“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,” Genesis 3:19.
Advertising of cremation as a ‘handy’, ‘cheaper’ and much more ‘pleasant’ way to dispose of the dead, has become a very regular feature in the media of late.
The adverts treat death in a most unseemly and distasteful way. Death is to be an occasion for a party and songs and celebration. That has been seen on some recent occasions when a ‘celebrity’ left instructions that bright and garish clothing was to be worn by those attending their funeral and worldly songs, signifying worldly joy, were to be sung. This all is the result of the darkness that has descended upon the general public regarding eternity and what lies beyond death for the unconverted sinner.
Death, for ever so many today, is but the end of a life of godlessness and Christ-rejection and the beginning of an eternal sentence of God’s judgment upon such.
If only the Bible were more widely known and believed, then people would understand that far from being a matter of frivolity and catchy advertising, death for the sinner is an entering into an indescribable cauldron of eternal sufferings.
Heed these words.
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,” Hebrews 9:27.
“The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God,” Psalm 9:17.
“Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” Isaiah 33:14.
“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death,” Revelation 21:8.
“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire,” Revelation 20:11-15.
Those are but a few of the views God gives us of what lies ahead for the unconverted sinner.
TRYING TO HIDE
It is little wonder that unbelieving man, in his folly and stupidity, would try to hide from these unpalatable truths which he refuses to believe!
Part of that ‘hiding process’ may be seen in the giddy, light-hearted view of death, set forth by the vendors of cremation, which has the objective of instilling in the minds and hearts of their prospective customers, an understanding of death far removed from that which the Lord would have men to comprehend.
Adam’s transgression resulted in today’s universal misery. The Shorter Catechism refers to the fruit of Adam’s fall into sin like this.
Question 17: Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?
Answer: The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.
Proof.
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned,” Romans 5:12.
Question 18: Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
Answer: The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called Original Sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.
Proofs
1. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous,” Romans 5:19.
2.”As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one,” Romans 3:10.
3. “And you [hath he quickened], who were dead in trespasses and sins” Ephesians 2:1.
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. (Psalms 51:5, KJV).
4. “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are [the things] which defile a man,” Matthew 15:19-20.
Question 19: What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?
Answer: All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever.
Proofs.
1. “Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. So he drove out the man,” Genesis 3:8, 24.
2. “And were by nature the children of wrath, even as others,” Ephesians 2:3.
“Cursed [is] every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them,” Galatians 3:10.
3. “The wages of sin [is] death,” Romans 6:23.
“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels,” Matthew 25:41.
Those few lines wonderfully encompass how sin entered the world and the consequences of it in time and eternity.
I. I BELIEVE IT CAN BE STATED THAT BURIAL IS THE GOD-ORDAINED MEANS OF DISPOSING OF THE DEAD.
Consider these truths.
1. God set forth the physical consequences of sin on the body in these memorable words to Adam after he sinned. “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,” Genesis 3:19.
Every burial is a reminder of the origins of the human body. It came forth from the hand of the Creator. “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul,” Genesis 2:7.
‘Evolution’ is taught today in every State School classroom and embraced by the ‘established’ churches and the vast majority of the population. It is claimed that man has descended by ‘evolution’ from a single cell which came suddenly into existence, millions of years ago, by a process no one can give a credible explanation for.
That being so, it is little wonder that the funeral, with its testimony to man’s origins from dust by God’s act of creation, is something that must be removed as the customary disposal of the dead.
2. It was obviously the practice of the ancients to bury their dead. The Lord said to Abraham, some 4000 years ago: “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age,” Genesis 15:13-15.
Thus we find Abraham purchasing ground for a grave for his beloved wife Sarah. “And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a buryingplace amongst you. And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying, Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead,” Genesis 23:7-11.
It is said of Abraham that, “Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God,” James 2:23. With such a unique relationship with God, when it came to the disposing of the dead, he would have only acted in a fashion pleasing to his ‘Friend’!
3. The Lord Jesus was buried. No greater endorsement of the fact that burial was ordained of God, could be found than this. He spoke of His burial many times.
“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth,” Matthew 12:40.
“Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial,” Matthew 26:6-12.
Moses
Perhaps I might add a statement from the Old Testament which also hows God’s endorsement of burial. “So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated,” Deuteronomy 34:5-7.
There were not many at Moses’ funeral — only the Lord!
I will show you that He will attend all the deaths of His believing people later in this article.
4. Paul, in his wonderful summary of the gospel, refers to Christ’s burial. “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures,” 1 Corinthians 15:1-5.
The truth of Christ’s body being laid in a grave is an essential part of the gospel.
Dear reader, there is here that which you should consider very closely. Arrangements must be made for that day when each and every man must go “to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets,” Ecclesiastes 12:5.
Job said: “For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living,” Job 30:23.
If we have Job’s conviction regarding death, then we will seek to prepare our soul for that event.
Horatius Bonar’s wonderful sets forth this truth most wonderfully.
1 A few more years shall roll,
a few more seasons come,
and we shall be with those that rest
asleep within the tomb.
Refrain:
Then, O my Lord, prepare
my soul for that blest day;
O wash me in your precious blood,
and take my sins away.
2 A few more suns shall set
o’er these dark hills of time,
and we shall be where suns are not,
a far serener clime. [Refrain]
3 A few more storms shall beat
on this wild, rocky shore,
and we shall be where tempests cease,
and surges swell no more. [Refrain]
4 A few more struggles here,
a few more partings o’er,
a few more toils, a few more tears,
and we shall weep no more. [Refrain]
5 ‘Tis but a little while
and he shall come again,
who died that we might live with him,
who lives that we might reign. [Refrain]
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
Friday, 16th August 2024