Sadness After Death – Sadness And Death Sermon Series – Part 2 of 2

Hello, and welcome to Social Media Ministries. My name is Spencer Coffman. Thank you so much for being with us today. We are on part two of a two-part sermon series about sadness and death.

Today, we are talking about the sadness after death. So if you didn’t watch last week, check out the sermon. It’ll be in a card up here if you’re on YouTube.

Otherwise, go to our website and you can find it there but last week we talked about death as being a part of God’s plan and it is in God’s plan for people to die.

Why? Well to die, if we’re believers, we go to Heaven. It’s only the unbelievers who should be, grieving and in despair about death because they have no hope. If you are a Christian, we hope that you are, if you’re not, reach out to us.

We can help you make that decision to have Jesus Christ be your Lord and Savior and you will have that hope that believers have. We know that when we die, that is the best thing for us because guess what?

We will go to Heaven. Yes, to stay here is better for others because then we will go on in labor, producing a lot of fruit for them, for their benefit — that is the point.

The fruit of your labor is not for yourself, so if you are working hard to attain a bunch of money and wealth and possessions for yourself, that’s wrong. That’s not what you are supposed to be doing.

You’re supposed to be working hard, providing a good life, and the fruits of your labor should be for others. Now, that doesn’t mean to work and then to give it all away like some kind of welfare or socialist type system.

No, it means that you need to be working hard and taking the blessings that God is giving you and using them to build the Kingdom of God. It means that you need to know that you have a heavenly perspective.

That for you to die means to go be with God, but the reason you’re still here on Earth is because God has a plan, a purpose, and a calling for you to get out there and bring more people to Him.

If the other people who don’t know God do not have hope and you know God and you have hope and when someone dies, you need to be different and you need to be a, a visible witness knowing that when someone who is a Christian dies, guess what?

They’re going to Heaven. You need to be rejoicing in that fact. Yes, it’s terrible that they left you but that’s selfish to be wallowing in that grief. The people who have no hope wallow in that grief.

You need to be different and so then they can say, “What’s going on? You don’t seem too broken up about this,” and you say, “I am but I know and I trust God. I have hope. I know that they went to Heaven. I know that I’m going to Heaven and I will see them again someday. Do you have that hope?”

They say, “I don’t know.” “Well, you seem pretty broken up about this. You should be, shouldn’t be so broken up because, because they’re a believer. You want to see them again someday? Let me help,” and you can bring them into the body of Christ and give them that hope.

You are producing fruit for their benefit. Continue to do that. That is your purpose here on Earth. So when someone dies, you shouldn’t be sad. Yes, you can be sad but it shouldn’t carry on.

There are things in the Old Testament that there were times of mourning and grieving, sometimes it was like 30 days. Okay, so you took 30 days. They wore sackcloth and, and, and they grieved and when that period was over, boom — done. Now they were rejoicing. They were feasting because they knew that the time for grieving was done.

They didn’t live their life in despair and grief and sad because, “Oh the world is cruel and it took away — my child or my parent, or my friend, or my loved one” — no, they had a period of grieving and then they got over it. They moved on.

They didn’t really like, “You’re never going to get over it,” but you move on and you know and you trust that God has a plan and so these people, you need to remember that, that the loved one that you lost to death, the loved one that was taken from you, the loved one that died, they’re alive as long as you are alive to remember them.

In addition, if he or she was a Christian, then you should be very happy and maybe even a little envious or jealous of them because they’re in Heaven with Christ. Let’s go to 2 Timothy 4:7 and 8, 4:7 and 8:

“I have fought the good fight I have finished the race I have kept the faith now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

Can that be said of you? Have you fought the good fight? Have you lived in this Earth and you’ve gone on producing fruit? You’ve lived many more years of labor and produced good fruit.

Like Paul says, to die would be the best thing for him, but if he remains in the body it will mean many more years of fruitful labor for the benefit of others. So for them, it’s better for him to stay but for him, it’s better for him to die.

Can you say that of your life? I can say it of mine. For me, I would love to go to Heaven but I know that by staying here will mean many more years of fruitful labor, many more sermons, many more lives touched, many more lives changed because I will be doing exactly what God has called me to do.

Now, I may not know exactly what all that means but I trust in Him and I follow the plan He has set and the path He has set before me, and I know that when that day comes, I have run a good race and I will be awarded that crown of righteousness from the Lord who is righteous.

