The Cemetery Sermon - A Short Story

The venerable minister stood pale and fragile before gathering that had come to pay their respects to their departed friend and loved one. Near a tall, stately evergreen in the center of the cemetery, the physical form of Dr. Solomon Wreath lay in the bronze casket, which had a faint shimmer to it on that cold, wet, overcast October day. But  Rev. Daniels, alone, out of all the living who were there, was able to see and hear all who were gathered in that place. For many evil spirits stood in the back of the congregation, angrily cursing the minister, and God.

But stretching his eyes past that wicked crowd, Daniels could see another assembly at the outskirt of the cemetery. There, shining with a light so vibrant that it was life itself, stood the smiling, risen Lord with a holy band of angels. They played warmly and with great skill on flutes and stringed instruments. And it was this auspicious sight that gave strength to the old minister as he stood to speak over the din of hell, which was audible only to him.

The minister's sermon began with Psalm 88:3, "For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to the grave". Having read the verse, Pastor Danielson spoke saying "Though you stand in this graveyard today, none of you here draw near to the grave as our dear friend, Solomon, did in his final hours. 

I sat and prayed with him as sickness and death crept over his face like a dark cloud. And yet, there was also a peace about him which transcends understanding. We talked, and sang a hymn together. And then, looking past me, he smiled and said in that weak yet stirring voice 'It is not the grave that I am approaching. I draw near to the Lord!' And with those words he departed".

The congregation listened intently to Daniels as he continued. "So now here is another thought. Do we live as our friend died? Are we who survive him also drawing near to the Lord who died for us, and conquered death and the grave? Are we drawing near to Him truly; not merely in the flesh, attending church, and going through the motions, but in spirit - in the Spirit? Is His life overtaking ours as the apostle said 'I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.'"? (Galatians 2:20).

For half an hour or so the minister went on; giving examples from the life of his departed friend - examples of Christ living through him.    

A devoted husband and father, he had raised three daughters and two sons. He and his wife had also grieved terribly when another son had died at birth.     

As a surgeon, he had served in field hospitals during the American Civil War. He had seen a lot of suffering and death. But he had also seen some healing, and a few lives saved. Once, in the course of his career, he had even witnessed a miracle when a dead woman was prayed over, and she was raised to life again!

He was also an avid musician. And whether he was playing the mandolin, or the fiddle, or the piano; he could always move a listening audience to dancing, or to tears. And he loved to praise the heavenly Father with song. 

After recalling these things, Rev. Daniels spoke of the resurrection that is to come. He read from the Scriptures where Jesus said "...the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live... Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth - those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation." (John 5:24-30).

"Let us, then, trust in Him and follow Him." said Daniels, as he concluded his sermon. And after he spoke these words, he noticed that his physical body had just slumped down, and he remained standing. And he looked down in shock at his own form. He looked up and saw the astonished faces of the congregation. Those nearest him ran up and knelt down beside the minister's body, apparently unaware of his presence standing over it. And he saw the hellish crowd in the back, still sneering and cursing vehemently. 

He felt different too. He felt perhaps fifty years younger; like one in the prime of life, and even better. And his spirit was filled with inexpressible gladness and peace. The heavy chains of sin and mortality that are in Adam, were loosed and gone with his mortal body. 

And then he stepped forward and walked past the congregation, past the crowd of devils, past all the sullen gravestones; to the place where the Lord and His angels were gathered. And he found that his friend, Dr. Solomon Wreath, was with them. And he, too, appeared a new man altogether. 

Looking around, Daniels saw that the cemetery was gone. The whole scene was completely changed. He was no longer upon the earth, but stood in wonder of the beauty and majesty of heaven. He saw the vibrant light of God, illuminating a glorious landscape of brilliant colors; colors unknown to the people of the earth! He saw the river of life, and the tree of life. He saw the Temple of God. And he heard beautiful, flowing music; and angelic voices singing:

 "Holy, holy, holy is He who sits on the throne,

And the Lamb who was slain and lives again!"

And so Daniels was greeted warmly into eternal life.

The End

Knowledge, Tech, and Creation

"I will fetch my knowledge from afar;
I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker" (Job 36:3).

"But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase" (Daniel 12:4; emphasis added).

The popular belief of our time is that the wild technological advancements of our modern time are a clear display of evolution in action. Allmusic.com even has a misleading t.v. commercial that gives a synopsis of the alleged evolution of music. According to the commercial, music evolved from Gregorian chants into songs with instrumental accompaniment. 

What the commercial ignores is that musical instruments, including complex stringed instruments, percussion, and woodwind instruments were in use in the most ancient times. David, second king of ancient Israel was a talented harpist, a thousand years before Christ was born in Bethlehem (1 Samuel 16:14-23). And there are many exhortations in the Scriptures to play musical instruments as an act of worship (Psalm 33:2-3, Psalm 150). And musical instruments of all kinds were in use throughout ancient history (1 Samuel 10:5-6, Daniel 3:4-5,7-25, Matthew 9:23-24, Matthew 11:15-19).

Recently I had a conversation with someone about wine consumption in ancient Rome. This person pointed out that back then, wine had a lower alcohol content, which is true. It was roughly the same as the alcohol content of the average beer today. But the person went on to assert that the ancient Romans did not understand fermentation, but that they understood "buzz". That part is untrue. 

Advancements in the technology of fermentation have been made. But the ancients were not oblivious. One of Jesus' parables revolves around the fermentation process. To illustrate the complete newness of the covenant that He would bring about, Jesus pointed out that no one puts new (unfermented) wine into old wine-skins, because the old wine-skins would burst and the wine would be wasted. The ancient peoples, dating back to the beginning, knew about the fermentation process. They were skilled in it.

Job is believed to be the oldest book in the Bible; having been written before Moses wrote Genesis-Deuteronomy. The man, Job, may have lived contemporaneously with Abraham. In Job chapter 28, Job gives a speech that describes in detail the work of miners, mining deep in the earth for precious stones and valuable metals. He is using it as a metaphor for the more important search for wisdom. 

The ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans all achieved amazing technological feats and evinced vast treasures of knowledge in such fields as mathematics, astronomy, engineering, and architecture. There are even trace evidence of more advanced civilizations in the forgotten past. Those who reject the Genesis account of early world history speculate that these trace evidence of advanced technology might have been left by ancient aliens, before humans evolved from lower animals.

Creationists like myself, however, are not baffled by the thought that God made humans in His own image. Humans have always been intelligent creatures. Moses tells us that the pre-Flood era saw advancements in agriculture, the making of musical instruments, and metal working (Genesis 4:20-22). Trace evidence of advanced ancient technology may be the remains of civilizations that existed before the Genesis Flood.

Furthermore, the awesome technological advancements of our modern time are not a display of evolution either. Instead, such forward strides are a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. God told the prophet Daniel that in the last days, "knowledge shall increase". And that is exactly what we see happening. 

It is the arrogance of every generation to think itself better than all previous generations. The evolutionary myth appeals to this generational arrogance. As the Scriptures say elsewhere: "Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies" (1 Corinthians 8:1). The only cure is love. We are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). And that means more than just that we are intelligent, as He is; but God is love (1 John 4:8). He created us to be capable not only of intelligence; but more importantly, capable of  love; toward God who is love, and toward each other who are made in the image of God who is love (Matthew 22:37-40).