A Funeral Outline
“The Day of Death”
I. Introduction
Read Eccl. 7:2. Death is no respecter of persons....It calls for all.
A. Young, old, rich, poor, wise, foolish, babe, aged, ready or not, those who appear healthy, or those who are otherwise....death calls at every home, and sooner or later, at every life.
2. Let us lay it to our hearts by thinking soberly and seriously for the next few minutes.
II. Discussion
1. ALL MEN KNOW THAT THEY WILL ONE DAY DIE!
A. May seem strange but very true indeed.
B. Eccl. 9:5 - "for the living know they will die."
C. World in which we now live is filled with death and dying.
D. Hebrews 9: 27....it is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment.
E. All familiar with Psalms 90:10... "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."
F. The Psalmist is not saying that we are all guaranteed that span of years. Regardless of how old or young a person is, one day "we will fly away." One day soon, people will come to our funeral.
2. AS A MAN OR WOMAN DIES, SO IS HE OR SHE
A. Eccl. 11:3..."in the place where the tree falls, there is shall be."
B. Just walk through a forest and see the truth in that statement.
C. Not one preacher or religious leader can change the destiny of our soul once we die.
D. Eccl. 12:7 - "then shall the dust return to earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God who gave it."
E. Heb.9: 27 - Death, then judgment....no changes in between, no altering of destiny by other men...just as true as the fact, "where the tree falls, there it shall be....."
3. WE ARE NOT CERTAIN EXACTLY WHEN WE WILL DIE!
A. Jacob said," I
am old, I know not the day of my death"
(Gen. 27:2)
B. Eccl. 9: 11-12 reveals with some "it falls suddenly on them."
C. James 4: 14-15 - expressed life as a vapor...appears for a little while then vanisheth away....illustrate with old kettle on wood stove on a cold day. Sometimes the steam just clears the spout and other times it reaches the ceiling.
D. None of us know when we will die....it may be sudden, it may be in our later years...we do not know whether we will see our children's children or even our own for that matter.
III. THE APPLICATION
A. Those are sober serious considerations aren't they? For you and I still living, we know that we will one day die, and although we might not know the exact date, we are aware that the state in which we die is the state in which we will meet God for our final judgment. That seems almost frightening, awesome in thought.
B. The greatest fear is the mystery surrounding death and what lies beyond the grave.
1. Job 38:17..."Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?"
2. Job, like all of us will have to say no!
C. No one living has seen beyond the curtain of death into what lies beyond. Yet, we need not be frightened if we are ready to go, nor should we be disturbed. The reason is: God has blazed a trail through life and death unto Himself through Jesus Christ.
D. Paul said, "O death where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (1Corinthians 15:55).
1. Paul uses personification...that is, he speaks of "death" and the "grave" as persons. He ask them, where is your sting? Where is your victory?:
2. He answers in the next verse. The sting of death is sin: the strength of sin is the law (1 Corinthians 15:56). Sin is the element that has bearing on our situation at death. If a person dies in sin, law
condemns them, and in judgment they must answer to law! (Just Read the verse).
3. The case is not hopeless. Listen to verse 57: "But thanks be to God who gave us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
IV. CONCLUSION:
I. Jesus lived and died and was buried and raised from the dead. So must we also be....Romans 6:3-4.
A. Death could not hold him, nor will it hold those of us who are in Him (Gal. 3:26-27).
B. He said" I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6)
II. Give those who listen a chance at salvation!!!
Lane Rogers