Seeking the help and blessing
of the Lord, I direct your prayer for attention to Ecclesiastes
chapter 9, the chapter that we read, and reading through our
text the latter part of verse 10. In verse 10, the end of that
verse, We read the words, the grave whither thou goest. The whole verse reads, whatsoever
thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is
no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither
thou goest. So it is those last words, the
grave whither thou goest. Ecclesiastes 9 and verse 10. It may seem to be a strange text,
but if we have been in the, I was going to say habit or the practice,
and specifically of Lent, to going and visit a grave and a
graveyard, then we cannot help but think about the grave that
we are visiting and what we're actually doing at that time.
So the word, the grave, whither thou goest, in that sense, as
we wend our way to it, as we walk to it, we're thinking of
that grave that we are going. We think of Mary and Martha and
how they went to the grave of Lazarus. We think of our Lord
Jesus Christ and Mary who went to that grave and there cannot
help be as you're going the disciples as they were going they anticipated
that there would be the stone and who shall roll us away the
stone and they're thinking about that grave that they're going
to visit but then we cannot help going from that to the realization
that we, in our life as well, we are heading to that grave. We are heading to our own grave,
when it won't be visiting someone else's, but someone else may
be visiting ours and seeing ours. When we go to the graveyard up
here at Cranbrook, you can see a line of graves, as it were. You've got one grave that is
Matthew Massa, which is the last minister before me as the pastor
here. And then a few yards to the right,
you have Caleb Mercer, which was the last deacon that was
here in Matthew Mercer's day. And then our former deacon, Tony
Bourbon, is also buried again a few yards along the side. So a line of them, of those associated
with the chapel here, right next to the In fact, the grave in
front of the pastor that was here, Matthew Mercer, is Mr. Offa, that was 50 years the minister
at Eastbourne, the pastor there. And he is buried up here as well. And we have many there that are
laid in the tomb. Our dear sister and brother in
faith, Paul and Lily Woodgain, when I first took the pastorate
here, 25 years ago, Lily Woodgate, we had her here for a year and
then she passed away, her husband had passed away between the time
when I was called and when I came here, and they are buried up
there as well. And so when you go to visit the
grave, there are many, many thoughts, many things that will go through
your mind considering the grave with the and we cannot but then
transfer that to ourselves. Now the context here might seem
again to be strange, and certainly in many of the things I said
before in Ecclesiastes, we think, well, is it just living for this
time? Is it not thinking that there
is a life beyond the grave? Why is it just implying that
there is this life, nothing beyond. But it is speaking of this life. It is like Hezekiah saying, when
the Lord through Isaiah said, set thine house in order, that
thou shalt die and not live. And then part of his cry before
the Lord was that the living, he shall praise thee, the dead,
they do not praise thee. And he's looking at not the eternal
state of the soul, but he's looking at this life that is living here
and given to us here. And the emphasis again is here,
the context that is here. It is that what the Lord has
chosen to give us here, whether he's given us a wife, whether
he's given us a labour, In verse 9, live joyfully with the wife
whom thou lovest all the days of thy vanity. And he's given
those things in our lives. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to
do, do it with thy might. There's no work, nor device,
nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest.
