R925 A Christian Funeral

Today on The Encouraging Word with Dr. Don Wilton, we talk about something no one wants to talk about, but everyone thinks about. Let's open God's Word. This is The Encouraging Word, featuring the Bible-based teaching of Dr. Don Wilton. We'd love to connect with you on our website as well at www.tewonline.org.

That's www.tewonline.org. Death is something that sometimes we think about and sometimes we don't, right? And it's kind of all around us. And maybe sometimes when we're just boys and girls, it really only affects us maybe when our granddaddy or grandmother or somebody real close to us goes to be with Jesus. But death is something that we all have to deal with. I'm just going to tell you right now, when you know the Lord Jesus, you have got nothing to even think about. You don't have to worry about when it comes to death.

You don't ever have to worry about that because of what the Bible teaches us. And it's a very special thing. Something happened to me going on five years ago now.

Some of you probably know this, but I just share it with you in passing because it's very important in my own life. But we were together with Stephen. We were at Mirror Image Choir too. I think we went to Texas that year, Stephen.

I mean, it's hot in the month of June if you haven't been there. And man, we were having just the best time going into prisons and telling people about Jesus. But I personally felt pretty sick. I mean, I just didn't feel well. I tried to hide it as best I could. I'm not even sure if Mr. Steve knew about it.

He probably did because he's one of my closest friends. But I mean, that year I didn't even go ride roller coasters. And I love to ride roller coasters. I mean, I like to get up there and just absolutely go screeching down those hills and turn upside down in every way you can. So you can just imagine when I told Steve, I said, Steve, I don't think I'm going to go anywhere today.

I think I'll just stay right here and watch everybody else. But I had this pain in my arm, my left arm. Couldn't describe what it was. You know, everybody gets pains, don't they? Somebody's probably got a pain right now. You know, we get aches and pains. Well, I had this pain, but it was getting worse.

And I'm telling you, it started to hurt me. I couldn't move this arm around. You know, when you get in the shower in the morning and you put that shampoo on your head, well, I had to do it with one hand, you know, because I couldn't lift this arm.

And by the time we got back here on that Saturday, my arm was really bad. It came off with my watch. And then I wanted to take my wedding band off. Couldn't get it off.

I had to loosen my buttons on my shirt here. And I could feel my arm just swelling up while I was preaching on Sunday morning. God, the Sunday night, all the young people went to Barnett Park. I just felt awful.

And after Barnett Park, I ran into some friends of mine here and doctors and so on. I said, how are you doing, Don? I said, to be honest with you, I don't feel too good, you know? Well, these guys looked at my arm and said, uh-oh. You know, one of them was a cardiologist. I mean, a heart doctor. He said, when I looked at his face, I said, listen, you've got to tell me everything.

I don't like the look on your face. Well, some of you remember that story. I went off and they discovered that I had two massive blood clots in my shoulder. Now, it was good news and bad news. I had big blood clots in my shoulder and cut off the circulation. That was bad news. The good news was the doctor, I want to tell you, the doctor told me it was the result of muscle buildup.

Did you get this? And I really, I wanted everybody to know the good part of muscle buildup. I said, man, I'll take a blood clot every, I'm going to be full of blood clots in that way. You know, I'm going to be swelling up all over the place. You know?

But you know what happened. I went through four and a half hours of surgery right away. They wouldn't let me get off the table. And the doctor, one of the specialists said to me, he said, I want you to know this is serious. And basically, he said, told me and my wife, said, look, it's possible you won't get off this table. You could die on this table.

I said, thanks a lot. You know, what else can you tell me today? And they tried to open that thing closed.

And I couldn't. I went to four or five days into ICU, and there I am hanging all over the place with pipes and everything and tubes in my arms. And some of you may remember that. But while I was lying there and the doctors were working on me, something happened to me. Folks, I can't describe this properly, but as I was lying there, basically out of it, but sort of semi-conscious, I all of a sudden found myself looking at myself. I was looking down on myself. There I was on the table. I was lying on this table. I could see it.

I was watching myself. And one of the specialists suddenly put down his instruments, and he walked over to my wife. She had her back to me.

And he put his hand on her shoulder, and he said to her, I'm sorry, but he's gone. I couldn't see my wife's face, but I can't tell you the peace that I had in my heart. I wish that I could describe that to you. I mean, basically, whatever it was I was going through, I felt like the doctor was telling my wife that I was dead. And I had this peace. You know, like when you just, nothing worries you. I wasn't even concerned about my wife or family. I just had this wonderful sense of joy and peace.

