Victory over Death
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· 53 viewsHomegoing Service for Sister Amelia Paula Williams
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I GIVE ALL HONOR, PRAISE AND GLORY TO GOD THE FATHER, JESUS THE CHRIST, HIS SON AND MY SAVIOR AND THE SWEET HOLY SPIRIT.
I GREET YOU IN THE NAME OF THE LORD THIS AFTERNOON.
TO ALL OF THE CLERGY AND MINISTERS ON THE PROGRAM…THANK YOU FOR SERVING THE FAMILY….
TO ALL CLERGY AND MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL THAT ARE HERE…WOULD YOU PLEASE STAND.....
TO THE WILLIAMS, HUBERT AND BROWN FAMILIES… AND ALL OF SISTER PAULA’S FAMILY, HER DAUGHTERS…..SISTER LIBBY AND SISTER MILLIE….GRAND CHILDREN…..AND GREAT GRANDS…… LOVED ONES AND FRIENDS…..IT IS MY PRAYER THAT GOD THE FATHER….WHO IS THE FATHER OF ALL COMFORT, WILL COMFORT YOUR HEARTS ….AND GIVE YOU PEACE NOW AND OVER THE UPCOMING DAYS, WEEKS, MONTHS AND YEARS.
CHERISH THE SWEET MEMORIES OF SISTER PAULA….SHE MAY NOT BE HERE WITH US PHYSICALLY…..BUT THERE ARE MANY MEMORIES THAT YOU CAN HOLD ONTO…..BECAUSE SHE WILL ALWAYS BE IN YOUR HEART AND THOUGHTS.
TWO THINGS THAT I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER ABOUT SISTER PAULA IS HER SINGING AND HER SMILE….SHE KNEW HOW TO CARRY A TUNE….AND HAD A SWEET SOPRANO VOICE. I WILL REMEMBER HER SINGING IN THE CHOIR…..AND WILL NEVER FORGET THE SONGS SHE WOULD SING WHEN FIRST LADY NEAL AND I WOULD VISIT HER AT THE HOSPITAL.
SHE ALSO HAD A SMILE THAT I WILL NEVER FORGET…SISTER PAULA WAS THE CHURCH SECRETARY AND RESPONSIBLE FOR VARIOUS CLERICAL DUTIES AND ALSO SERVED ON THE BEREAVEMENT MINISTRY AND WOULD ORDER FLOWERS TO BE SENT TO FAMILIES OF THOSE WHO LOST A LOVED ONE….EVEN WHEN SHE WAS IN THE HOSPITAL HERSELF.
SISTER PAULA SHARED WITH ME THAT SHE WANTED HER HOMEGOING SERVICE TO BE A CELEBRATION OF LIFE…..SHE DIDN’T WANT IT TO BE SAD….SO TODAY WE WILL CELEBRATE HER LIFE AND ALTHOUGH HEARTS MAY BE HEAVY……HER HOMEGOING SERVICE WILL BE ONE THAT IS FILLED WITH GREAT JOY.
AND AS I PRAYED TO THE LORD ABOUT THE TEXT I SHOULD USE TO MAKE SISTER PAULA’S HOMEGOING SERVICE.....FILLED WITH GREAT JOY…..HE GUIDED ME TO A TEXT THAT TALKS ABOUT THE VICTORY WE HAVE OVER DEATH…..A PASSAGE THAT RINGS WITH THE CLARION CALL TO TURN TO JESUS CHRIST….IN WHOM WE HAVE THE VICTORY
….YES MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS……SISTER PAULA HAS VICTORY OVER DEATH…..SHE HAS THE VICTORY BECAUSE SHE NOW HAS ETERNAL LIFE…….
TURN WITH ME IF YOU WILL…..TO THE SCRIPTURE THAT WAS PENNED BY THE APOSTLE PAUL…..FOUND IN FIRST CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 15 VERSUS 54-57……
ONCE YOU’VE FOUND IT….I’D LIKE EVERYONE BUT THE FAMILY TO STAND FOR THE READING AND REVERENCE OF GOD’S WORD.
54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has 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 your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Victory over Death
THE APOSTLE PAUL, IN HIS LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS, SPEAKS OF THE PERISHABLE BEING CLOTHED WITH THE IMPERISHABLE, THE MORTAL WITH IMMORTALITY.