And there's a reminder, death will put an end to what is here
below. How many live as it were imagining
that things will be better here. They think, well, if only we
had a different prospect, a better wife, a better husband, a better
job, a different, and they're not contented with the lot that
God has given. The message here is, God has
appointed and given us our lot here below, and godliness with
contentment is great gain. And we should walk through this
life not living as for the green grass the other side of the fence,
or what might happen the next day, or the next week, or next
year, but as occupying till the Lord comes, doing with all our
might what the Lord has given us to do now. And what would
we think if we saw someone and said, that person is a slovenly
worker. They're not diligent. They don't
work diligently. But you spoke to them and they
said, oh yes, but I will when this happens and when that happens,
then I'm going to fulfill my potential. But at the present,
no. And how many that are in, you
might say, advanced positions today, they began on the shop
floor cleaning the floor. And they began in some menial
task, but they did that task well. And others saw it, and
they advanced them. They advanced them. And in each
position, they did well. They didn't think, well, huh,
is not the job worth well-doing or just cleaning? That's not
something. I'm not going to be very diligent
at that. But you wait until I'm the manager, and then I'm going
to be a very good person. No, there is actually what they
were doing then. And it's a real message. That
is the message here, godliness with contentment. what the Lord
has appointed for us to walk in, and that may include tribulation
and weakness and sorrow or loneliness, whatever path it is, do all to
the honour and glory of God. Do all in a way that glorifies
the Lord as saying, Thou hast appointed my path, my tribulation,
my associates, my tribulation, these things all come of Thy
hand. They are not chosen by me, they are appointed by Thee. And I desire to do it to Thine
honour and glory, and as those that glorify God in all that
they do. So in the context here, it is
a reminder, we go to the grave, and then there's no possibility
of doing any of these things, any of the things that are appointed
here. Often when we go to a graveyard, what do we remember of the grave
of those that we meet with? Not what didn't happen, what
did happen. How they walked, what they did,
what they said. All those things, that is what
we remember of that. But we have in the word that
is before us how when death comes, All that is stopped. The living,
they know they shall die. In verse six we read, also their
love, their hatred, their envy is now perished. Neither have
they any more apportioned forever in anything that is done under
the sun. And he's remembering what was
in their lifetime. That is all finished. Absalom,
he raised up a pillar, the pillar for his name to be remembered.
But what is remembered, what is recorded in the holy word
of God, his rebellions against his father, against God, all
that he did, all his subtleness, that is what is recorded. Not
what he'd have as his name lifted up. And we should remember that. It is that which others have
seen. We've walked and the memory of
the just is blessed. And we can think of those that
have passed away and we think of their lives and we think of
what they did and the grace that they had and whatever menial
situation they might have been in, we remember what God did
in them and for them and their grace. Those things are remembered
as we visit and see that grave. So I want to just look briefly
at a few points here and introduce them as we go. Firstly, considering
our own grave. If we are to rightly consider
our own grave, the grave whither thou goest, and that applies
to us, everyone here. Sometimes when we preach, there
may be things that don't apply to some. You say, well, that
applies to him, but not me. But to each one of us here, unless
the Lord comes again, there is a grave whither we go. The people, they will pay for
their grave, they know the plot of ground where they'll actually
be buried. Some they do not know. But we know this, that because
of sin, sin entered into the world and death by sin. And every
sickness and illness and infirmity is a reminder of that. In the
end of this book, just a couple of chapters on, we have the chapter
12, And in that, we have a description of those of us that are growing
older, and our faculties are slowly being taken down. And
it is a real picture. The window is being darkened. We need glasses. The sound of
the hearing of the seeing of birds you can't hear because
we're deaf. The sound of the grinders is
low because the grinders are few. We have few teeth. And each
one of these things that are happening, they come as slowly
and more loud knocking and knocking to us. Remember, this mortal
tabernacle is being taken down. And these things are coming because
of that. I remember driving back from
the dentist once, wondering what I was going to do. They quoted
3,000 pounds for an implant because the tooth had to be Taken out,
I couldn't afford that, I wouldn't pay for that. And then it suddenly
comes, this passage. The Lord has always known that
the grinders would be few. He's always known that we would
lose our teeth, that these things would happen. And it is to be
a reminder, a voice to us, you're going to the grave. Slowly this
is taken down, don't you? You're not going to live for
here. Men will try to live forever and try to do ways to extend
their lives as if they'd live forever. The Word of God, especially
here. We will not live forever here.
