For the Living.........

I went to a funeral Thursday, the second one in as many weeks.

I've never been to a funeral where the preacher wept and wailed because the departed soul had missed out on a relationship with his Savior, and would, as a result, be spending a sorrowful eternity in a horrible place. We just don't do that at funerals. Funerals are for the living, we say, and no one living wants to think about a loved one in hell.

Funerals focus on finding a silver lining to accompany the starkness of loss and death. "He's in a better place now. He was a good man."

The man who died last week was indeed a good man. He tried to do what is right. He cared for others, loved his family, worked hard. And yet, at his funeral, the preacher dealt with the reality that the Bible says that is not enough. Because, even though Mark was what we call a good man, Mark broke the commandments. At some point in his life, he lied. He stole. Perhaps he looked lustfully upon a woman, which God reckons the same as adultery.

As humans, we say, "Well, we've all done that. He was sorry for it. He knew it was wrong and he did his best to change." All true. But God says the penalty for sin is death. Just that bluntly. He says there is no one, not even one single person, good enough to earn heaven. We may not like that, but we didn't make the rules - God did.

Then, because He loves us, He stepped up and made a way for someone else to take death and hell, the penalty for sin, that we deserve. All He asks is that we accept the gift -- a gift, not something we can earn -- of eternal life, purchased for us by the blood of Jesus.

If you don't believe me, look it up. If you think that your own good nature, or all your good deeds, or the fact that you're in church every Sunday, will save you from paying for your sins, read through the Scriptures below to see what God says about that. But don't ignore it, thinking you'll ride to heaven on your good works, your intellect, or your church contributions.

You can't afford to be wrong.

Romans 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Matthew 13:41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.
John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.