“FUNERAL SERVICE”
(56 year old man)
Opening Remarks
On behalf of the family I would like to thank you for the kindness that you have shown during this very difficult time. Thank you for the flowers and food, for the cards and calls, and especially for your presence and prayers.
It is in times like these that we want so much to say the right thing and in some way bring comfort and encouragement. But without exception, we always feel that our vocabulary is never adequate enough. But there is a place that we can always turn to find the right word and the comfort that we need and that is the Word of God.
Psalms 23:1 - 6
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 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. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”
I. THE BREVITY OF LIFE
A. Someone asked Billy Graham once, “What is your greatest surprise in life?” His reply was: “The brevity of life”
a. Even when death seems most probable and imminent it always surprises us.
b. We know that one day we will die but we never expect life to end at ___ years as it did for ___________________.
B. But we should not expect our life to be long on this earth!
a. There are many that live to be a ripe old age.
b. The Bible speaks of many in the Scriptures
that were full of years.
c. There are many that enjoy good health for
many years
d. But we are not guaranteed of tomorrow.
e. “Boast not thyself of tomorrow”
C. Death comes to all!
a. For some death comes:
- Suddenly in the days of youth
- Quietly in the middle of the night
- Slowly and through many tears
- Quickly and unexpectedly.
Psalms 90:10
“The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”
b. But however it comes, death comes to all.
Rom. 9:27 “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”
D. Life is like a day!
- Dawn
- Early morning
- Heat of the midday
- Late afternoon
- Twilight
- Evening and night
b. It is like the seasons:
- Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter
E. We should make the most of everyday.
a. We should savor everyday to its fullest.
b. We should look forward to each day as a
delicious meal to enjoy.
F. We should wisely redeem the time!
a. It will not come our way again.
b. One day we will give an account of how we spent our days.
G. We are warned over and over again about the brevity of life in the Word of God.
Job 7:6 “Days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle”
Job 14:1 “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble”
James 4:14 “What is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanishes away”
Ps. 90:9 “We spend our years as a tale that is told”
Isa. 40:7 (We are as the) “grass that withereth and the flowers that fades”
II Sam. 14:14 “For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again”
H. Life is so unpredictable!
a. We don’t even know what will happen tonight.
b. Life is so short and so precious!
Ps. 90:12 tells us to “number our days”
I. I Sam. 20:3 tells us that there is but one step between death and us.
a. Eccl. 3:2 reminds us that there is a time to be born and a time to die.
J. It was David that wrote Psalm 23.
a. David had suffered the loss of a child.
b. He was so grieved over his dying son that he could not be consoled.
c. But then he got up from where he was and cleansed himself physically and spiritually, put on clean clothes and then went to church and worshipped God.
d. He said, “I know that my son cannot come back to me but one day I will go to him.”
e. He knew that one day God would work it out!
K. That’s why he could say, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil....”
a. He knew that the Lord was with him and that goodness and mercy would follow him all the days of his life.
L. Death is the last enemy of man!
a. We all must prepare for death.
b. Preparing for death is not making out a will or buying insurance, that’s for those left behind.
c. We prepare for death by receiving Christ as our Lord and Savior.
M. Jesus said in
John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life”
a. Jesus is not a way, He is THE way!
N. Death makes us come to grips with God!
a. We are left only with God!
O. When death comes to the young, we say, “what a shame”
a. When it comes to the old we say, “it passed so quickly”
P. This life is a one-time opportunity to prepare to meet God.
a. Preparation implies that there is something in the future!
b. Death is a necessary transition for us all.
c. It is the final journey that we all must take.
Q. Death always seems to be a terrible tragedy but we must not forget that we have a distorted vision of what it’s all about.
a. We must remember life’s destination!
b. We must remember that we have been given temporary bodies to live in a temporary world.
R. The death of a loved one can cause us to want to stop living.
a. There are some that can’t get past the grief and the loss.
S. But there is someone today that will help you bear your sorrow.
a. For He is a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
b. He weeps with you today.
II. WHAT HAPPENS AT DEATH?
A. Job asked the age old question in
Job 14:14 “If a man die, shall he live again?”
1. The Materialist, Agnostic and the Atheist all
say NO!
a. You are finished and that’s the end of man.
b. You are flesh, bone and blood and no more.
c. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes and dust to
dust.
2. The Scientist says that you cannot know!
a. He deals only with the five senses of taste, touch, smell, hearing and seeing.
B. Are they right? Is death really the end?
a. If this life is all there is to it then we ought to live as we please without any restraint!
b. If we are going to die like an animal then why not live like an animal?
C. If we believed that this life was all there was to it we would be miserable people.
I Cor. 15:19 “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable”
D. Death seems so final!
a. The grave seems so cold and dark.
b. Is there any hope after death?
