The Best Funeral Ever

Luke 7:11 And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. 12 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. 16 And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.

The book of Hebrews tells us that it is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment.  Your own death is something you don’t want to think about. We all assume our death is not imminent. We think we have next month, next year. I’ve heard people say “I have 20 or 30 more good years left.” Are you sure? And if you have them, are you sure they’ll be good ones? That’s foolish to say things like that. You may be well set financially, but if you don’t have Jesus you’ll not be set in eternity. Death is as much a part of life as birth and middle age.  We’ve seen lots of people go on from this church in recent years. Some had long lives but not all of them. We’ve all got a time to die, ready or not. No one has the power to say “I’m not going to die.” Every breath we breathe is by the will and purpose of God. When people get ready to move on to glory, they know it. They understand that it’s time. And then they are gone. On the other hand, I’ve seen people die scared because they weren’t ready to meet God. One man who just wouldn’t believe told me he saw demons in every corner of his room waiting on him and that’s when he realized the mistake he’d made. Devils were real. God is real. Hell and heaven is real. He didn’t have time to make it right even if he’d wanted to.  Salvation is real and it works in saving our soul from death and hell. That way we have no part in the second death!

Have you ever been to a good funeral? I’ve been to some where people were was shouting and praising God. There was reason:  Jesus. Their loved one went on to meet him. Here we see the best funeral ever. A young man, not one up in his 80’s, had died. Jesus called him a young man, so he was probably in his teens. Jesus raised Jairus’ 12 year old daughter. Why do children die? I don’t have the answer to that. It’s known only to God. The girl had not been dead long. Jesus went into her room and raised her up from her bed. This young boy’s daddy died leaving his mother a widow. Now her only son was dead. She was a wreck. But she didn’t curse God over it. I’ve heard people do that. Don’t grieve to that point. Don’t cross that line with God. I know it’s hard not to question God, but when we do it, do it respectfully. And then accept the answer.  The boy had probably died the day before. They didn’t keep bodies long because there was no embalming then as we have today. Bodies were generally buried by the second day. Lazarus had been dead four days when Jesus called him out of the grave. Remember Jesus told them to remove the stone and his sisters said by now he was stinking. The 12 year old girl was raised up at home shortly after she died. Lazarus was at four days later from his grave. This young man was the next day on the way to the cemetery. Hmmm. I believe Jesus was saving day number 3 for himself! On that day he left his grave clothes in the tomb and came out in a glorified body. That’s what we’ll do one day. All of these were healed and made alive.

This boy was in his casket, the bier, on the way to the graveyard. Pallbearers were carrying him. What’s taking you to your grave? What are you carrying around?  A grudge? Hardness in your heart? Sin? It’s killing you! If you’re saved, God has saved you from all that. Don’t get back in that casket! You don’t carry a grudge; it carries you. Get rid of it. Check your spiritual life. There is a system about Christianity but Christianity is not a system. Christsianity is a person named Jesus Christ. What are you trusting? Is it taking you any other direction than heaven?  I remember years ago I preached from Revelation 21 about what’s not going to be in hell. When I got to the part about liars having their part in the lake of fire, a young girl ran up to the altar. We all thought she was saved. She said all she did was lie and that she had never been saved. Check your condition.

Jesus saw the shape the mother was in. He told her not to cry. He went to the casket and touched it. Don’t we need the touch of the Lord now. He said “young man, I saw unto thee, Arise.” He sat up; it wasn’t a trick but a miracle of God. He’s able to bring you from a casket of sin if you’re not saved. You’re headed to the graveyard lost.  We all were and now we’re saved in the church house. The boy was returned to his mother. How can you turn someone away who can do this? He who believes in him shall never die. We should be ashamed for ignoring Jesus and not living as we should. We can have the best life ever by being a Christian. When we get saved we rise from spiritual death to everlasting life. No matter what is said or not said at a funeral, Jesus is the one who makes the difference.