THIS IS A SUPERNATURAL TRANSFORMATION, A METAMORPHOSIS THAT IS ONLY POSSIBLE THROUGH FAITH.
IT IS THROUGH FAITH THAT WE EMBRACE THE PROMISE OF CHRIST, AND IT IS THROUGH FAITH THAT WE STEP INTO THE VICTORY THAT HE HAS WON FOR US.
SISTER PAULA OFTEN SPOKE OF THE FAITH THAT SHE HAD IN JESUS……AND SHE KNEW IN JESUS…..THAT EVERYTHING WOULD BE ALRIGHT……SHE EXPERIENCED SOME PAIN….AND WENT THROUGH SOME TOUGH TIMES…..BUT SHE KEPT THE FAITH ……
IT IS THAT FAITH IN JESUS THAT WE NEED TO HAVE TO EXPERIENCE THIS SUPERNATURAL TRANSFORMATION THAT PAUL WAS WRITING ABOUT……
IN ORDER FOR US TO HAVE VICTORY OVER DEATH……WE MUST HAVE FAITH AND BELIEVE IN JESUS AS OUR LORD AND SAVIOR……AND WE WILL LIKE PAUL SAYS……THIS CORRUPTION WILL PUT ON INCORRUPTION…..AND THIS MORTAL…..WILL PUT ON IMMORTALITY……
IN OTHER WORDS……WE WILL LEAVE THIS CORRUPT BODY OF FLESH……AND PUT ON A NEW BODY….THAT IS INCORRUPT….
THIS BODY WITH ACHING JOINTS….THIS BODY WITH PAIN AND DISCOMFORT….THIS BODY WITH STIFFNESS AND SUFFERING…..THIS BODY WITH EXHAUSTION AND DISTRESS…..
WE WILL TURN IT IN….FOR A BODY THAT IS INCORRUPT….
WE WILL TRADE IN THIS BODY THAT IS MORTAL….THAT IS SUBJECT TO DEATH…..AND RECEIVE A BODY THAT IS IMMORTAL…
..IN OTHER WORDS….IT WON’T DIE…..IT WON’T AGE……AND HAS A NEVER ENDING EXISTENCE ….
THIS HAPPENS IN THIS SUPERNATURAL TRANSFORMATION OF OUR EARTHLY BODIES TO HEAVENLY BODIES……
LET ME SEE IF I CAN MAKE IT PLAIN….
CONSIDER THE BUTTERFLY, A CREATURE OF BEAUTY AND GRACE.
IT BEGINS LIFE AS A HUMBLE CATERPILLAR, BOUND TO THE EARTH. YET, WITHIN THIS CREATURE LIES THE POTENTIAL FOR TRANSFORMATION.
THROUGH A PROCESS OF METAMORPHOSIS, THE CATERPILLAR BECOMES A BUTTERFLY, SHEDDING ITS OLD FORM AND TAKING ON A NEW ONE.
THIS TRANSFORMATION IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE VICTORY WE EXPERIENCE THROUGH FAITH.
JUST AS THE BUTTERFLY SHEDS ITS OLD FORM, WE TOO, THROUGH FAITH,
SHED OUR OLD SELVES AND ARE CLOTHED WITH THE NEW,
WITH THE INCORRUPTION, WITH IMMORTALITY.
YES…..SISTER PAULA IS NO LONGER IN HER OLD BODY….WHERE SHE EXPERIENCED PAIN…..WHERE SHE EXPERIENCED SUFFERING….. SHE HAS VICTORY OVER DEATH……IN HER NEW BODY…..VICTORY OVER THE HURT…….VICTORY OVER THE DISCOMFORT….VICTORY OVER THE PAIN…..
NOT ONLY DID SISTER PAULA HAVE VICTORY BECAUSE OF HER FAITH IN JESUS…..
SHE HAD VICTORY BECAUSE OF THE PROMISES OF JESUS
JESUS SAID….
1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In 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. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
JESUS PROMISED US THAT THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN HIM…..WOULD HAVE A PLACE PREPARED FOR THEM…..A MANSION…..PREPARED FOR THOSE THAT BELIEVED IN HIM….THAT IS ONE OF THE MANY PROMISES THAT JESUS GAVE US….
