It is my conviction tonight that over the years irreparable damage has been done to the gospel of Jesus Christ and to the eternal souls of men at so many funeral services in this country of ours. I believe tonight that multitudes have been rocked to sleep. and encouraged on in their sin and life without God by a watered-down message, half-truths and sometimes even outright lies that are told at funerals. In my experience attending many funerals it is often the case, more often than not, not always thankfully, but very often the reality that no alarm is sounded, no warning is given, no appeal is made, no invitation extended, and very little if any preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. All the while the issues of life, death, eternity and the destiny of the human soul brazenly stare us in the face. Most people are able to leave funeral services in this day and generation with nothing to think about, no challenge presented. led to believe that even if there is a heaven at all, that undoubtedly they will be in it. Because the message that has been presented leads people to believe that everybody, regardless of what they believe or how they live, is going to heaven someday by fair means or by foul. Everybody seems to be buried like a Christian. It is even sometimes deemed inappropriate by many to preach the gospel at a funeral, in the presence of death. As a Christian minister, ordained to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, in a Christian meeting house, many people deem it to be inappropriate to preach the gospel. And yet Paul said, preach the Word. Be instant, in season, and out of season. reprove, rebuke and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. And yet we have noted many verses tonight in the Word of God where in the last days and even in Old Testament times people brought in seers and prophets and preachers and teachers, willingly knowing that what they are telling us is not right. It's not according to the Word or Law of God, but it makes us feel better. It does not concern us or trouble us. It does not lead us to think about eternity, or God, or who God is, or how we are living, and we would rather hear something that is not true. rather than hear the truth and be troubled." I tonight feel so strongly about this. I know that I've mentioned it from time to time, but I feel that it is imperative in this day and generation that an alarm is sounded and something is said about lies that are told at funerals. I often encourage people if they have any questions concerning matters of life and death and eternity, concerning God or the soul or salvation, it is imperative to receive and to look for and to get a Bible answer. There are so many opinions out there, so many different trains of thought, so many different messages and all based on the shifting sands of human opinion. It therefore is important that we get a Bible answer, and I want to look tonight at some of the lies that are told at funerals and around funerals in the midst of death and bereavement, whenever people should be called upon and exhorted and encouraged to think about God and about eternity and the brevity of life. The first area of lies that I want to consider are lies in the press. lies in the newspaper and lies in the media. Did you ever just run your eye down the death column in a local paper and read some of the little snippets there and the things that people put at the bottom of an announcement regarding someone's passing from this scene of time? Things like, rest in peace, at rest, the Lord is my shepherd with Christ, safe in the arms of Jesus. gone to sleep or with the angels. And yet so often none of those things are the case. There is no such thing as soul sleep. There is no such thing as resting in peace if you never knew peace with God in time. There is no such thing as being with Christ in eternity if you weren't with Christ on this earth. There is no such hope of being safe in the arms of Jesus if you weren't underneath and round about the everlasting arms of Jesus Christ in time. The Lord is not everyone's shepherd. God is not everyone's father. There is no such thing in a spiritual sense as the universal fatherhood of God. The Bible says as many as received Christ, as many as received Him, to them and to them alone. gave he the authority or the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name. In John 10, the Savior said, I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. He never said anything. about giving eternal life and bringing to heaven and home anyone who did not respond to the call of God and take up the cross and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I think it was last year, perhaps the year before, time goes by so quickly, that the noted physicist Stephen Hawking died. Now that man made some remarkable statements in his life. On one occasion he said, one can't prove that God doesn't exist, but science makes God unnecessary. Concerning the universe, he said, the simplest explanation is this. There is no God. No one created our universe, and no one directs our fate. And then to nail his colors to the mast, he simply said, I do not believe in a personal God. And yet at his funeral service, they had an ordained Church of England minister, Reverend Dr. Callie Hammond, a woman Anglican priest. The service was held in a church. Somebody opened the meeting in prayer. A choir sang, the Lord's Prayer was recited, they sang John Bunyan's hymn, He Who Would Valiant Be, and somebody read the Bible from Ecclesiastes chapter 3. And his remains were laid to rest in the very grounds of Westminster Abbey. A man who was a professed atheist buried like a Christian. And that seems to be level ground right across the board. Whenever Princess Diana was cut off so quickly back in the 1990s, there was a whole furore about a Sunday school teacher in England and her class were talking about how Princess Diana, the Queen of Hearts, had died so suddenly. And then they began to say, well, she'll be in heaven, and the Sunday school teacher, trying to be faithful but not judgmental, said something along