This is not our home. It is polluted. And what about
our sin? And what about that reminder
we have outside here, the grave? one of the first pastors here,
Mr. George Stonehouse, 28 years, the pastor here, he's buried
out here, a reminder to us that we must be laid in the grave,
we must die. It's the finality of it. May that then be truly sanctified
to us. We are not as the beasts that
perish, whose spirit goes downward to the earth, but we are of the
spirit of man which goeth upward to the Lord. The Lord said to
the dying thief, this day shalt thou be with me in paradise. The dying thief's body was still
upon the cross, but thou, the real person, his soul, was with
the Lord in paradise. And we are not just a body, we
are body and soul. And when the Lord Jesus came,
he took body and soul, that he might redeem both upon the cross. that he might satisfy the justice
of God, that he might put away sin by the sacrifice of himself,
so that he can give eternal life, life beyond the grave, to all
that believe in him, for all for whom he died that were given
by his Father to him to redeem. Paul says in that great beautiful
chapter of the Resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15, If in this
life only we have hope in Christ, we have all men most miserable. There is to be a hope beyond
the grave. May we each ask ourselves this
evening, do we have a hope beyond the grave? Is it based upon the
word of God? Is it based upon God's work in
us? He which hath begun a good work
in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. A solemn thing to be heading
to a grave without our sins put away, without repentance, without
hope, and only have the judgment day set before us. Death is a finality, that is
the end of the day of grace. Where the tree falls, there it
will lie. You know, there was the great
Gales in 87, and I came over to this land the
first time I visited back after we'd emigrated to Australia in
65. And I came back just after, in
88. And so I saw the many hillsides that were full of trees that
had blown over. And you can go in the woods here
in Angli, even now, and you see parts of it where you think,
yes, that tree was blown down during those gales, and there
it is still in the same position, there it is lying. And that will
be where death finds us, whether we are found in Christ, we are
found upon the rock, we are found safe, if we are found as an unbeliever
and outside of Christ, we shall perish and that shall be eternal.
There's no purgatory, there's no hope beyond the grave of coming
to repentance of knowing Christ. That must be this side of the
grave. And we might think, well, we're
still young. We've still got a few more years. We've got a
sister in faith. She's 94. I've got another 32
years to go before I reach her age. But my mother died when
she was a year and a half younger than I am now. And what a reminder
how many that are young, they do die. And so often suddenly
as well. The grave, the grave wither thou
goest, applies to us each year. Now I want to just add a little,
perhaps a side here, but I feel it's something necessary today. And that is that this is spoken
of as a grave, not cremation. You know, one of the brethren,
Reformed brethren, He said to me, you know, he said, now, he
said, I would think that 40% of the funerals that I take are
cremations, even of the Lord's people. And there's a drinking
into this thought, well, it's cheaper, it's better, and there's
a just going along into that. And also when you have those
that are the Lord's people, and they're the only one in a family,
And maybe their estate has been dealt with unbelievers. If they
do not think of the grave where they are going and make provision
and make it very clearly known to their loved ones, I desire
to be buried, not cremated, then you will find that the ungodly
will take precedence and decide what to do. You might say, well,
why? Why not cremation? Well, the
whole example, the whole teaching of scripture, it points to burial. Abraham, when Sarah died, he
desired the children of Heth a place to bury her. She was
buried in the cave. Later, when he died, he was buried
there. Jacob buried Leah there. And
then Jacob, even though he was living in Egypt, he was also
buried there. And you find that God buried
Moses in the desert. No man knoweth his grave to this
day, but God buried him. We think of the disobedient prophet
that you read of in 1 Kings chapter 13, and how that he was buried
in the grave of the prophet that brought him back. And that prophet
said, when I die, you bury me in his grave. You think of even
the psalm cases of Ananias and Sapphira, dying under the wrath
of God. They were taken out and buried. Stephen was buried after he was
stoned, the first martyr. You go back to John the Baptist,
who was beheaded. They came, the disciples took
up his body and went and buried it. And of course, our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. to be buried, to be laid in the
tomb, is the example that is given us again and again throughout
scripture, awaiting the resurrection. We, of course, clearly state
that those like the martyrs that have perished in the flames,
those who have been cremated, it cannot take away their eternal
life. It cannot stop them being resurrected. But those who are disciples and
followers of Christ, those who bear the name of Christian, which
is a follower of Christ, who desire to follow Him, not just
in life, but in death, and in practice, and what He did in
going into the grave, they desire the same. Whenever you read in
scripture of burning, it is always in the case of judgment. God will judge the world. He
will burn. up. We read in Malachi at the
end of the Old Testament, Behold, the day cometh that shall burn
as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly
shall be a stubble. And the day that cometh shall
burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, it shall leave them
neither root nor branch. We spoke about that disobedient
prophet. He foretold as he came to Jeroboam
that the altar that Josiah there would arise a king, and he did
arise 300 years after, would burn men's bones on that idolatrous
altar, and he did. And yet it was a way of judgment,
not a blessing. They were idolaters. And so we
would not want to follow a path that is spoken of of judgment,
spoken so differently than the example through the scripture
of being laid in the tomb, buried, as our Lord was, and as those
Old Testament saints were. So when we consider this point,
our own grave, and the grave whither thou goest, maybe think
of it beforehand. Not put it in a will, that's
too late when a will is opened. You put it on paper, you give
it to relatives, you make sure they know And it may be even
to buy a plot of land so you know where actually you will
be buried. Well, the second thing I'd notice
is considering the grave we go and visit. I made comment to
that when I opened my remarks this evening. But there is great
profit to us when we do visit a grave. Some graves we can't.
