Untitled Sermon (36)

“No Man Dieth To Himself”

We are gathered here in the memory of (name of deceased). (If requested by the family, read the obituary.)

It is difficult for a preacher to talk about the death of a friend, especially when there are a lot of memories to cloud the mind. But as Marc Anthony indicated in Julius Caesar, the purpose of a funeral is not primarily to eulogize the dead. We cannot do or say anything that will either help or harm them. The dead are in the hands of Almighty God and we trust that the judge of all the earth will do right. Our aim here is to encourage those who are left behind in the land of the living.

In Romans 14:7 we read, “For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.” Paul reminds us that our lives affect other people. How are we affected by another’s passing? Death reminds us:

I. Life Is Not Permanent

A. Psalms 90:1-10 “Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. You turn man back into dust And say, “Return, O children of men.” For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night. You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep; In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew. In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; Toward evening it fades and withers away. For we have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been dismayed. You have placed our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your presence. For all our days have declined in Your fury; We have finished our years like a sigh. As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away.”

B. James 4:13-15 “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.””

II. Death Is Sure

A. Genesis 3:17-19 “Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.””

B. Hebrews 9:27 “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”

III. We Will All Stand In Judgment

A. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”

“When this passing world is done, When has sunk life’s glaring sun, When I stand with Christ on high, Looking over life’s history,

Then Lord shall I fully know, Just how much to Thee I owe.”

B. Acts 17:30-31 ““Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.””

C. 2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

IV. The Hope Of A Christian Is Eternal Life A. Philippians 1:20-23 “according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;”

B. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

C. “Dead in Christ” cf. Galatians 3:26-27 “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

The death of a loved one is always sad, but when we can use it to think soberly about life and be motivated to prepare properly for our own passing, it can be viewed as a useful part of God’s overall plan for mankind.