And it won’t be me only. Not me alone, it will be all of you who also have done the same good works and who have lived that life of, of the call — the life worthy of the calling that God has placed on them.

Now it’s not by works that we attain this because it’s not by works. It’s through faith so no one can boast, but we will get to Heaven and why do we do all these works then? What’s the point of all of this labor?

It’s because we love Him and we trust God, and if we love Him, we obey His Commandments and that’s what His command is. He has given us a calling and a purpose — a command. A calling.

He said, “Hey go and do this,” and so I say, “I love you God. I love you Jesus. I will do what you want me to do.” So when someone dies, they have finished their race they get to go to Heaven and be with Jesus. That’s awesome. Rejoice in that fact.

Let’s go to, to John 11:25-26. Veres 25 and 26, “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies and whoever lives and Believes In Me will never die. Do you believe this?’”

Believe what? Can you repeat that? Yeah, whoever believes in Jesus will live, even though they die. And whoever lives and believes in Jesus will never die.

And you say, “That’s circular reasoning.” Listen: whoever believes in Jesus when they die an earthly death, their spirit — their soul — will live in Him in Heaven. So even though they die on Earth, their soul will never die because it is eternal.

They will have eternal life with Jesus in Heaven. Do you believe this? If not, reach out to us because guess what? You should believe it. Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. He has come to give you eternal life.

All you need to do is ask. Believe in Him so when you die, when you finish the good race, many many years of fruitful labor doing God’s work here on Earth, then you will go to Heaven, and others who are believers will rejoice that that’s where you are.

But for those who are unbelievers, you need to be doing good work to reach them because they aren’t going to Heaven. So let’s give them hope. Reach those people who don’t know Jesus. Bring them into the Kingdom of God and give them hope, and when others die, rejoice because they’re in Heaven to be with Jesus.

Well, we are still stuck here in a world ruled by evil so yes, be a little sad because you’re going to miss whoever died but remember, they are now with the Lord. Let’s go to Matthew 5 Verse 4. Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

So yes, you can mourn but eventually, that time of mourning will be over and you will be comforted. Let’s go to Psalms. Psalms 34 Verse 18. Psalms 34:18. “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

So when someone dies and your heart breaks, and you’re just crushed, your spirit is dampened, God is close to you and He will breathe into you and stoke that fire — rekindle that flame and you will burn again with a passion-filled with the Holy Spirit to go out there and do the work which He has called you to do.

So don’t carry on in grief or wallow in self-pity because it really will do you no good. It won’t. It won’t help. Let’s go to Psalms Chapter 6 Verses 6 and 7. Psalms 6:6-7, “My eyes grow weak with sorrow. They fail because of my foes. Away from me, all you do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping.”

God hears you. He knows that when someone dies, you’re sad but get rid of all those people around you who do evil because God knows you’re sad. Your eyes may grow weak with sorrow but remember the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and He will comfort you who is crushed in spirit, and even though you mourn, you will be comforted.

Psalms 31:9 says, “Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, and my soul and my body with grief.”

So yes, it’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to be downhearted. It’s okay to be in mourning but do not let that carry on into a lifestyle because it’s for a time. It’s a time period of grief, of sadness after someone dies and then when that is done, you need to rejoice because you’re still here to remember them.

Rejoice of the time that you had with them. Rejoice that they are in Heaven and then be fueled with a fire and a passion led by the Holy Spirit to go out and live the life worthy of the calling that God gave you, because guess what?

It’s your calling to reach those that have no hope so that then they too can have that joy that you have. Why wouldn’t you want to share it with them? King David was a great example of this.

After all, he wrote many of these Psalms. So we know he struggled with sadness, grief, depression, anxiety — a lot of these things, so if you struggle with any of those, read Psalms. King David was arguably one of the most blessed kings in the history of, of God’s kingdom here on Earth.

He was very blessed and favored by God yet he struggled with all of these things, exactly like we do today, and he knew, he knew the benefit of grieving during a time period.

2 Samuel 12:23 says, “But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him but he will not return to me.” What is he talking about? Well if you’re familiar with the story, this was after David and Beth Sheba.

David. made a mistake. He committed conspiracy, murder, adultery — a lot of sins. A lot of sins all at one time and God rebuked him for it and said, “Because of this, that child will die.”

