Funeral Notice

Many times

a man has preached

a funeral for the Bible but;

the corpse has outlived the pallbearers.

Adrian Rogers

Delivered from Wrath

 

Posted: 12 Jul 2014 01:11 AM PDT

John 3:36

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him,” John 3:36.

Believe means “to give mental assent to”; believe not is translated from the Greek word for disobey, and abides is from the word meno meaning “to dwell or set up housekeeping.” A person who possesses everlasting life has placed his eternal destiny in the hands of Jesus Christ and asked God for pardon, believing Christ’s sacrifice paid for his sins. The one who does not obey Christ’s invitation will not see eternal life but has set up housekeeping under the wrath of God.

How can a person go through life without God’s grace to help him through the trials of life? At a funeral one usually sees two groups of people. One group has gone through the gauntlet holding God’s hand, depending on Christ’s strength. The other group stares blank-faced into the future with no hope. These have set up camp under the wrath of God. How sad when God has already provided the sacrifice to bring them into His presence as His children. All their time here on earth could be spent depending on Him as their daddy, Abba.

 

JUST SAYING

What a sad way to spend life on earth, living under God’s wrath, headed to the eternal lake of fire!

Robert Brock

David’s Eulogy of Jonathan

2 Samuel 1:25, 26
“I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women,” 2 Samuel 1:26.

What will people say about you at your funeral? What would you like them to say? I have attended many funerals, and the content of the eulogies is always positive. Something nice can be said about virtually any person who has ever lived, and that is usually why funerals are held: to celebrate the life of the deceased.
When King David eulogized the life of Jonathan, he said something that is not said at too many funerals. He said, “Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women” (verse 26). It should be obvious that David is not speaking inappropriately about his relationship with Jonathan, and, yet, this statement is not something you hear too often to describe friendships. What did David mean by this comment? He meant that, though Jonathan could have fought for his right to inherit the throne of Israel as Saul’s son, he denied himself that pleasure and radically supported David as God’s choice to rule the nation. The kind of love that Jonathan expressed for David was so rare, it exceeded the devotion found in relationships with the opposite sex because these kinds of relationships typically hinge upon some degree of self-gratification. Jonathan had nothing to gain personally from denying himself the right to the throne and yielding to God’s will in selecting David, yet, that is exactly what he did, and God honored him for it.
I would like it to be said about me at my funeral that I loved God so much that I was willing to forego my own satisfaction and fulfillment to enjoy the desires of God.

JUST A THOUGHT
Will you yield to God’s will today?

Mark Clements

61 – Mar – 02 – THIS DAY IN BAPTIST HISTORY PAST

The man whom time forgot

Elder Jacob Knapp, probably the most successful evangelist of the 19^th century has never been heard of by most of the people who lived after the turn of the 20^th and certainly by those who live now.  He died on March 2, 1874 and even though his funeral was conducted on the following Lord’s Day and lasted from 1 p.m. until sunset, a visiting Baptist historian had a difficult time finding his gravesite in the Greenwood cemetery in Rockford, IL.  It would be like Billy Graham dying and fifty years from now, people would say, “Billy who?”  It is estimated that Knapp preached 16,000 sermons and approximately one hundred thousand persons were converted to Christ under his Spirit filled meetings, and out of those, two hundred fifty men entered the gospel ministry.  And yet as the 21^st Century dawned, it seemed as if no one cared where Elder Knapp had been buried.   If we are serving the Lord for the recognition, glory or reward that we will receive in this life, we should think again why we are in the Lord’s work, because people do have short memories.  But it is wonderful to know that our Lord will not forget our labor of love.  Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. [Isaiah 49:15]

Dr. Greg J. Dixon, adapted from: This Day in Baptist History III (David L. Cummins), pp. 127-128.