TRUTH BE TOLD….I’D BE HERE ALL DAY IF I WERE TO TELL YOU ABOUT ALL OF HIS PROMISES…..
THE PROMISES OF JESUS ARE ANCHORED IN HIS SACRIFICIAL LOVE FOR US…..
HE LAID DOWN HIS LIFE ON THE CROSS, BEARING THE WEIGHT OF OUR SINS AND BRIDGING THE CHASM THAT SEPARATED US FROM OUR HEAVENLY FATHER.
HIS DEATH WAS NOT THE END, BUT THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA OF GRACE AND REDEMPTION.
HIS RESURRECTION WAS A TESTAMENT TO HIS DIVINE POWER, A DECLARATION OF VICTORY OVER DEATH AND SIN.
THIS IS THE PROMISE THAT FUELS OUR FAITH, THE PROMISE THAT ASSURES US OF OUR VICTORY IN CHRIST.
SISTER PAULA HAS VICTORY OVER DEATH…..VICTORY IN THE PROMISES OF JESUS…..VICTORY ……LIVING IN A PLACE PREPARED FOR HER…….LIVING WITH THE FATHER…..LIVING IN HER FATHER’S HOUSE……
SHE HAS VICTORY OVER DEATH…
THE BIBLE TELLS US…..
26 But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.”
DON’T BE MISTAKEN MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS…..
SISTER PAULA IS LIVING WITH THE LIVING GOD…..AND HAS VICTORY OVER DEATH……
I DON’T KNOW WHO NEEDS TO HEAR THIS……BECAUSE I KNOW WHERE SISTER PAULA IS…..SHE’S IN GLORY……
BUT IF YOU’VE BEEN ON THE FENCE ABOUT GIVING YOUR LIFE OVER TO THE LORD……. LET ME TELL YOU ONE DAY……ALL OF US IN HERE….WILL TAKE OUR LAST BREATH…..AND CLOSE OUR EYES….. IF YOU WANT TO HAVE VICTORY OVER DEATH…..NOW IS THE TIME TO GET RIGHT WITH THE LORD…… WE AREN’T PROMISED THE NEXT DAY…..OR EVEN THE NEXT HOUR……
IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE TO GIVE UP THE THINGS YOU LIKE WHEN YOU ACCEPT CHRIST…..LET ME TELL YOU….
HE WILL GIVE YOU LIFE AND GIVE IT TO YOU MORE ABUNDANTLY….
THIS WORLD HAS NOTHING IN IT THAT IS BETTER THAN A SWEET RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD….
26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
WE WILL ALL FALL ASLEEP…..BUT THE QUESTION IS…..DO YOU WANT VICTORY OVER DEATH?
SISTER PAULA HAS VICTORY BECAUSE OF HER FAITH….VICTORY IN THE PROMISES OF JESUS…..AND SHE HAS THE VICTORY IN ETERNAL LIFE….
SISTER PAULA HAS THE ULTIMATE TRIUMPH….VICTORY IN ETERNAL LIFE…..
THIS IS THE FINAL AND MOST GLORIOUS CHAPTER OF OUR VICTORY STORY….
A VICTORY THAT EXCEEDS THE LIMITS OF OUR EARTHLY EXISTENCE AND MOVES US INTO A LIFE OF ETERNITY.
IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF GOD'S REDEMPTIVE PLAN, THE VICTORY OVER DEATH IS THE CROWNING JEWEL.
IT IS THE FINISHING WORK OF JESUS ON THE CROSS AND THE FULFILLMENT OF HIS PROMISE TO US.
THE APOSTLE PAUL, IN HIS LETTER TO THE ROMANS, CONFIRMS THIS WHEN HE SAYS, "FOR THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH, BUT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD"
WE HAVE VICTORY IN ETERNAL LIFE THAT IS ASSURED TO US IN THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST. ….AND IT IS ALSO THE GUARANTEE OF OUR OWN RESURRECTION.
IN THE RESURRECTION, WE SEE THE POWER OF GOD TO OVERCOME DEATH, THE ULTIMATE ENEMY.
