Planning Your Funeral Starts Now

Title: “Planning Your Funeral Starts Now”

Text: 2 Chronicles 21:20

HEROD THE GREAT: The man who declared that all of the babies of Judea must die when he heard that a king of the Jews had been born, died in deplorable fashion. Josephus, the first century historian, wrote that a loathsome disease descended upon the ruler as a judgment from God on account of his sins. He describes the horrible details —burning fever, ulcerated entrails, foul discharges, convulsions, stench, etc. (Antiquities 17.6.5). Upon his death, Herod the execution of a large group of prominent men who had been summoned to Jericho. He believed this would ensure that there would be mourning at his funeral, even if it was out of fear rather than genuine grief. This was a final act of cruelty to ensure his death would not go unmarked. Needless to say, he departed without being desired.

There other names like Hitler, Mussolini, Amin, Crowley, Dahmer— men to which the world said Good Riddance!

When wicked king, Jehoram, died, the Bible says that he “departed without being desired.” In other words, after he died, no one regretted that he was no longer around! His death stands in stark contrast to God’s design for the Christian life. The Apostle John wrote that it is possible to die and leave behind a legacy of faith in God. He wrote, “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (I John 2:17).

Today’s message teaches us how to live in such a way that when we die, our memory will be blessed and our posterity will be saved.

BUILD A FAMILY THAT HONORS GOD

Two Legacies

1. A legacy of worldly pursuits

2. A legacy of faith in God

Proverbs 10:7 “The memory of the just is blessed: But the name of the wicked shall rot.”

What did he do?

he married Athaliah (22:2), Ahab’s daughter- 21:6

If your mother-in-law’s name is Jezebel, you might be dating in the wrong family!

2 Corinthians 6:14–16 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

he sided with Israel in walking away from God- see also 22:3

walking in the ways of Ahab

The term "ways of Ahab" in a biblical context refers to the following:

idolatrous and morally corrupt practices established by King Ahab of Israel and his wife Jezebel

promoting the worship of Baal and other foreign deities

persecuting prophets of Yahweh

leading the nation into sin

ILL. Jonathan Edwards and Max Dukes

In 1900 researcher, A. W. Winship, compiled records of the descendants of Jonathan Edwards, a busy author, theologian, pastor, and President of Princeton Seminary. Winship compiled a list of Edwards’ descendants and then decided to contrast the list to the descendants of Max Jukes in the book Jukes-Edwards: A Study in Education and Heredity, published in 1900

Jonathan Edwards

1 U.S. Vice-President

3 U.S. Senators

3 governors

3 mayors

13 college presidents 

30 judges

65 professors 

80 public office holders 

100 lawyers

100 missionaries, pastors, and theologians. 

Max Jukes- Winship researched 1200 descendants from Jukes

310 of the 1,200 were professional paupers begging others for handouts instead of earning their living—more than one in four.

300 of the 1,200—one in four—died in infancy from lack of protective care and healthy conditions.

50 women lived lives of notorious debauchery

7 were murderers

60 were habitual thieves who spent on the average twelve years each in lawlessness

130 were criminals who were convicted in some way of crime.

F- foundation upon the Word of God

A- authenticity

M- model godliness

I- incorporate rules within relationship

L- love (unconditional and self-sacrificing)

Y- yield (Strong families practice compromise and mutual respect, especially during disagreements)

BE THE KEEPER OF YOUR BROTHER’S GOOD

2 Chronicles 21:4 “Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself, and slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers also of the princes of Israel.”

why did he kill them?

to destroy all rivals

to solidify his authority

influence of Ahab’s reign- surrounded himself with the wrong people

Genesis 4:9 “And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?”

As the stories of Scripture continue, violence and intolerance of others entrench themselves in society as clans become tribes and tribes become nations and alliances form. Some groups of people place those seen as “others” into slavery. The hatred Cain felt toward Abel spreads to entire communities of people as the human situation degrades.

While there are brotherly and sisterly moments in Scripture (the book of Ruth, the call of the prophets—especially the book of Jonah, for example), the separation and hostility between people groups seems rock-solid. Certainly the Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, Assyrians, and Babylonians were Israel’s enemies, not Israel’s brothers. Cain’s denial of responsibility for his brother becomes the norm.