the lines, if I can't say for sure where she is, but if she wasn't a Christian, and if she hadn't trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, she won't be in heaven. And that woman was dragged over the coals for making that statement. And there was a lady and the night that she left this world was in a car having an affair with a man who was not her husband. And yet if you question the reality of whether or not she's in heaven, all hell breaks loose. Lies in the press. The reality is tonight that my Bible says that those who die without salvation and those who die in their sins are not at peace in death and are not at peace for all eternity. Revelation 14.11 says they have no rest day or night. And friend, they can write whatever they want about you in the papers. They can post whatever they want to post about you on Facebook. But if your name is not in the Lamb's book of life, and if your name is not recorded in God's eternal book, and if you're not redeemed by precious blood, you'll be lost, regardless of what they say in the press, the lies in the press. And then more importantly, lies in the pulpit. Now the Christian minister, the Bible says, is set to be a watchman. We read those words earlier from the book of Ezekiel. Solemn words, God says to Ezekiel, O son of man, I have set thee as a watchman unto the house of Israel. And that's a very vivid picture. Because walled cities like Jerusalem in Bible times had watchmen all across their walls. And they watched and they looked out towards the horizon, on shifts, 24-7, lest an enemy army should come in like a flood and the city would not be ready, and people in the city slain. And so watchmen were set, and if they saw something suspicious, they set the trumpet to the mouth, they sounded an alarm, and they warned the people that there's danger. And God says, Ezekiel, you are a spiritual watchman. unto the house of Israel. And when I say to the wicked, Thou shalt surely die, you need to warn them from Me. And if you do not warn them, they're going to die in their sins, and I'm going to require their blood at your hand." Now, the Bible says in the New Testament, in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number 17, that the elder within the church, or the word bishop is used, It says there that God looks upon them as those who watch for your souls. It is the job of a Christian office bearer, especially a Christian minister, to watch and to warn and to win the souls of his congregation as God gives grace. Beloved tonight, never take it for granted That just because a man has reverent or doctor before his name, and B.A. and D.D. after his name, and he has been ordained to the Christian ministry, and he wears all of the regalia that goes with it, and even if he carries a Bible under one hand and a prayer book under the other, don't take it for granted that that man cares for your soul. Don't even take it for granted that that man is a Christian. Because there are many ministers and pastors and preachers and clergymen across our nation who have never been born again. Now that's a radical statement, I know. But I'm convinced that it's true. I learned it as a young man going around the doors, 20 or 21 years of age in Lisbon. I remember meeting two ministers from two different denominations in the same night, in the same little cul-de-sac in Lisbon. I remember knocking the first door, and this old man came to the door, with a smile on his face. I said, I'm from a church in the town. We're giving out gospel literature and invites to our church. Will you take the literature? Will you read it? It's about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Words to that effect. And he looked at me and says, I'm in disguise tonight. And I said, I don't know what you mean. He says, I'm a retired clergyman and I'm not wearing my clerical collar and gowns tonight. And I said, well, can I ask you if you're a saved retired clergyman? And he looked at me in the eye and says, I'm a clergyman. And I says, well, can I ask you if you're saved? And he slammed the door in my face. Five or six doors around the street, same thing happened again, similar thing. A retired clergyman. Nothing to say about the gospel. Nothing to say about salvation. Do you preach the gospel? And he hemmed and hawed and murmured and muttered. Couldn't come clear that he believed the Bible and preached the gospel. I remember meeting a Presbyterian elder in that same locality. Wealthy man, living in a beautiful bungalow. Everything he needs. Boasted about his office within the church. How long he'd been there. And I said to him, well can I ask you, have you ever been born again? And he says, well what do you mean by that? I says, the Bible says you must be born again. And then he began to say, well, you can't take the Bible literally. Look at the first nine chapters in the Bible alone, the first nine chapters in the book of Genesis. And I quote, he says, I would be a fool to believe those chapters in God's Word in the Bible. Don't take it for granted that these people are saved. Very often at a funeral service you'll get a wee dithery man. And they'll come in with a sanctimonious voice or a marble-mouthed woman ordained to the Christian ministry. Lots of letters after their name. More letters after their name than I have in my name. And they've got all the gowns on and all the robes and all the regalia. And they'll say the right things. And they'll maybe read from the Bible, but did you ever notice they'll always read from Revelation chapter 21? Nine times out of ten. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And they'll read about the glories of heaven, and they'll encourage the people. Do you see it? There's no sickness, there's no pain, there's no crying, there's no death, there's no separation, and they will always, but always, stop at verse 7. They'll never read verse 8. Because verse 8 says, but the fearful and the unbelieving and the abominable and idolaters and whoremongers and drunkards and all liars shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, half-truths. And then they'll say all of the right things or the nice things about the person who's been laid to rest. He was such a good man. He was a true Christian. Was he born again? He's in a much better place. He's not suffering now. How do you know? He's smiling down upon us even now. And if he would speak to us, he would tell us not to weep, but he would tell us to be happy, because he is happy now. He was a good church man, and you can be sure and certain that one day we will see our friend again. Have we not heard these things said at funeral services, and they're said so clearly and so dogmatically? And many of those things are true for many that knew and loved and trusted Jesus Christ. But they are all far from the truth for a person who was never converted. Then, by and large, they will close the service with, abide with me, or the Lord is my shepherd. They will go to the churchyard or the burial ground in town, and they will at last be lured into mother earth. and buried with the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life at the last day through Jesus Christ our Lord. But the question I want to ask is, is it true? Is it right? Is that what's going to happen? And is this man or woman that has gone, are they in a better place? Are they happy now? In Luke chapter 16 you read about a rich man. And I wonder if 2,000 years ago were all of those things said at his funeral. Was he a good man? No, he was a sinner. The Bible says there is none that doeth good, no, not one. All have sinned and have come short of the glory of God. Was he a true Christian? Not if he'd never experienced a new birth. Was he in a better place? No, he was in hell. Was it true to say he's not suffering now? No, he's suffering more than he'd ever suffered before. Was he smiling down upon his five brethren? No. Was he telling them not to weep? No, he was praying that they would repent. Was he happy now? No, he was tormented. My dear people, if you have not been born again, If you have not been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, if you are not following the Savior tonight and living for God, I fear that if you pass away I will have absolutely nothing to say by way of comfort to your family concerning your soul. I remember as a youngster sitting in a Presbyterian church. And our minister said something, and I remember at the time thinking that's very harsh and very unloving and very unkind and maybe to a certain degree it was, but he said to the people one Sunday morning, he says, if you're not a Christian and if you die without Christ, he said, I pray to God that I'm on holidays and I'm out of the country and I can't get back for your funeral. Because I don't want to bury you if you die in your sins. And I thought that's an awful thing to say. And maybe it is. Not to want to be there for a grieving family. But I thought it's harsh, but at least he's not willing to stand up and be a bare-faced liar at a funeral service. I remember attending a funeral. Maybe you've been at some like them. I was in Bible college at the time. It was a family member. I remember going to the wake and there was a retired minister who was in place because I think the church that the family had a very loose and superficial connection with was a vacant church and they had this old, retired Presbyterian minister and there he was and I was introduced to him and someone says, this is Roger, he's at Bible college and he just says, you'll not have your sorrows to seek and he turned on his heel and off he went. And then at the funeral service, he began the service by reading from the Word of God. And I took encouragement from this, because he opened the Bible, the authorized version, and he read from John's Gospel, chapter 3, the first 16 or 18 verses. And I thought, he must be setting himself up here to preach the Gospel, because he's read from the Word of God about the new birth. He's read John 3, 16. He's brought the people in the reading of the Word of God to face their need. And from there, it all went downhill. Well, the man that had passed away, in my knowing of him, was not a church attender, did not even take his place as any type of Christian, was rough speaking, smoked and drank, didn't go to church, and certainly didn't profess to be a Christian at all. And yet this wee man stood up and talked about so-and-so great church man, paid into the church, outstanding Christian principles, and buried him like C.H. Spurgeon would have been buried. And I could remember after the meeting saying very, very little, but I remember hearing ungodly men looking at each other and laughing and saying, I think I'm at the wrong funeral. That's not the man I knew. Is that the man you knew?" And they laughed and they scoffed and they mocked. And they met a couple of Christians who were there and all they could say to me was, wasn't that awful. None of it was true. The only true part was the bit when he read the Bible. Everything else was untrue. You know, if a medical doctor dealt with his subjects in the same way that many Christian ministers do. They would be put out and they would probably be put in prison for misdiagnosing, willingly misdiagnosing their subjects. Sending them on their way. Somebody comes in, terminal cancer, you're fine, you'll be okay, you'll get better, just eat a little bit healthier, get a bit more fresh air and get some exercise. Sending them on their way knowing That the textbooks they look at, comparing the person's life and scanning the life and bringing it to the textbooks and bringing it to the truth, the two things are opposed to each other. And yet how can a professing man of God look at an individual and they know that person's not saved, and they know that person hasn't been born again, and as far as they know that person has no time for the things of God at all, and loves their life without God, and loves their sin, and yet they'll take it to the textbook? and they'll say, you're okay, you're fine, you're going to heaven. Lies in the press, lies in the pulpit, then what about all the lies that are told among the parishioners? In Ecclesiastes chapter 7 and verse number 2 it says, it