THIS IS NOT A SIMPLE PHILOSOPHICAL IDEA OR A COMFORTING THOUGHT, BUT A HISTORICAL FACT ATTESTED BY MULTIPLE EYEWITNESSES.
THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS WAS WITNESSED BY HIS DISCIPLES ….AMONG MANY.
AS A MATTER OF FACT IN THIS SAME CHAPTER OF FIRST CORINTHIANS…..IT SAYS….
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.
THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT OUR EARTHLY BODIES ARE LIKE TENTS, TEMPORARY AND FRAIL. BUT WE LOOK FORWARD TO A DAY WHEN WE WILL BE CLOTHED WITH IMMORTAL BODIES, BODIES THAT ARE IMPERISHABLE, GLORIOUS, AND POWERFUL.
A CHRISTIAN AUTHOR ONCE WROTE…..
"YOU DO NOT HAVE A SOUL. YOU ARE A SOUL. YOU HAVE A BODY."
OUR TRUE IDENTITY IS NOT IN OUR PHYSICAL BODIES, BUT IN OUR IMMORTAL SOULS.
AND IT IS THIS SOUL THAT WILL BE CLOTHED WITH AN IMMORTAL BODY IN THE RESURRECTION.
SISTER PAULA IS NOW CLOTHED WITH AN IMMORTAL BODY…..IN THE RESURRECTION…..
LET'S CARRY THIS VICTORIOUS MESSAGE IN OUR HEARTS. WE'VE GOT A PROMISE FROM OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, A PROMISE OF VICTORY.
IT'S NOT A MAYBE, IT'S NOT A MIGHT BE, IT'S A SURE THING. AND IT'S NOT JUST ANY VICTORY, IT'S A VICTORY THAT HAS SWALLOWED UP DEATH ITSELF.
ISN'T THAT SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT?
ISN'T THAT SOMETHING TO LIFT YOUR HANDS AND PRAISE GOD FOR?
WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT WINNING A GAME OR A COMPETITION.
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A VICTORY THAT HAS ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES.
A VICTORY OVER SIN, OVER DEATH, OVER ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING THAT TRIES TO SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD.
AND REMEMBER, THIS VICTORY ISN'T SOMETHING WE'VE GOT TO EARN OR ACHIEVE.
IT'S A GIFT.
A GIFT FROM OUR LOVING FATHER, GIVEN TO US THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
SISTER PAULA…..RECEIVED THAT GIFT AND IS LIVING IN VICTORY….
SHE MAY HAVE BEEN CONFINED TO HER BED IN HER LAST DAYS….
BUT LET ME ….LET YOU IN ON A SECRET…….
SISTER PAULA IS WALKING IN VICTORY…..SHE’S SINGING IN VICTORY…..SHE’S DANCING IN VICTORY…..
I BELIEVE FRED JERKINS SAID IT WELL WHEN HE SAID HE WAS WALKING IN VICTORY…..
BUT I WANT TO SING IT LIKE THIS…
BY THE HAND OF THE ALMIGHTY
SHE’S BEEN SET FREE…..
HEALED…DELIVERED…MADE COMPLETE…..
NOW SHE’S WALKING IN VICTORY….
SHE’S WALKING IN VICTORY X 3
SHE’S GOT HER JOY BACK
SHE’S WALKING IN VICTORY X 3
SHE’S GOT HER PEACE BACK
SHE’S WALKING IN VICTORY X 3
SHE’S GOT HER HOPE BACK…
SHE’S WALKING IN VICTORY X 3
SHE’S GOT HER STRENGTH BACK
SISTER PAULA IS LIVING IN VICTORY.
SHE’S WALKING IN VICTORY.
_______________________
HEAVENLY FATHER, WE THANK YOU FOR THE VICTORY WE HAVE IN YOU. WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR PROMISES THAT ARE YES AND AMEN IN CHRIST JESUS. HELP US, LORD, TO LIVE IN THE LIGHT OF THIS VICTORY. TO WALK IN IT, TO REJOICE IN IT, AND TO SHARE IT WITH OTHERS.
WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE THAT IS SO GREAT, SO WIDE, SO DEEP, AND SO HIGH. A LOVE THAT SENT JESUS TO THE CROSS FOR US. A LOVE THAT RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD. A LOVE THAT HAS GIVEN US VICTORY.
