EPITAPHS

By DR. GUY GOODELL, Pastor

BIBLE BAPTIST CHURCH

WEST STREET

HUDSON FALLS, NEW YORK 12839

I enjoy walking through old cemeteries and reading epitaphs. The older the tombstones, the more likely they are to have epitaphs and/or scripture on them

In a Revolutionary War cem- etery, I read these epitaphs:

Mary Woolsey

1710 - 1756

an honorable wife

a godly woman

a nurturing mother

Tom Selman

1736 - 1790

a merchant no one trusted

The following two were soldiers’ epitaphs:

William Chesney

1740 - 1777

He died fighting for what he

believed.

"Willie" Coltrain

1751 - 1778

He ran when he should have fought.

When you and I enter eternity, the epitaph God places across our lives will be absolutely accurate. There will be no contesting the conclusion drawn by The Holy One of Heaven.

Imagine waking through a cemetery with me and finding some of these epitaphs from ancient Israel.

The first tombstone reads as follows:

Er, the first born of Judah

Evil in the sight of he Lord;

And He slew him (I Chron. 2:3).

We learn from this epitaph that Er, Judah’s firstborn, the position of honor in the family, had been so evil that he angered God. God finally decided to take his life. This man sinned so egregiously that he committed "the sin unto death."

Er, was conceived because Judah committed fornication (Gen. 38:1-3); he voluntarily chose the path of wickedness (38:7); Er committed the sin unto death (38:7). THE EPITAPH SAYS IT ALL!

As you continue walking through the cemetery, you come to another head stone, which reads as follows:

Achar, The troubler of Israel who

transgressed in the thing accursed

(I Chron. 2:7).

Joshua 6:16-19 tells us God forbade taking of spoil when Jericho was taken. Joshua 7:1 says that someone violated God’s command. As a result, many Israelite homes were left without the husband/father. A lesser army of Ai defeated them in battle, because Achan had sinned.

God revealed to Joshua (7:6, 10-11) what the problem was. God required Joshua to Judge Achan, condemn him and his family, and publicly stone them (Josh. 7:19ff). Achan’s epitaph tells us some things:

A lesson we ought to learn (but church rebels seem not to have done so) is that those who trouble the people of God will be troubled by God.

Would you like your epitaph to read thusly?

Your Name)

THE TROUBLER OF HIS CHURCH!

Remember, the epitaph God places over our lives will be absolutely correct.

As you continue through this cemetery, you come across the following epitaph:

Jabel

more honorable than his brethren.

What characterized this man's life that he would be chronicled in inspired Scripture as THE MOST HONORABLE OF ALL MEN? (I Chron. 4:9-10).

FIRST, he craved the blessing of God. This cry of Jabez did not have the shallowness of our routine request, "bless us, Lord."

The word "Oh" indicates urgency and deep longing. The word "indeed" intensifies the request, revealing a depth of desire stronger than physical survival.

This man did not want to live without God's special blessing, and Jabez related "blessing" to approval from God for holy living.

DO YOU CRAVE GOD'S SPECIAL BLESSING SO MUCH THAT YOU WOULD SURREN- DER WHAT IS MOST PRECIOUS TO YOU?

SECOND, Jabez was commit- ted to greater responsibility for God. "Enlarge my coast" was not an empty request. Rather, Jabez was ready for two things that go together: (1) more responsibility, and (2) greater accountability.

THIRD, He sought the enable- ment of God. "That thine hand might be with me." reveals a heart resting in God's protection and operating in God's enable- ment.

No wise person would ever seek to do God's work without the hand of God upon him.

FOURTH, Jabez wanted to practice the righteousness of God. "Keep me from evil," he calls out to God. Jesus later told His disciples to pray, "And deliver us from evil."

This prayer always comes from a person who is spiritually sensi- tive to the damage sin does, and who seeks to honor God by living out the TRUTH.

Jabez saw the connectedness between unconfessed sins and the miseries of life.

THE EPITAPH SAYS IT ALL: "Jabez, more honorable than is brethren."

Search I and II Chronicles for yourself, and look for the epitaphs of stonecutters, masons, carpen- ters, Levites, singers, landscapers, and members of special forces: they are all there. Take the chal- lenge!

The Navy Seals undergo amaz- ing training. I have watched videos of their training sessions. Our special fores are skilled in survival, combat, and assassinations.

While they train, someone is nearby with the personnel records of each trainee. At each training site, there is a huge bell with a rope hanging form the "tongue" of the bell.

At any point, a trainee can quit. He just walks away, approaches the bell, grabs the rope, and rings it. He then walks to the personnel officer, solutes, receives his re- cords, and leaves the Navy Seals behind.

On my tombstone, I would like for the epitaph to read as follows:

GUY GOODELL

SERVANT OF THE LORD

Dear fellow servants: Keep on doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord. He will place the absolutely correct epitaph on your life. V