I had the privelege to preach this sermon at my dear Grandmother’s funeral who passed away on February 2, 2006. It was an encouragement to my family and our friends who packed out a church to say our last goodbyes.
Introduction:
As we gather here this morning to remember the dear and precious life of ______________ I know that many of you are dealing with mixed emotions. On the one hand, there are emotions of great sadness. Sadness not for _______________ because _____________ is in a better place, but sadness because we have come today to say our final goodbye and pay our last respect to someone who was and will always be very dear to us.
But on the other hand, there is great joy in knowing that because of the relationship that ________________ had with the Lord that she is already in His presence. For the Bible say’s in:
2 Cor 5:6-8 in the NKJV “So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
For the Christian there is no greater joy than to be in the presence of the One that loves them like no one else can.
So today is not a day of mourning but it is a day of celebration. It’s not a day of sorrow but truly a day of rejoicing. Today we come to remember the life of ___________________________ and reminisce over all the special moments that we had with her.
You see _________________ had a relationship that carried some wonderful promises found in John chapter 14:1-6. Let me read that portion of scripture to you.
John 14:1-6 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know." 5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
I. The First Promise to Christians is that We Don’t have to
Fear Death. Jesus said "Don’t let your hearts be troubled"
1) We are troubled when we don’t know what is going to happen when we die, but Jesus has taken the fear out of dying.
a) He has conquered the grave and death so there needs to be no fear in our eternal future.
Rev 1:17-18 "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.
b) Do you know what the good news is this morning? Death had no hold on Him nor does it have a hold on us.
i) Because Christ conquered death there should be no fear for the Christian because through Christ we also conquer death.
2) We are Troubled when we view death as an end instead of a beginning.
2 Cor 5:1 "For we know that if our earthly house, this tabernacle, is destroyed, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
Paul is saying here that after this life is over that our spirit which is the real you won’t be found in a physical body. The body which is represented by the Greek word skenon "tent" which refers to the physical body. Paul say’s that though this earthly body (house) will be "dissolved", God has promised that there will be a "building of God."This is a description of death of the mortal body,yet it is intended to be encouragement for the believer as he/she looks at death. The word that is translated "building," is the Greek word oikodomen which means "the process of building something." The basic idea in this verse is that God is building a new house for the believer’s spirit which will be disembodied at the point of death ,leaving the body to remain on the earth. This indicates that God will create something completely new. Then Paul uses Greek word oikian which means "dwelling place", which refers to the completion of the "eternal body." Now there is 1 peculiar feature about this new body that I want to focus on, first of all it will be similar to the present one and identifiable, yet not identical because it is not going to be made by human hands, but it will be produced by God. The literal translation for the phrase "not made with hands"in the Greek is the same word that Jesus used in Mark 14:58 when He spoke of destroying the temple,which was made by the hands of men, and in three days,building another,not made by man. Jesus was speaking of His body following his resurrection.Although His own body" was made of a woman"(Galatians 4:4) at His birth,yet no human being was involved at the time of His resurrection.The believer’s human body will have the same outcome.When we are first born into this world,our body is physically produced. However,at the resurrection of the righteous dead the Apostle Paul proclaimed in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 v.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. v.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: v.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.
God will change this body to a glorified body for in 1 Corinthians 15:50- 57 Paul say’s ,"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. v.51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, v.52In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.v.53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. v.54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. v.55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? v.56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. v.57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So you might ask what am I saying.
_________________________ life is not over, as a matter of fact, it has just begun.
Yes she has shed the temporary for the eternal, the tarnished for the spotless and the passing for the everlasting.
Yes her earthly body is dead and there is no life in her flesh but one of these days she will rise again because death can’t keep her in the grave.Though her body is physically here her spirit and soul is with Jesus.
I love how the bible puts all this in perspective.If _______________ could come back she wouldn’t because the Bible say’s
in 2 Peter 3:8
v.8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
So don’t let your hearts be troubled".
Not only do we have the promise that we can face death without fear,
II.The Second Promise Jesus made Is that He is Preparing a Place for Believer’s in Heaven, however John the Revelator got a glimpse into the Heavenly city the new Jerusalem and said it was a place where there will be no more death , no more crying and no more pain because in
Rev 21:4 John said , "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
Heaven doesn’t have any hospitals, or nursing homes, or rehabilitation centers and it definatley doesn’t have a ghetto.