Just a calm. And then all of a sudden, the doctor was talking to me. Now the doctors have never told me, folks, that I died.

They've never said that. I didn't die. I don't want anybody here thinking that I died on that table. They never said I did. I never stopped breathing.

Nothing like that. I was, just something happened to me. Like, you know, when you go to sleep and you have a dream or something? That's what happened to me. I didn't actually die.

The doctors never said I did. And I suddenly came back into my body and the next minute they were, I can still see Steve and Gay Skinner standing at the door and they meant so much to me and to Karen and I. And I remember being wheeled through and all the rest and of course I got better and I'm just totally recovered from all of that. But when I came out of that, I picked up a pen, literally a pen. Long hand pen.

Not a computer, a pen. And I started to write. I didn't know what I was writing. And I wrote almost, almost nonstop for like two weeks as I was recovering and I wrote a novel. A story called The Absolute Certainty of Life After Death. I wrote about two men.

I based it on what Jesus said and he taught us about these things. I wrote about two men, a lot of humor and story, just real stuff. I didn't know half the time what I was writing. And then these two men got sick. And it's an interesting, intricate story.

A lot of humor, all kinds of things in it. Two people living here in America, they got sick. I went to the medical profession and I researched their deaths.

One man dies of prostate cancer, the other one of diabetes. And I researched what actually happens to a person medically when they die of these diseases. And I wrote it in a story form. And I wrote about what went through their minds. And then as they died, what happened? I mean the Bible says that the angels come and get you and God began to speak to my heart. And I wrote the story about how one man who doesn't know Jesus dies and what happens to him. I've always read in the Bible about wailing and gnashing of teeth. And the Bible says that there's a lake of fire and there's torment day and night.

I don't know how to describe how someone gets burned alive forever but never dies, do you? Somehow God allowed me to write that without apology. I didn't hold back. It's not sugar coated. It's dramatic. And how this man goes through all the echelons of hell and what happens and the battle lines and the regiments that are formed and the demon angels. And God just wrote. I never stopped to think about a thing.

Not the name of anything, not a place of anything. I just wrote nonstop. And when it came to the other man and how he gets transported, what this chariot is, what he goes through, how he arrives, what does heaven look like when he meets people and so on and what have you and how their lives become intertwined.

And I can't explain that to you. The publishers can't get over it because there were hardly any corrections. The book that is published that you have available today is almost exactly how I wrote it.

Accepting for some grammatical changes. Almost exactly how, that's exactly how I submitted that novel to the publishers. I did a seminar up at the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove and they rush copied us hundreds of copies and in one hour they sold out. And I believe with all of my heart that God wrote that book.

He just used me. It's not my book. And it is dramatic. Books are books. It's not about the book. And I don't get anything from this book. So it's not about Don Wilton. It's about the word of God. This word.

That's all I'm interested in. And folks, when it comes down to the dramatics of life after death, what do we do? Where do we go?

Do we avoid that subject? I want you to just open your Bibles this morning because I want to introduce the subject to you on a wonderful note. I'm about to show you something incredible. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 1.

That's our starting point for this whole series. Now folks, I'm going to tell you, we are going to get into some incredibly deep stuff. We're going to be looking at where people go and what they do and do they know what goes on on this earth and are we going to have bodies and how do we know one another? And what are we going to look like? And what does heaven look like? And what does hell look like? And how do we get there? And how do we not go there?

We're going to look at all of these things. But today I want you to look at one thing. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 1. Paul says this, Now brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you. The gospel, what is the gospel? It is the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ. Can I just say this and then I'll read the rest of that verse.

When you talk about the gospel, folks, it is the gospel which is about Jesus Christ which gives to us the reason why we have such joy. And everybody can know that. There's not one person who can say on this earth that I've been stopped from going to heaven. Because God's word says Jesus died for everybody.

Red and yellow and black and white. All people. Doesn't matter where you come from. Listen, folks, it doesn't matter what you've done. If you're willing to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, I'm going to tell you how to do that. You can have a Christian funeral and he says here, folks, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you which you received and on which you have taken your stand. Today, we're going to celebrate a Christian man's funeral. And I've asked some of my brothers to bring a casket in here this morning. I want you to know it's an empty casket.