My parents are buried over in Australia, and of course I can't
go and visit that grave at all. But when we see a believer, when
we visit those graves, there can be great profit in it. The things that are written on
those tombs, even those down here, there's many things that
you can read. When I was exercised on the ministry
years ago, And I used to spend quite a lot of time. I'd go around
the graveyards. Very soul-mising effect. You see, here is the end of all
men. This is what is written on their
graves. And sometimes it may be very
sad, because you think this person, what they have written, they
live for just this time, and now their life has ended. Others,
just a few simple words, and very precious, that one. had
a hope, and their hope was in Christ, their hope was beyond
the grave. What would be written on our
tomb? What would we want written? What would others write about
us? It's a good question, isn't it?
The grave, whither we go. You know, when I was eight years
of age, And I had in Australia the exercise that one day we
would return to this land. In my child's view, we would
return as a whole family. The idea that just me would return
and the family not, that didn't enter my head. But I remember
when I was eight, my parents went around the Mornington, where
we lived, cemetery with a view to getting a plot of land. And
in my mind, I remember how I felt. Mom and Dad, you can't be buried
here. We're going back to England.
You can't be. And even though I did not know
the Lord then, the concern that what I felt would happen, and
did happen in my case, would be hindered because they were
making provision there, as if they would stay there. Well,
they never were buried in Mornington. They moved to Tasmania. they
were buried there. And I took my father's funeral,
I took my mother's committal. And yeah, it can, it brings forth
the thought, if that comes to pass, then what I have felt the
Lord will bring about won't come to pass. In my case, I'd misinterpreted
it because it wasn't them but me returning here. You think
of, as well, the dear lady Sister-in-Faith I buried over in Australia. And
I took her service, but again, the family didn't permit me to
take the committal. In fact, I think the funeral
directors did it on their own. There was no family around the
burial at all. So it was sometime later that
I went to find out where she was buried and to see her grave.
And yet as I was driving along in that large cemetery looking
for the grave, the Lord dropped into my mind as if he'd spoken
it so clearly, why seek ye the living among the dead? I still
went to see where her grave was, but it's left a lasting impression,
she is not there. That was her mortal remains,
but she was in heaven, she was alive. And I can still picture,
I can picture the grave, Pictured driving along, though it is so
many years ago. I was 25 years old at the time. And so, it is considering a grave. When we go and visit a person,
there's many exercise things I cannot, wouldn't be prudent
to share with you here. To visit the grave and to go
over, it causes sorrows, sometimes it causes joy. but great searching
of heart when we view the grave, the end of a person's profession,
life, exercises, beliefs, or what they thought would come
to pass, all laid in the grave. But then thirdly, a grave like
none other. and that is the grave of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Those dear disciples, they went
to visit that grave expecting to see the body of our Lord and
to anoint Him, but the grave was empty. Until the last day,
that will never be so, that man can raise himself from the dead. Man will never do it. Only the
God-man, only the Lord Jesus Christ. We read that he hath
given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from
the dead. Man, and it is spoken of in the
scriptures as David, our Lord said David, he suffered corruption. Abraham did. They were buried. They saw corruption. But he whom
God raised up saw no corruption, raised again. sin could not hold
him, death could not hold him, the Lord going through death,
through the grave, and by his power being raised up again,
he is not here, he is risen, a grave like none other. If you
and I want to triumph over the grave, then it is through faith
in Christ alone that that is done. We think again of the Beautiful
1 Corinthians chapter 15, when the apostle says, this corruptible
must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the sign that is written,
death. is swallowed up in victory. O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, the
strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. May we think of
that in every grave we visit, in every open grave we see. When
that grave is open again shall be when Christ returns with power
and great glory. But when their Lord was buried,
then their grave was opened. The Lord did not need the stone
rolled away to come forth. Later on, he appeared to the
disciples and the doors were shut. But it had to be opened
so that the disciples could see that the tomb was empty. And
that is the assurance. He had raised him from the dead.