E. Is there no hope today?
a. A man can live 40 days without food…
b. He can live 8 minutes without air…
c. …But he can’t live one second without hope!
d. If you could convince man that there was no hope, he would curse the day he was born.
F. But there is good news!
a. Death is not the end but the beginning!
G. When we think of death we think of losing when we should be thinking of gaining!
a. We think of departure when we should think of arrival.
b. We think of closing a door but we should think of opening the gate to eternal life.
H. Death is not a period or an exclamation point!
a. Death is a comma!
b. Death is not the end!
I. After Job asked the question in…
Job 14:14 “If a man die will he live again?” he answered it in Chapter 19:26-27 “And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another”
a. He said that this body will die and be no more but there will be a getting up morning.
b. God will put all the pieces back together again.
J. It is not meant for us to understand everything.
a. Only God is all knowing and wise!
b. We have many unanswered questions today as we look through a glass darkly.
III. IS THERE ANY HOPE BEYOND THE GRAVE?
A. Jesus said in
John 14:1 - 3
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
B. There is another life and another world beyond here!
a. It is a land of cloudless days!
b. A place without sorrow or separation.
c. A place without tragedy and tears
d. A place without death or disappointment.
C. There is life beyond the grave.
1. American Indians
a. They thought so because they would bury their dead with food, clothing and weapons to take them to the happy hunting ground.
2. Egyptians
a. They would mummify their dead in hopes of immortality.
3. Greek, Roman and Babylonian Cultures
a. They all sought for immortality.
D. Man has always wondered about life after death.
a. He has looked to nature and gained hope.
1. Lilly
- Planted as an ugly bulb but transformed into a beautiful flower
2. Butterfly
- An ugly worm transforms into a beautiful butterfly
3. Crops
- The farmer watched as he buried tiny seeds beneath the dirt and then watched them burst forth into a bountiful harvest.
4. Seasons
- The seasons changed from winter where everything dies to spring where the flowers began to bloom, trees began to bud and the grass began to green.
ILLUSTRATION
When DL Moody was a young man, he was suddenly called on to preach his first funeral. He searched all through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John trying to find a funeral sermon that Jesus preached. He made a wonderful discovery. Jesus never preached a funeral.
E. IN fact he broke up every funeral that He ever attended.
a. The daughter of Jairus, the son of the widow in Nain and Lazarus.
F. When Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had already been dead for four days.
a. Martha criticized Jesus for being late and assumed that there was no hope.
b. Jesus asked her if she believed that her brother would live again and she said yes in the great resurrection.
c. She didn’t realize that she stood in the very presence of that resurrection power.
d. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life....
G. Jesus died for us but on the third day He arose from the dead.
a. They cut down the Rose of Sharon and the Lilly of the Valley and placed Him in a borrowed tomb.
b. But on the third day the Rose of Sharon did bloom and the Lilly of the Valley did bud and up from the grave He arose
H. John saw Him on the isle of Patmos.
a. Jesus declared:
“I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive forever more, Amen; and have the keys of hell and death”
I. Because He lives we can face tomorrow with all of its mysteries and uncertainties!
a. We have a hope that is steadfast and sure!
J. There are many that have gone on before us who are witnesses to the glorious resurrection.
Hebrews 12:1
“Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus....
K. Just a few days ago, ____________ changed his residence to heaven.
II Tim. 4:7 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith”
a. He fought a good fight and he kept the faith and now he is with the Lord!
L. He has seen angels for the first time and heard the angelic choir sing.
a. If heaven could be opened today we would stand in awe at its beauty!
b. ___________ is not here today because in the wisdom of God it was time for him to go home.
c. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
M. One of the loneliest times we can have, comes when we face a time of need without having a friend to talk to about it.
ILLUSTRATION
Elisha A. Hoffman, author and composer of more than 2,000 gospel songs, was pastor of a church in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
He visited a woman who had experienced many moments of emotional pain in her life. She told the pastor of the many burdens on her heart and concluded with the question, “Brother Hoffman, what shall I do, what shall I do?”
He replied, “You cannot do better than to take all of your sorrows to Jesus, you must tell Jesus”
For a moment, the lady seemed lost in thought. Then her eyes brightened and she exclaimed, “Yes, I must tell Jesus!”
She wrote the hymn which we still sing today: “I Must Tell Jesus”
“I must tell Jesus, all of my trials, I cannot bear these burdens alone. In my distress He kindly will help me; He ever loves and cares for His own”
FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND
"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow
you, you’d walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life,
there is only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why when
I needed you most you would leave me."
The LORD replied:
"My son, my precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."
Conclusion: A prayer for comfort, peace and strength. A prayer for faith in God to Trust Him in all things!
