Three years ago the Lord Jesus led me to write my own funeral sermon, and today, May 22, 2023, he led me to record it. So, the dated information here is three years old, but the message has not changed.
January 24, 2020
We are all going to
die one day. It is inevitable, unless the Lord returns first to take us home to
be with him. My youngest sister died 5 years ago this month at the age of 61.
My next to oldest brother died this past November at the age of 71.
Although, as far as
I know, I am in good health, I am 70, and so I have lived a lifetime. And so I
am thinking about death and what I would want to have at my funeral, should
there be one for me, and especially what I would want the sermon to say. For
the message is very important to me. I believe that is the critical point of
all funerals.
So, this evening I
felt the Lord had something for me to write. He put the song in my head, “My Jesus, I Love Thee,” which talks
about death and heaven. But my brain was in a fog. I was reading scriptures,
but nothing was working with my brain.
So, I closed up my
computer, and I lay down on the sofa. In the dark I closed my eyes, and in the
quiet I prayed. And, then these words here began to come to me. So, I am now
going to write whatever the Lord Jesus gives me to write this evening, which I
believe is to be my funeral sermon, although anyone can use it who wants to, if
it fits.
The Message
If you are hearing
this read to you right now, then that means that I have gone home to be with
the Lord for eternity. I am no longer suffering. I no longer am in a spiritual
battle against the enemy of my soul who would want to destroy my life. My tears
are gone. I am rejoicing that I now get to be with my Savior forever. I am at
rest. The war is over. The battle is won!
It has been a long
hard road that I have been traveling. Life has not been easy for me. It was
hard from the very beginning. But, God had a plan and a purpose for it all. He
was preparing me for something special that he had designed for my life from
even before I was formed in the womb of my mother. For, he was preparing me to
be one of his messengers who would take his gospel message to the ends of the
earth in these last days before our Lord’s return. And that is why Satan has
fought against me so hard.
But I am at peace
now. The battle is over. The victory is won! And, I am with my Lord forever,
and I am rejoicing in Him. And, yes, I am repeating myself, because sometimes
we need to hear things more than just once.
Most Critical
So, what message
should I leave with you? What is the most important thing you need to hear
right now? If I could tell you anything, what would it be?
What I need to tell
you is the same thing many of you have heard me say over and over again,
because it is what God’s Word teaches over and over again, and because you
understanding and believing this message, and you applying it to your life is
critical to determining where you will spend eternity.
If you want to be
saved from your sins and have eternal life with God, you must die with Christ
to sin and live with Christ to his righteousness – all in the power and working
of his Spirit. And His Spirit is living within those who have been crucified
with Christ in death to sin, and who have been raised with Christ to newness of
life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Read Rom.
6:1-23 and Eph. 4:17-24).
“And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.’” Luke 9:23-26 ESV
Thus, we are not
saved from our sins and bound for heaven on a mere confession of Christ, or on
a mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ. We aren’t “saved,” then we live
however we want, and then one day, when we die, we get to go to heaven. That is
not what God’s Word teaches.
Faith in Jesus
Christ is something we must exercise every day. And, that faith is realized in
what we do, not in what we profess. And the doing has to be in obedience to our
Lord and to his commandments (New Testament). And, we have to be walking
(living, in practice) according to (in agreement with) the Holy Spirit of God.
And, we have to NOT be walking (conducting our lives) according to the flesh,
if we want to have eternal life with God (Read Rom. 8:1-17 and 1 John 1:5-9).
“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” 1 John 2:3-6 ESV
For, Jesus Christ,
God the Son, did not give his life up for us on that cross just so we could be
forgiven our sins and so we could go to heaven when we die. He died that we
might die with him to sin and live with him to righteousness. He died that we
might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us. And
he gave his life blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God that we
might now be God’s possession, and that we might now honor God with our lives
(Read 1 Pet. 2:24; 1 Co. 6:20; 2 Co. 5:15, 21; Tit. 2:14).
In fact, his grace
to us is not just a “get-out-of-jail-free-card.” His grace to us is that he
died to deliver us out of our slavery to sin. So, contrary to popular opinion,
God’s grace is not free license to now continue in willful, blatant sinful
rebellion against God as a matter of life course, and then claim that all your
sins are covered under God’s grace. What a slap in the face to God. What a
mockery that is of God’s grace to us.
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” Titus 2:11-14 ESV
So, please know that
if you are claiming Jesus as your Savior, but you are still living for the
flesh, doing what you want to do, and your life is not committed to Jesus
Christ, to following him in obedience to his ways, and if you are not
surrendered to your Lord to do his will for your life, the scriptures teach
that you do not know God, he doesn’t know you, and you don’t have eternal life
with God, but you will die in your sins, because you would not die to your sins
and live to Christ and to his righteousness (Read Gal. 5:16-21; Eph. 5:3-6;
Rom. 2:6-8; Gal. 6:7-8 and Rom. 8:1-17).
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:7-8 ESV
So, take this to
heart, for not one of us knows if we have tomorrow. In fact, if you are hearing
this read at my funeral, and I am gone, please know that I did not know when I
would breathe my last breath, either. So, don’t play with fire. Surrender your
life to Jesus Christ today while you still have today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tNmbqJNVOo
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My Jesus, I Love Thee
Hymn lyrics by William R.
Featherstone, 1864
Music by Adoniram J. Gordon, 1876
My Jesus, I love
thee, I know thou art mine;
For thee all the
follies of sin I resign.
My gracious
Redeemer, my Savior art thou;
If ever I loved
thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
I love thee because
thou hast first loved me,
And purchased my
pardon on Calvary's tree;
I love thee for
wearing the thorns on thy brow;
If ever I loved
thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
I’ll love Thee in
life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as
long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say, when the
death-dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved
thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
In mansions of glory
and endless delight;
I'll ever adore thee
in heaven so bright;
I'll sing with the
glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved
thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHrF4_1r-qA
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