One Man

two brothers- two ways

many nations

one israel

many nations- ethnic groups

races- darwinianism

Jesus-

expanded the Jewish view of neighborliness- Luke 10:25—37 who is my neighbor?

allowed goodness to flow to the Syrophoenecian woman-

sent His preachers into the entire world

Quote: Being your brother’s keeper isn’t about blood — it’s about choice. It’s about seeing pain, not looking away. It’s about stepping up when no one else does. “I am my brother’s keeper — not because I have to be, but because I choose to be.”

what does it mean to protect our brothers?

Galatians 5:15 “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.”

Galatians 6:10 “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”

1 John 2:9–11 - “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.”

On April 1, 1945, the American X Army landed at Okinawa, just 340 miles from the home islands of Japan. Eighty-two days of bitter fighting followed as the Japanese enemy had fortified concentric defensive lines across the southern end of the island. When the fight was over, more than 39,000 American soldiers, sailors, and airmen were killed, wounded, or missing. The Japanese suffered catastrophic casualties, 110,000 dead and an estimated 11,000 taken prisoner.

Each time the Americans cracked one line or silenced an enemy strongpoint, they seemed to encounter another. Previously innocuous geographical features received memorable nicknames, including Half Moon, Sugar Loaf, Conical Hill, The Pimple, Wana Ridge, and Wana Draw. Men fought and died by the score, encountering machine-gun nests and bunkers with interlocking fields of fire and mortar and artillery emplacements zeroed in on every avenue of approach.

Twenty-four Marines and soldiers of the U.S. Army received the Medal of Honor during the three months of combat on Okinawa, and among them was one of the most unlikely heroes to emerge from World War II. Desmond Doss was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, on February 7, 1919. When the United States entered the war, he was 22 years old. The family belonged to the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and Desmond was a conscientious objector. Still, he wanted to serve his country and enlisted in the U.S. Army with the expectation and assurance that he could serve as a medic—and that he would not be required to carry a rifle.

Soon enough, he found out differently. Ridiculed and punished during training, Doss never wavered in his commitment to his religious faith. Finally, he won the opportunity to serve in combat, and he went into harm’s way unarmed. Famed actor and director Mel Gibson told the story of Desmond Doss in his 2016 feature film Hacksaw Ridge, and some of the recreated combat footage is graphic. Gibson succeeds in portraying Doss as the forthright Christian man that he was, and viewers come away with a sense of the fortitude and faith it took to perform the heroic deeds with which Doss was credited on Okinawa from April 29 through May 21, 1945.

At the Maeda Escarpment, a 400-foot cliff known to GIs as Hacksaw Ridge, Doss was with the Army’s 307th Infantry Regiment, 77th Division in multiple assaults against stubborn Japanese defenses. Time after time, he exposed himself to enemy fire to retrieve wounded men, carry them more than 100 yards to the edge of the cliff, and lower them to safety and treatment via a makeshift system of ropes. Wounded in both legs by grenade fragments, Doss also suffered a serious wound to his arm from a sniper’s bullet. He used a broken rifle stock as a splint, and when he saw another severely injured soldier he crawled from his stretcher and instructed those nearby to place the other man on it.

When he was finally evacuated, Doss did not know how many men he had pulled to safety. Estimates ranged from 50 to 100, and the number 75 was agreed upon for use in his Medal of Honor citation. Desmond received the Medal from President Harry S. Truman on October 12, 1945. During his service, he also received two Bronze Stars and three Purple Hearts, contracted tuberculosis, and lost a lung. He spent five years undergoing medical treatment before recovering sufficiently.

BELIEVE THE BOOK AND PRACTICE IT GENUINELY

21:10-11

-letter from Elijah- 12-15

I HAVE REALLY GOOD NEWS FOR YOU THIS MORNING! Though the nations rage and though kingdoms fall, Jesus Christ is in full control.

21:7

See Haggai 2:7 “And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: And I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.”

Prayer: Dear God, I want to live a life that pleases You and draws others to You. Help me today to establish a testimony of faithfulness that will live on past my time on earth.