Zombie Apocalypse

“To wash and dress a corpse is a far different thing from making it alive: Man can do the one—God alone can do the other.” – C.H. Spurgeon

Because my father sold cemetery monuments for a living, I took a lot of good-natured ribbing as a kid.

“Geez, Dale, aren’t you worried about your family’s finances?” my friends would say. “After all, your dad’s in a ‘dying’ business”.

Or how about this one?

“Wow, Dale, your dad must be really important because I heard he has a lot of people ‘under’” him.”

I can only imagine the jokes that Mr. Alloway, Mr. Bradley, Mr. Brown, Mr. Inglesby, and Mr. Stephenson’s kids had to listen to while growing up. They were our local funeral directors.

The point that Charles Spurgeon is making in today’s quote is that the job of an undertaker is to make a dead person look as presentable as possible for his or her memorial service, but only Jesus can make us presentable to God the Father. A funeral director drains a corpse of its blood and replaces it with embalming fluid, applies some makeup to give color to its waxen skin, and dresses the deceased in his or her Sunday go-to-meeting clothes. If the undertaker does his job well, he is sure to hear comments like “doesn’t Bob look good” as mourners file past the open coffin at Bob’s viewing.

However, “looking good” won’t cut it on Judgment Day. Either your sins are forgiven and your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life… or they aren’t. If they are, you will be welcomed into heaven with the words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” ringing in your ears.” If not, your final destination will be the Lake of Fire where you will spend eternity along with Satan, his fallen angels, and everyone else who rejected God’s plan of salvation through personal faith in Jesus Christ.

And that, my friend, is no laughing matter.

“And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President