II Cor. 5:1-2, 8 “The Way Home”
INTRO: There was a little girl who walked to her house through the cemetery every day after school. She loved to feel the breeze in her hair and to watch the birds. Sometimes she just threw herself on the rich, green grass, and watched the clouds turn into castles and angels and great white stallions. She loved hearing the birds singing. As she skipped around gravestones, she whistled her favorite tunes and sang songs. At times she knelt down, and read the names and dates on the tombstones, and slid her fingers over the beautiful pieces of granite.
- One day her friends asked her, "Why do you walk through the cemetery every day?"
-She answered, "Because, it’s the way home".
I. Death is Not the End!
A. To the World, death is an end….of life! (All things appear to come to an end)
1. For this reason the world fears death…
We fear what we do not know….But Paul said, “I groan, earnestly desire…” v.2
2. For this reason the world strives to avoid death…
Howard Hughes..billionaire tried to avoid death by secluding himself from germs.
WHEN DEATH COMES…THERE IS NO BARGAINING, NO BRIBING, AND NO BEGGING!
It is appointed unto man Once to die…..death is the fulfillment of scripture!
II. Death is Not Eternal Sleep!
A. Our soul does not sleep within this body…..
1. Paul knew that the only way he could be reunited with his Saviour was to pass
from this life and into the next. He had to take off this cloak, this flesh, so that he
could pass from the mortal to the immortal, from the lesser to the greater
B. Our souls separate from this flesh into the eternal world.
The eternal world has two places. The Heavens where Christ reigns and The Pit called
Hell where Jesus said is a place of torment and wailing and gnashing of teeth…
Are you wondering where Kenneth is today? He is in Heaven! Now I know what you’re asking….Is there any golf in Heaven? For Kenneth’s sake..I hope so!
How do I know Kenneth is in Heaven? Because I went by his bedside one day and we had a talk….One day Kenneth made a decision! PREACH!
Though we will miss Kenneth, and grieve because he is no longer with us, we who believe also in Christ do not grieve "as others which have no hope." {1 Thessalonians 4:13-14}.
Do not grieve as those without hope. Grieve because you know you will not see Kenneth again in this life, though you will have him in your hearts and memories. Grieve because you miss his smile, his kind nature and friendship. But do not grieve because you will never see him again.
Kenneth made a decision for Jesus, and now stands with Jesus in eternity. Make the same decision, the right decision, and stand united with him again one day soon.
C. Life is full of decisions. What job should I take? Should I marry this man, or this woman? What should we name our children? Should we buy a house? Decisions upon decisions.
Yet there is one decision that people often leave until it is too late - the decision to accept Jesus Christ as Saviour. While Kenneth was in this life, in his mortality, one day he made the most important decision of his life: to accept Jesus Christ to be his Saviour.
Why did Kenneth have to leave this life?
BECAUSE
III. It’s the Way Home!
One day Jesus told a woman named Martha, this:
John 11:25-27 "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: [26] And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? [27] She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world."
Kenneth accepted Jesus Christ as his Saviour, and because of this he is still very much alive, just as our Lord Jesus is alive.
When Jesus asked Martha "Believest thou this?", she answered "Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world".
Kenneth also answered one day, "Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ", and today he stands in the Heavens because of that decision.
Today I ask each and every one of you: "Believest thou this?". Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the "resurrection, and the life", and that whosoever believes in Him shall "never die"? If your answer is emphatically "Yes", you will one day be with Kenneth in Heaven, reunited for all eternity.
If your answer is "no" or "maybe", then we will not grieve for Kenneth, but for you! - for you will never see Kenneth again.
1 Corinthians 15:50-57 "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. [51] Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, [52] In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. [53] For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. [54] So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. [55] O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? [56] The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. [57] But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
END WITH POEM!
Hello Death, You’ve Come Too Late!
Is that you, Death? Hello, old skate!
Whatever you do, you‘ve come too late!
I’ve had a life brimful of joy –
Blessings as a man, blessings as a boy.
I’ve had a good life, right from the first;
I’ve had more ‘n my share, so you do your worst!
You can’t take from me the days I have seen
Go down in the west; or the silver sheen.
Of a starlit lake; or the mating call
Of a barnyard owl when the shadows fall.
You can’t snatch from me the soft love-light
Of my mother’s eyes, or the blessed sight
Of the children of mine in romping play;
Or Dads “Good nite son” at the close of day;
Or the meals I’ve had; or the restful sleep;
Or the joys of my friends that have thrilled so deep.
I laugh at you, Death, you poor old skate,
Whatever you do, you’ve come too late!
