Today, and the days that have followed since the passing of
Mr. or Mrs. S0-And-So have been days of sorrow and grief.
There will be more days of sorrow and grief to follow.
Today, you could be Mr. Or Mrs. S0-And-So. For those that
die in Jesus, we have the promise of the Apostle Paul in 1
Thessalonians 4:13–18:
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13 But I would not have you to be ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye
sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God
bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them
which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the
dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which
are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the
air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18
Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 1
Thessalonians 4:13–18 |
Wherefore comfort one another with these words. Hallelujah!
What a powerful statement! The good news is that there is
comfort in the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:3-6 has
this to say:
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3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all
comfort; 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation,
that we may be able to comfort them which are in any
trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are
comforted of God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ
abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by
Christ. 6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for
your consolation and salvation, which is effectual
in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also
suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your
consolation and salvation. 2 Corinthians 1:3-6 |
God is the God of all comfort. He is the great comforter. He
has sent THE COMFORTER in the person of the Holy Ghost. The
Holy Ghost is freely given to all those who receive the Lord
Jesus Christ as their Saviour. He can comfort each and every
individual here today. I can tell you of the times of
tribulation, the times of trouble, the times of affliction,
and yes, even the times of anguish I had to face alone
before I received the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour.
Praise God he saved me! He gave me the peace that passeth
all understanding. Thank God that when my daughter was
murdered I knew the God of all peace and the God of all
comfort. Can I tell you that you do not have to endure what
you are going through today alone. You can come to rest in
the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says that the
Lord Jesus Christ is our peace and that he is “The Prince Of
Peace”. The Bible says in Isaiah 26:3 that God will keep
those that trust in him in perfect peace whose minds are
stayed upon him. Do you have that perfect peace today? Do
you know him that is the Prince of Peace? All of us that are
here today are in great need of mercy, grace, peace, and
comfort. Call upon God and he will give you what you need.
Hebrews 4:16 says: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in time of need. This is a time when we all need mercy
and grace. It is a time of great need. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us
to cast all of our cares upon God, “for he careth for you”.
There is coming an everlasting day of rest to all those that
believe. That rest is described in Hebrews 3:7– Hebrews
4:11. That is 24 verses. The word “rest” occurs 10 times in
those 24 verses. Hebrews 3:18 plainly states that
unbelievers will NOT enter into that day of rest. What
follows for the unbeliever is an everlasting day of turmoil
and torment in the fires of hell. It will never end folks.
The excruciating agony of it will scream from the pits of
hell forever.
I have spoken much of the Comforter so far. John 15:26 says:
“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you
from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth
from the Father, he shall testify of me”. It is that same
Comforter, who is the Holy Ghost that is in me, that is
motivating and driving me today to speak of the saving grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world. That sacrificial Lamb is the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ was horribly crucified
and died, was buried, and raised again on the third day that
all of us might have eternal life. That is one scriptural
definition of the gospel. It is that gospel that saves us
from the everlasting, raging fires of hell. That same Holy
Ghost Comforter I have spoken of is the author of the Bible.
The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of truth. The Holy Ghost said
in Hebrews 9:27-28:
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27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but
after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that
look for him shall he appear the second time without
sin unto salvation. Hebrews 9:27-28 |
Are you looking for him today? Are you saved? There is
coming a day of judgment. You will either be judged at the
Judgment Seat of Christ as a believer or at the Great White
Throne Judgment as an unbeliever. Several years ago I was
asked to preach the funeral of my best friend John Kinnon.
His sister Hilda insisted that I not try to preach him into
heaven. I assured her that I would not. Let me say this, I
do not have the power or the authority from the word of God
to preach anyone into heaven, out of heaven, into hell, or
out of hell. I do have the authority and the commandment to
preach the word of God exactly as it is written in the
Bible. The consequences of rejecting the word of God are
between you and God. God is the author of the law, the
judge, and the jury. Every individual preaches their funeral
before they die. We know not the hour of our death. We have
no guarantee of our next breath. James 4:14 says: “Whereas
ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your
life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time,
and then vanisheth away”. We all eventually come to the day
of our death. It is our sin nature that kills us. We are
born sinners. Romans 3:23 says: “For all have sinned, and
come short of the glory of God;”. Romans 6:23 says: “For the
wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord”.
I tell you this today. God loves sinners. John 3:16 says:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life”. Romans 5:8 says: “But God commendeth
his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us”. I am a sinner. Each of you here today
is a sinner. That means that you either have been, or are,
lost and on your way to hell. Luke 19:10 says that the Lord
Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost.
If you are lost here today, the Lord Jesus Christ is seeking
to save you.
I ask each of you here today, if you were to die today, do
you know for sure that you would not go to hell? If you
claim to be saved today, is your salvation real? Will the
salvation you claim to have keep you out of hell? Each of
you here today must realize that you preach your own funeral
sermon before you walk through death’s door. No amount of
preaching at a funeral can change a deceased person’s
eternal destiny. That is a decision that must be made before
God closes life’s door. All the Christians that have gone on
before us are in heaven today because they were saved by
putting their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and then God
the Holy Ghost worked the work of repentance in their heart.
