The funeral Thomas Brooks, "The Transcendent Excellency of a Believer's Portion above All Earthly Portions" (You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.) A Christian knows that death shall be the funeral of all . . . his sins, his sorrows, his afflictions, his temptations, his vexations, his oppressions, his persecutions. He knows that death shall be the resurrection of all . . . his hopes, his joys, his delights, his comforts, his contentments. He knows that death shall bring him to a more clear, full, perfect, and constant enjoyment of God! This makes him sweetly and triumphantly to sing out, "O death! where is your sting? O grave! where is your victory?" 1 Corinthians 15:35-37

This insightful principle by the reformer Martin Luther means: "Simultaneously righteous, and a sinner." That is, a genuine believer in Jesus is simultaneously: 1. RIGHTEOUS (justus) in the sight of God through faith in Christ, having received His imputed righteousness. This is our identity in Christ. "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith, apart from observing the law." Romans 3:28 "However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness." Romans 4:5 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1 2. A SINNER (peccator) in his own sinful flesh, which remains unchanged even after conversion. "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing." Romans 7:18-19 "For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want." Galatians 5:17 Hence every believer daily experiences the constant battle between the flesh and the spirit--the new spiritual nature in Christ. Though we are genuinely converted, our sinful flesh remains with us until we receive our resurrection bodies. "He will transform our lowly bodies, so that they will be like His glorious body!" Philippians 3:21 "Simultaneously righteous, and a sinner." What I am in Christ: RIGHTEOUS. What I am in my flesh: SINNER. In justification, God credits Christ's perfect righteousness to our account, while our sinf

Romans 8:32, "He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all--how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?" This glorious promise carries us from Calvary's crimson hill, to the spacious plains of God's boundless provision. The Father, having offered His beloved Son as a substitutionary sacrifice for His people, thereby demonstrated that every cost of our redemption was borne in full. If the Sovereign of Heaven did not count the anguish of Golgotha too great to spare His only-begotten Son, then will He now withhold from us any good thing? Never! The gift of Christ for our salvation, secures every lesser gift. As we behold the infinite compassion manifested in the cross, we trust that such love will daily supply our every need. If God did not spare His beloved Son for us, then He will withhold no needful blessing from those for whom Jesus died. If God has given you Jesus, then He has engaged all the riches of Heaven for your good. He who gave the greater, will not deny the lesser. If God feeds His birds, then surely He will not starve His babes. Free pardon and full forgiveness, grace along the way, and glory at the end--all this our Savior has promised to give. Believer, when fear whispers that your burdens exceed your Father's care, return to Calvary. There you see the height of His giving--and there you find the answer to your every need. Rather than sinking under anxiety, let faith boldly think: "Will my God, who gave His darling Son for my salvation--refuse to give me daily bread, comfort in sorrow, or needed strength? No trial can outstrip His upholding grace; no Scriptural request can exceed His generosity. Heavenly Father,

Psalm 135:6, "The Lord does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths." Psalm 147:16-18, "He sends the snow like white wool; He scatters frost upon the ground like ashes. He hurls the hail like stones. Who can stand against His freezing cold? Then, at His command, it all melts. He sends His winds, and the ice thaws." Psalm 148:8, "Fire and hail, snow and clouds, wind and weather obey Him." "I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light, and create darkness, I bring prosperity, and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things!" Isaiah 45:6-7 Who is regulating affairs on this earth today: God, or the Devil? That God reigns supreme in Heaven, is generally conceded; but that He reigns supreme over this earth, is almost universally denied--if not directly, then indirectly. More and more are men relegating God to the background, in their philosophizing and theorizing. Take the material realm. Not only is it denied that God created everything, by personal and direct action, but few believe that He has any immediate concern in regulating the works of His own hands. It is common to hear disasters explained as impersonal "Forces of Nature," or mere outcomes of "Natural Laws," or "Bad Luck." Yet Scripture shatters that notion: War, pestilence, floods, storms, earthquakes, fires--all flow from the eternal decree and providential governance of our holy God. When hurricanes lash the coast, or fires consume forests--we must not bow the knee to the myth of "Mother Nature" but humble ourselves before the One who "commands and raises the stormy wind." Nahum 1:3, "He displays his power in the whirlwind and the storm. The

John 1:14, "We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:16, "From the fullness of His grace, we have all received one blessing after another." There is in Jesus, not only a sufficiency of grace, but an all-sufficiency. He has enough to supply all our needs; and not only enough for us--but for all the saints who have ever lived or shall live! Jesus is a fountain of mercy and grace. From His fullness, as from an overflowing fountain, streams every spiritual blessing. He fills our empty vessels again and again, and still the fountain overflows. The more grace we draw from Jesus, the more is still in Him. The sun is never the less bright, after all the light we receive from it. In the same way, Jesus is never the less full, after all the grace we receive from Him. Grace from the heart of Jesus, is ever flowing out to His people: grace upon grace, blessing upon blessing, mercy upon mercy. There is in the crucified Jesus, grace sufficient to all the difficulties, necessities, and desires of His poor people. Jesus is . . . a garment to cover and adorn them, a counselor to advise them, a captain to defend them, a prince to rule them, a prophet to teach them, a priest to make atonement for them, a husband to protect them, a father to provide for them, a brother to relieve them, a foundation to support them, a head to guide them, and a treasure to enrich them! Jesus is the great storehouse of all heavenly treasures. In Him, are laid up all the riches of divine grace. From Him, all believers receive grace, not only

The sheep's coat shall be stripped off the wolf's back! William Dyer, 1632-1696 Numbers 23:10, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my end be like theirs!" There is no living a life that is wicked, and then dying a death that is righteous. Oh, that men would but deal truly with their own souls! Many talk like a Christian, but few walk like a Christian. Many know what is to be done, but never do what is to be done. Many wear Christ's livery, but do the devil's drudgery! Many have hands as white as snow, whose hearts are as black as Hell! Many appear righteous, who are only righteous in their appearance. But such as deceive others with a false show of holiness, only deceive themselves with a false hope of happiness! Remember, sirs, that the sheep's coat shall be stripped off the wolf's back! "They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves!" Matthew 7:15 Oh sirs, that you would consider well these weighty things! Tell me, sir: What did Judas get by all his deceitful dealings? Nothing but a noose, in which his body was hanged; and a fire, in which his soul was burned!

