THE TEARS THAT TOUCHED JESUS HEART (3 OF 5)
by Jeff Strite
Scripture: Luke 7:11-17
This content is part of a series.
The Tears That Touched Jesus Heart (3 of 5)
Series: Touching Jesus
Jeff Strite
Luke 7:11-17
OPEN: One of my favorite radio preachers is a man named Tony Evans. I remember listening to him use an illustration about standing in a cafeteria line - and he made it sound intriguing and almost exciting. What I want to share with you this morning (copying as best I can Evans' distinctive way of delivering his illustration) an illustration on death that I once heard him deliver:
It used to be that funerals were solemn but crude affairs. The dead were placed in a wooden box and lowered by ropes into a 6-foot deep hole.
BUT nowadays, it is a far more elegant arrangement. When you die, they take you to a beautiful mansion that employs experts at creating a tasteful presentation of your body. They have makeup artists that can make you look better in death than you ever did in life.
The casket is no longer a wooden box but a polished bronze bed with cushions. As you lay in that beautiful bed, people come for miles around… just to see you. And they say all kinds of nice things about you as they stand in line to honor you. At the ceremony, the preacher stands in front of you and speaks of what you've done in your life, and the lives that you've touched.
Then when the ceremony is over, you get to ride in a limousine down streets where police stop traffic for you and you run through red lights. Cars on the other side of the road pull over, just because you're coming.
Then they pull into the cemetery and instead of crude ropes, they lower your body into the grave using silver toned winches. It's all elegant. It's all beautiful. It's all impressive.
But you know - when it's all said and done - dead is still dead.
One of the harsh truths of life is this: dead is still dead.
One day, you will die.
YOU will die. I will die.
Your friends and your family, your neighbors - everybody you know.
They're all going to die. Sooner or later.
Unless Jesus comes first… none o ...
Series: Touching Jesus
Jeff Strite
Luke 7:11-17
OPEN: One of my favorite radio preachers is a man named Tony Evans. I remember listening to him use an illustration about standing in a cafeteria line - and he made it sound intriguing and almost exciting. What I want to share with you this morning (copying as best I can Evans' distinctive way of delivering his illustration) an illustration on death that I once heard him deliver:
It used to be that funerals were solemn but crude affairs. The dead were placed in a wooden box and lowered by ropes into a 6-foot deep hole.
BUT nowadays, it is a far more elegant arrangement. When you die, they take you to a beautiful mansion that employs experts at creating a tasteful presentation of your body. They have makeup artists that can make you look better in death than you ever did in life.
The casket is no longer a wooden box but a polished bronze bed with cushions. As you lay in that beautiful bed, people come for miles around… just to see you. And they say all kinds of nice things about you as they stand in line to honor you. At the ceremony, the preacher stands in front of you and speaks of what you've done in your life, and the lives that you've touched.
Then when the ceremony is over, you get to ride in a limousine down streets where police stop traffic for you and you run through red lights. Cars on the other side of the road pull over, just because you're coming.
Then they pull into the cemetery and instead of crude ropes, they lower your body into the grave using silver toned winches. It's all elegant. It's all beautiful. It's all impressive.
But you know - when it's all said and done - dead is still dead.
One of the harsh truths of life is this: dead is still dead.
One day, you will die.
YOU will die. I will die.
Your friends and your family, your neighbors - everybody you know.
They're all going to die. Sooner or later.
Unless Jesus comes first… none o ...
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