That repentance evidences itself in a changed life. If you
have not repented, then you are not saved. The evidence of
any professing Christian’s salvation is in their changed
life. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: “Therefore if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new”. Repentance is God’s
proof to you that the Devil has not deceived you into
accepting a counterfeit salvation. Many Baptists have done
the Devil’s work in scrubbing up and cleaning up lost
sinners who have never put their faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We have churches full of men and women that have
prayed faithless sinner’s prayers that have heads full of
arrow straight Bible doctrine and hearts full of hell. If
you have not repented, then it is God’s evidence to you and
those around you with spiritual discernment that you have a
faithless profession of salvation. Salvation and its
required repentance are both a work and a gift of God the
Holy Ghost. Salvation is not in a church. Salvation is not
in a catechism, a creed, or any denomination’s formal
written statement of faith. Salvation is not in a baptismal
pool. You can walk through every baptismal pool in the state
of Tennessee and still be nothing but a soaking wet, lost
sinner. Salvation is not of works. The Bible says in
Ephesians 2:8-9:
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8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of
works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 |
God’s grace plus your faith come together to produce a born
again child of God. God in his grace provided his sinless
Son as the sacrifice for our sins on a bloody old rugged
cross. We are saved through and by the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is God manifested in the
flesh. You can be saved and know it. 1 John 5:13 says:
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the
name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have
eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son
of God”. Many folks confuse Holy Ghost conviction with a
doubt producing work of the Devil. The Devil will not make
any lost person doubt a fake salvation. Unrepentant, open
sin in the life of the believer will rob them of the
assurance of their salvation and their fellowship with God
because that conduct will grieve the Holy Ghost that
witnesses to them that they are a child of God. There is a
witness of the Spirit in the believer. It is the witness of
the indwelling Spirit of God that is our assurance of
salvation. Genuine saving faith produces repentance because
that repentance is a work and gift of God the Holy Ghost.
Repentance is that change that I have talked about. If you
are here today and you are not saved, you can be saved if
you are under Holy Ghost conviction. If you have a Bible
today turn to Romans 10:8-17:
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8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in
thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of
faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in
thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the
scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall
not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference
between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord
over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom
they have not believed? and how shall they believe
in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall
they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they
preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How
beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good
things! 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel.
For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our
report? 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:8-17
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Here in Romans 10 we have the basic ingredients of Bible
believing salvation. In verse 8, we see that we must have
faith in the heart. Faith is not just a head knowledge. It
is something that must be believed in the heart. Verse 9
answers the question of what must be believed. What must be
believed is that God raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the
dead. That same gospel is expanded upon in 1 Corinthians
15:1-4. To be saved you must believe that Christ died for
your sins, that he was buried, and that he arose from the
dead three days later. Romans 10:9 further states that you
must make a confession unto salvation with your mouth. We
call that a public profession of faith. We are not to be
ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God unto
salvation. Verse 13 tells us that whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Many so called soul
winners stop there and try to lead someone in a faithless
sinner’s prayer. Verse 14 puts a stop to that idea because
it says the condition to get saved is to believe the gospel.
If you do not believe the gospel in your heart, you can call
on God continuously and he will not save you. Any so called
soul winner who tries to manipulate someone into praying a
faithless sinner’s prayer has put death in the pot. He or
she has poisoned the well. Faithless sinner’s prayers and
the empty professions of faith that accompany them have
become the leprosy of our Bible believing churches. The
false gospel that is being preached in our churches have
made most of their members twofold more the child of hell.
If the sinner’s prayer you prayed has not forever changed
you, then you are not saved. How many of you have never
heard the gospel preached? Romans 10:14 is also the charge
to the preacher to proclaim the gospel. Verse 14 is one of
the reasons why I am here today. I am that preacher. Verse
17 gives what is perhaps the most important ingredient for
salvation and that is the word of God. The word of God is
the source of Bible believing faith. So then faith cometh by
hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).
I hope you have received something here today that will be
of everlasting value to you. If there is anything we can
help you with, or you have any questions, we will be glad to
try to help you at the conclusion of the service. In
closing, I have three passages of scripture that I want to
read. Matthew 5:4 says: “Blessed are they that mourn: for
they shall be comforted. Isaiah 53:4-5 in speaking of the
Lord Jesus Christ has this to say:
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4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of
God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with
his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5 |
Psalm 23 is often called the Resurrection Psalm and is
partnered with Psalm 22 which is often called the
Crucifixion Psalm. Here is what Psalm 23 says:
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1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He
maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth
me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his
name’s sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for
thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort
me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the
presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head
with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I
will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. Psalm
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I would encourage you to dwell upon these two passages in
the coming days. Are you ready for the coming judgment? If
you were to die today, do you know for sure that you would
NOT go to hell? That is all for now folks. |