The days of aches and pains for grandma are over, the trips to the doctors have ceased, and all her pain has ended.
John goes on to describe this Heavenly City
Let me give you a small glimpse of what grandma is looking at right now.
Rev 21:18-22:5 18 The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). 27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. 22:1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
III. The Third Promise found in the Gospel of John Chapter 14 is that He will personally receive Us.
Now I want you to imagine this, the moment that grandma took her her last breath it was her first breath in Heaven and the Lord and His angels were right there to welcome her.
One of the first faces she saw was Jesus
He was there with His arms wide open to receive her in to that great mansion that He has prepared for all His children.
And for grandma she experienced a love that we cant even understand.
A love that forgives every failure that she had in her life.
A love that mends the hurts only she knew.
A love that understood every feeling that she had.
It is an unconditional love that completely satisfies the longing of her soul.
VI. The Last Promise is that there is only One-way to Enter
Heaven.
1) Jesus said to Thomas "Thomas you say you don’t know the way to heaven but you do, I am the way, the truth, and the life."
a) More than anything Grandma understood this. She understood that without a relationship with the Savior there was no hope of heaven.
b) She understood that Christ came to take away the sins of the world and that included hers.
c) She believed in the greatest promise given to all found in three simple verses:
John 3:16-18 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
___________________________ life revolved around this promise and because of her relationship with Jesus, she has joy that last and peace she never thought would be surpassed, she has the brighter star thats shining.........She’s got Jesus.......and I know that He satisfies.
Conclusion:
Many of you sitting here today may not have the same relationship she had with the Jesus.Maybe you have never given thought to your eternal future, but today you need to ask yourself where would I go if I were to leave this world? I just want to take a moment to share with you some scriptures that explain the promise of eternal life with Jesus.
The first one you already heard from John 14:6 "Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father except through me."
Acts 4:12 say’s Neither is there salvation in any other,for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
a) There is no other way to enter heaven the only way you can get there is through a personal relationship with Jesus.
b) It doesn’t have to do with religion i.e. Pentecostal,Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian, etc.
c) It doesn’t have to do with being a good person.
d) No one can pay you in.
e)No one can pray you in.
You have to come by way of Jesus!
2) 1 John 5:12-13 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life,
a) You can know today as a matter of fact right now that you will spend eternity in heaven well the scriptures say that we can know and that’s through a relationship with Christ
i) Romans 5:8 say’s But God demonstrates His own love towards us,in that while we were still sinners ,Christ died for us.
3) What must I do to have the same relationship with Jesus that Grandma had?
a) We must realize that sin separates us from God. Rom 3:23 say’s For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
i) Whether it be a little white lie or a lifestyle you know that is not pleasing to God.
b) We must ask God to forgive us for living that way. 1 John 1:9 say’s If we cofess our sins,He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
c) We must ask Him to come into our lives and be our personal Savior.
Romans 10:9,10 say’s That if thou shalt confess wit thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead,you will be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness,and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:13 For "whosoever calls upon the name of the LORD shall be saved."
Even So Come Lord Jesus
Bishop Charles C. Jones
Theology of John 13-16
In what scholars call Jesus’s Upper Room Discourse. It is believed that at the end of John chapter 12 that after Jesus’ public ministry was now concluded, that He met privately with His disciples and told them about 2 important things which were soon to happen. First, His departure was near. He was going away; they could not come at this point, but eventually He would return to recieve them into the Father’s house. Secondly, the Holy Spirit would be sent to take His place. He would not leave the disciples alone(14:18), but He would send them "another Comforter,"One "just like Himself" The Holy Sprirt would indwell them(14:17), teach them(14:26),empower them to witness(15:26,27),and guide them into all truth(16:13).
I want to focus on # 1
The reason Jesus was telling them this was because He didn’t want them to remain in ignorance. What He was saying at the time gives us a perfect illustration in that while He is telling the disciples that He is going away they have become filled with sorrow. So to help them , He tells them that In His Father’s house there are many mansions. That is to say that His absence from this world, simply meant that He was going back to the Father. They were not suppose to think of Him as having ceased to be just because they could not see Him.He wanted them to know that even though He was leaving, He wanted them to also know that He was coming back to recieve them when the Father say’s," It is time." He say’s that If it were not so, He would have told them.If this world were the only place,and this life were all, He would have told them.
