Featured Preaching at funerals of unbelievers

Usually i spend the first half identifying that the person's life was a gift, i spend the next half of the sermon explaining Eternal Life is a gift of God only through Jesus Christ.

I usually transition that by saying, "So-and-So now knows for certain, and would want everyone here today to know, That it is only in the Lord Jesus Christ do we have hope after the grave."

 

Most of the funerals I have preached have been for people I did not know nor were connected to a church family.

My approach is essentially to honor the one who has died by recounting the high points of their lives and their interests, and then a segue into the teaching of Jesus that not one sparrow falls to the ground in death without the Father's notice. That moves into an exposition of God's care for all who live and breathe and how someone can know this God through Jesus. I don't do an "altar call" at the end of the message, but I do make an appeal for those who are still alive to receive the life given by God before it is too late.

 

Preach to the living.

I used - as a springboard

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Then the frailties of life...

Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
...
Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

When there were people at the funeral I referred to the deceased as "the dearly departed" unless I knew he/she was a believer.

HankD

 

I know a lot of Primitive Baptist preachers that have conducted funerals... Can one say with out a doubt that the one who has gone on was not God's child?... Can you know without a doubt their heart and soul?... Remember man looks on the appearance... Only God can look on the heart and soul... I've heard of death bed confessions and who is to say at the last breath the soul cries out My God!... Will God not hear the cry of his child?... Scripture say he will or is it to late?... Brother Glen

 

Only God and the individual know for sure after the Exodus.

HankD

 

Ryle: "Christ's Greatest Trophy"?

 

The preacher must clearly present the Christian hope and with clarity speak to who legitimately sharers that hope.

The last funeral of an unbeliever I took I spoke on Ecc 3:2 and my points were:

1) A time to be born - in which i spoke about the person and God's sovereignty over their birth
2) A time to die - in which I spoke about God taking them from the earth at precisely the right time
3) A time to live again - in which I shared that all who die in Christ will live with him in eternity

I did not say anything about the eternal state of the one being buried, for I do not know his heart, rather I was clear that this hope is not for everyone - only those who believe.

 

I'm not going to speak for him, but his mangled and incomplete sentence ("Although the chaplain basically will say that everyone is regardless if one follows Christ as Lord.") appears to indicate that he assumes the minister will claim the deceased has eternal life in Christ, no matter who that person is. This assumption may come from his experience with ministers at funerals or an inability to think of how one might address mourners if the deceased was not a believer.

I have certainly been to a few funerals where the officiant claimed great faith on the part of the deceased, even though I never witnessed such a thing. For instance, a fairly close friend of mine professed atheism, and I witnessed to him in word and deed for the six years I knew him. One evening, he dropped dead of heart failure at 40. Many things can happen between a person and God in a moment, but I have no confidence that he will receive eternal life, even though the priest at his funeral attempted to assure everyone he was a redeemed child of God.

 

There are many flaws in the premise of this thread. The first one is neither you or anyone else can tell is a person is saved or not based on sinful, human observation. One might have a good idea which is saved or not, but in fact, the person preaching the funeral does not know for sure.

The second mistake is that the Bible lists three classes of Christians that are producing little or no fruit for a given time yet are saved. One is the "babes in Christ" talked about in Hebrews 6:1-3 the second is the carnal Christian talked about in 1 Cor 3:1-23. The last category is the Christian that is saved "as if by fire." The point is it is hard to distinguish these from the lost in their actions

The focus of the funeral should be a time to tell others about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not to play "guess who is saved." There is no compromising convictions if one is using a funeral to tell the folks attending about Jesus. One can talk about the kind and good things they did in this life, but the focus is Jesus Christ.

 

In the OP, you state she was an unbeliever; how do you know that?

 

Are you aware of any confessions of Jesus as Lord? Including on her death bed?

 

Sin is AGAINST God.
Only God forgives Sin.

Mark.2

1. [7] Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?

Matt 7

[16] Ye shall know them by their fruits.


How a man knows another man is by what the man DOES.

How God knows any man is by the thoughts in the mans heart. (ie the mans spirit).

The beauty of mankind having CHOICES, is at anytime, mankind can turn to belief in the Lord.

It does not matter if a dying person cries out verbally to God and is heard by another. It only matters IF a person believes in their heart, BEFORE the physical death of the body occurs.

IF that happens; what was known of the person during their life time ~ IS NOT the measure by which the Lord knows them ~ they become forgiven and saved, just like any other man who came into belief.

It is better to accept WE do not KNOW all things ( ie what is in an other's heart ); then to judge what we do not know.

Because what we DO KNOW is; All people are created by God, and whether or not a person IS a son of God; it IS God Himself who KNOWS ALL THINGS and has prepared a place for ALL of His creations

 

"Dearly Beloved, as we ponder John's eternity in Hell, let us thank God for giving him countless opportunities each day of John's life to repent and receive Christ."

Seriously, though, I think one can be honest while being tactful.

The funeral isn't really the time to judge the deceased. If it were me, I'd just give the Gospel and let God do with that what He will.