons.
4. As they fell out of the Christian fellowship, some of the old ways
began to creep and seep back in. I do not know to what degree
and do not want to know.
--This is the thing that causes us to become judges and ask that
problematic question as to where they will spend eternity.
5. Yet we feel we must know. Dear family, you are grieving. Truth be
told, it is this question which grieves you the uttermost. The idea
that you will not see them again here on the earth is a distant
second.
6. If we could just gain some sort of assurance that we will see them
one day, we will grieve, but we will be OK.
7. Where can we acquire this assurance? Where can we find the
peace we need? I’ve already told you—it’s in God’s word, the
Bible.
III. CONSIDER GOD’S CHARACTER
A. 1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because
God is love.
1. We do not serve a vengeful, mean spirited god, as the Muslims do.
2. Throughout Old and New Testaments we are told we serve a God
who loves us no matter what. Roman’s 8:35, 39 Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship
or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?...
neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will
be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
a. Psalm 13:5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart
rejoices in your salvation.
b. 40 times in the Old Testament, the segment of our Bible where
we think God seems the harshest, we read of His unfailing
love for us, 34 in the Psalms alone.
c. What is unfailing love? It’s a love that keeps on loving even
when our love fails
3. We also know that our God is full of mercy and grace. There is a
difference between Mercy and grace.
a. Mercy when God doesn’t inflict upon us the punishment we so
well deserve.
b. Grace is when God lavishes upon us gifts we have not
earned—the greatest of these of course is salvation, eternal-
life, and the opportunity to live with Him in Heaven.
c. 2 Chronicles 21:13 David said, Let me fall into the hands of
the LORD, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall
into human hands.”
d. 28 times the Psalms tell of the great mercy of God
e. Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and
acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
f. Romans 11:29, 30 …for God’s gifts and his call are
irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time
disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of
their disobedience,
g. And Grace? There are too many passages in the Bible to begin
to present to you in one message about His grace. My
favorite is Ephesians 2:8, 9 For it is by grace you have been
saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the
gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
IV. CONSIDER BILLY AND JUDY’S ACTIONS
A. Yes, I guess we would all agree that Billy and Judy to some degree
had indeed fallen back some. How far you ask? I don’t know!
Remember, I’m not the judge. I’m the guy God has called to do my
best to get you ready for the judge and one day I myself will also be
judged.
1. The question we all ought to ask is, “What does it take to be ready
for the Judge?” Again the Bible tells us all we need to know about
that.
2. Romans 10:8-11 “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and
in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we
proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe
and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess
your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who
believes in him will never be put to shame.”
3. This is what the Bible tells us we must to in order to be ready to
meet the Judge. If we do this, we will not receive the sentence of
eternal death which our sins have earned for us. Intead, we will
find mercy and receive the gift of God’s grace
4. Did Billy and Judy do that? They most certainly did when they
came to the Lord God seeking salvation a few years back?
5. Their lives may have slipped, but did they ever reach a point where
they stopped confessing with their mouth that there was One Lord
over the entire Universe? Did they ever stop believing that God
raise Jesus from the dead?
6. Did Billy and Judy need to repent? Of course they did. But don’t
you need to repent? Don’t I have areas of my life that I need to
repent for and seek the face of God over for the power to
overcome?
ILL. A few days before the tragedy of the late evening of April 5, Lucy had a burden. She did something about that burden. I’m afraid most of us try to disregard the burdens God places upon our hearts under the guise of telling ourselves that it is really not our business. Billy had been suffering from a migraine headache for a couple of days. He was laid up so to speak. Lucy had a captive audience. It is wonderful how God uses something painful like a migraine to open the door for mercy and grace to step in. Lucy had a heart to heart talk with Billy about his soul and his relationship with God. Billy responded to Lucy with a confession. He confessed the Lordship of Jesus the Christ. What does it say in Romans? Only God has a window into our souls. Only God knows if repentance took place.
7. Don’t wait for a migraine headache and a Lucy to come knocking
at your door. Get ready to meet God my friend.
V. CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD
A. Luke 23:32, 39-43 Two other men, both criminals, were also led
out with him to be executed…One of the criminals who hung
there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save
yourself and us!” 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t
you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same
sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our
deeds deserve. (repentance)But this man has done nothing
wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come
with your kingly power” 43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you,
today you will be with me in paradise.”
1. You can repent as you sense the Holy Spirit move across your
seared conscience while sitting in a church pew.
a. You can repent as you stare at the ceiling at 3:00 am because
the Holy Spirit is keeping you awake.
b. You can repent as you are dying on a cross.
c. You can repent by uttering the name “Jesus!” as your car spins
out of control on a slick road.
2. Peter speaks of the very last moment that such a call is possible.—
the very last opportunity. He says Acts 2:20, 21 The sun will be
turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming
of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
There is a fountain filled with blood
drawn from Emmanuel's veins;
and sinners plunged beneath that flood
lose all their guilty stains.
Lose all their guilty stains,
lose all their guilty stains;
and sinners plunged beneath that flood
lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoiced to see
that fountain in his day;
and there may I, though vile as he,
wash all my sins away.
Wash all my sins away,
wash all my sins away;
and there may I, though vile as he,
wash all my sins away.