There's nobody in there. It's just a box. But I've asked my brothers to bring this in. We've had many funerals in this church.

Some of the greatest celebrations I've ever been around. And this one here that I've got in here is just to show you what it looks like. This is what happens. Can you open that up there for me, someone? See, there's nobody in there. This is just an empty casket. There's nobody in here.

In fact, we can just leave that open, Eddie. I just want you to see, you know, all of us one day will have a funeral. See, and this is what you do at funerals, boys and girls. At funerals, you come and at a Christian person's funeral, it's a time of wonderful celebration. It's the most incredible time.

Now watch this. That doesn't mean to say that you're not real sad and have tears in your eyes and that you miss your grandpa and your granny and your daddy and your mama and your brother and your sister because it's real sad when somebody that you really love is no longer there. And, you know, that grief goes on for a long, long time, doesn't it? Because you miss that person that you love so very much.

But when a Christian person dies, you have a great celebration. Please forgive the interruption. We'll be back with the rest of today's message with Dr. Don Wilton in just a moment. But Dr. Don wants you to know we're here for you. We'd love to pray with you at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. And we'd love to connect on our website as well at TEWONLINE.ORG where you'll find great resources like this. This offer set will help you learn how to support each other through prayer and how important forgiveness plays in the family. Not only are marriages under attack, the family is also under attack. Support your spouse through prayer and see what God does in both of your lives. Commit to praying 31 days for your spouse. Commit to praying 31 days for your spouse. Let God change your spouse.

Let God change your family. Call us today at 866-899-WORD and request the February offer for your gift of $25 or more per set. Thank you for your support of the encouraging word.

That's just one of many great resources all on our website at TEWONLINE.ORG. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don. Remember when precious Mrs. Ruth Graham went to be with the Lord Jesus Christ.

What a celebration in Montreat. Do you know that funeral services are the greatest worship services God could ever give us when someone dies in Jesus Christ? Because you're celebrating the life of our Savior and our Lord. And the Bible says that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. All this body is our body. It's kind of like my jacket.

I can take my jacket off this morning. It's kind of like God gives to all of us our heart and our soul, doesn't He boys and girls? Who we are as people and then He gives us a body like me putting on my jacket this morning. And He clothes us. He coats and clothes. He gives our soul spirit something to wear and carry us around. But you know every day that goes by, boy this old clothing gets worn out, doesn't it?

It kind of gets all frayed on the edges and you know develops a few wrinkles and it changes color sometimes because it's in the sun too much. And you know what the Bible says? That when a Christian man or lady or boy or girl dies that we receive a brand new set of clothing. And that we, this clothing that we wear, the body, that's why we refer to that when a person dies we call that their remains. It's just that which is left behind. It's just left over. Because we're going to become brand new in the Lord Jesus. And Paul said when we are absent from the body, the moment we stop breathing, we just open our eyes in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I've got to think about this. I thought to myself, you know, I wish in a way, don't you, that when I think about it, I don't wish that.

I take that back. But would it not be something if God just brought back people that we know from the dead to come and preach instead of me? Because really they know what they're talking about, don't they? But you know, that's not the way God does it. That's not God's chosen method of telling us about life after death. Because he's already brought somebody back from the dead to tell us. His name is Jesus. And Jesus rose from the dead. And he came back to this earth and he appeared to over 500 people. And he explained all things that we need to know about life after death. And he said, you don't have to fear these things.

And death is nothing to be afraid of because you're going to heaven to be with me forever and forever. And I was just thinking to myself, you know, if somebody were to come back from the dead and he was a Christian man or a Christian lady, hey, I wonder what they would say if they were standing up here today. I wonder what kind of message we would hear. I got to thinking about that and I thought, well, you know, we'd probably have to give him or her at least about 25 hours to speak. Because they now know because they're in heaven that time is absolutely irrelevant. In fact, they don't even know what time is anymore because they become eternally accepted in God's presence. But if they did come and we were to say to them, now wait a minute, you're still speaking on earth.

So we want you to kind of restrict yourself a little bit. Because we got to get to lunch and we got to get to Sunday school and Bible study and all those good things. I wonder what a person who has given their hearts to Jesus would say. Let me share three things that I think they would say. Number one, I think such a person would say that God can indeed be taken at his word.