Assurance that the sacrifice was accepted. Sin was put away,
eternal righteousness brought in, eternal life for the people
of God. The Lord says, because I live,
ye shall live also. We worship a living saviour,
a risen saviour, and may we truly have the faith of God's dear
people that look upon him who died and rose again, for their
sins, for their justification. But then there's a last and there's
a fourth thought. The word of our text, the grave
wither thou goest. If we are a believer and if we
are obedient to the Lord, there is a grave wherewith we go and
go, that is that which the Lord spoke of when he commissioned
his disciples and he said to them, go ye into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. In baptism, it is one of the
two ordinances that God has given to the Church of God. Believers
baptism and the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. With baptism,
You do show forth the Lord's death till he come is in the
Lord's supper. But in baptism, buried with him
by baptism into death, risen again in newness of life. And it is a picture of one being
buried. If they stayed under the water,
they would die. But they're risen up from the
water and they rise in newness of life. and he pictures of that
spiritual resurrection. Dead in trespasses and sins,
you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. And baptism sets forth that quickening,
being made alive. Once we did not hear the word
of God, we did not believe, we did not know we were sinners,
we did not know our danger, that we are made wise to that danger,
realise we are sinners, realise we need faith in Christ, broader
faith in God. Our life changed, the life of
the Apostle Paul before his conversion on the Damascus Roads were very
different than after. That newness of life, new creatures
in Christ Jesus, born again of the Spirit, life again, and baptism
beautifully sets that forth. And all that the Lord has wrought
that in, made them new creatures in Christ, quickened them, made
them alive, live a life of faith and prayer, live a life of faith
in Christ. They've been brought to hear
His voice, to obey His voice. That's one of the great blessings
that the Lord gives a people. is to make them so that they
are willing to hear, willing to listen, willing to learn. They want the Lord to speak to
their souls. Be not silent unto me, lest if
thou be silent unto me, I become like them that go down into the
pit. But where the Lord speaks to
his people, then that beautiful token, my sheep, they hear my
voice, and they follow me. And so we might say with, before
all of believers, before all of those that would know and
do the will of the Lord, the grave whither thou goest, in
a type, in an ordinance instituted by the Lord, is the grave of
baptism, believers' baptism, and beautifully sets it forth,
a resurrection spiritually, a resurrection at last, a newness of life, and
to be with the Lord forever and ever in heaven. Well, this is
a solemn word before us, but may it be a word that we truly
will be able to give some answers to. Where is our hope? Is it
beyond the grave? Is it in Christ? And can we save
our present life now, as the Apostle Paul did? When Christ,
who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with
him. For me to live, he says, is Christ,
and to die is gain. A blessed thing to have that
hope, and may it be so with me, and may it be so with you. The grave whither thou goest,
how different when it is a grave of the Lord's people, that whereby
they come and they leave their sin and the world and all its
temptations and Satan and the immortal body with all their
frailties, my dear uncle who lost an arm in the Air Force,
he said, soon I'll get my arm back. Soon they shall have a
body that had no scars and no imperfection in it. this corruptible
must put on incorruption, and their blessed prospect with the
people of God. I remember preaching at the Pilgrim
Home, Millwood House in Tunbridge Wells some years ago, and there
was a man I didn't know who was sitting in front of me. He ended
up as Mr. Bishop from Crowborough. And as I was preaching, his face
shone. And afterwards, I said to him,
I said, are you in here just for respite, or are you coming
permanently? He said, oh no, not for respite,
for permanently. And then his face changed and
he smiled big. He said, but my home is not here,
my home is above. And you know, within three months
or so, the Lord had taken him home. But even before he was
there, it's a blessed prospect. It was a joy to anticipate, to
be with Christ, which is far better. Sometimes you read that
on a gravestone, don't you? With Christ. which is far better. And what a blessing that would
be if that was our gravestone, with Christ, which is far better.