Home Going for Brother Henry Brown
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 59 viewsThe home going celebration of Brother Henry Brown
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
jn 14:1-3
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his saints.
It is said that, “God never sees His children die; He simply sees them coming home.”
If we could see, only for a moment, just how glorious Brother Brown’s homecoming was, no one here would call him back to the limits of his aged body.
Even though Brother Brown will be missed, there is something very appropriate about his departure, even as the human instrument of Ecclesiastes indicated,
“There is a time to be born, and a time to die (see ).
2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
It is appropriate because…
…he had lived out a full, complete, life.
…he had accepted obeyed and known the love of God and of family.
…his house was in order
…he was prepared to die
…he was a Christian and he loved God
One person said: “There is nothing more certain than death, and nothing more unsure than life.”
Life in these bodies, and life on this earth is temporal!
The Bible refers to our bodies as tents, and for a little while, a tent can be a wonderful home. When a hiker is in the mountains, enjoying the wonderful outdoors, a tent can be exactly what he needs when he becomes weary and needs a place to rest and be refreshed.
While tents are wonderful for their intended purpose, a person doesn’t expect to live in a tent forever. Before long, a person longs “to go home” and live in a house, a structure that is much more permanent and sturdy than a tent.
You remember the scripture we read earlier. Jesus said: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. In my Father’s house are many mansions (or dwelling places). I go to prepare a place for you, so that where I am, there you may be also.”
Tents are good for a purpose and helpful for a season, but they can wear out. The fabric can become weak and torn and the poles can collapse.
The Apostle Paul, speaking of the confidence possessed by a believer, said…
2 cor 5:1, 6-8
1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 cor 5:6-8
6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Probably if you had ran into Brother Brown in his elderly mature stage of life and asked him how he was doing, perhaps you would heard something like...
Old brother Brown is doing fine, just fine! But this old body of mine is falling apart. I’m under all kinds of medication, these old eyes of mine have failed me, knees and legs hurt. Getting old has taken it’s toll on my physical well being.
But as far for me, in my mind I think I can do the same things I did when i was younger, in my mind I’ve never been better. Then he would try to get you to sneak him in some Popeye’s Chicken or a Beef Sand-which from Johnnie’s.
The older we get if we are to wise up we realize that the body without a doubt is not the real Henry Brown. You cannot enclose the real Henry Brown in a casket or bury him in a grave.
We ought to come to recognize that beyond the temporary physical man on the outside, there is a spiritual and eternal man on the inside. The flesh dies and is buried, but the spirit lives forever with God.
When someone we love passes on, there is naturally an element of sorrow. When you’ve been around someone for many years, or for however long you’ve been alive, that person can become an important part of your life, and you miss them when they’re gone.
When someone we love passes on, there is naturally an element of sorrow. When you’ve been around someone for many years, or for however long you’ve been alive, that person can become an important part of your life, and you miss them when they’re gone.
He recognized
When someone we love passes on, there is naturally an element of sorrow. When you’ve been around someone for many years, or for however long you’ve been alive, that person can become an important part of your life, and you miss them when they’re gone.
But today, beyond our natural sorrow, there is a supernatural joy that comes from knowing:
…the reality of Jesus as Savior and Lord
…the reality of God’s love
…the reality of the forgiveness sin
…the reality of the new birth
…the reality of Heaven as home
…the reality of eternity
…the reality of future reunion
In far too many funerals man laments death with wailing of despair; fear and hopelessness. We show out with cries of guilt and pain because we have not redeemed the time to develop the appropriate relationships that God has blessed us with. A lack of spiritual understanding and faith skews our perception of death.
Today we ought not to be crying but singing and praising God. We ought not respond with sadness and regret. We ought to sing a song of Christ’s Victory of death, a hymn of confidence. Brother Brown knew Jesus for the pardoning of his sins and Heaven is his home!
Weeping may endure for the night. Our human emotions sometimes need a release. But joy comes in the morning!
Weeping may endure for the night. Our human emotions sometimes need a release. But joy comes in the morning!
An earthly light has gone out, but where Brother Brown is, no earthly light is needed. The glory of God, shining brighter than the sun, is his radiance, and his face is now glistening in that glorious light!
So we come to the end of a journey; this is a good day. An earthly journey has ended. A heavenly residence has been established.
If you want to join Brother Brown in a heavenly reunion then you too need to know Jesus for the pardoning of your sins. God has a plan for your salvation just like he had for Henry C. Brown.
That plan begins by first Hearing God’s word...
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
After hearing that word God’s Plan is that you Believe it...
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Faith requires action, it requires obedience. Your obedience and action you take toward God’s Plan of Salvation is that you Repent...
3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Your obedience continues by Confessing that Jesus Christ is God’s Son...
10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Your obedience includes being Baptized for the remission of your sins Peter revealed
21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
The church grew on the obedience of thousands who asked for a remedy for their sins understanding that their sins alienated them from God...
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Your continued obedience is required where we are encouraged through scripture to remain faithful
10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
What is our hope?
What is our confidence?
What is our expectation?
50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
For Brother Henry Brown the sting of death has been removed
It stings us a little bit with His home going but only for a night
We look forward to the time when we can rejoice with him at the banquet feast of the lamb...