is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting. for that is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart." Solomon says the best place you can go if you want to learn what life's about, you go to the house of mourning, you go to a wake, you go to a funeral, and you will discover that you're going the same way, your life's brief, you're going to die, you're going into eternity, and you should lay that to heart. It's better to go to the house of mourning, and yet people used to mourn at funerals in this land and at least show respect, but now before they even get out of the church, they're laughing and cajoling and talking and chatting about everything under the sun, not even showing respect sometimes to the grieving family. And they'll bounce out to Simon and Garfunkel singing a bridge over troubled water, or Frank Sinatra saying he did it his way, or simply the best, or whatever it is, and off they go. And the parishioners will even lie to each other. They'll say, you know, he'll be missed. And yet it says in Ecclesiastes chapter 8, verse 10, and they were forgotten in the city. We had so done. You know, he'll be missed. And then almost in the next breath, I wonder who'll get the farm. I wonder who'll get the house. I hear there's a bit of strife in the family over the will. You're just after saying he'd be missed and now you're talking about his belongings and his will and his farm and his material possessions. He's with his family now, is he? Or is he in outer darkness? At last he got his wings. such nonsense. And then did you ever hear somebody saying, you know, wasn't it really good for them to get away? Good for them to get away? Not if they weren't saved. Or family members will look at each other and say, well, you know, he's up there in heaven somewhere strumming his harp and having a pint with the boys. I got to know a man from this locality who died, sadly, a year or two ago, just in his And he knew something of the Bible. He said whenever he was in the armed forces, he used to quote from the Psalms as he went out on to service, active service, I will lift mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help, and he would talk about this. And he talked about the church he went to, one of the main line denominations. This man had terminal cancer and he'd been diagnosed with it and I was trying to talk to him about this and trying to get him to think about his soul and we talked on. He says, you know, he says, heaven's whatever you want it to be. She's my wee girl, she's at primary school. And she says, Daddy, what's going to happen? He says, well, if I die and I don't get better, I'll be in heaven. She says, well, what's heaven like? And he says, well, whenever I die, you just imagine, Daddy, in Starbucks, on a treadmill, and that's daddy's heaven. And I kept trying to say, well, that's not what heaven's like. And it's not up for you to decide what heaven's like or how to get there. But he laughed and shrugged it off. And out he went into eternity. Good for him to get away. up there in heaven having his coffee, having a pint in the gym, working out in heaven. And then they'll say, you know, we had a good old innings, I suppose. What is your life? It is even as a vapor that appeareth for a short time. They'll lie to each other, the parishioners. And then worse than that, they'll even lie to the family. They'll talk about everything under the sun. They'll not even give the family the respect of a bit of silence as they go out of the church. And then whenever they inadvertently bump into a member of the family, the hand goes out and they shake hands and say, oh, I'm so sorry for your trouble. And they just can't wait to get out of the place and go to the pub. That's how it is at many funerals. I'm sorry for your trouble. I'll be praying for you. They've never prayed maybe in their life. I know how you feel, but you don't. I'll call and see you." But they seem to forget to do that as well. A number of years ago, I was at a funeral, and this old lady, she was a Christian, thankfully, and she had passed away and her husband was still alive. He was an elderly man. He was a believer as well, but he was quite quick-witted and quite sharp-tongued and wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought. And I remember At the end of the funeral service, whenever people were milling in and out of the church hall and they were having their tea and their refreshments, he wasn't that great in his feet. And this little man sat in probably what was the old minister's room at the side of the pulpit, and the door was just open slightly ajar, and there was a queue of people up the aisle of the church to go in to see him. And I was standing because he was a close family member, and I remember some people coming out with their mouths wide open and their faces beetroot red. And he was just so honest with the people. People come in and said, you know, Mr. So-and-so, I'm so sorry for your trouble. Are you? Sure I haven't seen you for years. You might have called whenever my wife was so ill and we could have done with the bell. Take yourself away off, you're not a bit sorry. And I sat and listened to this and thought, fair play to you. Good on you. And then they'll lie to the pastor too. Oh, lovely service, pastor. Maybe it was an abomination. Such an inspiring message, was it? You know, we get this sometimes, maybe breaking protocol here, but whenever you have an Orange service in a church and you preach the gospel, and then at the end of the service they sing the national anthem and somebody will come up and they'll stand about here somewhere and they'll They'll reach in and it'll take them about three minutes to get their glasses out and get them on, and they'll put them in the end of their nose, and then they'll reach into this pocket, and they've got a little statement that they have written during the week. And it'll usually begin with, I want to thank the minister for his inspirational message. Was it really that inspirational? Did it not inspire you to turn and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ? And then, oh