The Blessed Hope (Funeral Message)

Message: "The Blessed Hope"

1 Thess. 4:13-18

The late Evangelist D.L. Moody once made this statement: "One day you will hear that D.L. Moody is dead, but don’t you believe a word of it. For on that day I will be more alive than I ever have been."

As we gather today to pay our final respects to Eva Mae Paul, we must cast our gaze on the Resurrection and the Life, Jesus Christ, and take comfort and have confidence in the words we read in the Bible...

In this portion of scripture that we just read, the Thessalonian people were wondering what was happening to those loved ones who had died. There was a fear that they would never see them again, and that they would miss out on the return of Jesus Christ...

Paul spoke those powerful words that we hear so often concerning the Hope that we as Christians have...

I want to briefly look at three different aspects of this Hope today, realizing that we can take comfort in the words of the Bible on occasions like this...

Paul said in vs. 13 that he wanted them to know that those who had fallen asleep in Christ would rise again one day in victory over the sting of death, hell and the grave...

I believe that Paul was telling them that this Hope is

I. A Confident Hope

As Christians of course we are going to grieve the loss of our loved ones because there is that sense of loss and brokenness of fellowship that was enjoyed...

There was a confidence and an assurance that God had everything in control...

Paul said that though we may feel sorrow, we don’t feel sorrow as the world feels it, because we will see our loved ones again in a land far greater than the one we tread on now...

Christianity draws the sting of Hopelessness from sorrow, though it cannot destroy that sorrow...

We must grieve, but we must also Hope! 1 Cor. 15:19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

This is the confidence that you and I have who love God, and that is that one day we will see those who have passed on in the Lord...

This is the Hope that fills the heart of a grandchild for the departed grandmother... this is the hope that so many of you feel today for that loved one waiting on the hills of glory till we arrive there...

This world cannot give this Confident Hope that only comes through a knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior...

We must know today that there is more to this life than what we can see with our physical eyes, or touch with our hands, or hear with our ears.

There is an eternity that each one of us needs to be prepared for, and God has given us this life to get ready for either an endless heaven, or an endless hell.

In this world, I believe that as Christians, we can still have a confidence and assurance that God is in control, and nothing happens to us that does not sift through His loving hands first.

While things seem so unstable all around us, and in places around the world, Jesus Christ is still the same, yesterday, and forever.

Not only is this a Confident Hope, but it is also

II. A Continual Hope

1 John 2:28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

John was telling the church to continue in the Lord until His coming...

"Keep on serving God, don’t give up! Don’t lose hope! Don’t let anything hinder or distract you on your journey to heaven!

There is a song that we used to sing in church that says,

"I wouldn’t take nothing for my journey now, gotta make it to heaven somehow, though the Devil tempt me and he tries to turn me around"

Philip. 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

One thing that death does is bring every one of us to a realization of how mortal and temporary our lives really are...

Today is a day that you can make up your mind that you are going to continue in this blessed Hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ while not allowing anything, or anyone to keep you back from giving your all to Him...

This is a race that must be run to the end with endurance and effort and determination, and yes even a little bit of blood, sweat and tears at times...