A hazardous game! (Charles Spurgeon, "Flowers from a Puritan's Garden" 1883) 1 Thessalonians 5:22, "Avoid every kind of evil!" "If we play around the viper's hole--it is no wonder that we are bitten!" An old proverb advises us not to play with sharp-edged tools, lest we cut our fingers. It is a sin to trifle with sin! If we must play, we had better find harmless toys! That evil which caused Christ a bloody death, is no fit theme for any man's sport. Playing with wickedness is a hazardous game! Sooner or later, we will pluck the lion of sin by the beard, and we shall be torn in pieces! This is true of indulgence in strong drink: "Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper!" This is equally true of all other forms of evil, especially of the lusts of the flesh. Lewd words, soon lead to foul deeds. Yet such is the folly of men, that they run dreadful risks in sheer wantonness, as though vipers and cobras were fine playmates, and devils were merry-makers! "Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Do not let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin." Psalm 19:13

The sighs of Jesus--brief yet profound--reveal more about His heart than many lengthy sermons ever could. They are not the sighs of weariness or despair, but of holy sorrow and tender compassion. In the space of just two chapters in Mark's Gospel, we hear our Lord sigh twice--once over human suffering, and once over human sin. Both sighs speak volumes of the Savior's perfect heart. Mark 7:34, "He looked up to Heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, 'Ephphatha!' (which means, 'Be opened!')." In Mark 7:34, Jesus heals a man who is deaf and mute. Before speaking the word of healing, He looks up to Heaven and sighs. Why? Because He sees beyond the man's immediate affliction. He sees the deeper cause--the brokenness of a world cursed by sin. Every disease, every disability, every tear, is a consequence of mankind's fall into sin. Jesus does not sigh in frustration but in sympathetic grief. He feels the weight of this man's misery, and through that sigh, He enters into it. Our Savior is not distant or unsympathetic. He is "a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering." (Isaiah 53:3) Every sigh of the suffering believer, finds a sympathetic echo in the soul of the Son of God. Mark 8, verse 12 tells us, "He sighed deeply and said, 'Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign?'" In Mark 8, however, the sigh is different. The Pharisees demand a sign--though they have seen countless miracles already. Their request does not spring from faith, but from unbelief and obstinacy. And so Jesus sighs deeply. This is not the sigh of grief over physical suffering, but over spiritual blindness--a willful refusal to believe. It is the sigh of divine sorrow over hardened

Matthew 1:21, "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins!" The essence of Christ's mission: To Save from Sin This verse is a glorious declaration of the very heart of the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not salvation from suffering. Not salvation from political oppression. Not salvation from earthly poverty. But salvation from their SIN--that which separates man from God, damns the soul, and defiles every part of life. He did not come to be a moral teacher, a political reformer, or a cultural icon. He came to save from sin. Sin is not a light matter. It is the rebellion of the creature against the Creator, the transgression of God's holy Word, and the corruption of human nature. Sin stains every thought, word, and deed. Sin places every sinner under the righteous wrath of Almighty God. Therefore, the greatest need of every human soul, is not self-improvement or religious reformation, but divine salvation. Jesus did not come merely to forgive sin, but to save from sin. That means He delivers . . . from sin's guilt by His atoning death, from sin's power by His Spirit's indwelling presence, and soon from sin's presence altogether in eternal glory. He came not only to justify, but to sanctify. Any gospel that offers pardon without purification, or Heaven without holiness--is a false gospel. Jesus saves entirely--from the penalty, power, and pollution of sin. The objects of Christ's mission: His People WHO are the recipients of this glorious salvation? The text is unmistakably clear: "His people." Not all mankind indiscriminately, but those whom the Father gave to Him from eternity pas

Psalm 116:15, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints." To the unsaved man, death is a dreaded enemy--a final and bitter end to a worthless life. But to the true Christian, death is not a calamity, but a coronation. It is not the ruin of life, but the very door to everlasting joy. Why does Scripture call the death of God's saints, precious? Because to God, nothing is more valuable than the final bringing home of those whom He has redeemed with the precious blood of His Son. And to the believer, death is the last step in the journey toward full and eternal communion with Jesus. 1. Death delivers us from all sin One of the chief blessings death brings to the believer, is deliverance from the presence and power of sin. Though justified and sanctified in Jesus, every Christian still laments with Paul, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24) In this life, sin clings to us, wars against us, and hinders every holy pursuit. But death severs that final tie. No more wandering affections. No more inward corruption. The soul is made perfect in holiness and enters immediately into the presence of the Lord! (Hebrews 12:23) 2. Death ends all of our suffering This poor world is a valley of tears. The believer is not spared from trial and sorrow--often, his path is harder because of his following of Jesus. But death silences every groan, and dries every tear. The Lord will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain! (Revelation 21:4) In the moment of death, all affliction ceases. No more physical pain, no more emotional anguish, no more persecution, no more b