pastor, I am going to come back to church now. This has really made me think and you'll see me again soon. Mark my words. I'm going to get my life in order. I'm going to start coming back to church because that's what daddy would have wanted. That's what mummy would have wanted and it's just brought back so many memories and I'll definitely be back in church. And then the next time you see them it's at the next family funeral. And then they'll lie to themselves. God I'll get right with you someday. Or maybe they're angry and they'll say, boy, see, whenever I get to St. Peter's gates and the pearly gates, I'll just tell God what I think. I'll tell God we got it all wrong. I'll just say, God, if you want to consign me to hell, well, just give me my shovel now. That's what I'll tell God. The Bible says every mouth shall be stopped. Or they'll maybe lie to themselves and lie to each other and say, this was not the place. This was not the place for such a message. This was not the place for such preaching. I can't believe that man opened the Bible and talked about the soul and talked about sin and talked about eternity. This is not the place. Do you mean in a Christian church with a Christian minister, maybe a Christian that's died, and we're in the presence of death and we're reminded of eternity and the brevity of life, it's not the place to talk about life and death and eternity and God and salvation? Well, where is the place then? And if it's not the place for that, is it the place for laughing and cajoling and forgetting about it all? Lies in the press. Lies in the pulpit. Lies among the parishioners. Aye, lies from the pit itself. Where do these lies come from? Jesus Christ said to the religious Pharisees of His day, ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a liar from the beginning, and the father of Satan is the master deceiver, and he wants to populate hell. And he wants to rob people of a relationship with Christ. And he wants to take them away from God and keep them out of heaven. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4 that the God of this world have blinded the minds of them that believe not. Now, why would he do that? Lest the light of the gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine in onto them and they should be saved. He doesn't want people to be saved. And I suggest to you tonight that the modern funeral does more to keep people in darkness than any of the other churches' activities, because many people will not come to any other meeting in a church other than a funeral. And whenever they do attend the funeral, they don't hear that they need to be born again and the Savior loved them and died on the cross to keep them out of hell and one day to get them to heaven. Multitudes are deceived and are kept deceived, oftentimes, at funeral services. Paul speaks so much about deception. He says in 1 Corinthians 6 verse 9, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived. Why did he say that? Because people do get deceived. Now, there are fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers or extortioners. He says they're not going to inherit the kingdom of God. And if you think you can live in a perpetual lifestyle like that and inherit God's kingdom, he says then you're simply deceived. Galatians 6.7, be not deceived, God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Ephesians 5 and verse 6, let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. And Revelation 12.9 speaks about the serpent, the dragon, Satan himself, which, listen, deceiveth the whole world. He can do it through so many means, and sadly, He can do it in a funeral service. Can I ask you tonight, are you believing a lie? You think it's all well with you? You're going to heaven someday, even though you've never trusted Christ? You've never given your heart and life to Him. Beloved, tonight I'm only trying to be faithful to your soul. I fear less people somehow can sit in our church services and in our meetings and think that if I just keep on going the way I'm going without Christ and without God in my life, hopefully somehow it'll all work out for good in the end. It won't. And I can't stand up at any funeral service and tell lies. and say things that aren't true or things that are only half true. The Bible says that Christ said, ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. What is the truth of the gospel? The truth of the gospel is all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God. That the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. According to Acts 4.12, we must needs be saved. We must be saved. We cannot save ourselves. It's not by works of righteousness which we have done, but God Almighty has provided salvation in Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. And you need to trust in Him, believe in Him, and repent and confess your sin. for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." You know, tonight you would need to be 100% sure that you're going to heaven. And if you were any kind of gentleman or lady at all, you would live in such a way that your family and your loved ones are sure that you're saved. and you're going to heaven, because sadly hell is all too often a truth discovered too late. Come to Christ. Believe on Him with all your heart. For if thou shalt believe in thine heart on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, thou shalt be saved. May God write His Word upon our hearts. Let's just close our meeting in a word of prayer, and if God has spoken to you and you're concerned or challenged about where you stand spiritually and you want to get right with God, why not even now? Why not call upon the Lord and just say like that old publican in the Bible, God be merciful to me a sinner. Why not cry out like Peter, Lord save me, I perish. Why not, like the Philippian jailer, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved? Why not, like those children in Scripture, just come to the Savior as you are and come to His feet and give Him your heart and give Him your life? You know, you know the gospel. Come to Christ even tonight.