Now you might say, “Well wait a minute, should the child be punished for the sins of the father?” No that’s not what’s going on. The father’s being punished, but the point of this is David said,

“No this can’t happen,” and for quite a while he went on while the baby, as soon as it was born, David was fasting — he was in sackcloth and ashes — he wouldn’t eat.

He was just grieved, crying out to God, refusing to live in his royal luxury and other people around him said,

“Wow, now that the child has died, do we even dare tell him? He’ll probably kill the messenger,” or “If he hasn’t eaten now, he’s going to be even more bereaved and even more sad and even more prone to depression and anxiety and maybe suicide or who knows what.”

They didn’t know, and they said, “How do we even tell him?” So finally, they go tell him and he gets up bathes himself, cleans off, and says, “Let’s eat,” and they’re like, “What in the world? What is wrong with you? You don’t seem too broken up he’s, he’s dead. Did you not hear us?”

And David says, “Now that he is dead, why do I go on with fasting and mourning and weeping and wailing? Why do I do that? I can’t bring him back. I could go to him. I could kill myself and die or I will eventually go to him and die, or I could go to him in my mind and be with him, grieving all the time, but though I do that, he will not return to me. So why go through all of that?” and he went on with life.

He rejoiced in God’s plan and He accepted it and He knew that God was taking care of that dead child. That’s a great lesson for all of us to know about death.

So when someone is dying, yes by all means, pray, fast, but when they die, go through a time of mourning and then trust and accept God’s plan and live your life fueled with the desire to reach more people.

Because if whoever died was not a Christian, then you need to be stirred up so that you make sure that never happens in your life again. You do not want anyone to die around you who isn’t a believer, and if that person is a believer, then you be rejoicing that they are with God in Heaven and you be excited for the day that you finish your race and you get to go there as well.

Remember you will not be able to bring those people back no matter what you do, so you’ll be much better off if you’re able to move on and live your life. After all, if you were to die, would you want your loved ones to sit around in sadness and in grief, wallowing and in despair being depressed and beside themselves?

No, you wouldn’t want that because you wouldn’t want them to be so distraught. You wouldn’t want them to be so sad and grieved for too long. Yes, of course, you want them to miss you. You want to be missed.

You want to feel like you’ve led a life and left a legacy, but you don’t want them to have their life consumed by your death and if you do, that’s very selfish and ungodly. So learn about death and how to handle it because God has a plan.

Trust in the Lord. Trust God’s plan. You don’t know better than God, and so when someone dies, yes it can be very painful. It can be very hard. You have a right to be sad. We are humans.

We love others and when they die, it can be very difficult, but trust that God has a plan and know that you have a race to run here on Earth. You have a purpose and a calling and you need to live a life worthy of that calling, and so you need to go on living and produce many many years of fruitful labor.

And when you die, let that be said of you, that you will go, you have finished the race, you have lived a life worthy of the calling that God gave you and you will be crowned with righteousness by the Lord of glory and so will those around you who have also done the same. So make it your life’s ambition to help others live a life worthy of the calling that God has given them.

Help them find and discover that calling. Help them live many years of fruitful labor and produce fruit for others so that you can bring them hope and joy, especially in a time of death — when it is needed most.

Let’s go to Philippians 4:8. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Don’t spend all your time and all your thoughts wallowing in grief and self-pity or guilt or any of those negative emotions, but when things happen, this is what you need to think about. Whatever is pure, right, noble, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy — think about that and remember that God always has a plan. So trust Him in this. Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, thank you so much that you are an all-knowing God, that you have our best interests at heart. I ask that you would touch each and every person watching or listening. That any of those who are going through a time of sadness or grief after death, that you would comfort them.

That you would be close to them, that you would help them move on, that you would inspire them to reach other people, that you would inspire them to be different — to find the joy and rejoice in that sadness, in that grief.

That they would know and be comforted that their loved one, as a believer, would be in Heaven and that they would be inspired to bring that hope to those who don’t believe so that they too can have that joy.

And Lord, I ask that you would have them take a look at their life and examine it and that you would have them live many more years of fruitful labor, that they could run this race and receive that crown of righteousness that it would be said of them that they lived a great and righteous life, that with them, you are well pleased. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I really do, I really hope that that is the case for you, and if you have any questions about it, please feel free to comment below. Have a great week and God bless.