“For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.”
–Ecclesiastes 9:5
One sign of the widespread disbelief of the Word of God is the modern obsession with death and dying.
And not just the modern obsession with death and dying, but the modern fixation on HONORING those who pass from this life to the next: calling attention to the claimed ‘accomplishments’ of the deceased.
ACTUALLY, the modern passion for ‘honoring the dead’ has MUCH to do with the modern disbelief in God’s Word.
Perhaps nowhere is this demonstrated more than in the modern rites of death.
1- Death is treated as a FINAL ACT.
AS IF NO life existed beyond death.
AS IF there was NO judgment.
AS IF there was NO ETERNAL existence of a man’s soul or spirit.
Oh, sure: the church folk SAY they believe in eternal life.
BUT do they practice what they preach–particularly when the death of someone near and dear to them occurs?
HOW MANY church graveyards are filled with markers which supposedly will keep the memory of the dead alive among the living?
HOW MANY of those markers are so worn by the elements and time that the name of the person buried there is no longer recognizable?
This all fits in nicely with modern man’s great deception that this short present life is all that there is.
Modern man focuses so heavily on THIS wisp of a life: it is little wonder then that he mourns when someone passes on to their final reward–whatever that may be.
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”
–Hebrews 9:27
2- Those who are living when a person dies pretend AS IF the MEMORY of that person will live on long after that person has passed on from this life.
Therefore, man imagines that he can erect monuments to the dead.
Monuments which will supposedly keep the memory of those who died ALIVE.
MORE: The Tombstone: A Common Man’s Legacy
Monuments which will supposedly REMIND the living that this dead person once lived and THRIVED.
To this end, man erects momentos of stone, steel and other materials which man believes will outlast flesh.
And so, those materials DO outlast flesh–but barely.
Truly, is there no sadder sight than a neglected, weed-infested burial plot sporting a magnificent marker of one who was previously honored by the world for a few seconds which few NOW visit?
It is for this reason that many are so obsessed with LEGACIES–which are a vanity.
MORE
- LEGACY: Legacies Are a Vanity
- LEGACY: No Legacy of this World Will Endure
- Legacy: This World will Pass Away and Not be Remembered
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All the reader needs to confirm this is a question he has, no doubt, asked himself upon crossing a bridge, entering a building or driving on a stretch of highway named in memory of a man.
“Who was Mr. So-and-so? Wonder why they named this after him?”
“For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.”
–Ecclesiastes 9:5
It seems that only a few generations need occur before the living lose ALL memory of the dead–particularly those who have various structures of man named after them.
“Who was so-and-so?” is the REAL legacy of ALL men.
3- Mourning a person’s death is a legitimate reaction to those who believe this life is all there is.
And to ENSURE that modern man believes this short life is all that there is, the world indoctrinates man in 1001 different ways.
“If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.”
–Job 14:14
4- For centuries, belief in the Word of God gave COMFORT to the living and prepared them for the great change which is DEATH.
Since there are FEW moderns who believe the Word of God, FEW now enjoy this comfort.
In place of comfort, modern man now relies on stone and steel (which eventually crumble), worthless legacies and the flawed memories of the living to provide comfort when someone close to the living dies.
ALL of which are a POOR substitute for the truth of the matter.
But one of the plights of deceived modern man is that he would rather endure torment than the truth.
NOWHERE is this more evident than in modern man’s behavior concerning death and dying.
And NOWHERE is this more prevalent than in modern man’s mourning of the dead AS IF this short, slip of a life was all that there is.
HAS the reader ever mourned for a time over the passing of someone he knew well?
WHY did the reader mourn?
It is not YET too late: there is still a little time to change direction (repent), place your faith (hope) for the future entirely on Jesus Christ and enter the kingdom of heaven.
DOES the reader believe he is saved?
Make Your Calling and Election Sure: End Times Survival
DOES the reader believe he is NOT saved?
Time is Running Out: Today is the Day of Salvation
THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST
“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:
And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. ”
–1 Corinthians 15:1-8
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
-–Romans 1:16
A Reminder: The Gospel is Simple
MORE: Eternal Salvation Through Jesus Christ: Salvation Messages from End Times Prophecy Report
[Portions of this piece appeared originally in End Times Prophecy Headlines: December 6, 2021.]
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- Face-To-Face With One’s Own Mortality
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- Until Mortality Touches a Man
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- The Nature of Spiritual Deception
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by Jeremiah Jameson
–with Mondo Frazier
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