Now watch this folks. They would say to us that God is who he says he is. You see, everything in heaven revolves around God. By the way, what do our lives revolve around? Well, I can tell you what mine revolves around, my family and my favorite football team and my barbecue and my going to school.

I mean, I've got lots of things that go on in my life. Do you know when you get to heaven? Everything's going to revolve around God.

We're not going to have any of those distractions. One thing about heaven that you need to just remember, folks, we are going to be so focused in on the one who sits on the throne. It's all about him. And I think if there was a man or a lady who had died and had given their hearts to Jesus and they were in heaven and they were to come back and stand here right now, I'm telling you the first thing they would say. I have no doubt is that God is exactly who he says he is.

He's the king. Bible tells us. God told us that he created everything. The Bible says that God is love.

He said he's love and he is. He loves us. You know, there's some people out there who say, well, listen, you know, how can a God who loves us send us to a place that's not heaven called hell? Well, they would come back and say God is love. He doesn't send anybody to that place. That's why he gave us Jesus.

And God is exactly who he says he is. And you see, folks, watch this. When somebody that we really love goes on to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven, you know, it's a, oh, goodness. It's real sad, isn't it? You know, man, we miss them. I tell you, folks, one of the things that, you know, that I always think about, I think of so many of our precious friends and folks right here in Spartanburg who have gone on to heaven to be with the Lord Jesus. And we remember them with such joy. We'd give anything to have them with us, wouldn't we? And we remember special occasions when their birthday was and how old they would be.

And we remember what they did back there in that Christmas time. And here comes somebody back from heaven and says, listen, God is exactly who he says he is. It's all okay. It is wonderful.

It's just fine. You need to know that because God is who he says he is. But I think there's another thing that they would say. I think if we were having a Christian funeral here and if there was somebody there and they were able to stand up here and they were already in heaven, they would say, hey, listen, folks, I need to share this with you.

The only way to get into heaven is through the Lord Jesus. Now, that person could be a long-time business person, could be a wealthy person, a poor person, tall person, a short person, could be a black person, a white person, a Chinese person, South American person, could be a person from this way, from that way. It doesn't matter who they are.

They would say, look, it actually, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter whether you're this way or that way, whether you're rich or poor, whether you're tall or short. It doesn't matter whether you went to high school or whether you didn't go to high school.

Oh, I've got it. It doesn't matter if you're a Baptist or a Methodist or a Presbyterian. It doesn't matter because the only way to get to heaven is through Jesus.

He's the one. He's the Son of God. He's the one who paid the price. He's the one who gave of himself on the cross. The only way to get to God in heaven is through Jesus. But you know, I think there's a third thing that he would say. Not only that God is exactly who he says he is, that the only way to God is through the Lord Jesus, but I definitely think that a person would, coming back from heaven would say, you must give your heart to Jesus.

Now, you must do it. See, Jesus spoke to that great man Nicodemus and he said to him, Nicodemus, unless you give your heart to Jesus, you cannot enter into God's heaven. That's what he told us in John chapter three. He said you must be born again. Unless you give your heart to Jesus, you cannot come into God's heaven. And you know, I think he would stand here and he would, I tell you folks, when I get to heaven one day, oh man, I'm a little bit nervous about it because I really think some of those powerful, wonderful prophets of old like Moses and like Dr. Kennedy who just went to be with the Lord and so many great giants of the faith, some of them are gonna sit me down and say to me, pastor, oh, you missed it on this one and you missed it on that one and you missed it on this one and you know, you really struggle to understand a lot of things. But I think, I really think there's one thing that I really believe that a man or woman coming back from heaven would say to me, pastor, one thing you're right about is how to give your heart to Jesus. And that's the most critical truth as we've been studying God's word today.

You've been listening to Dr. Don Wilton teaching and preaching from the pulpit, but now open your heart to what he wants to share next as he steps into the studio with us. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today, I repent of my sin and by faith, I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God. This is exciting news. If you just prayed along with Dr. Wilton to give your life to Jesus Christ or rededicate your life, perhaps the Lord's been stirring in your life and you want to have some questions answered about what it is to say yes to Jesus in a fresh new way, then call us at 866-899-WORD. Dr. Don wants you to have some fresh resources that'll help you begin a brand new life giving your life to Christ or rededicating your life if you'll just call. Again, the number is 866-899-9673, not just now during the broadcast, but 24 hours a day, 866-899-9673, or meet us online on our website at www.tewonline.org.